Year end Outliner/PIM review/roll call
Started by shatteredmindofbob
on 1/2/2016
shatteredmindofbob
1/2/2016 3:49 am
A new year is upon us, "Best Ofs" have been posted all over the place and there are new things to look forward to.
I thought this would be a good opportunity to put the question out there: What were we CRIMPers been using for 2015? What old favourites are still proving to be solid? And what are we looking forward to?
I thought this would be a good opportunity to put the question out there: What were we CRIMPers been using for 2015? What old favourites are still proving to be solid? And what are we looking forward to?
shatteredmindofbob
1/2/2016 6:02 am
I wasn't working as much as I would have liked over the past year, but I guess this gave me some extra free time to experiment some more leading me to actually putting in the effort to learn Emacs/Org-Mode.
After getting past the initial issue of understanding the horribly outdated keyboard shortcuts, I've ended up discovering what might be the best single-pane outliner available for Windows. At least, I've figured out how to make it do everything I want an outliner to do and am likely only using 1/10 of what it *can* do.
For notes and "knowledge management" on my PC, I played with a lot of
different apps but ended up coming back around to an old favourite:
Resophnotes.
It hasn't seen an update since 2013, the interface is well, Java-y and the features are kinda limited but when it comes down to it, it does what I need it to do: allow me to take, store and retrieve notes efficiently.
The search is fast and everything is stored in plain text, making it trivial to use my notes elsewhere. Also, everything can be done from the keyboard.
More and more I've found myself wanting to stick to plain text for as much as possible, so after playing with many web-based todo list apps, I think I've settled on using Todo.txt through Todotxt.net, though the format isn't quite as "outline-y" as I would like. I would use Taskpaper but for some reason, in 2016, there's yet to be an Android client created.
Also, I'm beginning to doubt whether or not TodoPaper 2 (the Windows equivalent) is ever going to be released. (The developer has been saying it's almost finished for years now.)
Using Todo.txt, however, lets me use Simpletask on my Android phone.
Oh and I've been playing with a "minimalist word processor" called WordGrinder. It's a throw-back to WordStar and WordPerfect 5.1. It doesn't have any mouse support by design. Though, at this point, I have no idea if it's actually any good or if I'm just enjoying the novelty factor.
I've still got Breevy running for text expansion, synced to TextExpander on my iPad.
For a journal, I'm still using an open source app called Journaley that reads/writes to the Day One format (which I've got on my iPad.)
Speaking of open source, I've also been using a launcher called Wox since it seems that good old Launchy has been been abandoned. Still not sure if I like it or not though. Right now, it seems mostly useful as a pop-up calculator. Keeping an eye on it to see if it goes anywhere more useful.
For bookmarks, Pinboard is still going strong and still the only web app I've been willing to commit to.
Well, there's also Dropbox, which I'm becoming increasingly concerned about relying on but unfortunately, it's the online storage app that syncs with *everything*.
On mobile, I've been using a beautiful text editor on Android called Monospace Writer.
Still looking for something for taking quick notes along the lines of Drafts on iOS but sadly everything I've tried comes up short. Squarespace Notes is the closest I've found but it's
unfortunately a little *too* limited.
Oh, and after getting into the whole Emacs thing, found a nice app for working with Org-Mode files called Orgzly, though for some reason, it requires that you sync manually which is a little annoying, but otherwise pretty nice. It also doesn't seem all that great for managing Todo lists, which would be a problem if I were using Org-Mode for that purpose.
Over on iOS I am, sadly, starts to hit the limits of my iPad 2. iOS 9 isn't horribly slow on it, unless I try using third-party keyboards which is unfortunate, since that was my most anticipated new iOS feature.
Day One is still pretty great. I've also got a blatant rip-off of Drafts called Quick Drafts which does pretty much the same thing without being $10.
The only other iOS app I've felt was notable was Matcha, a simple but pleasant text editor that I'm hoping will fill the void left by Daedalus Touch being abandoned in favour of the full-on Ulysess for iOS.
As for the next year, I'm mostly looking forward to the newest version of WriteMonkey, which looks awesome but is apparently still a few months away.
Also, experimenting with new things as I try to get back into writing: experimenting with version control for documents (though, the comparison has been made before - it feels little like firing an ICBM at a mosquito.) and various static web site generators over full-fledged CMS systems for web content (as well as toying with HTML export in Org-Mode such things.)
After getting past the initial issue of understanding the horribly outdated keyboard shortcuts, I've ended up discovering what might be the best single-pane outliner available for Windows. At least, I've figured out how to make it do everything I want an outliner to do and am likely only using 1/10 of what it *can* do.
For notes and "knowledge management" on my PC, I played with a lot of
different apps but ended up coming back around to an old favourite:
Resophnotes.
It hasn't seen an update since 2013, the interface is well, Java-y and the features are kinda limited but when it comes down to it, it does what I need it to do: allow me to take, store and retrieve notes efficiently.
The search is fast and everything is stored in plain text, making it trivial to use my notes elsewhere. Also, everything can be done from the keyboard.
More and more I've found myself wanting to stick to plain text for as much as possible, so after playing with many web-based todo list apps, I think I've settled on using Todo.txt through Todotxt.net, though the format isn't quite as "outline-y" as I would like. I would use Taskpaper but for some reason, in 2016, there's yet to be an Android client created.
Also, I'm beginning to doubt whether or not TodoPaper 2 (the Windows equivalent) is ever going to be released. (The developer has been saying it's almost finished for years now.)
Using Todo.txt, however, lets me use Simpletask on my Android phone.
Oh and I've been playing with a "minimalist word processor" called WordGrinder. It's a throw-back to WordStar and WordPerfect 5.1. It doesn't have any mouse support by design. Though, at this point, I have no idea if it's actually any good or if I'm just enjoying the novelty factor.
I've still got Breevy running for text expansion, synced to TextExpander on my iPad.
For a journal, I'm still using an open source app called Journaley that reads/writes to the Day One format (which I've got on my iPad.)
Speaking of open source, I've also been using a launcher called Wox since it seems that good old Launchy has been been abandoned. Still not sure if I like it or not though. Right now, it seems mostly useful as a pop-up calculator. Keeping an eye on it to see if it goes anywhere more useful.
