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Ask HN: Where do you keep your ideas?

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Re: Ask HN: Where do you keep your ideas?

#51

Post by rayhano »

co_pl_te wrote: post #48
po wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. Paper is under-rated by geeks. I use a Muji A6 dotted paper notebook because the grid helps me draw boxes but is light enough to also let me ignore them when I feel like it. Some of them come with an elastic band on the cover to help keep it closed. The paper is cheap enough that I don't feel like the ideas have to be important to write down. I find that I am a bit reluctant to write in a super nice notebook…

I used to consider pen(cil) & paper as the only medium worthy (and secure) enough for transcribing the ideas that popped into my young head, although now I use an iPad, a Bamboo stylus, and either Paper or Penultimate to record all my thoughts. I think my preference for paper stemmed from a childhood experience I had with keeping my first journal on an old DOS/386 in a password-protected WordPerfect file (and I still…

If you have that original hard disk, have you thought of using recovery software to see if fragments of your file still exist?

Re: Ask HN: Where do you keep your ideas?

#55

Post by co_pl_te »

rayhano wrote: post #51
co_pl_te wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to consider pen(cil) & paper as the only medium worthy (and secure) enough for transcribing the ideas that popped into my young head, although now I use an iPad, a Bamboo stylus, and either Paper or Penultimate to record all my thoughts. I think my preference for paper stemmed from a childhood experience I had with keeping my first journal on an old DOS/386 in a password-protected WordPerfect file (and I still…

If you have that original hard disk, have you thought of using recovery software to see if fragments of your file still exist?

I might give that a try sometime (I'm sure it's around somewhere) just to see if I can get something back. I vaguely remember a little of what I wrote, but it would be intriguing to reread what I was writing all those years back. Thanks for the idea.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you keep your ideas?

#57

Post by mark_l_watson »

I don't use a notebook anymore. Now I start with a small document containing what need the project is supposed to solve, some design notes, and I use omniGraffle to sketch out diagrams. One tip: I save copies of all of my "idea diagrams" in a folder and I often start by grabbing an old file and copying parts of it. I find that using a diagramming tool is almost as fast as sketching with pencil and paper.

I also rely on Evernote (happy paying customer) for storing resources, random thoughts, photos taken with my cellphone of receipts, etc. I don't use Evernote for project materials however, just general resources and a history of what I have found interesting and useful.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you keep your ideas?

#58

Post by Link- »

I keep a moleskine notebook with me all the time where i sketch and write my ideas on the spot. I use mindjet's mindmapping software to elaborate on those ideas and store the files in a brainstorming folder on my portable harddrive and laptop. A copy of that folder is also in Google Drive to have access to the files and documents whenever i need them. I frequently use evernote and flava and sync them both, especially when i take snapshots with my mobile.

Re: Ask HN: Where do you keep your ideas?

#59

Post by cagey »

atul_wired wrote: post #46
napoleond wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Me too. I'll second the opinion of others and mention that paper is hard to beat, but for me paper happens at either end of the idea (jotting a quick note in my notebook/whatever paper is around, and later sketching layouts/business models/user flows/etc to flesh things out) while Workflowy happens in between. Most good ideas happen when I'm in the middle of another project. By the time I'm able to devote any serious…

This looks like a great tool.. but for these kind of sites, I always feel uncomfortable to signup and then store my personal information in their databases. I could easily end up giving them my personal ideas and my professional work related stuff.. We really don't know who is looking at our data on other side and what kinda security measures(if any) they are taking to secure the same. Your thoughts?

A valid point. I've been using Workflowy for a few months (I'm a long-time "outliner aficionado" who has happily jumped into using this tool with both feet due to some HN postings), and when it comes to entering work/professional data, I make small efforts to obfuscate key items. But some cannot be obfuscated w/o invalidating the content itself...

I haven't been sufficiently concerned/motivated to investigate their privacy policy further.

[edit:] https://workflowy.com/privacy/ may raise concerns; I need to review this policy later (and compare it to those of other free services such as Google which I also use).

Re: Ask HN: Where do you keep your ideas?

#60

Post by richardw »

iPhone and text docs, and when I want to think a bit more about the idea, Google Sites. The latter has a wiki-like structure with lots of useful structures (e.g. headings, LHS hierarchy, some widgets, lists) and I can share it with others very easily. Keeps version history.
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