I like this idea of being able to control reminders via email. It's the single tool I use most during a day, so it makes sense to use it to its full potential. This will probably wind up being more useful than some calendar program.

NefariousNewt

@hurricanejessiee: Sandy's an epicene name. Just take the icon and Photoshop it a buzz cut and a Raiders cap and you're in business.

infmom

You know what would make this even better?

If Sandy could either be male OR female. I can't wait to see the day when assistants - virtual or human - aren't automatically assumed to be women.

Just sayin'.

hurricanejessiee

@jbohlinger: There are actually im users out there that do this. Check out SmarterChild as an example (just add it as a buddy)

arod

The only thing that could make this better is if Sandy also existed via IM. As we become more fast paced as a culture, I think IM would be the best way to go with something like this.

jbohlinger

looks like Sandy went to lunch just after I hired her.

steve w.

So what happens 2 years down the road when iwantsandy.com is no longer operational and no one reminds you to call you Mom on her birthday?

There are so many of these Web 2.0 webapps that start-up and shut-down every month that it's hard to justify investing time into setting up, and, more importantly, trusting with your long-term tasks and data.

All and all though, Sandy seems like a good resource for inbox junkies to take advantage of. Just hope it stays around for the long haul or gets bought by Google.

LastVigilante

I am actually pretty fond of using "Remember The Milk" along with Jott, and google calendar. Together I can set up any item I want on a calendar, as a email or a Mobile phone reminder (Sending and receiving), whether I am at work, in the car or at home.

How is Sandy better than these solutions? Or is this simply another option for people to choose from to help them manage their schedules, to-do lists, etc?

EracMan

Update: I did indeed find instructions from Sandy to use Jott ... will try it this evening. [getsatisfaction.com]

One question still remains ... how do the two services (Jott and GoPingMe) compare?

Samson

wait, I remember this from somewhere
[www.boingboing.net]
Mark Frauenfelder created the image of "Sandy"
did a pretty good job too. stuck in my mind all these months despite never having visited the actual website.

zikman

@infmom: True, but still. We shouldn't have to Photoshop an icon in order to achieve total equality. I know it's a stretch and a metaphor, but still.

hurricanejessiee

@Mic Check ... 2 3: oops I pressed enter too soon.
+She is busy reminding me of the brownies I have procrastinated to bake.

Mic Check ... 2 3

I've been using GoPingMe (previously featured on Lifehacker). Can anyone compare the two services?

One thing I love about GoPingMe is the clear instructions they provide to work that service with Jott.com. Does anyone use Sandy with Jott?

Samson

This sounds cool. I'll check it out. It'll be great if you can Jott to Sandy.

steveand

Sorry fellas. Sandy's schedule is full with other personal assistings tonight.

Mic Check ... 2 3

@arod: You mean SmarterChild is something more than an IMbot that I can curse at when projects are not working out, weird?

VestedFox

@xanderificus: holy sh--. That's pretty uncool.

NetDiva

I signed up to check it out and got this email:
"By sending email to the personal address I've set up for you, NEGROES@xander_______.iwantsandy.com ...." (emphasis mine)

Okay, I'm not "Mr. P.C." but WHAT THE HECK!?!?

Thank the gods that, once fully subscribed, I have the option of changing the email prefix to something less irksome.

xanderificus

@Xanderificus: Try as we might to balance randomness and kindness, the fates (here defined as our random magic word chooser) sometime conspire against us. Rather than making yet another pass through to make sure we don't land someone with even "toothache" or "doubtful", we're switching to random strings of letters (which you can change any time you'd like at [iwantsandy.com]). Sorry for the surprise! --Rael

raelity

oh man, that really tickled me haha, it's worth signing up just to find out how many accounts I need before the random letters arrange to tell me to F.O. haha, "negroes" oh man.

zarathustra

Now that I've started to use it, I'm liking it even more. There is one gripe I have though - they need a @biweekly key. I'd like it to remind of things that are due every two weeks, but right now I'll have to remember to update the reminder each time to remind me again in two weeks.

NefariousNewt

What about privacy? How does a company like this make a profit? Do they sell my info, aggregate user data? Are there any ads?

Thanks

Hoppes

First day on the job and Sandy's a no-show...this does not bode well for Sandy's probationary period. I'll make a note for her annual performance review next November (if she makes it that long).

Hoppes

Yeah, I'm with Steve W. Sandy took off for the day. Getting a server error in the site and no responses to email. I'll give her until tomorrow before I fire her lazy butt.

ender

I've had an account for a while, but never got into it. I'm using Remember The Milk these days.

engtech

This seems like a good use for the Gmail "+address" feature discussed before. ([lifehacker.com]) You can have Sandy e-mail you at username+sandy@gmail.com, then set up a Gmail filter to forward those to your phone as text messages. I'm away from the computer a lot, and I'm going to give this a try.

MadMolecule

@HOPPES: Sorry you stopped by on Sandy's busiest day ever. I understand that time is short, but if you get a chance, I do urge you to pop by again.

raelity

@MADMOLECULE: Sandy does send out text messages, so you don't really need to route the email through Gmail or the like. If you wanted to, though, there's a lot in the messages that are pretty regular and so filters work nicely.

raelity

*NEFARIOUSNEWT: Sandy now sports @daily, @bidaily, @weekends, @weekdays, @weekly, @biweekly, @monthly, @bimonthly, @yearly, and @biannually recurrence tags.

raelity

@RAELITY: Since you're kindly adding them I tried asking Sandy to remind me @quarterly the other day and she added it as a project/context. Please add @quarterly to your intervals! TIA :)

roop