Hello group,

I wondering what tools you are using today to manage the information stream during a working day due the the current development in the PIM and general software market.

Here is my list:

1. PersonalBrain Professional v4.5 (and v5 soon), the *current* workhorse, replaced UR in June this year.
2. MindManager 7 Professional (and v8 probably next year) a perfect extension to PB, especially for writing
3. Notepad++ (free, a fine notepad replacement, http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm
4. UltimaCalc, a replacement for the calculator in Windows (http://www.ultimacalc.com/

Other tools:
- MS Office (yeah, it's boring)
- Quantrix Modeler Professional (Interesting Excel replacement, it's worth a try - http://www.quantrix.com/ )
- Eclipse (for Java development)
- Gmail
- IE, FF, Chrome

On the radar:
- SQLNotes
- Zoot


Dominik

Was a workaholic. Now a retired bum.
Currently, more or less in order of use:

myBase+WebCollect
Jot Plus

Excalibur (a free RPN calculator - math,stat,business,...-really good)
FastStone Capture (screen capture)
Search GT (really fast file-but not text-search)
GridinSoft Notepad
Inspiration
GrandView

+
MS Word
MS Excel

--c

Hello

I have been reading this forum for some time now, but this is the first time I have posted. In response to Dominik's query about tools for managing the daily information stream, my main tools are:

1. Blackwell Idealist v.3: an ancient text database I have been using since before Win95. It is lightning fast, allows me to define fields on the fly, and is completely stable. At the moment, my main database contains nearly 30,000 records (a mixture of references, notes and quotations). I have tried many alternatives over the years, but sooner or later I always return to Idealist.

2. For longer pieces of text, I have recently started working with ConnectedText. So far I am very pleased with it.

3. I have been a keen mindmapper for decades. While I still scribble most of my mind maps on odd pieces of paper, I do make some use of MindManager (but I am still working quite happily with version 4).

4. I use TimeTo for task management.

Other tools:

Microsoft Word (not my word processor of choice, but virtually all my clients use it)
TeXnicCenter with MikTex (for the handful of clients who work with LaTeX rather than Word)

Yours
Lawrence

My information management tools are largely unchanged recently:

- OneNote for archiving and screen/webpage capture
- Personal Brain Pro for archiving and for building my family tree (the webpages produced this way never cease to produce an amazed response from my (distant) relatives!)
- PaperPort as a scan manager
- Zoot as a task manager and structured data repository
- Sciral Consistency for task management
- Outlook for e-mails and calendar
- Tasktop for browsing
- Whizfolders for authoring
- Flying Logic for planning/brain storming

Other programs:

- Visual Foxpro
- MS Office
- Namo Webeditor
- Opera

On the radar:

- SQLNotes/InfoQube, but I can't face learning a "UR clone" and shifting my data all over again at the moment ... I will look at it more closely when the documentation is ready.

Graham

My information management usage is complicated by the fact that I use a PC at work and a MacBook for personal purposes. So here goes:


At Work (PC/Windows)

Programs I Use Daily
- Zoot. For grabbing various information on the fly. Also for organizing specific database-type information (i.e. purchases).
- OneNote. For project-related data, and information that does not "fit" into Zoot (i.e. PDFs, text that needs formatting).
- Adobe Acrobat

Programs I Use Weekly
- EccoPro. Have begun to use EccoPro again as a project planner and task manager.
- Debrief. Daily work journal. Can also be used as a project planner and task manager, but I'm not using it that way at the moment.
- Brainstorm. When I need to capture ideas quickly, nothing beats Brainstorm.
- WikidPad. Which I use for creating a catalog of the books sold by my employer.

At Home (Mac OS)
- Bento. Handles my straight forward database type information.
- Curio. Can be used for almost anything, but mostly I use it for brainstorming and project planning.
- Journler. My personal journal and note keeper.
- OmniOutliner. When I need an outliner... like now for instance.
- Yojimbo. Where I store passwords, registration numbers and other discrete information.

Steve Z.

Hello,

I am another long-time lurker on this forum and, I thought until now, perhaps the last-known user of Idealist v.3 (I tried the short-lived version 5 from "Bekon Software" but this was quickly uninstalled). I, similarly, have used Idealist on a daily basis since 1992 without any data loss. It's lightning fast, runs happily under Vista (indeed the reason I put off updating to Vista for six months was fear of losing this program) and I have also never found another program to match its capabilities.

However, I'm also a long-time Ultra Recall user (mainly in conjunction with the Firefox Scrapbook extension) and would use OneNote more if I could tone down the garish colour scheme.

Other programs include Personal Brain since its inception (hoping the upgrade price for Version 5 is not too steep), SuperNoteCard, and Infohesive from 2BrightSparks, who have just released a minor upgrade, so development on this interesting program continues.

