
Notetaking as a way to stay smart - milesf
http://peterc.org/blog/2010/248-notetaking.html
======
zzzmarcus
Check out PersonalBrain [1] for a great way to keep all your notes organized
and connected. It's like a mindmap, but every node can become a root node.

As an example, if you're reading a dystopian novel you could create a node for
"Dystopias" under æTypes of Literature" that has "Brave New World" and "1984:
as sub-nodes with notes for each book in their node. Those could link to nodes
for the authors with maybe writing advice from Orwell and/or Huxley. Then you
could link from them to a node about a current event or article that seems to
fulfill their somber predictions... etc.

The same "Brain" could also have notes on topics as disparate as programming
languages, biology or travel, all in one searchable, non-siloed place. You can
create connections between nodes at will.

I've used it for several years now and can't recommend it highly enough. I
wouldn't, however, mind seeing competition in the area as they seem to be the
only company that makes software like this.

[1] <http://www.thebrain.com/>

Shameless plug for my blog post from several years ago about the software:
[http://marcusvorwaller.com/blog/archives/2007/09/04/personal...](http://marcusvorwaller.com/blog/archives/2007/09/04/personal-
brain-4-review/)

~~~
briandarvell
I don't see what's so great about such a program other than it's a "shinier"
version of the basic folder layout in any modern OS. I mean, you can do all
the same stuff using files and folders from your C:\ and add shortcuts between
them if you need to and it can be made instantly searchable and indexed
without being locked into one program file. I'll admit you cannot easily make
things look as nice and colorful as PB seems to do but if you're really that
interested about learning and keeping notes, this just seems to be another of
the countless procrastination-forming pseudo-notetaking programs which already
exist. Furthermore, the amount of time it would take for me to reform my
current notes and files into this program would be a huge kill to other things
which I could already be doing. I'm curious to hear responses to this.

~~~
zzzmarcus
It's not for everyone. Watch the video in the blog post I linked to, or
download it and give it a try if you like. Or don't. It may just be that it's
not your thing.

Personally, I've found it to be anything but a "procrastination-forming
pseudo-notetaking program."

~~~
briandarvell
I have tried both PB and Freemind and I still have trouble grasping the use.

I say Procrastination-forming because in my experience with these kind of
tools you end up spending more time formatting and aesthetic-izing your stuff
than actually doing notetaking. Look at the demo video on the main homepage
and one thing they emphasize is on putting small icons beside the bubbles and
having neat background colors.

I say Pseudo-notetaking becuase this tool is actually more geared towards
structure than creation. Your video for instance doesn't show anything related
to my idea of notetaking. Notetaking means you are writing down quotations or
details upon ideas that you're listening or reading about because you wish to
remember them or study later. Notetaking, in my mind, is not limited to
linking Ayn Rand as an author and 1902 as a birth year. There's no depth to
anything.

In the end if you say it works for you then go for it. But I'm just saying
that if it's really notetaking you're interested in then I really don't think
this is the program to use.

~~~
zzzmarcus
If try PB for more than moment or two, you'll see that one of the main
features is that every node allows notes. Selecting a node displays a note
field with full formatting and unlimited length. Nodes can also have
attachments that can be any type of document.

Aesthetics are a factor, but the icons, for example, are generated
automatically by favicons when you link to a webpage. No procrastination
involved!

------
gcv
Just make sure you use org-mode to take your notes: it's both more powerful
than your current note-taking app, and it stores files as readable plain text.
No proprietary lock-in, and no fear of data corruption in case of bugs. :)

~~~
nimrody
Except it does not handle graphics well.

While researching a subject, I take notes intertwined with graphs and
diagrams. Can emacs handle that type of data?

~~~
gwern
Diagrams could be done using artist-mode
(<http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/ArtistMode>). Images themselves can
apparently be embedded/displayed:

\-
[http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/elisp/html_node/Images.htm...](http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/elisp/html_node/Images.html)

\- [http://www.gnu.org/s/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Showing-
Im...](http://www.gnu.org/s/emacs/manual/html_node/elisp/Showing-Images.html)

\- <http://obsidianrook.com/codelife/emacs_image_mode.html>

------
DTrejo
I love Notational Velocity. Effortless note-taking and search.

