Just a heads up about the release of the public beta of PersonalBrain 6:

http://www.thebrain.com/beta

The most notable new feature appears to be web access and syncing. (In the category of minor tweaks, I appreciate that they drastically reduced the size of the install files.)

If I may use a little jargon that I don't fully understand, I would say that PersonalBrain remains a leader in the "directed acyclic graph" approach to information organization.

Lucas

I've begun using Personal Brain, which I have long toyed with, but finally purchased the Pro edition a few months ago. Four things convinced me:

1. The application is loaded with thoughtful and useful features.
2. The company seems stable and secure, and provides a wealth of information on how to get the most from PB. There is an ongoing effort to educate users.
3. I liked that I could use the application on both my PC at work and my Macbook at home.
4. It is one of the few, if not the only application I've found where it seems one file/database can effectively contain all my information.

I haven't delved into version 6 yet, but it disappoints me to find that the synchronization feature appears to only work through the company's WebBrain and not through DropBox or other cloud application. This seems like an effort to milk more money from users.

Steve

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I haven't delved into version 6 yet, but it disappoints me to find that
the synchronization feature appears to only work through the company's WebBrain and
not through DropBox or other cloud application. This seems like an effort to milk more
money from users.

Perhaps. PersonalBrain certainly is a commercial enterprise. But I'm assuming that it will still be possible to set up DropBox or similar syncing on one's own. Also, from what I understand, the DropBox method could lead to file corruption if one were to edit the file from two computer's simultaneously, whereas WebBrain allows simultaneous editing. And they imply that basic WebBrain syncing will remain free:

"We've just started with the ability to easily share Brains online. Right now, publishing Brains online is free with no limitations. In the future, we'll have a free basic service and a subscription based service for those who need more advanced features like security or very large brains."

http://webbrain.com/about

(I probably won't buy a license, however, as I don't think the features PB offers would be especially useful for my work, although I like them.)

Currently there is no problem using the same PersonalBrain database (i.e. Brain) on two computers via Dropbox as long as you close the file on one and wait for the DropBox sync to complete before opening it on the other. (It may have been someone on this forum who clued me into that; if so, thanks!) But that's different than a true synchronization feature, which is what I am assuming is being promised via WebBrain. What I read from the developers is that Brains that do not have attachments would be free to sync through WebBrain, but there would be a fee for Brains with attachments.

Steve

I am using th Pro version of PB and the main negative point is about dates:
This software handles relationships between concepts but without being able to manage timed sequences.
And the calendar feature is not relevant for this.

I didn't found any progress in the beta...

Hello All,

PersonalBrain 6 does indeed offer true synchronization, including the ability to add and modify information from two different computers at the same time. Links between information, file attachments, URLs, notes, images, etcetera are all synced automatically and are accessible both online and offline.

Brains synchronize though WebBrain.com exclusively because the storage mechanism is a database of complex interconnected nodes. [The rest of this is a technical explanation of why has been done - skip it if you're not interested.] A simple file-based sync does not work properly for many reasons. For instance, many large files are modified in small but interdependent ways when the database is changed. Thus, a file-based sync is not only very inefficient, but also prone to corrupting the database. (If for example, the same database file is modified in two different places at once, a file-based sync will have no choice but to ignore one of those changes - this will likely make the entire database table corrupt!) Additionally, there are factors beyond just the data that need to be kept in sync, such as index information and so on. This is why DropBox and other file-based sync services will work, but cannot be relied on since they tend to lead to corruption the minute changes are made to the data from more than one place at a time. (For anyone interested in this topic, do a little research into syncing independently operating databases that cannot communicate with one another on a continual basis - you will find that this is exceedingly difficult to do...)

WebBrain-based sync is much more sophisticated than a file-based sync. It relies on PersonalBrain specific metadata about what changed, how it was changed, when, etcetera.

Additionally, WebBrain.com provides access to your Brain via most Web browsers, including iPhone and iPads...

Yes, there will be a monthly service fee for syncing Brains with file attachments. For now, we are planning to allow syncing of Brains without file attachments at no charge.

clacha, have you submitted a feature suggestion to our feedback site? This helps guide for our development and provides an organized way for users to suggest things as well as see what others think is important. http://thebrain.uservoice.com

Regards,
-Harlan (from TheBrain Technologies)

It would be great to be able to read Harlan Hugh's response! Can we get it approved? Thanks!

Steve

Harlan, welcome to this forum (as far as I remember this is you first post here); it is an honour to have developers like you among us!

Sometime ago I had written in this forum that in the future users will expect their software to be cross-platform and web-aware (meaning accessible in the cloud). I stand behind that statement; Evernote, for example, may be mediocre as an information manager, but its accessibility is as yet unmatched --with the exception of a missing Linux client- and has become its key selling point.

I've been a registered user of Personal Brain since version 1 (I think 1.5 to be precise) and have always found it a unique piece of software that keeps evolving its strengths. When it became cross-platform it fulfilled one of my main expectations; now with web access it is sure to become a much more regularly used tool for me. Two points regarding the syncing capability:

1. I think Harlan clearly explained the technical reasons for syncing a brain through webbrain.com. I would add that the most important practical reason for me wanting to do so is to be able to add information from a portable device, such as an iPhone, which cannot edit the actual PC brain file. So for me the functionality will be complete when it is read/write --as I understand web access is as yet read only.

2. On the other hand, I believe that for quite some time we will still rely on a structured file system. In this regard, I do not consider the syncing of linked files through webbrain especially useful; I think a reliable service such as Dropbox or Nomadesk is more suitable for large external files like PDFs and the like, which may or may not be linked to a brain or other information manager database.