For bookmarks, Pinboard is still going strong and still the only web app I've been willing to commit to.
Well, there's also Dropbox, which I'm becoming increasingly concerned about relying on but unfortunately, it's the online storage app that syncs with *everything*.
On mobile, I've been using a beautiful text editor on Android called Monospace Writer.
Still looking for something for taking quick notes along the lines of Drafts on iOS but sadly everything I've tried comes up short. Squarespace Notes is the closest I've found but it's
unfortunately a little *too* limited.
Oh, and after getting into the whole Emacs thing, found a nice app for working with Org-Mode files called Orgzly, though for some reason, it requires that you sync manually which is a little annoying, but otherwise pretty nice. It also doesn't seem all that great for managing Todo lists, which would be a problem if I were using Org-Mode for that purpose.
Over on iOS I am, sadly, starts to hit the limits of my iPad 2. iOS 9 isn't horribly slow on it, unless I try using third-party keyboards which is unfortunate, since that was my most anticipated new iOS feature.
Day One is still pretty great. I've also got a blatant rip-off of Drafts called Quick Drafts which does pretty much the same thing without being $10.
The only other iOS app I've felt was notable was Matcha, a simple but pleasant text editor that I'm hoping will fill the void left by Daedalus Touch being abandoned in favour of the full-on Ulysess for iOS.
As for the next year, I'm mostly looking forward to the newest version of WriteMonkey, which looks awesome but is apparently still a few months away.
Also, experimenting with new things as I try to get back into writing: experimenting with version control for documents (though, the comparison has been made before - it feels little like firing an ICBM at a mosquito.) and various static web site generators over full-fledged CMS systems for web content (as well as toying with HTML export in Org-Mode such things.)
zoe
1/2/2016 1:50 pm
Hey bob, it's me again with another did-you-know-Emacs-could-do-that tip: if you like nvAlt/ResophNotes, you might try Deft (http://jblevins.org/projects/deft/ It's a minor mode so it can co-exist with Markdown Mode, and it does pretty much what Notational Velocity does. You type to filter your notes or to create a new note. New notes are created as separate files in .md, .txt, .org or whatever format you specify.
Paul Korm
1/2/2016 2:42 pm
For 2015, I'm pleased with how Curio and iThoughts (all platforms) continue to mature and I anticipate continuing evolution of new features for them.
I think Ulysses has plateaued -- in a graceful way. It'll continue to be a workhorse even with no major new changes -- I'll be glad to be wrong, but it seems The SoulMen are mainly producing tweaks, now.
New discoveries such as MarginNote and Quiver have been delightful, niche tools.
I usually divorce OmniFocus a couple times a year, and did so again in 2015. We're re-engaged now, as ever, because I just never find a good all-round non-cloud alternative that I trust.f
The AppleWatch I bought is fun, but clearly a "never again" moment. The latest iterations of iPhones and iPads seem to offer few real-world benefits -- the Apple fan-bloggers are bending over backwards to flog the new products -- it's a bit embarrassing to read some of the claims for 3D Touch, e.g., I think Apple maybe has run out of paradigms to shift. But, it must be nice to reach a plateau as the richest corporate in the world.
Disappointments include NovaMind which began 2015 promising major features on all platforms then went into radio silence after collecting upgrade fees for these features, and never delivering them. NovaMind cloud is a standalone project that has little value as a result, and NovaMind iPad is still vaporware. I'm sure I'll continue to be a sucker for pre-paying enthusiastic developers for features that never appear (MailMate 2 -- now about 2 years past due; Butler -- now defunct, etc.) because I like indie developers.
For 2016 I'm looking forward to DEVONthink 3 (cool advances there), Scrivener iPad (I hope I hope), TheBrain 9 (looking good in alpha testing). There's no danger of loss-of-CRIMP.
Happy new year, all!
I think Ulysses has plateaued -- in a graceful way. It'll continue to be a workhorse even with no major new changes -- I'll be glad to be wrong, but it seems The SoulMen are mainly producing tweaks, now.
New discoveries such as MarginNote and Quiver have been delightful, niche tools.
I usually divorce OmniFocus a couple times a year, and did so again in 2015. We're re-engaged now, as ever, because I just never find a good all-round non-cloud alternative that I trust.f
The AppleWatch I bought is fun, but clearly a "never again" moment. The latest iterations of iPhones and iPads seem to offer few real-world benefits -- the Apple fan-bloggers are bending over backwards to flog the new products -- it's a bit embarrassing to read some of the claims for 3D Touch, e.g., I think Apple maybe has run out of paradigms to shift. But, it must be nice to reach a plateau as the richest corporate in the world.
Disappointments include NovaMind which began 2015 promising major features on all platforms then went into radio silence after collecting upgrade fees for these features, and never delivering them. NovaMind cloud is a standalone project that has little value as a result, and NovaMind iPad is still vaporware. I'm sure I'll continue to be a sucker for pre-paying enthusiastic developers for features that never appear (MailMate 2 -- now about 2 years past due; Butler -- now defunct, etc.) because I like indie developers.
For 2016 I'm looking forward to DEVONthink 3 (cool advances there), Scrivener iPad (I hope I hope), TheBrain 9 (looking good in alpha testing). There's no danger of loss-of-CRIMP.
Happy new year, all!
WSP
1/2/2016 3:13 pm
Okay, I will rise to the challenge on this cold January morning and try to record what's happening in my software world.
OneNote continues to be my main note-taking program. I use it on and off throughout most of the day, and I'm also gradually shifting material into it that I once stored in other varieties of software. Nevertheless, I have some misgivings about it. I worry, for example, about storing so much of my information in a proprietary format that I don't fully understand. (I'm not sure that I even grasp completely how OneDrive functions, as opposed, say, to a more straightforward backup system like Dropbox.) And the one conspicuously lacking feature, from my point of view, is reliable tagging. I've devised a makeshift system of tagging using peculiar-looking phrases ("notLC" within brackets at the end of a note, for example, means "not in Library of Congress"), but it is tedious to be forced to invent one's own tagging tools. Yes, I am aware that OneNote does offer something described as tagging, but I find it cutesy and kindergarten-level.
I haven't yet completely abandoned Evernote, but I am moving material out of it whenever I can. I find its interface clunky and the syncing occasionally unreliable.
