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General brainstorming for Note-taking software
nevf:
I've been thinking about this topic since the thread was stared and I think I know what I want, I just don't know what it looks like... so here it goes in words.
...
-Rover (March 20, 2006, 09:02 PM)
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Rover, good post. I've had this discussion a number of times. Some if not all folks just want to save stuff with the absolute minimum of interruption to their flow. Surfulater does not force you to interact with it in any way when capturing content. You can simply minimize it to the System Tray, set one option and it stays tucked away in the background briefly popping up a small message above the tray, each time you capture something. You get a date created stamp, an article title, the content you've selected to capture which can include a complete web page, and a URL or possibly a file link. This can be a capture from your Web Browser or using Surfulater's Clipboard Hotkey to capture content from other Windows Applications.
To find stuff you can either use the full text search or view all content in chronological (date/time) order.
Now having said that the payback in putting some effort into categorizing and organizing content pays off by making it easier to find information in the future. You can do this after the event by shifting articles off into folders and adding 'see also' links etc, or when you capture the content in the first place or not at all. The choice is all yours.
In the future you'll likely see automated article classification added, which should be interesting indeed.
Reminders are very high up on my own personal wish list.
PS. For info on keeping Surfulater in the background when adding content see the Help Topic | Power Features | Adding content with Surfulater hidden.
rjbull:
I've been thinking about this topic since the thread was stared and I think I know what I want, I just don't know what it looks like... so here it goes in words.
-Rover (March 20, 2006, 09:02 PM)
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What you said sounds a lot like the sticky notes program Magic Notes
I suspect that's not really what you meant, but you might find Magic Notes useful as a stopgap or adjunct to other things. I seem to remember someone (kfitting?) saying they used Stickies (Zhornsoftware) in a similar way.
rjbull:
for the forseeable future I will continue with Keynote.
-kfitting (March 20, 2006, 09:05 AM)
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I thought as much; there still isn't anything (that I know of) in the freeware world to touch it.
(Cost does factor in... I cant afford to spend $100 on this!)
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It's not just the cost to you, either. If I want to share the data with other people, I need either a freeware, or a payware that includes a freely-distributable read-only version.
I'll have to figure out how to convert all my Keynote files over.
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Anyone who wants to be a programming hero beloved of the people should start writing a conversion program :)
PS - regarding your comment about this thread: I kind of agree with you, sifting through this is going to be hard for a newcomer.
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I think I was hoping for a definitive answer, or at least a set of very clear recommendations, and there doesn't seem to be one.
Looks like someone needs to develop better software for forums too!
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Hmmm... aren't you a programmer? ;)
rjbull:
Black Hole Organizer has had RTF for ages, and seems to have a good deal of "mind share." It looks more like a database for text scraps than an outliner.
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I'd like to try this out, but they have no trial version. And to be honest, it doesn't look like it offers anything special. But that's an empty statement because you really have to just get your hands on these things to know for sure.
-superboyac (March 20, 2006, 10:54 AM)
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Last time I looked, trial versions were available:
BHO main page http://www.lincolnbeach.com/blackhole.asp
Download link 1 http://www.lincolnbeach.com/download.asp?url=ftp://ftp.lincolnbeach.com/blkhole.exe
Download link 2 http://www.lincolnbeach.com/download.asp?url=http://www.lincolnbeach.com/downloads/blkhole.exe
The look-and-feel seems slanted towards a text snippets database. Organising functions are more limited. My main disappointments are (a) not indexed (yet, anyway) so retrieval not very fast, and (b) search logic less powerful than I'd like, as I'm looking for something to deal with very large collections of text. However, BHO has been around a long time and seems to have a lot of followers; here's a link to "Dr. File Finder's" review http://www.drff.net/reviews/drff02-50.html (if you think that means anything).
kfitting:
@rjbull:
- I agree about the cost issue and you brought up an excellent point: if I use this to keep my data I NEED to be able to shareit at some point. Forcing people to buy software is not really an option (unless you're a marketer).
- A programmer? No. Excel VBA/AutoIt scripter? Yes!
@nevf:
- I agree that there needs to be a way to just throw data into something... but I cant agree IF you cant go back and force a structure on it! Sorry, searching just doesnt cut it for me. Part of the reason I dislike ITunes is because there is not really a good way to browse for music. I remember going to my grandfather's store and being able to just go up and down the CD (tapes before that!) and look for something that seemed interesting. Searching is great for when you know what piece of data you're looking for... but sometimes I need to be able to browse around. Structure comes in here. But, I do agree, I should be able to grab a piece of information and shove it into the program with minimal fuss. Later, as I get the time, or I figure out the relationships better, I should be able to mold the data to my thinking.
- Stickies?? Never used it! I do remember the comment though.
Kevin
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