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Lifestyle
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AnyDay.com
1999
was a hot year for online calendars. Two
category leaders were snatched up by AOL
and Microsoft, and that left AnyDay.com
as the best-equipped calendar that exists
independently. Designed by some of the
people behind Lotus's Organizer PIM, the
site includes an integrated calendar,
address book, reminder service and task
manager with an event directory that lets
you blend in your favorite sports events
or TV shows. The site hasn't yet implemented
enough synchronization tools for PIMs
and PDAs, but that will come; in the meantime,
its great online interface is worth a
test drive.
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eHobbies
eHobbies
is a really good example of a vertical
portal, a site designed to serve all the
needs of a particular niche--in this case,
the millions of people obsessed with things
like model trains and rockets, radio-controlled
vehicles, and more. There are articles
and tips on every relevant topic, sensible
shopping that covers all the categories,
lively communities full of aficionados,
and an online magazine to teach you the
basics of getting involved in any of the
hobbies that the site covers.
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eHow
How
do you set a table? Treat a cold? Ask
for a raise? Fix your inline skates? You
can find detailed responses to thousands
of questions like these at eHow, and each
answer is accompanied by a list of items
you may want to buy to help with the task
you're trying to accomplish. Though the
shopping side of the site will need further
work before it's truly convenient, the
answers to the questions are fun and sometimes
educational, and if the site doesn't have
an answer, it attempts to provide one
within several days.
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Evite.com
When
you have to organize a barbecue, a night
out with the girls, a church meeting,
a family reunion, or any kind of event
for 6, 8, 20, 50, or even 100 people,
you've got to call or e-mail everyone,
collect RSVPs, give directions, and make
sure you don't end up with 20 potato salads
and no chicken. Evite.com automates everything.
You fill out a form that describes all
the parameters of the event in question
and all the invitees get an e-mail directing
them to the Web, where they encounter
a mini-Web site devoted to your event.
They RSVP. They check off which kind of
food they'll bring. They leave a note
for a group. There's no complicated group
calendaring, and the whole process feels
democratic because anyone can post a comment
on the party page. What a great idea.
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seeUthere
Like
Evite.com, seeUthere helps you organize
events online, but it tackles larger-scale
meetings and includes tools for ticketing.
That means you can use it for things like
charity fund-raisers, conferences, and
reunions, and you can make contact with
your invitee list via fax, letter, postcard,
or e-mail. People can RSVP by phone, and
the site can handle credit card transactions.
(There are fees for all these services.)
Reporting tools are very strong, so you
can easily keep track of how your event
is shaping up. It's another way the Web
is simplifying tasks that can be particularly
onerous to accomplish the old-fashioned
way.
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