From Slavery to Freedom, PC Style

 

By David Shamah, The Jerusalem Post, Friday, April 15 2005

 

The pressure is mounting and the house is a mess, and I've got one week to go before the crowd comes to fress. Meanwhile the kids are running underfoot and I'm under so much stress, this is the wrong week to keep them home from school for a spring recess!

 

The cleaning seems to be endless, and I haven't even started thinking about the menu, But I had better think fast, because next week 25 people are going to descend on this venue. They'll all be here for the Seder, of course, an annual gathering, a celebration of freedom for me and you. But it’s a big production, one that to carry out successfully requires a great deal of ingénue.

 

The "Festival of Freedom" is an apt name for this holiday. You have to work so hard to pull it off; working on these endless chores is drudgery - its slavery, almost certainly, we portray! But on the big night, when everyone sits down to the grand buffet, it's certain to be a grand show, a marvelous soiree.

 

But there's just so much to do! I could use a little help, but ask these kids to do some work and they start to yelp. Little Irving and Morris, Shirley and Bella, they’re very sweet kids, but the way they run when I ask them to put things away or groceries to shlep, you'd think I was trying to feed them a salad made of kelp!

 

All day on the Internet, surfing and playing and downloading MP3s galore - compared to all that fun, obviously getting ready for the holiday is a bore. Getting them to vacuum, wash windows, and straighten up closets is like going to war, meanwhile I'm stuck with all the work – and boy, are my arms sore!

 

I need help – I need them to work! Without some assistance, when the guests come I am going to end up looking like a jerk. I've tried to convince them to help, promising a reward and a perk. But so far, the duties I have assigned them they simply shirk.

 

What I need is a system, a way to keep track of their doings. This way, I can make sure they do their chores properly, the execution of which I will be constantly reviewing. I am sure that once I implement my system, complaints they will be spewing. But I don't care – if these kids don't get off their backsides and work, they can be sure there will be trouble brewing.

 

I need some to keep tabs on them, to make sure that to a task schedule they keep, whether they are assigned a task major or minor, like which floor they need to sweep. I'm no ogre – I'm not looking to turn them into robots, or simple working sheep; I want them to enjoy their vacation, but without their help in cleaning, the chometz and garbage are just going to stay in one big heap!

 

So, surfing the Internet looking for a scheduling program to install – you know I always turn to my computer first, it really does it all – I found a program that would make sure the kids stay on the ball, letting the family on Seder night stand tall.

 

What it comes down to, in my opinion, is ensuring that there is clear communication, making sure everyone knows what to do is likely to cut down on frustration. And with MediaBee, the program I discovered, organization is a vocation. When it comes to organizing tasks and assignments to get ready for Pesach, this app is a sensation!

 

MediaBee is an organizer, which can run on one computer, or within a home network, on many. This program has many features to help organize tasks, whether one or twenty. For assignments that need to be carried out, confusion there will not be any. And the best thing about MediaBee is that it doesn't cost a penny!

 

MediaBee lets you set up a scheduler, where you assign all family members a task

Whether its shopping or cleaning, or washing dishes and flasks. It's got an automatic reminder system, so you remember to nudge and ask whether they've done their work, or whether their laziness they're trying to mask.

 

You can sent out reminder messages (e-mail and even cell phone, in certain places), and make sure all tasks synchronize. There is also a progress bar, so if a kid does their work conscientiously, they can get a prize. For each task you insert information, like if to finish the job you need any supplies; with this system, you make sure that getting tasks done on time is something everyone tries.

 

You can classify tasks by any number ways, whether by people or responsibilities or hours and days. Color-coding is another tool that will catch everyone's gaze, when they check out the MediaBee assignment list, there will be no doubt as to what assignments their task list portrays.

 

In a sense, MediaBee is like a calendar you put on the wall, like those big assignment grids you find in schools, in the hall. Its main tools ensure that when it comes to their tasks, no one has the opportunity to stall; and it’s a lot neater and far more efficient that a notepad, or some other reminder pad on which information you would scrawl.

 

But MediaBee has many other uses – like keeping tabs on assignments teachers give the kids, and measure the progress of the work that they did. This way, you make sure they stay ahead, that their grades don't begin to skid, so that they don’t get detention or even left back, G-d forbid!

 

It's also good for group leaders, or for folks who need to get together, to meet. You can set your agenda, and make sure it isn't incomplete. That's because you can collaborate on the agenda with others by publicly publishing it on the Internet – no small feat. Running a meeting using a tool like this is not a chore, it's a treat!

 

Besides organization, MediaBee has some other useful and fun features too, like letting you see the local weather (works for Israel too), complete with maps, in a screensaver view. You can also see slide show of photos and interesting scenes you download from the Internet and accrue, all the better to entertain and motivate your crew.

 

You can also subscribe to news and other goodies (via RSS) and interesting photos from various sites, providing one and all with visual delights. But all the while, MediaBee does not forget what it does best and what it does right – giving you a handle on what everyone is up to, and making sure they carry out their assignments, helping you out with your planning plight.

 

So does it work, you ask? How will my Seder go? Will it be a flop, or a dog and pony show? Of course I can't predict the future – that no one can know. MediaBee, however has had one positive effect, though.

 

Instead of arguing over who needs to do what, like I was trying to make them unfairly wash extra pots, the kids gather round the PC to compare notes, to see whom, when it comes to tasks, is coming out tops. What a great system this is – I hope it never stops!

 

MediaBee requires Windows 2000 or XP. Download it for free from http://mediabee.com.

 

NOTE: In last week's discussion of the Gimp photo editing program, I mentioned that the one disadvantage of the program for those used to Adobe Photoshop was the unfamiliar interface in the Gimp. However, these is a useful tool that can help make the Gimp more user-friendly for PS users, and that's  GimpShop, which will reorganize menus and tools to look more like what you'd expect from the Adobe program. Unlike PS, though, GimpShop – as well as the Gimp itself – is free! Download GimpShop from http://plasticbugs.com (download links are on the middle of this page). For Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.

 

ds@newzgeek.com