PIM = Personal Information Manager
CRIMP = Compulsive Reactive Information Manager Purchasing (term may have been originally defined by Steve Zeoli, of Vermont)
Good summary post about CRIMP here: Interesting-Software Watch: More on 'The Brain'
Discussion on that here: CRIMPing makes it big time
I am not so much a sufferer of CRIMP but of CRIMT (Compulsive Reactive Information Manager Trialling). I won't actually purchase a PIM unless it seems pretty good or to have serious potential as a PIM.
I have been a CRIMT since I installed Lotus Agenda on a Toshiba laptop in 1990.
Spotting something that looks like it could be - or could have the potential to be - a great PIM fills me with the excitement of a new discovery. However, sadly, all too often the reality is tinged with disappointment/frustration.
Frustrating case in point - XLNotes:
I read about it in outlinersoftware.com, and went on a search for it.
Conclusion:
Quote
I am skeptical of this.
The downloaded ZIP file contains an .msi file of version 8.0 XLnotes (an Excel add-in). It does not install. It abends with the consistently repeatable error:
________________________
XLnotes 8.0
Error 1001. The type initializer for
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.Runtime.Security.UserlnclusionList' threw an exception. --> Could not load file or assembly
'Microsoft.VisualStudio.ToolsApplications.Hosting.v9.0, Version=9.0.0.0, Culture=neutral...
________________________
Given the ambiguity in that:
* If XLnotes was as good as the website claims, it could have the potential to transform the PIM market, yet nowhere can I find a pukka review of XLnotes, though it has apparently been going since 2009, at least.
* the .msi install fails (necessitating that you contact the authors by email if you want to get it “fixed“). Installs do not normally fail by chance, as they would have been tested as being stable under most common OS configurations, prior to release.
* Earlier versions of this “free” add-on were apparently a trial version and only allowed a max of 15 notes to be created/inserted in Excel.
* The website at http://xlnotes.com/ is in Russia.
* The website at http://xlnotes.com/ says:
** If you use XLnotes at home, you can use the free and unrestricted unregistered version.
** If you use XLnotes in an organization, you should purchase user licenses within the evaluation period of 30 days.
** To register your copy of XLnotes, please purchase a license key. XLnotes user licenses are $44.95 or less depending on volume discounts - and offers credit card purchase.
- then I would recommend caution - e.g., hold onto your credit card details (risk of potential ID scam).
=============================================
The downloaded ZIP file contains an .msi file of version 8.0 XLnotes (an Excel add-in). It does not install. It abends with the consistently repeatable error:
________________________
XLnotes 8.0
Error 1001. The type initializer for
Microsoft.VisualStudio.Tools.Office.Runtime.Security.UserlnclusionList' threw an exception. --> Could not load file or assembly
'Microsoft.VisualStudio.ToolsApplications.Hosting.v9.0, Version=9.0.0.0, Culture=neutral...
________________________
Given the ambiguity in that:
* If XLnotes was as good as the website claims, it could have the potential to transform the PIM market, yet nowhere can I find a pukka review of XLnotes, though it has apparently been going since 2009, at least.
* the .msi install fails (necessitating that you contact the authors by email if you want to get it “fixed“). Installs do not normally fail by chance, as they would have been tested as being stable under most common OS configurations, prior to release.
* Earlier versions of this “free” add-on were apparently a trial version and only allowed a max of 15 notes to be created/inserted in Excel.
* The website at http://xlnotes.com/ is in Russia.
* The website at http://xlnotes.com/ says:
** If you use XLnotes at home, you can use the free and unrestricted unregistered version.
** If you use XLnotes in an organization, you should purchase user licenses within the evaluation period of 30 days.
** To register your copy of XLnotes, please purchase a license key. XLnotes user licenses are $44.95 or less depending on volume discounts - and offers credit card purchase.
- then I would recommend caution - e.g., hold onto your credit card details (risk of potential ID scam).
=============================================
Some relevant links in DCF:
- Anyone using ActionOutline (Action Outline)?
- Why Trying to be Productive is a Huge Waste of Time
- + various discussions on named PIMs of one sort or another.
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