Tuesday 27 February 2007

Pic of the day: Screenshot "borrowed" from WinWistaBeta.com, since I have only installed mine at work so far. I have to be careful where I install it, since I can only do so on three different computers... Not just at the same time, but over the lifetime of the program. Not exactly made for us who buy a new computer each year! Anyway, notice the tabs: Those on the left side signify notebooks (like binders, you know), those on top signify tabs in the notebooks, and those on the right refer to individual pages. Extremely simple.

A note about OneNote

I have nothing against Microsoft, but I usually don't buy their Office programs. After all, OpenOffice.org has pretty much the same functionality for free, and I am not into giving gifts to corporations. There is one thing that is lacking in OpenOffice, though: OneNote. I finally caved in this year when a new and better version of OneNote came out, and bought the Home & Student version of MS Office. Even that was somewhat expensive, at kr 1500 (approx. $250) – your local price may vary. And while I did install Word (we use it at work so I am bound to get some questions about it), it was really only for OneNote that I bought it. (OneNote is sold separately, but was not in stock, and the price is comparable.)

So what is OneNote, and why does it appeal so strongly to me? It is a new generation of data gathering software, and it is fundamentally chaotic like me. You dump into it highlights from web pages, or e- mails, or photos, or even voice recording, and you can of course write in it, including handwriting if you have a Tablet PC. Whatever you dumps into it is placed on its own page in a section of unsorted notes. If you later find out that many of them relate to the same thing, you can create a new virtual Notebook (of which there are a couple from the start, but you can remove those and create new ones). Or if it fits within an existing notebook, for instance Work, you can create a new tab (or chapter) in the notebook and dump them in there for easy retrieval. Each entry has its own page, unless you choose to add to an existing page, or move something from one page to another.

I guess the nearest equivalent is those college blocks you take notes in, with perforated pages so that you can pull them out and put them in binders. But this is easier, and you can glue anything to the pages including not just pictures and active links but even sounds and movies. Try that with your physical notebook, if you will...

Even if you don't organize things, you can still find them by searching. The unique part is that it will not just search text. It will search for text inside pictures, or in handwriting, or even in recorded speech! I am not sure if that works in Norwegian, probably not, but then again I don't use Norwegian much these days except at work. And I don't record speech at work.

I love the fact that you can just dump things in there. I habitually use my physical desktop like that. Not so much at home because I don't much use paper at home, except in the bathroom and such. But at work... I dump a lot of stuff on my desktop and then forget it, but it is still there if I need it later. Most of it is never needed, of course. And surely most of what I dump into OneNote will never again warrant my attention, either. But that is not the point. The point is that the cursory attention I give it while dumping it into OneNote will be enough to let me spot any related items later, and easily connect them, then forget about it until next time. In a manner of speaking, it is more an extension of my brain cortex than of my desktop.

Recommended for chaotic people and those who write books. It was actually on the NaNoWriMo forums I first heard about this program, and rightly so. It almost looks like it is made for the chaotic fact- gathering phase before you start writing in earnest. People, places, events, dates, maps ... all of it goes into the blender. And if you are writing more than one book, so much the better, since you can have as many virtual notebooks as your computer allows. Or your network, for that matter, because the program comes network-enabled and indeed network-aware. If you collaborate with someone else, you set up what to share and not, and the two OneNotes will quietly synchronize whenever they both are in the network. (Including virtual private networks (VPN) over the Internet, another thing I am looking into these days.)

More about all this later if it is interesting enough. Otherwise not. Although sometimes the best things are the ones you forget exist, because they have quickly become a part of you. There is a risk that this could happen to OneNote, but probably not. I am pretty good at writing about the forgettable, am I not?