
Ask HN: What do you use to organize your knowledge? - tomek_zemla
What are the tools, tricks, systems you use to record things you learn? Notebooks, text files, software or cloud apps? Do you have any custom, inventive ways to maintain your personal knowledge base?
======
Wilya
Plain text files in a synced directory (I use sparkleshare, but any dropbox-
like system will do the trick).

I tried many, cloud apps, desktop apps, wikis. But in the end, I was never
comfortable with putting all my thoughts in documents in a weird format (at
best) or in the cloud (at worst). And most apps didn't offer any huge
advantage to compensate for that.

I have backups of my notes folder. I can grep through it when I'm looking for
something. I can edit it from any computer. And I know it will still be
readable in 10 years.

~~~
hliyan
I can attest to this, having gone through pretty much the same cycle of apps
and wikis. Finally settled on plain text files with cloud sync. Except I use a
bit of YAML to give the material some structure.

But I use this to write down things I would consider more 'information' than
'knowledge'. If it's a new cloud app I found on HN that I might need later, I
write it down. If I learned something new (for example, I recently learned
about phage therapy as an alternative to antibiotics), I resist the temptation
and try to integrate it into my existing body of knowledge. In my opinion, if
you have a 'fact' that needs to be _memorized_ , then it is either a bit of
arbitrary information or it is not yet tethered to the rest of your knowledge
and is therefore banging around in your head. I usually find a link to nail it
down. I wouldn't exactly call it a 'memory palace' but it's sort of like that.

------
linhat
After playing with various (note-taking) applications/apps I found all of them
severely lacking (for several reasons). I was always for the lookout of the
one-size-fits-all application, which I obviously never found.

Realizing that there is no such system/app I split things out:

* Important Stuff as well as trivia -> CalDav... believe it or not, but CalDav beats most other systems/apps out there, it's accessible on almost any device and you usually have a wide variety of applications to edit your "calendar events", use different calendars for important vs trivia

* Stuff you read on the internet -> obviously (synced) bookmarks (firefox, chrome, opera and others have builtin sync)

* Ideas, plans, drawings -> A5 pen and paper notebook (most people will advocate moleskine, I prefer Leuchtturm notebooks (to each his/her own)

* Research, papers, references -> good old text files, index + txt + pdf + bib (vim + vimwiki + git + some zsh alias like wiki="cd ~/wiki/; git pull; vi index.wiki; git commit -a; git push; cd -")

So far, this works quite well, although I have to admit that while separation
is king, it also hinders creativity at times, so I'm slowly starting to
integrate other things into the wiki (write firefox bookmark and caldav
importer/parser, thinking about scanning/digitizing notebooks...) to be able
to cross-reference things. The long term goal is to create a visualization
that allows me to visualize ( _duuuh_ ) all this data in different ways
(especially useful for research and _connecting the dots_ ).

Hope this helps and I would really be interested how others manage this,
especially regarding research, papers etc (Mendeley and others just aren't
flexible enough for me...).

~~~
intractable
I use Gitit [1] as my personal wiki for notetaking. I've been pretty happy
with it so far, as it uses the excellent Pandoc as the backend. I have not
heard of Vimwiki until now - can you tell me your favourite features?

[1] [http://gitit.net/](http://gitit.net/)

~~~
linhat
Favourite features:

* plain text edited in vim ;-)

* links (to other wiki pages and content), move cursor over link and <Enter> will open wiki page, link in browser, image in image viewer, pdf in ... all from your console

* manages todo lists (including status indicator auto update for sublists: [.]->[o]->[O]->[X])

* headers (mostly useful when exporting to html)

* table creation and management

Overall a very lightweight and tightly integrated vim plugin, but gitit looks
quite interesting, might give it a try.

------
chubot
I wrote a personal wiki like 10 years ago... In addition to being a great
productivity boost for me, it helped me learn a lot about web programming.
It's continued to evolve over the years.

I have 1899 active pages now (some pages were deleted over the years).

I try to keep it very close to plain text, and don't have a lot of doodads in
the wiki syntax.

I don't think plain text is sufficient for taking notes, because it lacks
_hyperlinks_. Hyperlinks are incredibly important because they are associative
and non-hierarchical... that is exactly what you need for note taking and
brainstorming.

I do everything with vim/bash/tmux but you still want to be able to click
links with a mouse when reviewing notes, and create them effortlessly when
writing.

~~~
subsection1h
> _I don 't think plain text is sufficient for taking notes, because it lacks
> hyperlinks._

Org mode files are plain text and they support links:

[http://orgmode.org/manual/Hyperlinks.html](http://orgmode.org/manual/Hyperlinks.html)

> _Hyperlinks are incredibly important because they are associative and non-
> hierarchical... that is exactly what you need for note taking and
> brainstorming._

I organize my Org mode wiki like Wikipedia: each document/topic can be linked
from multiple parent documents/topics. So documents/topics are organized using
a combination of both tagging and hierarchies. I've heard this type of
organization referred to as hierarchical tagging.

