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General brainstorming for Note-taking software
Darwin:
Yeah, I'd second that one... I am putting PaperPort Pro through it's paces and wish to H-E-double hockey sticks that it would do this. Who knows, maybe it does. I'm still digging through the tutorials.
rjbull:
Looking back the tool(s) i used the most to capture snippets of information have been local website archive, clipcache (i used the demo a lot, was going to register, then the database got corrupted)
-iphigenie (February 27, 2007, 02:25 PM)
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You can find the last free version of ClipCache, 1.41, at http://www.woundedmoon.org/win32_freeware.html This served me well for years on several computers. I registered out of sheer gratitude, but never bothered to install the shareware version as the free one did all I needed, most of the time. However, I have to add that lately some of the rude software I have to use at work has been crashing it, so I've largely moved over to Mouser's Clipboard Help+Spell, which is relatively sluggish but very robust.
You might like to look at other clipboard extenders, some of which have been mentioned elsewhere in DC. For example, ClipMagic (not tried by me) says it allows you to set up rules and filters to move clips to categories. And, DC has several people (e.g. Allen and Carol Haynes) who really like AceText
I think a killer feature would be one that has a "scanning" module which would crawl a bunch of directories you choose, find all the myriad documents in formats it can read (the more the merrier, if possible even word processor or other organiser files), then give you a list where you can tick all the ones you want to import, then import them...
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Most can import plain text and RTF, and a few can import files from other simpler PIMs (e.g. KeyNote can import Treepad Lite, Jot+Notes can import lots). But there are so many formats out there...
iphigenie:
yes, most can import, but one document at a time - and usually the import has more steps than opening the original file and using cut and paste.
* * *
I'm trying Clipboard Help+Spell but I can't see how I would use it for more than to speed up multiple cut and paste - it doesn't have the organising features that clipcache had. I mean it has "folders" but... I don't seem to be using them. I'm sure I'm not using all it can do. That's just typical of me ;)
A lot of the shareware clipboard tools have good organising features, I agree, but many were a little too complex or heavy to use *for me" and as a result I didn't use the features... That says more about me and my lack of patience and dedication to learning a piece of software, than it says anything about the software. I want a tool that is so transparent to use it naturally pulls me through the features. It's hard to describe but some software will do that - pull you in and before you know it you're learning the advanced features without even trying to... I don't want to have to make a post it note by my screen to try to encourage me to use the features, if that happens, I know I'll never use those features and I might as well use another tool that's simpler and doesn't have those features.
For example clipmate and it's different modes just felt confusing and heavy. It's incredibly powerful and clever but I don't have time to learn it, and it didn't manage to pull me it to make me learn it. Clipmagic was nice, and the rules *were* quite powerful, but again I could not see me take the time to actually master it. I know I did use more of its features than clipmate's. I think i tried about 20 different ones over the years.
PS: every piece of software I try, I do a "features" page snapshot with LWA, write down price and some extremely terse test notes. Early on i would delete the ones that were instant uninstalls, now i keep that information too so i don't waste my time twice. It's very nice when you think "what tool was it that could do X, i didnt need that then but I could use that now" you can at least have a chance to jog your memory
urlwolf:
I can't help but get into this thread again and recommend oneNote. The 2007 version does cool new things:
* Paste a picture (yes, a picture), and it will do OCR. you can find text within the picture! Ain't that cool?
* Perfect integration with outlook todo list. just write an item (e.g., "call X", and flag it as "todo tomorrow" ctrl + shift + 2, it will show up in outlook task list, and even get a default reminder. Since oneNote can do hierarchical stuff -it's an ouliner-, longer todo lists are easy.
* Napkin math. You can type 2+2= and it completes the answer.
* fast search (called instant search)
* tagging
* minimizes all toolbars, sidebars, etc to become a tiny notepad that can float on top of all your windows
* global shortcut to get screenshots
* pastes url or local doc location (file:\\) next to the quote (useful!)
It is one of the few apps that M$ got right the first time and didn't screw after a major update.
rjbull:
yes, most can import, but one document at a time - and usually the import has more steps than opening the original file and using cut and paste.
-iphigenie (February 28, 2007, 05:16 AM)
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Am I misunderstanding you? I'm thinking of KeyNote, for example, where I remember handing it a wildcard for *.AWK, and it imported the lot in one go, with file name as node name. Likewise a telephone list, originally one file per entry (owing to conversion from another program), into Treepad Lite. So also (if I remember correctly) Black Hole Organiser, though that was very slow by comparison. I.e., didn't have to enter each file/item individually in any of these.
I'm trying Clipboard Help+Spell but I can't see how I would use it for more than to speed up multiple cut and paste - it doesn't have the organising features that clipcache had.
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I only use it as a clipboard enhancer, and assumed the "organising" features were more to do with collections of clips for particular tasks, not as an information-gathering and classifying system.
PS: every piece of software I try, I do a "features" page snapshot with LWA, write down price and some extremely terse test notes.
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If I hear about something interesting, I usually make a note in JBLab Secure Notes, including the very important pricing details. Often I massage the text first with a plain-text editor, usually the excellent TED Notepad. JBLSN doesn't do images (this rarely bothers me), and has minor drawbacks, but it's still a nice little app, and it's portable. And low-priced :)
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