Regards,
Geoffrey

Hi Graham

I'm a bit intrigued by Flying Logic - though it seems the developer hasn't updated the product for a while. Do you know what's happening - is there a future or has it stalled?

Did you find it had a steep learning curve or not?

Regards, Ian

Ian Goldsmid wrote:

Hi Graham

I'm a bit intrigued by Flying Logic - though it seems the developer hasn't
updated the product for a while. Do you know what's happening - is there a future or has
it stalled?

Did you find it had a steep learning curve or not?

Regards, Ian

Hi Ian,

What I love about Sciral's products is their remarkable maturity - they are rarely updated because they are released stable and doing exactly what it says on the tin - no less and (sometimes unfortunately) no more. They are not over-developed or bloated - they have a very clear purpose and don't wander beyond that. The author(s) do respond to customer questions on the forum, and they will resolve bugs very fast. I found a bug in Sciral Consistency (a product which has not been updated for years), and that was resolved and a new version released within 24 hours.

I don't know to what extent the tools will develop (I don't think they have a large customer base), but already they do just what I need, so I'm happy :-)

The tools are also incredibly easy to use - hardly any learning needed.

Graham

Software I use every day:

- EverNote3 (last year it was OneNote, now all my OneNote notes are imported into EverNote)
- Outlook
- Taskline ( dynamic task-scheduling plugin for Outlook)

And I still have some information in ADM that I need to refer to occasionally, but of course I don't add anymore information there.

I use Konqueror/KDE4 as web-browser, self-made NoteFinder for note-taking and DokuWiki-powered website articles editing and at+kdialog utilities for reminders. Sometimes I'm just using v. and core unix utilities.

My main usage at the moment is:

. Am living inside Outlook more than before using the ClearContext add-in and the Michael Linenberger approach. Email is stored inside this system.
. OneNote for creative notes, meeting agendas, project drafts and personal storage.
. MindManager and Project Kickstart for project design and management.
. Inspiration for diagrams (occasionally).
. dtSearch for indexing (it will run off a USB).

I would still love a reliable one-panel outliner that exports directly to Word. Am watching InfoQube and (since the recent announcement) Brainstorm.

Jack

Jack Crawford wrote:

I would still love a reliable one-panel outliner that exports directly to Word.

Do you know that InfoQube exports its one-pane outline to Word? (Select items, HTML Export > Settings mode > HTML Style bullest > Copy to Clipboard)

Jack Crawford wrote:
>I would still love a reliable one-panel outliner that
exports directly to Word.

Do you know that InfoQube exports its one-pane outline to
Word? (Select items, HTML Export > Settings mode > HTML Style bullest > Copy to
Clipboard)

Thanks Pierre. Yes I did know that. I'm really interested in a one button export to Word which, from memory, you have on your development schedule.

Jack

Jack Crawford wrote:

I would still love a reliable one-panel outliner that
exports directly to Word.

If you're using Mac OS X, Opal does this (see the bottom of http://a-sharp.com/opal/screens.html

David Dunham wrote:

Jack Crawford wrote:

>I would still love a reliable one-panel outliner that

>exports directly to Word.

If you're using Mac OS X, Opal does this (see the bottom
of http://a-sharp.com/opal/screens.html

Thanks. Currently I live in the Windows world. I have a bad track record with operating systems and will stick with Windows. I don't have the time or resources to invest in a move to Mac, at least for the time being.

Jack

Is GrandView still available? I have used it for years, but can't find a supported version (mine is DOS-based).

Lincoln wrote:

Is GrandView still available? I have used it for years, but can't find a supported
version (mine is DOS-based).

There is no Windows version, if that is what you're asking. It is too bad, because it is one of the truly great programs ever, in my opinion.

Steve Z.

This has been a year of minimal new acquisitions; these have included SQLnotes (now InfoQube) which I am still learning and have great expectations for. Other than that, I made attempts to streamline my production processes and reduce the number of applications I use. One important step has been my experimentation with Linux, of which I am very hopeful.

My main setup (Windows PC & Symbian phone) currently includes:

- Brainstorm, the starting point for almost everything on my PC.
- Projekt (for Symbian), the starting point in my phone: all my projects/task lists go there; Projekt info is exported as OPML to ConceptDraw MindMap and/or Notecase Pro if necessary.
- I use the Symbian calendar for time planning and sync with Outlook, but don't use Outlook (too slow and heavy on resources) but rather RainLendar on my PC.
- I use Tasktop for enforcing discipline and focus in my task management but it is too heavy on resources
- The Bat! is my e-mail client and Opera my browser.
- UltraRecall remains my project database of choice for all the bits and pieces of information.
- Surfulater carries all my web copied information; may eventually take the place of UltraRecall.
- The file system is my repository for just about everything else; I keep a portable drive updated with Super Flexible file synchronizer and always have my info at hand.
- Some basic files (UltraRecall database, main Brainstorm file etc) are also backed-up and sync'd among my various PCs via NomaDesk.
- MS Office files are usually the unavodable end-product when collaborating with everyone else.

