organization

Searching for cheap solar cells in computer models

Researchers have developed a way to find novel solar cell materials: throw computers at the problem.

In a paper published this week in Nature Communications, the researchers said their method of sifting through millions of possible molecules has yielded a compound that holds promise as a material for organic solar cells.

The Harvard University-led project, which started more than two years ago, is a collaboration with IBM to manage and supply the computing resources for the World Community Grid, where people supply idle PC time to contribute to research projects lacking sufficient compute resources.

Traditional solar cells are made from … Read more

Organize your app drawer with GoToApp

GoToApp gives you a more organized, tab-based alternative to the default Android app drawer. You can create any number of tabs, and rearrange your apps among them as you see fit.

When you first run GoToApp, it does a bit of housekeeping for you by creating Main, Game, Tools, and Others tabs and dividing your existing apps among them. Of course, it doesn't categorize every app perfectly, but it's really simple to move things around and create new tabs as necessary. You can also create child folders within tabs to further organize your apps. And you can choose … Read more

Free student organizer

Organizer binders and laptop PCs take up about the same amount of space in your backpack, but that's about as far as the similarities go. Laptops kick ring binders back to chalk-and-blackboard days, where they belong, and they can stay there, too, thanks to usefully cool freeware like IslandSW's StudentDOG, the school organizer designed "by students for students." It's got everything students need to stay organized, on time, and productive both in and out of school.

StudentDOG unifies all its functions in one tabbed interface. It packs a lot in each view, but it never … Read more

Business document archive

So you're in business, and you've got a PC and a scanner. You're dutifully scanning and saving all your business documents (hopefully not jumbled together in your scanner's default archive). Simple Doc Organizer Free Edition is a free document organizing utility designed specifically for small- and medium-size businesses. It makes it easy to store and find your scanned, saved, or imported documents.

We downloaded and extracted the program's zipped installer, which then downloads and installs the program files. We also had to disable our User Account Control settings, which required a reboot. A Configure Wizard … Read more

LG prepping 55-inch OLED TVs for 2012

Size matters, and LG is upping the ante in the fiercely competitive TV market by announcing its plans to debut a 55-inch OLED (organic light-emitting diode) giant in mid-2012. At the moment, the chaebol is already shipping a 15-incher based on the same technology and previously showcased a 31-inch prototype at the IFA trade show in Berlin last year.

OLED allows manufacturers to produce exceptionally thin TVs without compromising picture quality, although larger screens remain very costly to make. Early adapters will have to pay a huge premium to own these 55-inchers and we reckon that a 3D-capable version could be in the pipeline, too.

(Source: Crave Asia via Engadget HD) … Read more

Mail master

Keeping a list of customer contact information is only part of what it takes to stay in touch; you also need tools to make it easy to produce and mail correspondence. TSC Free Address Book is much more than just a database of addresses. This program also lets users create form letters and labels, saving time when you're ready to contact your clients or any other group of people you need to correspond with en masse.

TSC Free Address Book's interface isn't particularly attractive, but it is easy enough to navigate. Users can create personal profiles for … Read more

Personal organizer for students

Personal organizers are nothing new, but most of them are designed for businesspeople and are heavy with business-oriented features like client contact managers and meeting planners. Get Organized from JTK Solutions is different: it's optimized for students, especially secondary and college students. It helps busy students keep their assignments as well as keep track of their grades. Best of all, it's free, so impoverished scholars can download and use it and still be able to eat next week--maybe even food!

Get Organized opened with an optional Get Started dialog that walked us through the process of adding terms, … Read more

Task list tool

You've probably had the dubious pleasure of walking into a store with the intention of buying a variety of needed items, only to draw a complete blank once you're in the aisles. What To Do is portable freeware that creates task lists designed to put an end to such forgetfulness.

What To Do downloads as a ZIP file, but since it's completely portable you can save it in any directory or even to a mobile device or USB drive. During the initial setup, we could choose destination directories for the folders What To Do uses to store … Read more

Organize your notes with themes

Awesome Note for iPhone lets you manage messages, memos, and ideas in several unique ways. An intuitive interface lets you use themes to help categorize information the way you want and get to the information you need quickly. Awesome Note includes a few demo categories (shown as folders) that you can use to see how your notes and info will be laid out. You can create new folders by hitting the add folder button in the lower right, selecting your preferred color, and adding a title. Opening a folder displays your notes for that category laid out as thumbnails so … Read more

Top note-taking apps for iOS

Aside from games, some of the most popular categories of iOS apps in the iTunes App Store are note-taking apps. Whether you're a student taking notes for class or your workday requires that you take notes in meetings, a handy app that makes it easy to jot things down and organize them can be incredibly useful.

Apple's Pages ($9.99) is probably the most obvious choice here, having been around since the first iPad was launched (now a universal app for iPhone and iPod Touch as well), but there are several third-party apps that offer different features that might be more in tune with your style of note-taking.

This week's iOS apps are all about taking notes. The first is all about taking notes that autosync across all your devices; the second offers a sleek-looking interface with several themes to categorize your notes; and the last is an iPad-only app offering an elegant system for keeping your class and meeting notes organized.… Read more