Introducing Remind - A Text-based Calendar [GTD Wannabe]
Before I can continue with my Super-Duper Personalized Productivity Desktop background series (see intro and stack), I need to introduce you to the software required to get your text-based calendar onto your desktop background.
First, for you folks that are living in Windows, you need to make the acquaintance of Cygwin. Cygwin is described as a UNIX-like environment for Windows, which basically means that it lets you do things in Windows that Mac users, UNIX users, and Linux users can already do.
Then, armed with Cygwin, you can make use of the Remind application. Funnily enough, even though “remind” is a very common word, if you google “remind”, the first hit you get is what we’re actually talking about, i.e., the Remind open source product over at Roaring Penguin. Remind is “a sophisticated calendar and alarm program”. I’ve only started scratching the surface of what I can do with Remind combined with Cygwin, but it’s actually enabled me to stop using Outlook for my calendar. I don’t want to get anyone too excited though; working with Remind is not for the faint of heart. However, if you’re into geeking and into text files then you too can have your calendar showing up on your desktop with Samurize, just like in this picture.
The Remind Calendar - Where to Find Help
Instead of trying to explain Remind to you, I’m going to point you to the sites that I went to when I was learning about it. Suffice it to say that you start with a text file, a certain syntax to describe appointments, due dates, etc., and Cygwin to run it all on a Windows machine. These sites are great, and when I have questions, I go back to them.
- Remind Download Site (Roaring Penguin)
- The “purest” information about remind will come from its man pages. To get to this “manual”, at the cygwin prompt, simply type “man remind”. Or, you can look at this pretty html version, available at the Roaring Penguin.
- Geek to Live: Keep Your Calendar in Plain Text with Remind (LifeHacker)
- A seminal post; more enthusiasm for text files and remind, and this time from a Windows perspective. This will be the best place for Windows folks to start.
- Guest: Mike Harris looks at “Remind” (43Folders)
- I think this was actually where I got my first look at Remind. Anything that Merlin Mann does has got to be eminently cool and “tryable“.
- 43Folders Remind Wiki Entry
- Another great resource, includes script snippets, use cases, helper utilities, etc.
- Remind: The Ultimate Personal Calendar (Linux Journal)
- Manage your time with Remind (Linux.com)
These last two I include for the sake of completeness. I’ve spent quite a lot of time searching online for more information, examples, etc. for Remind. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be all that much. The posts I’ve linked to above are it. If you have any other links to online Remind resources, please let me know; I’d like to update my library.
Categories: GTD, productivity, calendar, remind, cygwin, samurize, todo.txt
Original post here: GTD Wannabe
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