Though I continue to have a love-affair with MyInfo, its developer, Petko Georgiev, moves at a maddeningly slow pace. In a sense, I admire his thoroughness and caution: you're never likely to encounter any nasty surprises with MyInfo, but on the other hand you have to develop extraordinary patience waiting for new releases. The long-promised version 7 is supposed to be based on a complete rewriting of the code. I'm hedging my bets by still keeping a couple of major collections of notes in MyInfo.
For writing drafts I use MyInfo (it's surprisingly good at that), Writemonkey (which I learned about on this forum), and (occasionally) NoteTab.
In the last year or two I've found myself storing information more and more frequently in PDF format; my main tool there is PDF-Xchange Editor, though I also depend heavily on an app called TurboScan on my iPhone for making quick-and-dirty PDFs when I am reading in a library. (If the passage I want to record is shorter than a couple of pages, I just photograph it directly into OneNote on my phone.)
Of course my taskbar is overflowing with other software — I'm using InDesign and Photoshop very heavily at the moment, for example — but I suppose the list above represents the programs most likely to be of interest to readers of this forum.
OneNote continues to be my main note-taking program. I use it on and off throughout most of the day, and I'm also gradually shifting material into it that I once stored in other varieties of software. Nevertheless, I have some misgivings about it. I worry, for example, about storing so much of my information in a proprietary format that I don't fully understand. (I'm not sure that I even grasp completely how OneDrive functions, as opposed, say, to a more straightforward backup system like Dropbox.) And the one conspicuously lacking feature, from my point of view, is reliable tagging. I've devised a makeshift system of tagging using peculiar-looking phrases ("notLC" within brackets at the end of a note, for example, means "not in Library of Congress"), but it is tedious to be forced to invent one's own tagging tools. Yes, I am aware that OneNote does offer something described as tagging, but I find it cutesy and kindergarten-level.
I haven't yet completely abandoned Evernote, but I am moving material out of it whenever I can. I find its interface clunky and the syncing occasionally unreliable.
Though I continue to have a love-affair with MyInfo, its developer, Petko Georgiev, moves at a maddeningly slow pace. In a sense, I admire his thoroughness and caution: you're never likely to encounter any nasty surprises with MyInfo, but on the other hand you have to develop extraordinary patience waiting for new releases. The long-promised version 7 is supposed to be based on a complete rewriting of the code. I'm hedging my bets by still keeping a couple of major collections of notes in MyInfo.
For writing drafts I use MyInfo (it's surprisingly good at that), Writemonkey (which I learned about on this forum), and (occasionally) NoteTab.
In the last year or two I've found myself storing information more and more frequently in PDF format; my main tool there is PDF-Xchange Editor, though I also depend heavily on an app called TurboScan on my iPhone for making quick-and-dirty PDFs when I am reading in a library. (If the passage I want to record is shorter than a couple of pages, I just photograph it directly into OneNote on my phone.)
Of course my taskbar is overflowing with other software — I'm using InDesign and Photoshop very heavily at the moment, for example — but I suppose the list above represents the programs most likely to be of interest to readers of this forum.
Ian Goldsmid
1/2/2016 3:32 pm
Hi Paul
Devonthink 3, that sounds really interesting. What do you know about it? Is there some info on the web? (A quick glance, couldn't find any)
Devonthink 3, that sounds really interesting. What do you know about it? Is there some info on the web? (A quick glance, couldn't find any)
Hugh
1/2/2016 4:07 pm
Paul Korm wrote:
For 2015, I'm pleased with how Curio and iThoughts (all platforms)
continue to mature and I anticipate continuing evolution of new features
for them.
I think Ulysses has plateaued -- in a graceful way. It'll continue to
be a workhorse even with no major new changes -- I'll be glad to be
wrong, but it seems The SoulMen are mainly producing tweaks, now.
New discoveries such as MarginNote and Quiver have been delightful,
niche tools.
I usually divorce OmniFocus a couple times a year, and did so again in
2015. We're re-engaged now, as ever, because I just never find a good
all-round non-cloud alternative that I trust.f
The AppleWatch I bought is fun, but clearly a "never again" moment. The
latest iterations of iPhones and iPads seem to offer few real-world
benefits -- the Apple fan-bloggers are bending over backwards to flog
the new products -- it's a bit embarrassing to read some of the claims
for 3D Touch, e.g., I think Apple maybe has run out of paradigms to
shift. But, it must be nice to reach a plateau as the richest corporate
in the world.
Disappointments include NovaMind which began 2015 promising major
features on all platforms then went into radio silence after collecting
upgrade fees for these features, and never delivering them. NovaMind
cloud is a standalone project that has little value as a result, and
NovaMind iPad is still vaporware. I'm sure I'll continue to be a
sucker for pre-paying enthusiastic developers for features that never
appear (MailMate 2 -- now about 2 years past due; Butler -- now defunct,
etc.) because I like indie developers.
For 2016 I'm looking forward to DEVONthink 3 (cool advances there),
Scrivener iPad (I hope I hope), TheBrain 9 (looking good in alpha
testing). There's no danger of loss-of-CRIMP.
Happy new year, all!
Pretty much my thoughts too (without any inside knowledge of DT3, but with the hope that it's useful enough to entice me back from the Finder/file system, and with a loss on NovaMind that leaves iThoughts and MindNode more appealing - the only slight consolation being that as far as I can remember my upgrade fee should last till 2017 or 2018, by which time NM should have decisively either delivered or deceased).
Happy crimping to all in 2016.
Paul Korm
1/2/2016 4:46 pm
Oh, sorry -- my comment on DEVONthink 3 was more aspirational than concrete -- though enticing hints are dropped here and there in the forum.
dan7000
1/2/2016 7:33 pm
In 2015 I tried lots of task managers and spent a lot of time looking for ways to keep notes securely encrypted in the cloud. I am fairly happy with my current roster:
- Evernote for insecure notes
- Fargo with dropbox and the advanced encryption option for secure outlined notes. Biggest drawback: occasionally and randomly deletes some items and replaces them with HTML tags like . Also I'm aware that there are potential hacks so am still looking for a better secure option.
- Skedpal for tasks. Had been on the watch list for a long time but as of the past few months the beta has suddenly picked up tons of steam and an ios version was released in October - well worth a look.
