Jul 29, 2011
DELIBERATELY QUOTED
"Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense."
~ Gertrude Stein
~ Gertrude Stein
Jul 25, 2011
What I've Learned About Evernote
Recently, one of my best friends sent me a note via Twitter asking me to review Evernote for this blog. I immediately thought to myself, “No problem”. I already use Evernote. I’ve been using it since October 19, 2009. How did I remember this? That’s the date I received the Evernote Welcome message. I never deleted the note.
What is Evernote? Simply stated, Evernote is an application which allows you to capture information that holds significant value to you and stores it in a server cloud for access via multiple devices.
I’ve discussed cloud computing previously. In January 2010, I published a post which discussed how cloud computing is slowly creeping into our everyday lives. Evernote is yet another example.
In the January post, I posed three questions which were interesting to me. I’ve reposted them here for your consideration.
- How much personal information are you willing to store on servers located on the internet?
- Are you willing to pay to have access to this data from anywhere (if so, how much)?
- What criteria should a service meet in order to gain your trust?
The first question is an individual choice. The last two questions can be addressed by software developers. The developers at Evernote have done an excellent job gaining the trust of millions of users while convincing many of them to pay for premium access .
Here is a bit of history. With the release of their open beta in June of 2008, Evernote began accepting new members. With that launch Evernote introduced a premium account plan along with the free plan. Premium users receive an increased upload quota of 1 gigabytes per month. Premium users also receive enhanced security for data transmission, advanced collaboration (allows others to edit your notes), the ability to upload any file-type, and premium customer support. The premium account costs $5/month or $45/year. Based on Evernote’s success in converting free subscribers to premium, the question of if users are willing to pay for access to their own data is - yes.
Evernote has become part of my workflow for several reasons. The most important of which is Evernote is a cross platform application. This means that there is a version of this app for all the major operating systems - OSX, Windows, iOS, and Android. I have at least one device of each OS type. There’s also Evernote Web. Cross platform access from multiple devices removes many of the obstacles which prevent me from obtaining the exact information I need, immediately.
All of your notes (unless stored in a local - that is, not synchronized - notebook) are synchronized to Evernote on the Web. Evernote's servers house a copy of all synced notes because all of the Evernote client applications, both mobile and desktop, connect to Evernote on the web to get the latest version of the notes for you.
Evernote's service and software applications are arranged in what's called a "hub-and-spoke" configuration. This means that every single sync operation that takes place will involve Evernote on the web (the "hub"). For instance, if you initiate a sync from Evernote on your desktop computer, any new or updated content will be uploaded to Evernote on the Web so it will be ready to be downloaded when any of your other devices (eg. Android mobile) initiate a subsequent sync.
Just as your devices connect to Evernote on the web to get the latest version of your notes, you can also access your Evernote notebooks through the Evernote Web interface.
Getting started with Evernote is breeze - download the app, install it on your device(s), then sign up for an account. Once these steps are complete, you’ll be ready to start creating notes. Notes are the basic building blocks of Evernote. Everything stored in Evernote is stored in a note. Each note can contain one or more the following:
- Plain or rich text
- Images (dragged from either your desktop or web browser)
- PDF files
- Any file (Premium users only)
All notes have a series of attributes (that is, pieces of information about the note itself) that can be used for searching or filtering your notes, including:
- The date the note was created and, if applicable, modified
- The location where the note was created, expressed as a set of GPS coordinates
- A URL if the note's content was clipped from the web (optional)
- The notebook where the note lives
Evernote allows you to separate your notes into named containers called Notebooks. How you organize your notes is up to you, but it's not uncommon to have a separate notebook for each project you're working on or a specific area of your life (i.e. recipes).
Evernote notebooks can be one of two types: Local or Synchronized. Local notebooks will only exist on the computer where they are created and are not synchronized to Evernote on the web. Notes that live in synchronized notebooks will be synchronized to Evernote on the web and to the rest of your Evernote-enabled devices.
Just like notebooks are containers that hold notes, Evernote offers the ability to add an additional level of organization to your notes by grouping your notebooks into containers called stacks. Stacks allow you to group your notebooks however you like into named containers that make sense for you.
