Birthdays and Such… is an application meant to be launched on daily startup, to remind you of the important birthdays and anniversaries in your life. It works for me, which has made me the envy of all my friends and relatives. By setting reminders 10 or so days ahead, I find I’m as on the ball as the best of the rest of my friends and relatives in remembering to buy cards and presents (and to actually send them)—and way ahead of the date-impaired.
Now admittedly you’re going to have to type in a list of all the important dates you want to remember. But this is a one-time task. From then on, you’re home free (ok, ok, you still have to add and remove friends and relatives as they’re born and die...). But that certainly beats my previous annual efforts to write every date onto the family calendar or into my day-timer. And it results in a list that, printed out from your word processing program, makes it easy to buy your whole year’s cards in one shopping trip!
Double-click Birthdays and Such… now to see what Reminders the sample file has in store for you today.
Birthdays and Such… runs on almost every Macintosh computer that’s been made. To use Birthdays and Such…, make sure you have the following minimum system:
• a Macintosh computer made in 1986 or later (that is, not a Mac 128 or Mac 512)
• system software version 6.0 or later (actually, System 6.0.4 or later may be required), but takes advantage of System 7 features if available (I've tested it extensively under early System 6 versions, but use it daily under System 7.5)
The steps to use Birthdays and Such… are simple: You type your list of important dates into a text file you call “Reminders” (just modify the sample “Reminders” file that’s part of the package -- simple instructions are in the manual). And you set Birthdays and Such… to run every time you start your Macintosh.
Then every time you turn on your Macintosh, it starts up Birthdays and Such… The program looks up the current date and scans the Reminders file for upcoming events. And voilá, in the topmost window on your screen, it displays just those—the ones you need to do something about. It’s at this point that I write myself a short note to buy a card, or I pull out the card I bought earlier.
(If you leave your Macintosh running for days at a time, that’s ok, too: Birthdays and Such… will update to the next day’s reminders every night on the stroke of midnight.)
Birthdays and Such… is shareware. (No, not for my relatives and friends. Don’t be silly. I sent it to each of you as a gift. But if you’re not already one of my friends, relatives and acquaintances, Birthdays and Such… is shareware.) Birthdays and Such… is NOT a free or public domain program.
As with most shareware, please try it for yourself for a day, a week, a month. Unlike most shareware, however, Birthdays and Such… is What’sItWorthWare—that is, I believe in user-determined pricing. You decide what Birthdays and Such… is worth. Then send me a money order or a check. (What’s it worth to save your marriage? What’s it worth to maintain your relationship with your parents? OK, maybe Birthdays and Such… won’t do that all by itself, but... :-)
Please keep Birthdays and Such…, this “About” file, the sample Reminders file, the manual, and any addendum or readme files bundled together, if you pass it on to someone else. (But you may want to add your birthday to the sample Reminders file before giving it to your friends!)
The manual should be able to answer all your questions. If you find it inadequate in any way, please let me know: I’d like to improve it.
Warranty information: To the best of my knowledge (derived in considerable part from years of use and testing), Birthdays and Such… is "harmless". Nonetheless, Birthdays and Such… is offered "as is" and is not covered by any warranty of any kind, so use it at your own risk. If you do find a bug, I'd like to hear about it — I may not be able to fix it, but I'd at least like to know about it.