- Tresorit for secure file storage/sync.
- MyMonkkee (https://my.monkkee.com/ for secure one-off notes. There are lots of websites that take the same zero knowledge approach to text notes (see below) but this one seems to be the most fast and stable.
- workflowy for insecure outlines
- excel files on tresorit for secure spreadsheets
- google sheets for insecure spreadsheets
- word
- google calendar
-----------
Other apps I've used fairly heavily and then abandoned over the past year:
Task managers:
- Gqueues
- nozbe
- timeful
- Todoist
- 2Do
secure notes:
- stackfield
- walnote
- iTamer
- a bunch of others I don't recall immediately
-----
Best utility I've been using: Capture2Text (Windows) - does real OCR on any snapshot from your screen. I use it a ton for grabbing text from 2-column PDF files, because the built-in Acrobat OCR often fails with the 2 columns and also because it's faster than running OCR on the PDF itself. i can just select the rectangular area of the text I want and the OCR'd text is captured to my clipboard.
- Evernote for insecure notes
- Fargo with dropbox and the advanced encryption option for secure outlined notes. Biggest drawback: occasionally and randomly deletes some items and replaces them with HTML tags like . Also I'm aware that there are potential hacks so am still looking for a better secure option.
- Skedpal for tasks. Had been on the watch list for a long time but as of the past few months the beta has suddenly picked up tons of steam and an ios version was released in October - well worth a look.
- Tresorit for secure file storage/sync.
- MyMonkkee (https://my.monkkee.com/ for secure one-off notes. There are lots of websites that take the same zero knowledge approach to text notes (see below) but this one seems to be the most fast and stable.
- workflowy for insecure outlines
- excel files on tresorit for secure spreadsheets
- google sheets for insecure spreadsheets
- word
- google calendar
-----------
Other apps I've used fairly heavily and then abandoned over the past year:
Task managers:
- Gqueues
- nozbe
- timeful
- Todoist
- 2Do
secure notes:
- stackfield
- walnote
- iTamer
- a bunch of others I don't recall immediately
-----
Best utility I've been using: Capture2Text (Windows) - does real OCR on any snapshot from your screen. I use it a ton for grabbing text from 2-column PDF files, because the built-in Acrobat OCR often fails with the 2 columns and also because it's faster than running OCR on the PDF itself. i can just select the rectangular area of the text I want and the OCR'd text is captured to my clipboard.
Gorski
1/3/2016 12:52 am
I'm a Windows user.
My history, early 90s to present: Agenda > Zoot > UltraRecall > OneNote/ConnectedText > Emacs orgmode. The transition between them wasn't nearly as clean as that timeline suggests. Agenda and Zoot were entirely because of the influence of James Fallows. Emacs may follow me to the grave now that I've gotten over the learning hump. Zoe will be to blame for that.
For personal use, I now use OneNote mainly to store passwords in an encrypted section and to capture links and short snippets of text while reading on my iPhone or Android tablet. I continue to use OneNote regularly at work (I've been in a government job for two years after a lifetime in journalism) because it's all that's available to me other than Word. I can't even run programs off a USB stick for security reasons.
I bounce around between different text editors at home for occasional writing/programming just because I can: Sublime Text, UltraEdit, emEditor, Notetab, Notepad. Notepad only at work. One reason I like ConnectedText and now Emacs is that I can do some basic tagging, etc., in plain text at work then import my notes with some semblance of organization at home.
Recently started using Visual Studio Code for JavaScript programming. Also use RStudio for R programming.
Excel for basic number crunching.
Autohotkey with some personally written code to grab article text from the web and store it in dated files with the URLs. Also for some basic text substitution/expansion.
Foxit Reader for PDFs.
Chrome browser with Save to Pocket extension. No other extensions as I've given up on them in general.
xPlorer2 for moving files around, peeking in them.
Nebulous on the iPhone, Jota on the tablet for plain text files.
OneDrive to store most of my files because I've got 1 gigabyte for free, Dropbox for just plain text notes mainly because it's better integrated with the text editors I use on the phone and tablet.
Scanbot on the iPhone to scan to PDF, CamScanner on the tablet.
In addition to those mentioned above I've really liked Workflowy, Scrivener, Writemonkey and Brainstorm in the past but don't use them now.
My history, early 90s to present: Agenda > Zoot > UltraRecall > OneNote/ConnectedText > Emacs orgmode. The transition between them wasn't nearly as clean as that timeline suggests. Agenda and Zoot were entirely because of the influence of James Fallows. Emacs may follow me to the grave now that I've gotten over the learning hump. Zoe will be to blame for that.
For personal use, I now use OneNote mainly to store passwords in an encrypted section and to capture links and short snippets of text while reading on my iPhone or Android tablet. I continue to use OneNote regularly at work (I've been in a government job for two years after a lifetime in journalism) because it's all that's available to me other than Word. I can't even run programs off a USB stick for security reasons.
I bounce around between different text editors at home for occasional writing/programming just because I can: Sublime Text, UltraEdit, emEditor, Notetab, Notepad. Notepad only at work. One reason I like ConnectedText and now Emacs is that I can do some basic tagging, etc., in plain text at work then import my notes with some semblance of organization at home.
Recently started using Visual Studio Code for JavaScript programming. Also use RStudio for R programming.
Excel for basic number crunching.
Autohotkey with some personally written code to grab article text from the web and store it in dated files with the URLs. Also for some basic text substitution/expansion.
Foxit Reader for PDFs.
Chrome browser with Save to Pocket extension. No other extensions as I've given up on them in general.
xPlorer2 for moving files around, peeking in them.
Nebulous on the iPhone, Jota on the tablet for plain text files.
OneDrive to store most of my files because I've got 1 gigabyte for free, Dropbox for just plain text notes mainly because it's better integrated with the text editors I use on the phone and tablet.
Scanbot on the iPhone to scan to PDF, CamScanner on the tablet.
In addition to those mentioned above I've really liked Workflowy, Scrivener, Writemonkey and Brainstorm in the past but don't use them now.
Dr Andus
1/3/2016 1:00 am
In 2015 I didn't do much CRIMPing, other than upgrading essential software to newer versions or paying subscriptions. I feel pretty settled and happy with my current selection of software.