To add an additional level of organization to your notes, you can also give notes a tag. Tags are pieces of text that are attached to notes to help describe the note's contents. I have tags for ‘recipes’, ‘emails’, and next ‘actions’ to name a few.
As stated earlier, Evernote is a very popular application. Evernote’s popularity stems from the fact this application helps to simplify workflows and keep track of ideas in near real-time. For a few details on how Evernote manages to help so many users, I’ll discuss a few aspects of the application which should help illuminate its value.
Evernote notebooks can be one of two types: Local or Synchronized. Local notebooks will only exist on the computer where they are created and are not synchronized to Evernote on the web. Notes that live in synchronized notebooks will be synchronized to Evernote on the web and to the rest of your Evernote-enabled devices.
Just like notebooks are containers that hold notes, Evernote offers the ability to add an additional level of organization to your notes by grouping your notebooks into containers called stacks. Stacks allow you to group your notebooks however you like into named containers that make sense for you.
To add an additional level of organization to your notes, you can also give notes a tag. Tags are pieces of text that are attached to notes to help describe the note's contents. I have tags for ‘recipes’, ‘emails’, and next ‘actions’ to name a few.
As stated earlier, Evernote is a very popular application. Evernote’s popularity stems from the fact this application helps to simplify workflows and keep track of ideas in near real-time. For a few details on how Evernote manages to help so many users, I’ll discuss a few aspects of the application which should help illuminate its value.
- Getting information into Evernote
- Evernote search
- Evernote options and tips
1. Getting Information into Evernote
If you’ve read this far, then you’re probably convinced that Evernote is worth consideration. The next step is to downloaded and install the software so you can try it out. Now, create an account with Evernote.
Once all that is complete, getting information into Evernote is simple. Launch the app on your computer or handheld device. Touch the ‘New Note’ icon. Start typing.
You can give the note a ‘Title’ and add text in the text box. The process here is exactly like that of writing an email message.
2. Evernote search
This is the gem of Evernote in my opinion. As the amount of information you save in Evernote grows, you’ll really appreciate the utility of Evernote's powerful search capabilities. The search field may look like a simple text search field, but the advance search syntax available in Evernote gives you the ability to search for notes based on several criteria. You can search based on the date a note was created, the type of media (audio, images, etc.) it contains — even by the location where the note was created if you tagged it accordingly.
Page 12 of the Evernote for Mac User-guide provides a list of the most common search operators available, complete with examples.
What makes Evernote search even more special is the fact that you can save a search. If you find yourself consistently completing the same search over and over, then create a ‘New Saved Search’. Saved searches are synchronized to Evernote on the Web and available on all of your Evernote-enabled devices, including mobile devices.
3. Evernote options and tips
One of the major ways in which I take advantage of Evernote is with the Web Clipper add-on. The Web Clipper add-on allows you to save content from the web (via a browser plug-in) to your Evernote account. The content you clip can be an entire article, the full page, or simply the URL. Did you stumble upon a great idea for a new recipe? Then, clip the webpage and place it into your Evernote notebook along with all your other recipes.
Evernote also provides the ability to clip from an email account. This is especially handy if you need help cutting through all the noise created by the constant barrage of email throughout the day. Evernote supports clipping messages, attachments and even multiple emails. Clipping email messages can help you focus on the tasks required to be productive instead of you constantly living in your inbox watching for the next urgent diversion.
Another tip, download Ron’s Evernote Tips notebook (oh - yeah, you can selectively share notebooks you’ve created with others). Ron’s Evernote Tips can be found here. One of the more interesting tips provided by Ron is the Evernote-Twitter integration. With these two linked, you're able to archive your favorite tweets. And, when you integrate Evernote with Twitter, you'll be able to send notes directly to your Evernote account through Twitter.
Final tip - it’s worthwhile to watch some of the quick tutorial videos that Evernote has made available here.
Give Evernote a try and let me know how you use it. I’m always eager to learn from others how to squeeze a little more productivity out of my day.
