Reminder v1.0 Written by: Rob Bruce and Michael Krzyzek Copyright 1998 Tactile Systems, Inc. Version History --------------- 07/01/98 v1.0 Initial public release. Overview: --------- First let me state that Reminder is not an alternative to Dates, DateMan, More Info or any other Date/Call/Note/Names enhancer. It is meant to be used in conjunction with these apps. The idea behind Reminder is that although the NewtonOS has many ways of gathering Personal and Contact information, there isn't a good overall way of being reminded of it. Yes you can set alarms on specific meetings and events, but how about being reminded to buy a gift for a birthday? Or that you have an incomplete call to an important client. Or that if you don't pick up your dry-cleaning you will have nothing to wear? Put simply Reminder is a nag. But a helpful nag. Here is a list of what things will happen when: Power On: * If someones birthday is today you will be reminded once, otherwise you will get a pleasant greeting. * You will be reminded of any meetings for the day. Incomplete Call: * Reminder will ask if you want a ToDo made to remind you. Other wise Reminder will prompt you during the idle period. Reminder Interval (user defined from 2 minutes to 4 hours): * Any calls that are not marked 'Call Completed' will be shown. * Pending birthdays are shown. You have the opportunity to make a To Do to remind you to buy a gift. * Incomplete To Dos are shown. Use --- The settup for Reminder is very simple. Just install it. Reminder will run automatically. See the Prefs sections for configuration information. To force Reminder to run, tap the Reminder icon in the Extras drawer. This will bring up a small view with the Personality icon, 'I' button, and Close Box. Tapping the Personality icon will force Reminder to run the periodic reminders. This is usefull if you have a longer interval period but want to find out now what you need to be doing. The 'I' button lets you see the About view (very important), access Prefs (more about these below), or Register (also very important ;)). The Reminder View ----------------- Once a Reminder view is open there will be a text area telling you what you are being reminded about, a large personality icon in the upper left, a smaller icon in the lower left, and a row off buttons on the lower right. The large icon, when tapped, will shrink the Reminder view. Tapping the icon again expands the view. If Reminder pops while you are doing something else this is a good way to temporarily put it to the side. The Close Box will dismiss this type of reminder but if other types are pending for the Reminder Interval they will be show. For example say you have chosen to be reminded of both incomplete calls and unfinished To Dos. The Reminder view opens to tell you about an incomplete call. Tapping the Close Box will close the call reminder, but a To Do reminder will then open. Tapping the smaller icon on the lower left will stop all types of reminder for the current Reminder Interval. So in our previous example, the call reminder would close and the To Do reminder would not appear. This allows you to ignore the reminder if the timing is inconvenient, say when you are in a meeting. What buttons are displayed in the lower right will depend on what type of reminder is being shown. Below is a list of the different buttons followed by what they mean. Birthday (prompt in advance) * No - I don't need to get them a present. * Yes - I do need to get them a present, create a To Do item. * Already Have - I have gotten a present, nothing more needs to be done. Birthday (day off) None. Calls: * Yes - Finish the call now. * Next - Go to the next incomplete call. Meeting * Got It - Don't remind me again. * Next - Go to the next meeting. * Edit - Edit the meeting info. To Do * Yes - I've finished the To Do, mark it complete. * Next - Go to the next To Do. * Assist - Run the Assist interpreter on the To Do title. Usefull for To Dos like "Call Andy Henner". Prefs ----- There are many ways to configure Reminder. I strongly suggest looking the preferences over and configuring Reminder to best suit your needs. Turning of little used or needed reminders will make Reminder far less distracting. Below is a list of the pref categories, the options they contain and what they do. General * Use Sounds - a sound will be played when the Reminder view pops. * Remind Interval - the amount of time you want in-between reminders. * Wake Newton - if checked will wake the Newton when the Remind Interval is up. Otherwise -- Note that the interval is only counts while the Newton is awake. If you have a 1hr interval and you use the Newton for a 40 mns and then put it to sleep for a 20 mns, when the Newton wakes up again there will still be 20 mns left before Reminder will appear. Using the Wake Newton option lets you be reminded every hour whether the Newton is awake or asleep. * Persona - allows you to pick a personality for Reminder. Currently there are three but I will probably make more. Newt has a neutral tone to the reminders, Genie a more fawning sound, and Grumpy has a bit of an attitude. Birthday * Day Of - you will be reminded about a birthday on the day of the birthday. * In Advance - a picker that lets you pick how far in advance you want a birthday reminder. Calls * Incomplete Call Reminder - you will be reminded about Calls during the interval reminder. * Prompt to Create To Do - you will be prompted to create a To Do for incomplete calls. * Use Speech - if you have the Speech Extension installed, Reminder will speak the reminders. Meeting * Meeting Reminder - when the Newton wakes up, you will be reminded about pending meetings for the day. * Time Until Format - how the meeting time is displayed. Hours - "You have a meeting in 3 hours." Relative - "You have a meeting today at 2:00pm." * Use Speech - if you have the Speech Extension installed, Reminder will speak the reminders. To Do * To Do Reminder - you will be reminded about To Dos during the interval reminder. * To Do Order - in what order the To Do's are displayed. Priority - High priority items are displayed first. Random - Order is shuffled each time. Age - Older To Dos are show first. -- Note this only works under certain circumstances. I have inclued it due to the interest of some users. If you want more detail email me at . * Priority Limit - only show To Dos with a priority creater than the chosen amount (lower number means greater priority). * Use 'Dates' Priority Order - this is a special case pref. If checked it ignores the priority setting set by DateMan or MoreInfo. Included because some people have created To Do's using these products, then stopped using them. * Use Speech - if you have the Speech Extension installed, Reminder will speak the reminders. Cost ---- Reminder costs $15 US. It will run for 7 days and then expire, unless it's paid for. You can register your copy by calling Tactile Systems at 303-841-1114. Or you can go to . Note that this is not a secure server. Checks should be made payable to Tactile Systems and sent to the address below. All checks need to be drawn on a US bank. Thank You --------- I would like to thank our group of Beta Testers. Without them Reminder would have been a shadow of what it is today. Future Features and Bugs ------------------------ If you have ideas for features please send them in to me. Depending on the complexity the may be added quickly. Reminder has been through a long period of Beta testing and we think we have found all of the bugs. However if you do find on send me any information you can about what you where doing, and what was happening when the problem occured. If an exception happened, install BugTrap (available on our web-site) and send me the log it creates. All ideas and bugs for Reminder should be sent to . Company Info ------------ Tactile Systems, Inc. 19970 Latigo Lane Parker, CO 80138 info@tactile.com http://www.tactile.com