------
dmunoz
I have written a few scripts to manage my abundant note taking.

In a specific directory, I arrange notes according to subject in directories,
and the script parses them and spits out HTML files that displays them in a
fashion I find useful. With MathJax, I can render LaTeX. It also spits out an
index files so I can see at a glance my subjects and notes on those subjects.

I've been giving some thought to doing something more involved, so I can get
full text search capabilities from the index page. It's something I play
around with every so often as the inspiration hits me. I will not be surprised
if this posts leads me back to playing with it for a bit, although I am busy
for the upcoming week already.

You can trivially get something similar with something like vimwiki [0]. The
only reason I went further was that I wanted greater levels of customization.

[0] [https://code.google.com/p/vimwiki/](https://code.google.com/p/vimwiki/)

Edit: The full text search from the index is just a nicety given the way I
like having the notes displayed. I can already grep from the command line, of
course. I have other ideas about nice-to-have dynamic behaviour, but a lot of
the stuff falls into the lower percentages of the 20% of the 80-20 split.

In The Pragmatic Programmer, one of the tips advocates keeping knowledge in
plain text:

> Keep Knowledge in Plain Text

> Plain text won’t become obsolete. It helps leverage your work and simplifies
> debugging and testing.

The full text expands on the benefits, such as searchability and other stuff I
can't recall at the moment.

I try to stay as close to possible to plain text as I can. Even Markdown is a
bit heavy for the task, although I have given some thought to adopting it and
avoiding needing any custom parsing.

Lastly, I wasn't clear why I output to HTML. I put them up on a server so that
I can access them remotely. I can also upload notes, or input a quick note to
a textarea and submit it. It's device-agnostic; I just need a browser. I
haven't bothered to implement making currently existing notes editable.

~~~
NhanH
I've been trying to take note in plain text. One issue that I have is math
note, I ended up having to use markdown + pseudo latex for the note + math
symbol, and output to HTML. I'm definitely not happy with the current setup.
Is there any good solution for math symbols in general?

~~~
naiquevin
Org-mode[1] has support for embedded latex math fragments[2] which might be
worth trying.

[1]: org-mode is a mode for the emacs editor -
[http://orgmode.org/](http://orgmode.org/)

[2]: [http://orgmode.org/manual/LaTeX-fragments.html#LaTeX-
fragmen...](http://orgmode.org/manual/LaTeX-fragments.html#LaTeX-fragments)

------
lallysingh
Four parts:

== Emacs Org Mode ==

    
    
      - all capture
    
      - all notes in general that I take while working (live) on a computer
    
      - all meeting notes
    
      - all drafts - usually via org-babel
    
      - planning
    

Also, a type of code analysis where I make the code column 1 in a table and
use columns 2+ for notes

This is sync'd via git across machines. Version Control + diff's are useful,
but multiple branches for this hasn't been worth the additional complexity.

I've got a specific emacs daemon just for org. It's got a special -name
argument that tells my window manager (xmonad) to bring up each window as a
pop-up. That integrates with chrome and org capture to capture web bookmarks
right from the chrome bookmarks bar.

== A paper notebook (leuchtturm 1918) and a grossly expensive fountain pen
(MB) for all deep analysis. ==

    
    
      - Good thinking is a lot easier when you look at paper instead of a screen.
    

The tactile feel of that pen on that paper feels so smooth and free that I
write substantially more, and faster. I can only explain it like typing on
your favorite mechanical keyboard vs using a blackberry to write long essays.

== MindJet for brainstorming. ==

So far, awkwardly on a Nexus 7 and a BT keyboard. I'm still looking for a
better mind-mapping setup.

== GTasks (android app) ==

With Google's "Tasks" list for my to-do lists and random thought capture on
topics I'm still not ready to properly sit-down and mind-map.

------
mrfancypants
Emacs (naturally), with org-mode[1]. ssh replication along with the mobile
org-mode app on Android [2] meets all my needs.

[1] [http://orgmode.org](http://orgmode.org)

[2]
[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.matburt.mo...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.matburt.mobileorg)
(there are others... /search?q=orgmode&c=apps for more)

~~~
lallysingh
How do you use MobileOrg? I've tried several times. It's hard to tell what
works (capture widget?), how to use the parts that do work, and how to use it
effectively. I paid for the 'donate' app with no real intent of using it
further -- just a "thanks for trying" donation.

