Hello,
To copy a value of a field to another one we are using simple "onchange" javascript, added to "first name" and "last name" fields.
Then you can easily operate one fields values:
$('<field_id_here>').value = $('<source_field_id_here>').value
No rocket science. 🙂
And as for e-mail notification - we are actually targeting to make e-mails more redundant. For users who use public computer - we hope to make it easier to check epesi for records changes and e-mail (using integrated e-mail client - coming soon), than to login to check your (possibly) multiple e-mail boxes to see if anything new arrived.
For user with personal computers - we are currently developing a small desktop application that automatically checks for notifications (subscriptions, calendar alarms, shoutbox) and notify users in unobtrusive yet clear and visible way. This application is just a simple Tray icon.
Hope this helps,
Arek