Suggested Evernote related reading:
Evernote's Three Laws of Data Protection
Evernote User Guides
Ron’s Evernote Tips Tumblr
Evernote Wikipedia
Once all that is complete, getting information into Evernote is simple. Launch the app on your computer or handheld device. Touch the ‘New Note’ icon. Start typing.
You can give the note a ‘Title’ and add text in the text box. The process here is exactly like that of writing an email message.
2. Evernote search
This is the gem of Evernote in my opinion. As the amount of information you save in Evernote grows, you’ll really appreciate the utility of Evernote's powerful search capabilities. The search field may look like a simple text search field, but the advance search syntax available in Evernote gives you the ability to search for notes based on several criteria. You can search based on the date a note was created, the type of media (audio, images, etc.) it contains — even by the location where the note was created if you tagged it accordingly.
Page 12 of the Evernote for Mac User-guide provides a list of the most common search operators available, complete with examples.
What makes Evernote search even more special is the fact that you can save a search. If you find yourself consistently completing the same search over and over, then create a ‘New Saved Search’. Saved searches are synchronized to Evernote on the Web and available on all of your Evernote-enabled devices, including mobile devices.
3. Evernote options and tips
One of the major ways in which I take advantage of Evernote is with the Web Clipper add-on. The Web Clipper add-on allows you to save content from the web (via a browser plug-in) to your Evernote account. The content you clip can be an entire article, the full page, or simply the URL. Did you stumble upon a great idea for a new recipe? Then, clip the webpage and place it into your Evernote notebook along with all your other recipes.
Evernote also provides the ability to clip from an email account. This is especially handy if you need help cutting through all the noise created by the constant barrage of email throughout the day. Evernote supports clipping messages, attachments and even multiple emails. Clipping email messages can help you focus on the tasks required to be productive instead of you constantly living in your inbox watching for the next urgent diversion.
Another tip, download Ron’s Evernote Tips notebook (oh - yeah, you can selectively share notebooks you’ve created with others). Ron’s Evernote Tips can be found here. One of the more interesting tips provided by Ron is the Evernote-Twitter integration. With these two linked, you're able to archive your favorite tweets. And, when you integrate Evernote with Twitter, you'll be able to send notes directly to your Evernote account through Twitter.
Final tip - it’s worthwhile to watch some of the quick tutorial videos that Evernote has made available here.
Give Evernote a try and let me know how you use it. I’m always eager to learn from others how to squeeze a little more productivity out of my day.
Suggested Evernote related reading:
Evernote's Three Laws of Data Protection
Evernote User Guides
Ron’s Evernote Tips Tumblr
Evernote Wikipedia
Apr 24, 2011
I Forgot I Wanted That!
Buying stuff should be fun.
Remembering ALL the stuff you want to buy should be easy.
Amazon's Universal Wish List makes it simple to keep track of all the *stuff* you come across as you "window-shop" the internet.
What makes Amazon's Universal Wish-List Universal?
Amazon has set it up so that you can add items from any website to the list you create on their site.
Simply install the proper extension for your default browser and your all set.
At this point, you might be asking yourself why I'm writing about this.
The answer is two-fold.
Remembering ALL the stuff you want to buy should be easy.
Amazon's Universal Wish List makes it simple to keep track of all the *stuff* you come across as you "window-shop" the internet.
What makes Amazon's Universal Wish-List Universal?
Amazon has set it up so that you can add items from any website to the list you create on their site.
Simply install the proper extension for your default browser and your all set.
At this point, you might be asking yourself why I'm writing about this.
The answer is two-fold.
- I've been looking for an effective method to keep track of all the impulse items that I run across when I'm browsing. Who knows - maybe one day I'll decide to spend the loot on those headphones.
- I realized that I can also use Amazon's Wish-Lists to keep track of gift ideas that are "hinted" at by loved ones during the course of everyday conversation.
Basically, this is something that has helped me so I thought it might help you.
This idea is nothing new. Merlin Mann had a post about how to use Amazon's wish list on his 43 Folders blog way back in 2004.
If only I had known then what I know now.
Check out my list. No - I don't expect you to buy me anything. Unless......
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