For those interested, the minimalist notes manager CintaNotes is now out of beta and has a genuine release version available here:

http://cintanotes.com/

This is a plain text note taker that relies primarily on tags for organization, though you can now sort via date as well. This version is free, but I believe there is a commercial version in the works.

Steve

This looks very interesting, esp. the roadmap: http://tinyurl.com/yb8deq2

CintaNotes is a fantastic application. Minimalistic. Stays hidden if you want it to. You can enter a fast note with a keyboard shortcut, copy text to a note with another shortcut. You never have to touch the mouse. Ergonomically, it's one of the best-designed programs I've run into in a long time. Something like this should be made part of every operating system, if you ask me.

Just a note to say that I recently posted a short suggestion at the Cintanotes feedback forum, which I found impressively active, especially considering the minimalistic nature of the product. A few days later I was informed that my suggestion's status was changed to planned. Indeed, many suggestions are implemented, but without bloating the software. Cintanotes' developer should be commended for maintaining a clear vision and working consistently to its direction.

Ergonomics aside, I'm not clear on why this would be better than Evernote as part of a workflow.

JBfrom wrote:

Ergonomics aside, I'm not clear on why this would be better than Evernote as part of a
workflow.

It's not 'better' in the power sense, but they are not comparable programs. I have personally found that I prefer to allocate different tools to different uses, even if some of those tools could cover several uses. See my relevant post here http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/3097/0/holy-grail-or-holy-grails

Cintanotes in particular is very handy to maintain ready for quick notes, a shortcut-key away from whatever I'm doing. When I get an idea, or remember something, I can just jot it down there without interrupting my workflow for more that 10".

Thereon I can transfer selected to my relevant scratch file or elsewhere by simple (multiple select) copy and paste. I have the wonders of plain text to thank for this http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/10506

So basically it's a fast, lightweight staging area.

I can see the use case for that, especially if your secondary staging area is a bit heavier. Evernote is heavier, both in interface and syncing time.

I don't need it, since my chron tapes and scratch files function well as fast staging areas.

By the way, I started giving my scratch files verbose names like this: scratch10-general-topic-name.org, which makes them much easier to keep track of.

I also started numbering at 10 instead of one so that numerical order equals chronological order, instead of 1, 10, 11, ... 2, 20, 21... etc

JBfrom wrote:

I don't need it, since my chron tapes and scratch
files function well as fast staging areas.

Indeed, it's a matter of personal preference. I find that for me it's faster to write down what I have in mind and tag it as the relevant project, than navigate to the right scratch file, especially since I will then see more on the project and possibly lose my focus...

By the way, I started giving my scratch
files verbose names like this: scratch10-general-topic-name.org, which makes
them much easier to keep track of.

That was one of the things I wondered about when I first read about the scratch file concept.

I also started numbering at 10 instead of one so
that numerical order equals chronological order, instead of 1, 10, 11, ... 2, 20,
21... etc

Why not 01, 02..., 09, 10... ?

That's interesting. Is it a mental fragmentation issue or simply that navigating to the proper scratch file or chron tape takes longer in TextPad?

In Emacs switching is fast and keyboard controlled, plus I can split screens, so it's not an issue.

Maybe CintaNotes should be a recommended pre-staging area for Cyborganize users who substitute a text editor for Org-Mode.

I think mental fragmentation is a good term for it.

TextPad is actually very fast.

That's kind of an interesting idea.

When you're not officially working on something, but you come across a related snippet, throw it into a miscellaneous buffer of snippets tagged by category, instead of just dumping those directly into your chron tapes.

And then drain that buffer when you get enough to create a scratch file.

That could solve some of the residual fragmentation of the chron tapes, and further reduce the need for massive sorting sessions of chron tapes in BrainStormWFO. Instead, proper scratch files would get formed and uploaded to the Longform Loop.

Yes it creates another layer of info fragmentation - things don't necessarily immediately go into your chron tapes, they may be waiting in the misc snippet buffer queue. But you can probably remember where stuff is likely to be, especially if you drain the buffer regularly.

Yeah, I think I'm going to endorse that as part of the Cyborganize workflow.

Now I just need a Cintanotes substitute that runs on Linux, or to get it running under Wine.

My fave notes organiser on Linux has always been BasketNotes, the closest thing to OneNote on a Linux platform (but with the advantage that it has its own rather powerful search/filtering system built in, rather than relying - as OneNote does - on Windows Search).

I love CintaNotes on Windows, precisely for the reasons described above - fast, efficient snipping/clipping (auto-clipping, too, if required). The latest version is further enhanced by the new ability to create/select multiple notebooks. The rich-text formatting, basic though it is, is very convenient, too (I'm an inveterate emboldener/underliner).

JBfrom wrote:

Now I just need a Cintanotes substitute
that runs on Linux, or to get it running under Wine.

I would use the ubiquitous Tomboy Notes http://projects.gnome.org/tomboy/features.html Its logic is very similar to Cintanotes. It's a mouse click away, and maintains notes filed or unfiled in reverse chronological order.

Thanks, now I've got several options to test in a specific role.

I'll also try creating a separate Org buffer and just using tagging and headers to separate and file notes.

Yes, actually, the latest versions of TomBoy are really quite cool, although for some reason I don't really "like" TomBoy. Something about the rather crude look-n-feel annoys me. But it's a very powerful tool - and now also cross-platform.

A similar tool is Zim (kind of personal wiki).