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Sometimes the programs we end up liking the best are the ones that aren't particularly innovative or exciting, but that simply do one thing and do it in a commonsense, elegant way. Efficient To-Do List Free Portable is just such a program. This portable application makes it easy to keep track of your tasks and set reminders without adding a bunch of useless bells and whistles.

The program's interface is sleek and intuitive, reminding us of recent versions of Microsoft Office products. In the dialog for creating new tasks you enter a subject, comments, start and due dates, … Read more

If you've ever worked for a nonprofit organization where your job included managing the membership roster, and had to do so using an outdated database program with very few useful features, you'll appreciate a program like Membership and Activity Records System. This comprehensive nonprofit database keeps track not only of your membership list, but of everything about your interactions with your members. It takes some effort to learn how to use MARS, but its multitude of features makes it worth the time investment.

MARS' interface is fairly straightforward, with its main features organized in five tabs. Some of … Read more

Grocery shopping--it can be fun, annoying, relaxing, or done in a rush, but it is always necessary. So why not use a grocery app for your phone that can help make the process go smoother every time? While the number of grocery apps in the Android Market is mind-boggling, the amount of features per app varies greatly. Out of Milk is relatively balanced on features, ease of use, and quality in comparison to many others. Here's how to use it to simplify the necessary task of grocery shopping:

Step 1: Grab Out of Milk from the … Read more

A bumpy start out of the gate has forced Nintendo to drop the price of the 3DS 32 percent, down to $170 from $250 beginning on August 12. A weak launch lineup, failure to deliver a robust online marketplace on time, a finicky 3D experience, and an overall dearth of compelling software are to blame for disappointing sales.

And what if you were one of the early adopters who paid full price for a 3DS? Fortunately, all is not lost. In an attempt to make good for those loyal few, Nintendo has introduced what the company is calling the "Ambassador program."

Any 3DS unit that connects to the Nintendo eShop before 11:59 p.m. ET on August 11 is automatically registered to receive 20 free titles from the online store. Ten free NES titles, including Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and The Legend of Zelda will be released on September 1, and 10 Game Boy Advance games, including Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong will be released before the end of the year. … Read more

New to Google+ and looking for more contacts? A feature launched yesterday lets you hunt for potential prospects by uploading your address book from Microsoft Outlook and other desktop e-mail clients.

As described in a Google+ post by Google technical staff member Paul Lindner, the feature works with several e-mail and address book programs beyond Outlook, including Outlook Express, Mozilla's Thunderbird, and Apple's Address Book. But it apparently also supports any e-mail address book or contact list that can be exported to a VCard/VCF or CSV (comma separated values) format.

I tested the feature using Microsoft Outlook … Read more

Facebook is a great tool for sharing ideas, playing games to waste time, and--oh right--keeping in touch with new and old friends. Syncing contacts from the Facebook app into your contacts is useful to some, but others consider it extra clutter in their contacts area. If you feel that way, how can you remove the link between Facebook and your contact list? Follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the Facebook app on your phone.

Step 2: Make your way to the general menu in the app, which may require pressing the back button once or twice. The app has a … Read more

Outsource the task of remembering with Springpad, a free app for Android and iOS. Rival to the popular Evernote service, Springpad lets you jot notes, create lists, bookmark items, copy recipes, record voice memos, and so much more, right from your mobile device or desktop browser.

First, create a Springpad account, with which your Springpad mobile app will automatically sync. Once you're logged in on your mobile device, you'll find on your Home screen a My Stuff icon, which aggregates all of your notes, and a Friends Stuff icon, which takes you to shared content. The rest of … Read more

The version of the Safari browser that will ship in iOS 5 in July will come with some enhanced features, Apple announced today at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The most visible change is the introduction of tabbed browsing, long a staple of the desktop version of Safari and other browsers. However, other significant changes have been made as well.

The feature for saving stories to be read at a later time, popularized by the Read It Later and Instapaper browser add-ons, will now come as a standard feature in Safari mobile. Reading List provides a more modern, … Read more

For many moons I've been looking for the perfect to-do list app for my iPhone. For a while I used Producteev, which I likened to Evernote for task management. But you know what? It was overkill.

Ultimately I realized that what I need is not a Web-accessible to-do list or even one that syncs with Outlook (a key consideration last year when I asked CNET readers to name their favorite to-do list app). I need one that lives on my iPhone, offers a simple, logically designed interface, and reminds me when it's time to do something. Period.

Oh, … Read more