I have determined that the problem was the lack of an "always there" todo list and note taking device. I write too slowly and am not organized enough to use my moleskine (never mind that I also tend to forget it), and my lifestyle is too mobile to just use a laptop.

I tried iGTD and Omnifocus. Ominfocus was too heavy on the resources, though by now I should probably try it again (maybe when they come up with an iPhone rich client). I also used Circus Ponies' Notebook, which was pretty nice but didn't do spotlight with enough granularity. Then I tried Journler (for journaling, never used it for GTD) and now I'm trying out Evernote. So how does Evernote compare?

Well, it's not as nice as Journler. But it syncs online and does OCR, which is pretty unique. But only kind of works out for me because it's not ubiquitous.

The problem with syncing online is that sometimes you just don't have access to the online component. For example, I have a shopping list. I go to it online using the iPhone. When I enter the supermarket, signal drops and I no longer have access to the stuff I'm shopping for! (this *has* happened to me). As soon as there's an iPhone rich client that syncs locally, I'll be much happier.

Having said that, I also like features. And the last program I tried, Journler, spoiled me with them. To the point that I keep comparing Evernote to Journler, and find Evernote lacking.
Both Evernote and Journler support full Spotlight searching which is nice. But Journler (probably because they only have to worry about the client app) is a lot more polished. For example, in Journler you can add multiple pieces of content on the same entry, and these can be audio, video, and photos (through the iSight). When taking a picture with evernote (the only thing that's supported), it always creates a new entry. I can't seem to drag images from one note to another, though it does suport dragging and dropping multiple images.
A big selling point for Evernote is the text recognition that happens on the server. But it seems like it's only half a feature. For example, it recognizes the text and keeps it hidden, like an OCR'd PDF. It helpfully highlights the found words as it finds them during a search, but it doesn't let me drag and select text inside the image, like an OCR PDF would do in something like Preview. I know there's backing text being stored, and I would like to be able to select it to copy/paste, particularly for things like quickly updating my address book with information I photograph off a business card, or preparing a document based on some text that came in as a graphic.

Journler supports real smart folder searches, categories and tags, which should make it possible to set up a GTD-like system based on what you write. Evernote only has tags, and saved searches, which let you save a textual search and a search that is only limited to a particular set of tags, except that multiple tags work like an AND instead of an OR (and you can't change this), so it makes it less flexible that it could be in practice.

I decided to take a trip down memory lane and install some of them..

So now I have OS 2 Warp V3, Windows 3.1/MS-DOS 6.22 and Windows 98, in addition to Windows 2000 and XP which I actually use to test.

Fun fun fun!

Man, I love VMs!

technorati tags:vms, retro, virtual-machines, parallels

I want to create a rule from them so I go back o the main Inbox window. Then I say "Tools", "Rules and Alerts", "New Rule"...

Then I want to add a rule for messages sent to the distribution list, however now the address (which I promptly forgot because human brains tend to forget unimportant things) is obscured. Since both "Rules and Alerts", and "New Rule Wizard" dialogs are modal, I have to cancel not once, but twice, in order to move the window so I can see it.

Yes, I "could have" right-clicked on the mesage and say "Create Rule", but since the Inbox view doesn't have a "To" column by default (and I agree, it is stupid to add one), I don't actually know which of these messages are sent to the Distribution list and which are specifically to me, right?

Yes, I can also add "Create Rule" when the message is open, however this is on the "Actions" menu, when the rules engine on the Inbox is on the "Tools" menu. So for a while I don't find it. I guess I need training - after all, I've only been using windows applications since Windows 2.0 came out.

Too many choices getting in the way, and not one matching the way a user thinks.

technorati tags: usability, windows, outlook

This one I am especially proud of. We just launched this yesterday afternoon.
Microsoft ASP.NET Web Matrix Project
He continues: So now with the Web Matrix (free) combined with our MSDE Database (free) and the .NET Framework (free), all running on IIS (which ships free with Windows), you have a zero-cost entry point to play with and develop .NET enabled applications and XML Web services.

Not bad indeed. I'll be checking it out in the next couple of weeks.

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