I'm getting more and more into using Chromebooks for web- and cloud-based work. I have also decided to stick with Windows 7 for the foreseeable future. My only connection to iOS is my iPod Touch.
What am I looking forward to? The new ConnectedText (apparently a major redesign), the new WriteMonkey, the new SmartDown (for Windows). I also hope that Surfulater will get its Chrome and Firefox add-ons fixed.
There are also a few things that I hope won't happen in 2016, such as the rumoured merger of Chrome OS and Android (I'm a big Chromebook fan and I don't want Android to ruin Chrome OS).
- Main software used in 2015:
- cross-platform (Windows, Chromebooks, iPod Touch, Android)
- WorkFlowy
- project and task development, management, tracking, and recall
- workflow development and archiving
- note-taking
- outlining
- Google Calendar
- for managing the execution of time and date-specific tasks
- Google Sheets (Google Drive)
- tracking productivity
- project management
- Gingko for outlining
- Windows:
- ConnectedText
- project management, tracking, archiving
- notes database (Zettelkasten)
- diary archive
- WriteMonkey for writing in Markdown
- SmartDown to edit Markdown texts
- SmartDraw CI for drawing diagrams
- VUE for concept mapping
- Freeplane for mind mapping
- Outline 4D for outlining
- Surfulater for capturing and organising web pages
- Dragon NaturallySpeaking 14 Pro DPI
- PhraseExpander Pro
- Chromebook (Chrome OS)
- Caret - for diary writing in plain text and saving to Google Drive
- Kami - for reading and annotating PDFs on my Asus Chromebook Flip
I'm getting more and more into using Chromebooks for web- and cloud-based work. I have also decided to stick with Windows 7 for the foreseeable future. My only connection to iOS is my iPod Touch.
What am I looking forward to? The new ConnectedText (apparently a major redesign), the new WriteMonkey, the new SmartDown (for Windows). I also hope that Surfulater will get its Chrome and Firefox add-ons fixed.
There are also a few things that I hope won't happen in 2016, such as the rumoured merger of Chrome OS and Android (I'm a big Chromebook fan and I don't want Android to ruin Chrome OS).
- Main software used in 2015:
- cross-platform (Windows, Chromebooks, iPod Touch, Android)
- WorkFlowy
- project and task development, management, tracking, and recall
- workflow development and archiving
- note-taking
- outlining
- Google Calendar
- for managing the execution of time and date-specific tasks
- Google Sheets (Google Drive)
- tracking productivity
- project management
- Gingko for outlining
- Windows:
- ConnectedText
- project management, tracking, archiving
- notes database (Zettelkasten)
- diary archive
- WriteMonkey for writing in Markdown
- SmartDown to edit Markdown texts
- SmartDraw CI for drawing diagrams
- VUE for concept mapping
- Freeplane for mind mapping
- Outline 4D for outlining
- Surfulater for capturing and organising web pages
- Dragon NaturallySpeaking 14 Pro DPI
- PhraseExpander Pro
- Chromebook (Chrome OS)
- Caret - for diary writing in plain text and saving to Google Drive
- Kami - for reading and annotating PDFs on my Asus Chromebook Flip
shatteredmindofbob
1/3/2016 11:29 am
zoe wrote:
Hey bob, it's me again with another did-you-know-Emacs-could-do-that
tip: if you like nvAlt/ResophNotes, you might try Deft
(http://jblevins.org/projects/deft/ It's a minor mode so it can
co-exist with Markdown Mode, and it does pretty much what Notational
Velocity does. You type to filter your notes or to create a new note.
New notes are created as separate files in .md, .txt, .org or whatever
format you specify.
I've tried it. It's neat, but I think one of the weaknesses of using Emacs is poor integration with the rest of the system. I just can't access it as easily as Resophnotes (which I pull up with a global hotkey.)
Though, it did surface a weird issue with the way Resophnotes stores titles v.s. other note-taking apps, including Deft. Resophnotes uses the name of the text file as the title, which means the title is missing if I load it anywhere else. There is a setting to add the title to the note itself, but then that creates an issue where I end up with the title in my notes multiple times. That has happened before, but only now do I realize what was causing it.
jaslar
1/3/2016 11:26 pm
I started to say that I'm getting simpler:
- Google Tasks as a multi-device way to capture my modest to dos
- Google Calendar to manage the calendar
- SimpleNote for most non-private notes
- Keeper (on Android and iOS) for passwords
- Notecase Pro for more encrypted journals (not that anyone would be interested in my life)
But that wouldn't be the whole truth.
New discoveries in the year:
- Editorial - by far the best markdown (iOS) editor I've found, AND a Taskpaper clone at the same time
- Smartdown - really, a joy to write in on Windows.
- JotterPad on Android - nice markdown, no folding. Don't use it much, but paid for it because I admire it.
- Org-mode. Emacs, as I've written before, is just a bottomless rabbit hole, but works on both Linux and Windows (and Mac, if I still had access to one, but I don't).. But it tends to reward you for the work. I'm still loving the markdown-mode as a solid writing tool.
And I got a lot of writing done in those environments over the year.
Mind mapping:
- mostly, I use this for talks, and somehow have drifted over to iThoughts HD
- still like Mindscope for Trello-like big picture planning
- Workflowy - quick and dirty journal and task management for the day
- intrigued by Dynalist (formerly omniflow.io, now dynalist.io)
- Google Tasks as a multi-device way to capture my modest to dos
- Google Calendar to manage the calendar
- SimpleNote for most non-private notes
- Keeper (on Android and iOS) for passwords
- Notecase Pro for more encrypted journals (not that anyone would be interested in my life)
But that wouldn't be the whole truth.
New discoveries in the year:
- Editorial - by far the best markdown (iOS) editor I've found, AND a Taskpaper clone at the same time
- Smartdown - really, a joy to write in on Windows.
- JotterPad on Android - nice markdown, no folding. Don't use it much, but paid for it because I admire it.
- Org-mode. Emacs, as I've written before, is just a bottomless rabbit hole, but works on both Linux and Windows (and Mac, if I still had access to one, but I don't).. But it tends to reward you for the work. I'm still loving the markdown-mode as a solid writing tool.
And I got a lot of writing done in those environments over the year.