I am still experimenting with Linux and am about to purchase an Eee PC. My main applications here are:
- Opera for browsing; bookmarks are automatically sync'd among my various PCs, regardless of operating system (this is a free Opera service)
- I use webmail for the time being; I will probably use Thunderbird eventually.
- I'm experimenting with personal wikis, such as Tiddly Backpack and Luminotes.
- Have just downloaded Tasktop for Linux to try out.

Cheers
Alexander

I have a few different pieces of software that I use routinely.

At work, on my PC, I use Outlook 2003(Our corporate standard)and also Onenote 2007. I have been using Onenote for quite some time, but have just discovered the joy of shared notebooks. I am in the States, but work with a group in the UK. We keep a shared notebook on a Sharepoint server, and we can easily move information back and forth.

In my real life, I use a MacBook. I have a couple of needs. One is for storage, searching, and organizing of scientific literature. For that I use Papers(http://mekentosj.com/papers/ It's a great piece of software, but there are some others out there like bookends, and sente. These programs are designed to search the literature repositories like Pubmed, store the papers in the program as PDF files, and allow you to search and sort them. Great for someone who uses a lot of literature.

I am also using other programs. I have Devonthink Pro, Eaglefiler, and now that I have Leopard, I am also running Together from Reinvented Software. Each of these programs have different strengths, but are ver similar. My favorite on Tiger was Devonthink. But I am leaning a little bit towards Together.

I also use Notetaker.

Jim

Well, looking back, I guess I can say managed to avoid too much CRIMPing this year, though I did make several changes in my tool set.

The biggest change came in email management. Last year I finally gave up on Eudora, and gave Barca a lengthy trial, in hopes it would serve as the integrated e-mail-calendar-task management system I've dreamed about for so long. Gave up on Barca early this year, and (against my instincts) gave Outlook another try. A couple of months of that refreshed my memory on why I rejected Outlook the first time around.

So now I'm using Thunderbird with the Lightning calendar extension. The mail client is pretty much all I'd ask for, though its search function could be a little better. The Lightning calendar is fine, but its task manager is anemic, at best. My hope is that after another upgrade or two, it will gain enough features to make it worthwhile.

Until that time, I'm still relying on ECCO for task and project management, as well as for one crucial research database. Long live ECCO!

For general information management, I'm still relying on MyInfo as my primary tool, though I play with OneNote for certain purposes- especially for storage of graphics-heavy web pages that I don't expect to access often, but still want to store. Last year I fiddled with Surfulater for that purpose, but- sorry Neville- the UI just feels awkward to me.

For writing and composition, I've pretty much given up on NoteMap (moment of silence here) and shifted to Page Four. My preference is for a one-pane outliner here, but you can't have everything you want in this life. Wish it were a little simpler to manage and move pages within the Page Four outline tree, but the program serves my needs adequately if not perfectly.

What else? Keep my daily journal in Evernote 2; it's the one place where the toilet roll UI actually seems useful instead of annoying. Not impressed with Evernote 3 so far.

Still have large legacy data sets in AskSam, but I doubt I've opened the program a half dozen times this year. Adieu, AskSam.

And like so many of us, am watching InfoQube closely!

My list for tracking notes and ideas:

Keynote
I use this to capture my thoughts and ideas for a specific writing project. Usually this is just a simple collection of jotted down ideas, or a sort of scratchpad for me to work out my ideas. That venerable old software is simple enough for me to figure out, yet versatile enough for me to incorporate images, or link to other files and web urls. I think if I were doing a project that required me to keep track of lots of research and documents I might think about shopping around for something that can encompass a larger variety of file types. Even so, from the hunting around that I've done, it might be hard to find something to match Keynote for it's ease and ability to organize the information. I am also able to run Keynote on a jump drive, and now I use it both for my weekend writing projects, and my day job.

TiddlyWiki
I tried to use TiddlyWiki for capturing and tracking my notes, but found Keynote more to my liking. The ability to tag items was interesting, but the way my mind works, I need to be able to see the overall organization of how all the pieces of information and other snippets fit in with the whole thing. TiddlyWiki instead has become a sort of diary and free-for-all way for me to get my creative mojo started up when I'm staring at a blank page and am stumped for words. I use the tagging feature as a way to look back on the evolution of various ideas that I've toyed with, which can sometimes spark another idea.

