After Google Notes was retired, I was determined to find a replacement.
Evernote is okay but will the company still be around for years? Not sure.
Since I already have a hosting account, I recently installed DocuWiki. So far, I really like it!
Tired of note-taking apps
461–470 of 481 posts
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#462Earlier quoted context omitted.
Similar experience here. Digital notetaking on non-touch devices fundamentally doesn't work, because non-textual expression requires too much work, digital notetaking with a stylus is better, but still doesn't work for the reasons you outlined. Writing with a fountain pen on good paper is like meditation to me; you wouldn't want to contaminate meditation with computers, like they contaminated everything else...
Any tips on how to get good paper?
Oxford Optik Paper (90 g/m²) is very good, but clearly a premium option (2.5 EUR per 50 page A4 pad). I use Midori MD journals, not sure if they even sell writing pads, which are excellent as well.
At university I mostly used cheap Brunnen paper for note-taking, not nearly as good as the Oxford, and you'd only want to write on it single-sided, but very cheap (a ten pack of 50 page pads costs the same as a single Oxford pad) and much better than some of the other cheap paper which basically seems to be photocopier paper glued together, which is awful to write on.
There are probably paper review forums or blogs or something like that that might help you find nice paper locally.
I always buy blank pads and usually use my own ruling backing paper, which has black and somewhat thicker lines than what comes with writing pads, which makes them easier to see in not-that-great lighting conditions.
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#463Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm constantly annoyed that there are no decent stylus apps on Android. The only one with an infinite canvas has more annoyances and issues than I can count (beginning with how scheduled backups can only be pointed at cloud storage, and manual local backups can only be made to a proprietary format) and I just absolutely hate it.
I use Squid on Android. I learned to adjust the options to suit me well. I use my stylus for writing or drawing and use my fingers to lasso objects to move them or resize them. My stylus has an eraser function when I use the back end of the stylus. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.steadfasti...
I also use Squid. It's the app I'm talking about it. It effectively holds your data hostage and if there were any other alternative, I'd use it. The UI is also quite bad and the functionality just isn't there compared to the best iOS stylus notetaking apps.
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#464Earlier quoted context omitted.
I feel like this is half a solution to me. I use Git too, but it does nothing about how notes are structured or linked, for which I lean on sublime, Obsidian and Zettelkasten.
I recently started with Obsidian which I sync up via DropBox using a text editor on my machine or Markor on Android (still haven't selected an iOS equivalent.. tips welcome). I see Zettelkasten mentioned in tandem with Obsidian frequently but I can't figure out what it does? Is it just timestamping for notes?
Zettelkasten in digital form has been largely bastardized for some reason that I haven't quite figured out. The original ZK doesn't have timestamps and timestamps are such a terrible, uninformative, non-contextual way to codify notes. ZK originally uses a hierarchical and sequential numbering system that immediately tells you when it was created in relation to other notes and tells you its hierarchical relationship to neighboring notes (note 1a2 is a child of 1a; 1b is a sibling of 1a; and if 1 is an overarching theme, 1a, 1b, and 1a2 are each sub-ideas under that theme).
I've resorted to using the original numbering system manually, but I'm still waiting for a tool that understands them and knows how to work with them (or maybe I'll get fed up after a while and make my own).
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#465Just another opinion on the balanced note taking method: I think org-mode solves almost all offline note-taking requirements * org-roam makes it super-easy to link notes * emacs as an editor is as usable as any other editor * Rich media is possible and easy to do in org-mode. Attach a snapshot, embed a video file * Code with documentation is a feature not available in most other note taking methods/apps. It's possibl…
if org-mode would support Ctrl+V pasting a random image or file into it, and if it could have rudimentary inking support, it sounds just about perfect to me. Sadly, the combo of (rich optional) text, easy paste in pictures, inking, file embedding, easy linking, open file formats / all in a sqlite file you can sync / stick on a flash drive, that runs on Windows/Android/Linux/maaaaybe web is just not there yet that I c…
Here's an easy way to add images https://github.com/abo-abo/org-download
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#466Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is a non-zero chance you won't always be on the same platform. That doesn't mean you shouldn't use the best app for your platform, but it's worth to think about how you migrate data out when that day comes. I've spent roughly a decade or so on each platform I've been on, and then moved on, because either the platform lost its way, or I needed different things. I've learned the painful way that you want data lib…
What platforms & timeline, if you don't mind?
1982-1989 MS DOS
1988-1996 Unix - first SCO, then Linux (since '91)
1994-2006 Windows - mostly NT
2002-??? macOS
2011-??? Linux
Yes, there's overlap, and yes, I'm currently considering Windows again :)
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#467I searched far and wide for a good note taking app a few years ago, only to find that the best solution for me was right in front of me the entire time. git init fall2020 Git lets me keep track of everything, and I have free hosting at multiple different websites, or my own server if I want to. It's simple and customizable, and depending on what type of notes, I have different scripts to automate new notes and search…
This is also the conclusion I came to after years of trying different things
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#468Earlier quoted context omitted.
What platforms & timeline, if you don't mind?
1982-1989 MS DOS 1988-1996 Unix - first SCO, then Linux (since '91) 1994-2006 Windows - mostly NT 2002-??? macOS 2011-??? Linux Yes, there's overlap, and yes, I'm currently considering Windows again :)
Thanks.
And yes, needs/utility vary.
Any CPM, Classic Mac, or BeOS experience by chance? (Or others.)
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#469Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every keystroke isn’t the same if that’s how deep you’re going to get into it. You never use the exact amount of force, or fall from exactly the same angle when typing either. It has nothing to do with that. There’s nothing inherently creative about writing. But it adds value in that it forces you to spend more time on a single thought while writing, which is not the case while typing. On a computer, you write your n…
> You never use the exact amount of force, or fall from exactly the same angle when typing either. None of that metadata is recorded, or could ever be revisited. But when I write with a pen, I can see the differences and sometimes it clearly relates back to the emotional experience.
Hack idea: a keyboard that records this data (speed of typing? force of key presses, maybe approximated by keyboard vibrations?) paired with an app that tweaks font settings accordingly.
Definitely way more effort than it's worth, but it might be a cool dumb thing to build.
Re: Tired of note-taking apps
#470I love using joplinapp.org