Mind mapping:
- mostly, I use this for talks, and somehow have drifted over to iThoughts HD
- still like Mindscope for Trello-like big picture planning
- Workflowy - quick and dirty journal and task management for the day
- intrigued by Dynalist (formerly omniflow.io, now dynalist.io)
MadaboutDana
1/4/2016 3:25 pm
My interest in Chromebooks has been revived by the astonishingly good Toshiba (with HD screen), which I spent about half an hour playing with in John Lewis and very nearly bought. However, I'm very much a Mac person nowadays, so a purchase would have been pure self-indulgence... ;-)
I appreciate your decision re: Windows 7, but would recommend a second look at Windows 10. I'm running it in a virtual machine (VirtualBox) on my Mac, and it's a truly great desktop OS - you really don't have to use it in tablet mode at all; the main advantage over Windows 7 is the vast increase in efficiency (you really don't need more than 2GB to run it in, as I've found with my HP Pavilion X2; indeed, the virtual machine only has 1GB of RAM assigned to it, because my MacBook Air can't spare any more). There are ways of disabling the "Microsoft phone home" function that has so alarmed many people.
The (new) iPod Touch is really very, very good; I've just bought one for my film-making son, who is astonished by the quality of its recordings. Replacing a bunch of expensive film cameras with a handful of iPod Touches is a genuinely valid proposition (you'd need extras, of course, such as clip-on lenses etc., but it's already been done).
Maybe we'll see a ConnectedText for Mac at some point in the not-too-distant...
Dr Andus wrote:
I appreciate your decision re: Windows 7, but would recommend a second look at Windows 10. I'm running it in a virtual machine (VirtualBox) on my Mac, and it's a truly great desktop OS - you really don't have to use it in tablet mode at all; the main advantage over Windows 7 is the vast increase in efficiency (you really don't need more than 2GB to run it in, as I've found with my HP Pavilion X2; indeed, the virtual machine only has 1GB of RAM assigned to it, because my MacBook Air can't spare any more). There are ways of disabling the "Microsoft phone home" function that has so alarmed many people.
The (new) iPod Touch is really very, very good; I've just bought one for my film-making son, who is astonished by the quality of its recordings. Replacing a bunch of expensive film cameras with a handful of iPod Touches is a genuinely valid proposition (you'd need extras, of course, such as clip-on lenses etc., but it's already been done).
Maybe we'll see a ConnectedText for Mac at some point in the not-too-distant...
Dr Andus wrote:
I'm getting more and more into using Chromebooks for web- and
cloud-based work. I have also decided to stick with Windows 7 for the
foreseeable future. My only connection to iOS is my iPod Touch.
Ian Goldsmid
1/4/2016 5:08 pm
Paul Korm wrote:
Oh, sorry -- my comment on DEVONthink 3 was more aspirational than
concrete -- though enticing hints are dropped here and there in the
forum.
ok, no worries! I am naively hoping that Devonthink might get some of the power features of Ultrarecall in the future ... [sigh ...]
Dr Andus
1/5/2016 1:12 am
MadaboutDana wrote:
It is a very nice machine but I'd be wary due to the fragile screen problem which Toshiba apparently refuses to service under warranty and blames the user for. Toshiba is in financial trouble and they're selling the computer division, so dealing with warranty claims is either not their priority or they can't afford it. See this discussion for more info:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/comments/3xut18/toshiba_warning_buyer_beware_horrible_warranty/
and especially this for all the user reports:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/comments/3xut18/toshiba_warning_buyer_beware_horrible_warranty/cy8fpur
Thanks for the suggestion. For now I don't have much incentive to try Win10, as my new Win7 laptop is running perfectly with all my weird and wonderful old software and I'd hate to mess that up. For light computing I have my Chromebooks...
I've been following Win10 user reports and it seems that there are a lot of things that can go wrong with some older software, not to mention Win10 updates randomly deleting software and such.
If you feel like hardware- and OS CRIMP-ing, I'd recommend the Asus Chromebook Flip instead of the Toshiba, as an Android tablet or iPad replacement (for people who are invested in the Google ecosystem), which is highly portable (10"), and could fill a gap between a smartphone and a full-sized laptop.
My interest in Chromebooks has been revived by the astonishingly good
Toshiba (with HD screen)
It is a very nice machine but I'd be wary due to the fragile screen problem which Toshiba apparently refuses to service under warranty and blames the user for. Toshiba is in financial trouble and they're selling the computer division, so dealing with warranty claims is either not their priority or they can't afford it. See this discussion for more info:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/comments/3xut18/toshiba_warning_buyer_beware_horrible_warranty/
and especially this for all the user reports:
https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/comments/3xut18/toshiba_warning_buyer_beware_horrible_warranty/cy8fpur
I appreciate your decision re: Windows 7, but would recommend a second
look at Windows 10.
Thanks for the suggestion. For now I don't have much incentive to try Win10, as my new Win7 laptop is running perfectly with all my weird and wonderful old software and I'd hate to mess that up. For light computing I have my Chromebooks...
I've been following Win10 user reports and it seems that there are a lot of things that can go wrong with some older software, not to mention Win10 updates randomly deleting software and such.
If you feel like hardware- and OS CRIMP-ing, I'd recommend the Asus Chromebook Flip instead of the Toshiba, as an Android tablet or iPad replacement (for people who are invested in the Google ecosystem), which is highly portable (10"), and could fill a gap between a smartphone and a full-sized laptop.
fishejim
1/5/2016 2:41 am
Hi Everyone! I'm new to the forum, and I probably won't post much, but I want to thank you all for the intelligent conversation for the last month. I've been an Ultrarecall user on and off for a few years, but in my newly born quest to become more organized, I'm trying out some new things that might click more with me.
I initially found Trello, and then found Workflowy. I used that for a while but after seeing Dr Andus' tools, I see that there is even more out there. So after loading a bunch of stuff and trying things out briefly, I've got my list down to
ConnectedText
Org-mode
and possibly building a custom system with Wordpress/Drupal.
Thanks to jaslar for pointing out dynalist.io, too - I'll have to do a serious compare to Workflowy! Currently I'm trying ConnectedText for an extended run. I've started a little down the path of org-mode, but I want to be sure that I can get where I want to go before I invest the time. The custom system is on my radar and I think I'd like to blog the progress on it when I get around to a serious attempt.