<http://notational.net/>

Edit: combine it with dropbox to keep your notes synced and backed-up 24/7

~~~
jbrennan
Or combine it with a Simple Note account and have sync to all your nv
installations as well as Simple Note on iOS and other platforms as well.

It works rather flawlessly.

~~~
OrangeGuutan
Or, store your .txt files in Dropbox and sync with Simplenote. Double the
backup / accessibility :)

------
pierrefar
I agree so much that I'm building a startup around this and related ideas.
Hoping to have the MVP in the next couple of months.

~~~
samstokes
I'd be interested in using that. Got a mailing list I can sign up to?

~~~
Cmccann7
The importance of an email list!

------
atlei
Taking notes is very important as it forces you to think twice about the
information as you write it down using your own words ("copy-paste-and-dump"
information does not have the same learning effect).

In addition, you use different "senses" (writing in addition to reading) which
enhances learning.

And of course (unless you only write it down on paper) you will be able to
search for it and find it again when you need it (because you will _not_ be
able to remember every detail).

So, it isn't that important _which_ tool you use, as long as you keep most
notes in one place (so you know where to look for it later).

(shameless plug) Of course, as the number of notes grow, many people will
experience information overload and have trouble finding the forest for all
the trees...this is where using specialized tools that are optimized for
finding what you need will help you.

My blog post regarding large amounts of information \-
<http://www.ppcsoft.com/blog/iknow-efficiency-scalability.asp>

(/shameless plug)

------
harscoat
<http://www.snaptic.com> is also in this line of thinking even though one
could think they are trying to emulate evernote

------
vilya
This is a great idea. The article just talks about taking notes on books, but
it's just as worthwhile for movies, podcasts, lectures, presentations, etc.

I've generally found that taking notes during something like a lecture or
presentation (anything that I can't pause, in fact) actually hinders my
understanding. I think it's because I have to divide my concentration between
writing and listening/watching. But for these things, writing up notes
immediately afterwards is tremendously helpful.

Sometimes it's just the action of taking notes which provides the benefit,
even if you never re-read them again.

------
giu
Excellent tip! I can recommend to apply this _technique_ to lecture notes,
too; it'll work wonders during the preparations for exams.

Although in a slightly different context, take notes as a way to get better
advice; see <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=635064> and
[http://lifehacker.com/5270397/get-better-advice-by-taking-
no...](http://lifehacker.com/5270397/get-better-advice-by-taking-notes)

------
scruffy323
I agree with that the consumption of knowledge helps us learn. But I am not
sure just taking notes does the trick. I think in aiding us learn more the
knowledge has to be work and thought out. I believe learning is hard and you
have to do something more on the lines or writing articles on the subject or
course work to really force your brain to absorb it all.

~~~
petercooper
You're right but I don't quite aim to _learn_ the material as I do to
"remember" that I read it and that I can come back to it again in future.

There's only so much space in my brain for specific facts, and I'm pretty poor
at dealing with them, but I thrive on knowing _where_ to find the answer to
things. The notetaking method I use helps me remember _what_ I've read and to
"re-remember" the material rather than to learn it per se.

------
theprodigy
I agree. I actually now take notes with my live scribe pen while reading books
and record myself giving commentary around important poiints. I go over the
notes when I have free time. It seems that I retain a lot more when I do this.

------
petercooper
FWIW, I didn't go into how my system works but it's just a nanoc powered site
rendering to plain HTML from Markdown files. No serious structure.

------
swah
I was thinking about building something like Instapaper, only you would be
able to add notes about pages you read and share with people...

~~~
simonb
Have you seen Diigo [<http://www.diigo.com/>]? Does more or less what you
described.

------
mkramlich
vi ~/notes/category/what.txt

next problem...

~~~
koenigdavidmj
I like to keep pretty much everything about everything in one file and rely on
search to find it.

~~~
albemuth
grep -R what ~/notes

~~~
melling
Funny, I do the same thing. Recently my notes moved to ~/Dropbox/Notes and I
also use git.

