MINDFUL - event reminder software with date and time tools

Event reminder software with date and time tools in a simple to use system tray application

Mindful SE (Special Edition)

Overview of Mindful Mindful versus Mindful SE List of features Current version

Upgrade information System requirements Installation Instructions Order Information

Mindful^TM combines an event reminder, mini calendar, date calculator^SE and countdown timer^SE in an easy to use system tray application. Define your own events and/or select from a list of 72 predefined events including many US, Canadian and Jewish holidays. Use Mindful to be reminded of appointments, bill payments, anniversaries and any occasions, recurring or not, that you never want to miss.

Events can be simple such as anniversaries, which occur every year on the same day, or formulated such as a meeting that occurs every 3 months on the last Friday of the month. Mindful supports both simple and formulated events.

The age of a person (or event) can be included in the event description simply by adding the year of birth (or original event year) in square brackets into the event name. For example, if you set the name of an event to "John's [1967] Birthday", this item will appear as "John's 38th Birthday" in the list of events (assuming of course that the current year is 2005 and that John's birthday has not yet passed in the current year).

Mindful also supports one-time events that can be deleted automatically once passed or kept for future reference, according to your preference. Keeping a one-time event for future reference can be useful to remember when was the last time it occurred, such as when you had your last sight test.

With the Special Edition (Mindful SE), each event can have an alarm. Alarms perform specific actions such as displaying a popup window and/or executing another program or Internet shortcut at a precise time on the day of the event.

A simple wizard helps you through the creation and modification of events so that you don't have to remember all of the possible options when you create or modify them.

When your list of events is refreshed (i.e. when the program starts or at the beginning of a new day), the most current event is automatically selected as the first visible item in the list. In order to make it easier to identify events of interest, items in your list of events are color-coded according to their point in time. By default past events appear in blue, current day events appear in bold red, events due for notice appear in orange, and other future events appear in green.

With the Special Edition (Mindful SE), you can prevent recurring events from rolling forward automatically each time your list of events is refreshed, until you have acknowledged that it is acceptable to do so (i.e. cleared the event). This is useful if you have some events that you don't want to roll forward until you have performed a certain task. For example, you may want to make sure you haven't forgotten to pay a bill before your monthly bill reminder is rolled forward to the next month, even if the date of that event (due date of the bill) has already passed. In the same way, one-time events that should be deleted once passed will not be deleted until they have been cleared either.

With the Special Edition (Mindful SE), you can also manually roll forward some events ahead of time. For example, you may have created an event for the due date of a monthly bill but you don't want to see this item at the top of your event list once you have sent a payment for that bill, even if the bill due date has not yet passed. By manually rolling the event forward to its next occurrence, this item is immediately repositioned further down in your event list according to its new occurrence date.

Mindful loads automatically when you start your computer and then displays your list of events if at least one item in the list is due for notice (i.e. days left <= days notice). If no event in your list is due for notice, the program loads minimized. When minimized, the program remains in your system tray ready for you to use again whenever you need it. Positioning the mouse cursor over the program icon in the system tray will have your next upcoming event displayed in a hint. Simply left-click the program icon in the system tray to restore (i.e. display) your list of events.

If you leave your computer on overnight, Mindful updates your list of events automatically in the first minute of the new day and shows you a balloon hint above the system tray (Windows 2000 and XP only) to this effect so you can be aware of this change the next time that you look at your computer screen.

There are 2 editions of Mindful; the standard edition simply referred to as Mindful (freeware version) and the Special Edition referred to as Mindful SE. The standard edition is free for anyone to use but has fewer features than the Special Edition, which requires a low one-time fee to use but provides many more features. Following is an overview of the features you get in each edition. Each feature is explained in greater detail in the List of Features below.

Feature	Mindful	Mindful SE
User-defined events	Unlimited	Unlimited
Predefined events	72	72
Event age calculator	Yes	Yes
Event alarms	-	Yes
Event notes	Yes	Yes
Manual roll forward	-	Yes
Roll forward clearance	-	Yes
Color-coded events	Hard-coded	Customizable
Distinct user file	Yes	Yes
Mini calendar	Yes	Yes
Date calculator	-	Yes
Countdown timer	-	Yes

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The events that you define yourself can be simple, like anniversaries that occur on the same date every year, or formulated, such as a meeting that occurs on the last Friday of the month every three months. Mindful supports both simple and formulated events.

Each event (user-defined or not) has a number of options that you can set when creating or modifying the event. For example, you can preset the number of days at which you want to be notified that an event is coming, or whether or not a one-time event should be deleted once passed.

Predefined events
Mindful also provides a list of 72 predefined events including many US, Canadian and Jewish holidays. However, you won't be reminded of all these events automatically just because they are supported by the program. You need to select the predefined events of which you want to be reminded to include them in your own list of events for Mindful to remind you of these events.

Predefined events also have a number of options that you can set when adding them to your list of events.

Event age calculator
The age of a person (or event) can be calculated automatically and included in the event description simply by adding the year of birth (or original event year) in square brackets into the event name.

For example, if you set the name of an event to "John's [1967] Birthday", this item will appear as "John's 38th Birthday" in the list of events (assuming of course that the current year is 2005 and that John's birthday has not yet passed in the current year).