Compendium http://compendium.open.ac.uk/institute/about.htm
I discovered this free mind-mapping software a couple of years ago, and from what I gather, it's a little like MindManager or FreeMind. It allows me to explore possible scenarios when I'm developing my stories. I tried FreeMind some years ago, but found that developing my diagrams required too much formatting just to do the diagraming work. Compendium, with it's 8 or 9 standard symbols, allows me to keep my focus on the ideas, and not on the diagram. As for MindManager, well, I'm not too keen on the price. Although Compendium has some limits on how it exports its diagrams, because I'm usually trying to develop plot points and scenarios, and not necessarily trying to keep track of a huge decision-making tree, it's just perfect for my needs.

Palm Desktop
I use my Palm T|X for jotting down any notes and ideas about my personal project that occur to me during my day job. Sure, I could just as easily use a notepad. That's what I used to do, but I was forever having to track bits and pieces of scrap paper, and somehow they would never be at hand when I needed them. The Palm syncs to its desktop software on my computer, and the notes are always there -- and easy enough to cut and paste into my Keynote file.

Firefox and Extensions:
I use Firefox as my browser, and it has a couple of extensions that I find indispensable for helping me hunt for ideas, inspiration, and for keeping notes. Firefox can also run from a jump drive, so on my work computer, where I am prevented from installing software, I can still operate Firefox.
QuickNote extension: This is the quickest and easiest way for me to jot down a note of any kind while surfing. It creates one very long text file, which can make it hard to find a particular idea, but there's a lot to be said for the simplicity of this extension.
Google Notebook: I work on several computers, and I travel a lot on business. I've found that anything that I want to take note of when I'm on a computer far from home, particularly if it's a website, Google Notebook lets me note it, and it'll be available to retrieve no matter where I am, as long as I can get on the web.

Other tools:
MS Word
MS Excel
yWriter4

Dominik Holenstein wrote:

Hello group,

I wondering what tools you are using today to manage the information
stream during a working day due the the current development in the PIM and general
software market.

Hi,

My way of looking at "tools" might be a little different than yours -- I write fiction.

OneNote 2007. When I start a project, I open a section or a new notebook in OneNote and dump all my thoughts, images, PDFs, FLVs and whatever in there. OneNote is extremely intuitive and a breeze to work with.

Surfulater 3. I rely heavily on the internet for preliminary research and SUL is a great web clipper.

MindManager 7. When I need to visualize my way through plotting or play around with wild ideas, MindManager is the best mindmapping tool for the job. Am I going to purchase 8? Upgrading is pricey. Version 7 is good enough for me.

MS Word 2003. Yup, I haven't migrated to Office 2007 (except for OneNote which I purchased separately). I tried "creative" alternatives such as PageFour or Liquid Story Binder but discovered that if I want some real work done, I go back to plain old Word.

ClipMate -- the best clipboard extension out there. Among other things, I use it to save text clips when I work on a story.

SnagIt -- the best screen capture tool out there. I use the combination SUL+ClipMate+SnagIt for web-based research, this setup works great for me.

LW

Hi Jack,

What was the latest Brainstorm announcement? I seem to have fallen out of the Brainstorm loop, never to be allowed to return.


Jack Crawford wrote:

My main usage at the moment is:

. Am living inside Outlook more than before using the
ClearContext add-in and the Michael Linenberger approach. Email is stored inside
this system.
. OneNote for creative notes, meeting agendas, project drafts and
personal storage.
. MindManager and Project Kickstart for project design and
management.
. Inspiration for diagrams (occasionally).
. dtSearch for indexing
(it will run off a USB).

I would still love a reliable one-panel outliner that
exports directly to Word. Am watching InfoQube and (since the recent announcement)
Brainstorm.

Jack

I use many applications, to avoid boredom, but the dearth of software development--which I don't expect to change soon or even in the next few years--has let me distinguish core from optional applications. My core applications, in order of first use on a writing project, are:

GoalEnforcer (http://www.goalenforcer.com
Clipmate
MS OneNote
MindGenius
NoteMap (longer projects only)
MS Word 2007

As my fundamental work principle, I proceed always from a task outline, revised before deviating, residing in GoalEnforcer. I supplement the task outline with content outlines, first a graphical-outline mind dump, then, for longer projects, a full-sentence linear outline, but I follow these outlines less assiduously than the fundamental task outline.

Stephen R. Diamond wrote:

Hi Jack,

What was the latest Brainstorm announcement? I seem to have fallen out of
the Brainstorm loop, never to be allowed to return.

Stephen,

The announcement about Brainstorm is that it looks like it is going to be acquired by an American, who we are hoping will provide further and more rapid development.

Steve Z.