I was wondering whether TheBrain can be synced without the cloud.
The rationale behind is not so much the added cost but more so the fact that I simply would not want to trust my data to the cloud with no control over who has access to them.
No discussion of NSA and do I have anything to hide, please.
So, any ideas or even experience?
Thanks in advance
Prion

I don't think there is a practical way to do this. With TheBrain you can create "Brain Zips," which is a nice packaged file of your "brain." You can then read that into your other Brain, which occurs pretty quickly. But you wouldn't want to have to do this to ping pong your brains back and forth between two or more computers.

Steve Z.

Prion wrote:

I was wondering whether TheBrain can be synced without the cloud.
The rationale behind is not so much the added cost but more so the fact
that I simply would not want to trust my data to the cloud with no
control over who has access to them.
No discussion of NSA and do I have anything to hide, please.
So, any ideas or even experience?
Thanks in advance
Prion

Thanks Steve, that sounds like it was impractical on a daily basis. I was more thinking along the lines of an automatable sync process using utilities such as Chronosync, rsync and the like. Or even putting the database (if there is one) on an external hard drive.
Does that sound feasible?
Prion

I don't know anything about Chronosync or rsync, so can't comment on that. As to an external hard drive, I guess that could work. You will need to be sure to move or copy any external files you use into TheBrain (there's an option to just link to the file, but obviously, if you do that you won't have access to it on the other computer). I posed your question to the help people at TheBrain.com and here was the response:

"It's certainly possible, but we do not recommend syncing across anything except WebBrain as it has been known to cause corruptions in Brain databases."

I don't know if they might be exaggerating the possibility of corruptions because they want to get people to sign up for WebBrain, I'm not sure. In truth, I've had a corruption of one of my brains using WebBrain, but I think that is related to also running the beta test version of the iOS app.

Steve Z.

Prion wrote:

Thanks Steve, that sounds like it was impractical on a daily basis. I
was more thinking along the lines of an automatable sync process using
utilities such as Chronosync, rsync and the like. Or even putting the
database (if there is one) on an external hard drive.
Does that sound feasible?
Prion

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

You will
need to be sure to move or copy any external files you use into TheBrain
(there's an option to just link to the file, but obviously, if you do
that you won't have access to it on the other computer).

The other option is to set up a directory structure that you replicate (and sync) in its entirety, so linked files also get synced. I haven't tried it with TheBrain, but I use Allway Sync to sync between my PC and my netbook with other software. It's generally better to try to replicate everything as closely as possible, i.e. have the same drive name (from C:\ to C:\), same operating system (XP to XP or Win7 to Win7) etc.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I don't know anything about Chronosync or rsync, so can't comment on
that. As to an external hard drive, I guess that could work. You will
need to be sure to move or copy any external files you use into TheBrain
(there's an option to just link to the file, but obviously, if you do
that you won't have access to it on the other computer).

Thanks for that, I will play around with the demo to see if and indeed how well it will work.

I posed your
question to the help people at TheBrain.com and here was the response:

"It's certainly possible, but we do not recommend syncing across
anything except WebBrain as it has been known to cause corruptions in
Brain databases."

I don't know if they might be exaggerating the possibility of
corruptions because they want to get people to sign up for WebBrain, I'm
not sure.

That is very thoughtful of yours, thanks a lot indeed. Of course, it is the answer one would expect but marketing blurb or real necessity, if TheBrain forced me to upload all I wanted to put into TheBrain then I'd look elsewhere. Maybe that is why they changed from PersonalBrain to just TheBrain...

In truth, I've had a corruption of one of my brains using
WebBrain, but I think that is related to also running the beta test
version of the iOS app.

I certainly feel like MyBrain had some fairly major corruption issues to deal with on a regular basis. The real one, I mean.

I'll keep that in mind, too

Dr Andus wrote:

Stephen Zeoli wrote:
> You will
>need to be sure to move or copy any external files you use into
TheBrain
>(there's an option to just link to the file, but obviously, if you do
>that you won't have access to it on the other computer).

The other option is to set up a directory structure that you replicate
(and sync) in its entirety, so linked files also get synced. I haven't
tried it with TheBrain, but I use Allway Sync to sync between my PC and
my netbook with other software. It's generally better to try to
replicate everything as closely as possible, i.e. have the same drive
name (from C:\ to C:\), same operating system (XP to XP or Win7 to Win7)
etc.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I posed your question to the help people at TheBrain.com and here was the response:
"It's certainly possible, but we do not recommend syncing across
anything except WebBrain as it has been known to cause corruptions in
Brain databases."

Here's Harlan Hugh's (CEO/CTO for TheBrain) response in this here forum 3.5 years ago:
http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/7349

I don't know if they might be exaggerating the possibility of
corruptions because they want to get people to sign up for WebBrain, I'm
not sure.

I've actually synced TheBrain files via Dropbox in the past with no problem even though I worked with two operating systems (Windows and Linux). That said, my 'brains' were quite simple, no more than 100 thoughts. Most importantly, I never risked opening the brains concurrently from more than one location, and always made sure that Dropbox had fully synced before opening a file.

I noted in the Jerry Michalski presentation that he said that brains can be stored and carried from computer to computer on a fob, which I assume is his term for a thumb drive. I don't know what authority he has for saying that, but I assume he knows what he's talking about.

Steve Z.

I too have kept my brains in Dropbox for several years and not had a problem -- but I never access them on multiple machines simultaneously. Now that I use Pro Combo I should move them out of Dropbox and free up some space.


Stephen Zeoli wrote

I've actually synced TheBrain files via Dropbox in the past with no
problem even though I worked with two operating systems (Windows and
Linux). That said, my 'brains' were quite simple, no more than 100
thoughts. Most importantly, I never risked opening the brains
concurrently from more than one location, and always made sure that
Dropbox had fully synced before opening a file.

Out of curiosity, do you use TheBrain as a working "now" tool or as an archival system (or both)? Jerry's use seemed primarily focused on saving concepts/items for later retrieval?

My (current) PIM tool of choice is Zoot XT, as it does a great job as both a web item capture/archive system and also provides tools (e.g. Task List, calendar, etc) for managing daily activity.

Does TheBrain also work well in both areas? My gut instinct is that thumb-drive usage support will be a higher priority for a daily-use tool as compared to an archival system, but I'm guessing here....

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

I noted in the Jerry Michalski presentation that he said that brains can
be stored and carried from computer to computer on a fob, which I assume
is his term for a thumb drive. I don't know what authority he has for
saying that, but I assume he knows what he's talking about.

Steve Z.

@PIMfan,

I am using TheBrain on a daily basis to track the projects and actions at work.

A thought can be a
- Task - Open
- Task - Closed
- Project
- Contact
- Note

Each Task has a log in the notes section where I keep all necessary information and my planning.
Each Task and and each project has jumps to the relevant contacts (people) and contains the links to the necessary files are added as shortcuts.

This is a lot of manual work but you get used to it quite quickly. The longer you work this way the faster you get.

All the best,
Dominik

PIMFan,

I use TheBrain both as a "working now" and an "archival" tool, though I'd say my use weighs more heavily on the former. TheBrain isn't necessarily my go to information storage system.

I've written a couple of blog posts which talk in more detail about both aspects of The Brain.

In this one, I write about how I use it as a management tool:

http://welcometosherwood.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/personalbrain-as-a-management-tool/

And in this one I write about how it serves as my "common place book," which is definitely an archival application:

http://welcometosherwood.wordpress.com/2011/03/29/personalbrain-and-the-commonplace-book/

Note that TheBrain has evolved some since I wrote these.

Steve Z.