Tag: evernote

New kid on the block Joplin for notes

Joplin clientsI have a bit of history with note taking apps, having started with Evernote back when I had a Windows Pocket PC and moving to a bunch of different apps till I finally settled on Standard Notes.

Its really good and been using the listed feature for a my gratitude diary. However I checked out Joplin recently and quite like some of the features.

Evernote import works perfectly, meaning I get my rich evernotes back complete with attachments, Actually the way it handles attachments is a lot closer to Evernote. Syncing is done in a number of different ways including Dropbox, Webdav, etc and all done with encryption meaning its using the service as a file container like how I use keepass right now.I had tried to setup a standard notes sync server in the past but didn’t really put the effort in.

Standard note uses markdown which is good and quick but I like Joplin’s hybrid of markdown and html. This pushed further with web clippers in Firefox and Chrome. Making Joplin extremely useful for capturing online resources.

I like both but will find it tricky to use both although I noticed for example Joplin is really painful to use on my ereader, while standardnotes is super smooth. They are build for different purposes but working what do with each is a bit of a dilemma right now. Currently I have my evernote backup and standardnotes in Joplin thanks to export/import. Of course theres lots of duplicate notes which I really need to go through and delete, as I already imported my evernote into standard notes previously.

Standardnotes my alternative choice to Evernote

Standardnotes

This is continuous fight I keep having with myself… For quite some time I’ve been looking for an alternative to Evernote on Linux & Android. I got it down to 3, Turtl, laverna and standardnotes.

In the end I decided Standardnotes mainly because I needed something which easily syncs like simplenote and I guess evernote. I liked the idea of being able to run my own standardnote server in the future. But the biggest thing for me was being able to convert my evernote notes. Yes it costs but I was happy with the terms (client side encryption) and comfortable with the payment which is less than evernote anyway. I also been looking a little deeper at Standardnotes. The privacy and sustainability statements are just stuff of dreams. Theres very few other services which can say and do these things.

What about the others?

Turtl, was good but the interface drove me a little nutty, having to login each time and no offline support? Maybe in a few years if the project gets more development it grow into something special and I’ll check it out again.

laverna is also good and is very quick and easy to get going but its mainly built around the browser as it uses javascript. There is a android app coming but its not there yet and syncing is tricky because it stores everything in the browser. I think you can move this to a sync container like dropbox, google drive, etc.

Standardnotes

With Standardnotes., I have added it to Wavebox, installed the Android apps (doesn’t install on my ereader as it needs Android 5+) and paid for a year subscription.

So far so good!

I do still use Simplenote for quick and temporary notes, but not I installed the the Linux app, this may go away too. Now I just need to sort out my imported 2177 evernotes!

Replacing Evernote with …?

Dead evernote

I’ve been slowly replacing lots of the apps I’ve used in the past. I already wrote a few posts about it. But the big one is replacing Evernote. Now I’m not jumping on the bandwagon but frankly its always drove me a little nuts the lack of linux support. Especially with frameworks like Electron. Its a bit of kick in the teeth and although their webapp has gotten much better, the lack of offline support makes it a killer for everyday use. Yes there is Nevernote, which become Nixnote but Java!

So I tried switching to something else. I landed on Simplenote as its got clients for every platform and it actually syncs across them all like Evernote. This I thought was perfect then somewhere between deciding to move and actually exporting my data out of evernote (thanks to Wine – Windows emulator for Linux); Simplenote removed (?) the ability to import data from evernote exports. Yes I could do some horrible automation but it would be a real pain.

To my mind, their is two parts. The syncing part and the editing part. Most of the note taking apps seem to combine both parts. This is why I liked Tomboy notes but the client was poor.

So I’m looked for something which seperates both parts and can be replaced easlily enough (open enough to do this too). It also needs clients for Linux and Android (web would be a plus). Attachments, encryption, dataportability, etc are high on my list. These are quite different from what Tom is looking for I feel. For example I never used the evernote clipper and have other native solutions for that.

I found these and might give them a try…

  • Laverna needs a Android client, which they are working on. Uses Dropbox or something else for syncing.
  • Standard notes also needs a Android client before I use it, uses a opensource server to sync but its very early days. Although its interesting to hear the developers thoughts on Evernote. Thats a whole lot of puff but standard note does look promising.
  • Turtl has all the clients I need but uses its own sync server, however its opensource and I can later run my own (noticed theres a docker image). I’m currently trying this one out and its working quite well, but I’m still waiting for inport support of my evernote data.

I also found while browsing around Tagspaces, which isn’t stictly a note taking app but has potential to be so much more. Clients for every platform, opensource and can be selfhosted or synced via dropbox, etc.

Sure to update people once I find something which can replace evernote.

 

Storing Mindmaps by date

Tedxliverpool mindmap in google calendar

Been  looking for a way to store my mindmaps, connect them to calendar events/ meetings all with the minimum of stress. Then I happen to look through Calendar Labs and saw this…

Event attachments
By Sundaresan V and Oana F – Mar 2010

Attach a Google document, spreadsheet or presentation to your event or upload a file from your computer. Important: guests do not automatically have permission to view Google Docs attachments. You must share each attached document.

As Mindmup already stores the mindmaps on Google Drive, it should be easy enough to link them to calendar events. Therefore making it easy to find them and easily retrievable. I’m not sure if this is the case if its somebody elses calendar request but theres only one way to find out.

Well it certainly saves me building some custom solution with my own version control system (had thought about running a XMLDB or NoSQL db locally and creating Xlinks to the mindmaps. And this could be done because Mindmup is open, has a API and is using standard technologies.

Doesn’t quite solve my Evernote connection issue, plus its really a binary blob rather than a nice mindmap but alas its the best I can think. I was going to give Google Keep a try for storing notes, so maybe that might do something better with it.