I initially found Trello, and then found Workflowy. I used that for a while but after seeing Dr Andus' tools, I see that there is even more out there. So after loading a bunch of stuff and trying things out briefly, I've got my list down to
ConnectedText
Org-mode
and possibly building a custom system with Wordpress/Drupal.
Thanks to jaslar for pointing out dynalist.io, too - I'll have to do a serious compare to Workflowy! Currently I'm trying ConnectedText for an extended run. I've started a little down the path of org-mode, but I want to be sure that I can get where I want to go before I invest the time. The custom system is on my radar and I think I'd like to blog the progress on it when I get around to a serious attempt.
steveylang
1/8/2016 3:17 am
Interestingly, I am typing this reply on a Toshiba Chromebook 2. I'm a Mac user as well, but found one on EBay for around half the new price.
For writing, the Chromebook is perfect- the screen is great (the HD version of course), battery life is great, and I can carry this thing anywhere- it feels as effortless as carrying a letter-sized notepad somewhere. The keyboard is not great, but good enough where it doesn't bother me. Workflowy and the various online/offline text editors from the Chrome Store are all very smooth on the Chromebook 2.
Ironically, what it's not very good IMO at is web browsing. It's only serviceable, and the lagginess is noticeable when browsing more fully-featured pages. It is pretty good for Youtube and Netflix.
MadaboutDana wrote:
For writing, the Chromebook is perfect- the screen is great (the HD version of course), battery life is great, and I can carry this thing anywhere- it feels as effortless as carrying a letter-sized notepad somewhere. The keyboard is not great, but good enough where it doesn't bother me. Workflowy and the various online/offline text editors from the Chrome Store are all very smooth on the Chromebook 2.
Ironically, what it's not very good IMO at is web browsing. It's only serviceable, and the lagginess is noticeable when browsing more fully-featured pages. It is pretty good for Youtube and Netflix.
MadaboutDana wrote:
My interest in Chromebooks has been revived by the astonishingly good
Toshiba (with HD screen), which I spent about half an hour playing with
in John Lewis and very nearly bought. However, I'm very much a Mac
person nowadays, so a purchase would have been pure self-indulgence...
;-)
Dominik Holenstein
1/8/2016 7:31 am
These are interesting questions!
What were we CRIMPers been using for 2015? What old favourites are still proving to be solid? And what are we looking forward to?
Used in 2015:
- TheBrain 8
- MindManager Version 15
- OneNote
- Moo.do
Looking forward to:
- TheBrain 9
- Finding the best workflow / integration between TheBrain (core knowledge base) and OneNote (mainly used for meeting notes @ work due to team collaboration and its integration in Outlook)
- Further development of Moo.do
- Deep dive into Tinderbox
A key requirement for me is the availability of an app on Windows and on OSX.
Best,
Dominik
What were we CRIMPers been using for 2015? What old favourites are still proving to be solid? And what are we looking forward to?
Used in 2015:
- TheBrain 8
- MindManager Version 15
- OneNote
- Moo.do
Looking forward to:
- TheBrain 9
- Finding the best workflow / integration between TheBrain (core knowledge base) and OneNote (mainly used for meeting notes @ work due to team collaboration and its integration in Outlook)
- Further development of Moo.do
- Deep dive into Tinderbox
A key requirement for me is the availability of an app on Windows and on OSX.
Best,
Dominik
Dominik Holenstein
1/8/2016 11:53 am
After working with OneNote for one week I have just decided to remove it from my tool list. OneNote is a great tool but the cross-linking with TheBrain is not very convenient.
Further, I added two new apps to my toolbox:
Used in 2015:
- TheBrain 8
- MindManager Version 15
- Moo.do
Added in 2016:
- Directory Opus Pro (Windows Explorer replacement, much more flexible and strong file renaming capabilities)
- TextPipe Standard (Text extraction, replacement, search etc.)
Looking forward to:
- TheBrain 9
- Further development of Moo.do
- Deep dive into Tinderbox
Best,
Dominik
Further, I added two new apps to my toolbox:
Used in 2015:
- TheBrain 8
- MindManager Version 15
- Moo.do
Added in 2016:
- Directory Opus Pro (Windows Explorer replacement, much more flexible and strong file renaming capabilities)
- TextPipe Standard (Text extraction, replacement, search etc.)
Looking forward to:
- TheBrain 9
- Further development of Moo.do
- Deep dive into Tinderbox
Best,
Dominik
Graham Rhind
1/8/2016 11:54 am
Like many others I've found a fairly stable batch of programs for information management which haven't changed that much in 2015. I'm Windows only (and that won't change), I avoid cloud-only solutions, and learned long ago not to try to find one program to do everything, and not to push programs I do use to do things they can't do comfortably.
So it's:
- OneNote for knowledge archiving
- ConnectedText for large interconnected data sets, such as glossaries, especially those to be uploaded as websites
- Personal Brain 6 only to hold my family tree and some customer data. The Brain 9 will have to be astonishing for me to upgrade
- GS-Base for structured information (but Visual Foxpro for true database management)
- Ariadne (5) for some notes that don't seem to want to go elsewhere.
I'm using Workflowy just for a single project because of it's easy filtering by tag, but I'm not overly impressed.
So that's it. I reckon by the end of 2016 nothing would have come along to have changed this very much, but who knows?
Graham
So it's:
- OneNote for knowledge archiving
- ConnectedText for large interconnected data sets, such as glossaries, especially those to be uploaded as websites
- Personal Brain 6 only to hold my family tree and some customer data. The Brain 9 will have to be astonishing for me to upgrade
- GS-Base for structured information (but Visual Foxpro for true database management)
- Ariadne (5) for some notes that don't seem to want to go elsewhere.
I'm using Workflowy just for a single project because of it's easy filtering by tag, but I'm not overly impressed.
So that's it. I reckon by the end of 2016 nothing would have come along to have changed this very much, but who knows?
Graham
Dr Andus
1/8/2016 1:16 pm
Graham Rhind wrote:
Out of curiosity, what is it that you don't like about it?
I'm using Workflowy just for a single project because of it's easy
filtering by tag, but I'm not overly impressed.
