You forgot to wish your mom on her birthday, your dentist's appointment, to pick up the dry cleaning. Maybe what you need is your own personal secretary -- or an e-mail reminder service. You'll find several ones on the Internet, like www.memotome.com. With this one, all you have to do is register and enter what you want to remember -- whether it's to pick up laundry detergent or a gift for your parents' 50th wedding anniversary -- and the service will e-mail you reminders as far in advance and as often as you like. You can also choose to be reminded of weekly, monthly, yearly or one-off events.

Before you register with any email reminder service, read its privacy policy: Some may share their registrant's email addresses with direct marketers or spammers.