Get IM Reminders from SmarterChild

If you're a longtime internet user you probably remember IRC and other chat systems that were around before instant messaging. If that's the case you're probably also familiar with bots or "chatterbots." Back in the day these things were used for automating chat room functions like creating moderators and "ops."

While most people may not be familiar with bots they still do exist in a number of different ways. The most familiar bot most AIM users know today usually pretends to be one of your friends. I see these a lot - most of my friends have no idea how to create a hypertext link so I'm instantly suspicious when they send me a message with one in it!

There are several helpful bots that exist today though - one of them is SmarterChild by Colloquis, Inc. Just add SmarterChild to your buddy list and drop it an IM.

When you first IM SmarterChild it'll ask you a few questions (not in the creepy a/s/l way) and then you're ready to go. Type something like "define Synonym" and it will give you a definition. "Synonym Define" and you'll get see a thesaurus. You can even type "Square root of 100" and it'll provide you with an answer!

Besides a dictionary, thesaurus, and calculator you can also use SmarterChild to poll your friends and even send you reminders. That's right, type "Remind me about Heroes at 8:45 PM" and you'll get a text message reminding you to watch TV!

The best news about all of this is that SmarterChild is owned by Microsoft so you can be sure it's trustworthy for sending basic messages.