Out of curiosity, what is it that you don't like about it?
Graham Rhind
1/8/2016 2:03 pm
Ah. Well.
First of all I avoid any cloud-only solutions. Workflowy has the advantage that it's automatically synced across any device, but I'm never, ever, no way going to put any data of value into any product where the data storage isn't under my control. And, as I live in an area with dodgy and slow internet connections (I have 6 connections from 5 different internet providers in 2 locations just to ensure 24 hour per day access) I don't take permanent online access for granted.
Secondly, I don't see any real advantages to it apart from the tagging. As I said, I use it in a very limited way for a single product because, at a glance, I can see who's doing what, or what needs to be done for a particular release, or what is current. But if I wanted to use it beyond that I'd have to push it to do things it's not good at (in my opinion). I read Frank Degenaar's book from cover to cover but it didn't fire up anything in me. The whole idea of, for example, creating tags for every day so that it can be used as a diary - madness. Like the bullet journal - great idea in some respects,. but "just write out the dates for every day in the coming month", And then write them all again because there's not enough space for the appointments. Then find you need to write an appointment for seven months ahead and rewrite everything .... what??? Ain't nobody got time for that! I use a diary on paper - can't be beaten. Hence my "not pushing programs I do use to do things they can’t do comfortably" comment.
I also find Workflowy cluttered, especially with all the tagging that goes with it. I don't like the unstructured "just type" approach. One has to remember to always be tagging everything, then tagging again and again just to be sure. After a couple of pages I just didn't feel in control of things any more. Remembering tags is almost as tiresome as remembering where you put information in a PIM which has a structured approach. Both cause problems for me. So I have to use Workflowy in a very limited way.
Just not my way of doing things, I suppose ...
Dr Andus wrote:
First of all I avoid any cloud-only solutions. Workflowy has the advantage that it's automatically synced across any device, but I'm never, ever, no way going to put any data of value into any product where the data storage isn't under my control. And, as I live in an area with dodgy and slow internet connections (I have 6 connections from 5 different internet providers in 2 locations just to ensure 24 hour per day access) I don't take permanent online access for granted.
Secondly, I don't see any real advantages to it apart from the tagging. As I said, I use it in a very limited way for a single product because, at a glance, I can see who's doing what, or what needs to be done for a particular release, or what is current. But if I wanted to use it beyond that I'd have to push it to do things it's not good at (in my opinion). I read Frank Degenaar's book from cover to cover but it didn't fire up anything in me. The whole idea of, for example, creating tags for every day so that it can be used as a diary - madness. Like the bullet journal - great idea in some respects,. but "just write out the dates for every day in the coming month", And then write them all again because there's not enough space for the appointments. Then find you need to write an appointment for seven months ahead and rewrite everything .... what??? Ain't nobody got time for that! I use a diary on paper - can't be beaten. Hence my "not pushing programs I do use to do things they can’t do comfortably" comment.
I also find Workflowy cluttered, especially with all the tagging that goes with it. I don't like the unstructured "just type" approach. One has to remember to always be tagging everything, then tagging again and again just to be sure. After a couple of pages I just didn't feel in control of things any more. Remembering tags is almost as tiresome as remembering where you put information in a PIM which has a structured approach. Both cause problems for me. So I have to use Workflowy in a very limited way.
Just not my way of doing things, I suppose ...
Dr Andus wrote:
Graham Rhind wrote:
>I'm using Workflowy just for a single project because of it's easy
>filtering by tag, but I'm not overly impressed.
Out of curiosity, what is it that you don't like about it?
Stephen Zeoli
1/8/2016 2:15 pm
Not a lot has changed with me. I've got three platforms to cover.
Windows PC at work:
- TheBrain 8 is my primary information/project manager
- OneNote is my tool for sharing information with colleagues
- Evernote for keeping key data sync'd across all devices
- Asana for team task management (new in 2015)
MacBook for personal:
- TheBrain 8
- Ulysses as primary writing tool
- Scrivener as writing tool for larger projects
- Alternote (as Evernote surrogate)
- DayOne for journaling
iPad Air:
- Ulysses
- DayOne
- Evernote
Looking forward to TheBrain 9 and Scrivener for iPad in 2016.
Steve Z.
Windows PC at work:
- TheBrain 8 is my primary information/project manager
- OneNote is my tool for sharing information with colleagues
- Evernote for keeping key data sync'd across all devices
- Asana for team task management (new in 2015)
MacBook for personal:
- TheBrain 8
- Ulysses as primary writing tool
- Scrivener as writing tool for larger projects
- Alternote (as Evernote surrogate)
- DayOne for journaling
iPad Air:
- Ulysses
- DayOne
- Evernote
Looking forward to TheBrain 9 and Scrivener for iPad in 2016.
Steve Z.
Dr Andus
1/8/2016 2:26 pm
Thanks for your thoughs on this, Graham.
Graham Rhind wrote:
It's not the same thing as having full and total control, but there is a standalone Chrome app that works off-line, if you have patchy internet connection or go off-line for a while. Also, the Pro account does save a plain text copy of the entire outline and a back-up file to Dropbox every night.
I agree, I don't use it as a calendar either, though I do use date tags for finding date related todos.
Yes, this is a limitation. I did suggest on their blog that an optional pop-up column with all the tags would be helpful to have, especially if you could sort it in various ways (alphabetically, by date created, most used, manual order etc.)
Graham Rhind wrote:
First of all I avoid any cloud-only solutions. Workflowy has the
advantage that it's automatically synced across any device, but I'm
never, ever, no way going to put any data of value into any product
where the data storage isn't under my control.
It's not the same thing as having full and total control, but there is a standalone Chrome app that works off-line, if you have patchy internet connection or go off-line for a while. Also, the Pro account does save a plain text copy of the entire outline and a back-up file to Dropbox every night.
The whole idea of, for example, creating tags for every
day so that it can be used as a diary - madness.
I agree, I don't use it as a calendar either, though I do use date tags for finding date related todos.
Remembering tags is almost as tiresome as
remembering where you put information in a PIM which has a structured
approach.
Yes, this is a limitation. I did suggest on their blog that an optional pop-up column with all the tags would be helpful to have, especially if you could sort it in various ways (alphabetically, by date created, most used, manual order etc.)
1
2