Hello, do I know you?

Since my brush with death its hard to remember all the people I have met in the past. I’m rubbish with names even though I do recognise them. Its noticeable because I was ever so good at holding peoples names in my head previously

I find Evernote Hello a slightly interesting concept, but I won’t be using it because its iOS only. I also don’t really think the idea of passing your phone across to remember details is a good idea.

However what I do find useful recently is quick follow in Tweetcaster… Add the name, save them to a list for future use. Yes its not going to beat having a photo, etc but its a lot less intrusive. Only issue is I sometimes end up calling people there twitter name rather than there real name. Specially when they don’t have very distinctive names or use a picture of themselves when they were a child (not going to point at anyone).

I’ve been playing with the idea of putting pictures next to peoples names in my contact book but frankly do I want to be looking at my phone each time I recognise someone? Which also concerns me with Evernote Hello…

The internet operating system for real

Chrome Extensions

I switched to Ubuntu over 4 years ago, and its been pretty smooth.

But its recently got even smoother thanks to Google’s Chrome browser.

Why? A lot of people don’t even know Chrome supports extensions like Firefox…

Evernote winds me up no end… I started using Nevernote. Its a java client which mainly works with evernote but to be fair its quite bulky and a little slow. However Google launched there web store and a whole bunch of html5 apps have made it into the web store. A few of the apps include Evernote clients which not only connect to Evernote but also keep a local store of the notes. Making Evernote finally fully usable and reliable on a Ubuntu laptop.

As you can also see, its not only Evernote, its also Tweetdeck without installing Adobe Air (because when I last checked the 64bit version was bad, and who wants it on there machine?). I actually stopped using Gwibber because of Tweetdeck in Chrome (sorry to say…) Readitlater, Dropbox, etc are more like Firefox extensions than full applications. I guess Mozilla’s Prism is more like the chrome applications. I did try a while ago to run Evernote in Prism but it really wasn’t built for it, maybe things have changed now but I’m using Chrome more and more, although I also use Firefox 3.6 still for most of my general stuff.

There’s a lot of low level chatter about the internet operating system but google are doing a great job actually making it happen… you can see why the concept of chrome os is fascinating

Evernote take notes from Dropbox and Rescuetime

I’ve said it many times but Evernote really winds me up no end. I even went down the completely open route for a while using Tomboy Notes and there online service. To be honest the only reason why I switched back was because of Nevernote and the fact Tomdroid, couldn’t sync with any online service unless you transfered the notes via SD card.

However I started thinking via Dropbox, it would be trivial to do the syncing part. The only issue left seems to be about the fact tomdroid doesn’t seem to support editing or anything like that.

Anyway, the thing is going back to Evernote. Is I’ve been looking around some of my other apps I also pay for. Dropbox is the key example here.

Dropbox does support Linux but to be fair there a little behind the windows and mac versions. Not by much but its understandable. Rescue time don’t officially seem to support linux but they do unofficially support someone elses linux uploader, it would seem.

The fact is Evernote could really help there dominance by helping Nevernote. If they don’t Tomboy notes isn’t that far behind and will rise up and become the choice for many people.

Evernote is back with Nevernote

I use to love evernote but when I moved to Ubuntu for my main operating system, I found out that Evernote was not going to be supporting Ubuntu or more generally Linux. (instead you have to use wine and the Windows version)

[[I can’t seem to find the quote in the forums, where the Evernote team diss linux saying just use Wine.]]

This wound me up big time. So I got use to using TomboyNotes and was very pleased when I hear about Snowy (now also Ubuntu One sync). I even suggested this could rival Evernote. I seeked other alternatives before, but having Tomboynotes (which runs on every operating system) built in is useful. I also tried getting on with Tomdroid but having to sync my phone every time over usb is a pain in the ass (to be frank). Someone did compile a version out of the repository which does have websync with Ubuntu One but it fails to work on my HTC desire.

So up till a few days ago I was using Tomboynotes and Tomdroid. I even considered writing a XSL to transform Sony E-ink notes to Tomboy Notes and back (although my next blog post will explain why this won’t be nee e.

However yesterday dale l, left me a note on my blog…

There is a LINUX version of Evernote – it’s called Nevernote and you can find it here:

http://nevernote.sourceforge.net/

There’s just a few requirements to get it running… follow the instructions and visit their forum!

You can choose between 32 bit or 64.

I got it working fine and it runs well…!

After that, you can add the evernote webclipper to your browser…

So without a further a do I installed Nevernote on my 64bit Ubuntu laptop and tried it out. It took a little while to setup but I finally got it syncing all my old notes which I had in my old Evernote account. I’m currently moving all my old notes over from Tomboy Notes. Of course there is a Android client already, so I’m also doing the sync thing with that too. (oh there is also a command line version – clevernote for you hardcore.)

I’m going to miss Tomboy Notes but to be honest without the mobile syncing I’m a little unhappy. Maybe once Snowy and Tomdroid is more mature, I’ll consider going back. don’t get me wrong Nevernote looks and feels like a dog but it does work and even better, I get all the goodness of evernote. So automatic text analysis, syncing, picture and rich data support. I’m also interested in the new feature – Evernote Trunk.

The Trunk is a showcase of great apps and products that makes your Evernote experience more awesome.

To access it, click on the new “Trunk” icon in today’s update to Evernote for Windows and Evernote for Mac (Evernote Web later today, iPad next week). Clicking it opens a window full of amazing intergrations. Today, there are nearly 100 items listed across five categories: Mobile, Desktop & Web, Hardware, Gear, and Notebooks (this one is really cool, more on that later).

Obviously Nevernote does not support the Trunk directly, but I guess if you set it up online, it will just work. So for example the speech to text will just work if you make a note with audio in it?