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43Folders.com is Merlin Mann’s website about finding the time and attention to do your best creative work.

Sciral Consistency update: Remember flexible tasks

Sometimes surprises come from unexpected places. (Um, I guess that’s part of why they’re surprising.) Case in point, yesterday I opened Sciral Consistency as I’ve done several times a day for the last five years. This time, however, something happened that hasn't occurred since sometime in 2005. A notification window announced that a new version of the application was available for downloading.

I seriously thought that it must be an error. I had just moved all my files to a different computer and perhaps a bit or date stamp got munged,. But, no, there really is a new version. I, and some other Consistency users, thought the application had been abandoned, but now there’s a shiny new Universal Binary version. (There’s also a new version of Windows users.) It’s like Christmas before Thanksgiving! But in a good way.

If you’re not familiar with Consistency, it’s a useful way to keep track of re-occuring tasks that need to be done regularly (or, ahem, consistently) but not on a firm schedule. For example, Consistency reminds me that I need to water the house plants every 3 to 5 days, clean the Ionic Breeze air filters approximately once a week, and that my dog, Scooter, needs his nails trimmed approximately monthly. For more on using Consistency, see Merlin’s post from 2004 and a related post at my blog.

About gordonmeyer

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Bio

Gordon Meyer is a Chicago-based author of dozens of software manuals, an expert in "do it yourself" home automation (he wrote Smart Home Hacks for O'Reilly Media), and an experienced public speaker. His interests include conjuring, sociology, and humanizing technology.

 
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