Event alarms (Special Edition)
Event alarms go one step further in notifying you of events. By setting an alarm for an event, you can have an action performed at a precise time on the day the event occurs. Possible actions include displaying a popup window with (or without) a countdown timer for a preset number of minutes, executing a file, or executing an Internet link. A sound is also played when the alarm goes off and when the countdown timer reaches zero.

Event notes
Each event can have notes attached to it. These notes can be useful to remind you of some additional information about an event that is not part of the event name itself. For example, the notes field for the anniversary of a friend can contain their mailing address so you can mail them a birthday card.

Manual roll forward (Special Edition)
By default, event dates are rolled forward to their next occurrence each time an occurrence is passed. The manual roll forward feature allows you to force the date of a user-defined event to roll forward ahead of time.

For example, you may have created an event for the due date of a monthly bill but you don't want to see this item at the top of your event list once you have sent a payment for that bill, even if the bill due date has not yet passed. By forcing the event date to its next occurrence, this item is immediately repositioned further down in your event list according to its new occurrence date.

Roll forward clearance (Special Edition)
A roll forward clearance is a confirmation that allows Mindful to change the date of an event to its next occurrence. This feature is very handy if you need to confirm that you completed a certain task before an event date is rolled forward to its next occurrence. For example, you may want to confirm that you paid a monthly bill before the event for that bill is rolled forward to the next month. In this case, the event will continue to appear in your list of events due for notice (even if the actual event date has passed) until you manually clear the event. For events that don't require a roll forward clearance, simply check the auto-clear flag when creating the event. Cleared events have a checkmark in the list of events.

Color-coded events
All events in Mindful are color-coded according to their point in time. By default, passed events appear in blue, current day events appear in bold red, events due for notice appear in orange and other future events appear in green in your list of events. With Mindful SE, you can customize the font color and style of your events according to your preferences.

Distinct user file
By default, your list of events is stored in a file called 'Mindful.bin' located in the folder where the software is installed. With the distinct user file feature, you can select a different folder or file name for storing your list of events. This feature has 2 advantages. The first one is that each user account on your computer can have its own event file (i.e. you don't have to share your list of events with other users of your computer). The second advantage is that the software can be used in a controlled environment where users do not have write access under the Program Files folder, which is where the generic event file is stored by default.

Mini calendar
Mindful includes a mini perpetual calendar that you can consult at any time while the program is running. The mini calendar is very handy if you need to consult a calendar from time to time.

Date calculator (Special Edition)
The date calculator in Mindful has two functions. It can calculate the number of days between two dates, or calculate a second date by adding a number of days to a first one.

Countdown timer (Special Edition)
Whether you have something to pick up at the front desk in five minutes, your favorite show starts in 10 minutes or you want to let your eggs boil for three minutes, you can count on this simple utility to help you make sure you are on time. Simply set the time to countdown, click Start, and let the timer do the rest. A progress bar is filled as the time progresses and a sound is played when the timer reaches zero.

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• 486DX, 66MHz or higher processor
• Windows® 98, Me, NT4, 2000, XP
• 3MB available hard disk space
• 5MB available RAM recommended

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The current version of Mindful is 1.2.6. For details on the changes in this version and a complete history of prior versions, please see the mfhistory.txt file.

If you are currently using the standard edition of Mindful and wish to take advantage of the additional features available only in the Special Edition (Mindful SE), you need to purchase a license to do so. Please see the order information below for more information.

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IMPORTANT NOTE FOR WINDOWS VISTA USERS:
Starting with Windows Vista, Microsoft decided NOT to ship WinHlp32.exe with any new version of their operating system. WinHlp32.exe is required to display the help files included in this version of Mindful. If WinHlp32.exe is not already installed on your computer, you must download and install it in order to be able to view the help files included in this version of Mindful. For more information or to download and install WinHlp32.exe on your computer, please click here.

IMPORTANT: These installation instructions are for the standard edition of Mindful only. The installation instructions for the Special Edition (Mindful SE) are provided by email when you order a license to use the software. If Mindful SE is already installed on your computer, you can follow the installation instructions you received by email to update your current version to the new one. To order a license for Mindful SE, please visit our order page.

If you have an older version of Mindful installed on your computer, simply install the current version in the same location. You don't have to - and should not - uninstall the older version of Mindful before installing the new one.

1. Close Mindful - if it is already running on your computer - before installing a new version.

2. Click here to download the installation file for Mindful. Depending on your web browser, you may be prompted to either open or save the installation file (mf1.exe). Select 'Save' to save the file in a folder of your choice on a local drive.

3. Once the download is complete, if there is an 'Open' or 'Run' button displayed on the download dialog then click it to open (run) the installation file. Otherwise take note of the location where the installation file was saved and then run it from that location either through Windows Explorer (locate and double-click the installation file name) or through the Windows' Run command (select 'Start | Run...', provide the complete path of the installation file and click 'OK').

4. Follow the installation file instructions to complete the installation.

5. Share the excitement. Tell your friends and relatives about Mindful.

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The Special Edition (Mindful SE) is available for a low one-time license fee. Upon receiving your order, we will send you an email with instructions to download and install your copy of Mindful SE on your computer. Please visit our order page to place your order.

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