Anyone who's ever travelled is surely familiar with the dreaded Manila Folder—that sheaf of printouts, receipts and tickets we rely on to stay on schedule during a trip. Now

Home cooking is a basic pleasure that gets denied by busy schedules all too often, and at least part of the reason is the time that must go into shopping for and preparing ingredients before the cooking can begin. We've already covered a few examples of semi-cooking purveyors (most recently:

Back in June, we covered a location-based service—

Following our coverage of Bizzyboard, a whiteboard calendar for coordinating family schedules, one of our spotters came across Cozi—one of those solutions the web was born to provide.

Launched about a year ago, Cozi Central is an online service that helps busy families manage schedules, appointments, shopping and communications from wherever they are—the kitchen, car, office or even the grocery store. Available both as a software download and in a online version, the service gives the entire family access to shared calendars, shopping lists and reminders from any computer or mobile phone. Cozi's colour-coded calendar module tracks appointments for everyone in the family, while the message function helps family members coordinate via phone or e-mail. A downloadable Cozi Outlook toolbar helps parents stay connected while at work. Centralized shopping lists are available for access remotely, and a photo collage screensaver lets family members enjoy and share their digital photos. Best of all, the service is free for users, funded by Cozi's relationships with co-branding, advertising and affiliate partners.

“The American family has never been busier,” explains Mari Baker, former president of BabyCenter and a board member for Seattle-based Cozi. “In the majority of households, both parents are working and kids are involved in so many extracurricular activities that moms spend much of their time coordinating, chauffeuring and juggling. Cozi Central is family-ready—it can handle the hectic nature of family life and provides an easy method for managing the day-to