~~~
mrfancypants
Hmm, I haven't had much issue with it, although the functionality is pretty
bare bones, I don't use the capture widget thingy... no need to. I can create
and transition (todo) items in my existing .org files, use the agenda, and
that's about as complicated as I want to get on my phone.

For anything more, I use my laptop where I can take advantage of all the
proper org-mode functionality.

It might come down to how you use org-mode, as well. I create a .org file for
each client/project. If I'm using org-mode to write a document (beats markdown
IMO), I'll create a separate file and store it in the client/project registry
(my own mgt system, outside of org-mode scope but implemented with org-mode
knowledge).

Having lots of relatively sparse but easily identifiable (and discoverable)
.org files makes mobileorg quite usable, for me.

ps: I see you commented on org-mode elsewhere in this topic. I also make heavy
use of a notepad (unlined paper please - you're not the boss of me!), but
prefer pencil to pen. I have about 6 or so high quality pencils I keep on high
rotation, nice and sharp courtesy of a burr sharpener.

------
ahstilde
Prepare yourself... [1]

I have quite a system, but it works. I'm a student, and I utilize Evernote,
Google Keep, Microsoft OneNote, Pocket, 8x11 ringed notebooks, and a small
field book.

Evernote is for items I may need to a long time: recipes, guides from the
internet, personal notes, etc. I'm finding I don't use it much, actually. :-/

Google Keep is incredible for to-do lists, quick notes, this sort of thing.

OneNote is my primary note-taking program, for meetings, for class, anything.
I just bullet everything and go at it.

Pocket for saving articles. It has an incredible search function.

8x11 ringed notebooks for times where a laptop is inappropriate, or when I
need to physically draw something.

The field notebook was a gift. I use it to host my big ideas and inspirations.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okIAAeb2WVA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okIAAeb2WVA)

------
szymon_k
Dropbox + plain text (markdown) in ~/Dropbox/Notes, where every file starts
with some simple categorisation ("personal- _" , "snippet-_", etc..). I keep
everything in there, from personal thoughts to terminal commands I use very
rarely (and don't want to add to aliases), code snippets for simple things,
meeting notes, etc. I have one important file called "drafts", that's always
opened in vim/notational velocity, and to which I can append from drafts app
on iPhone. It acts as scratchpad, and almost everything nowadays starts in
this file.

I can edit notes in terminal (vim), gui (notational velocity), ios (I use
byword, but there are multiple dropbox-syncing text editors). I have command
in vim called :Notes, that displays Unite window with my notes, so I can
access them quickly when I need to, and I have zsh alias "ns" (note search),
that displays notes which match my search ("ns mongo" displays snippets-
mongodb.txt).

I store links in pinboard, articles to read in pocket, and inspiration
images/videos on pinterest.

For tasks I have very similar system around taskpaper file format and
listacular on iOS, with :Tasks command in vim. All project related notes go
into taskpaper file, and if project is finished, and there are some notes I'd
like to keep for future reference (but not in my notes folder), I typically
store it in project root as notes.md, this might be setup instructions, notes
on bugs, etc.

------
mondaythe5th
I use text files with tagging and a simple naming convention to manage my web
development projects, my house rentals, car insurance, vacation plans,
contacts, and more. Most projects have the same core things to keep track
of... analytics, adwords, ad campaigns, webmaster tools, hosting details,
etc... I use txt files that are backed up with Dropbox.

I add tags within each file like project-businessName tag-adwords tag-campaign
priority-high etc.

I use xplorer2 ( a windows explorer replacement $40 ) to filter by tag and or
filename.

Example: Say I want to see all outstanding campaigns for a certain client....
I apply the following filter ( alt+h ) then type +tag-campaigns,+project-
businessName . Same works for to do lists.... +priority-high,+project-
businessName .

I also use a file name convention for super quick opening of whatever customer
file I need.

Example: Say I want to check on a clients adwords situation... I hit alt+h to
invoke the filter tool.... type adwords businessName to see the exact file I
need.

I use two extra free software apps to speed things up further...
FindandRunRobot - a launcher Everything ( from voidtools ) - plugs into the
above launcher for super fast file opening by name. For example: Say I'm in my
browser and want to open up my main file for my client.... I hit alt+space to
invoke the launcher tool... then type any part of the file name ... hit enter
to open.

I've used wikis before as well as enterprise crm... this is a breath of fresh
air!

------
patrickg
90% of my knowledge is in a bunch of text files handled by nvalt [1], a fork
from notational velocity [2]

It is so convenient and quick to make notes and hyperlink notes between them
and do full text search.

[1]
[http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/](http://brettterpstra.com/projects/nvalt/)
[2] [http://notational.net/](http://notational.net/)

~~~
eddyg
Combined with Dropbox, this is a fantastic setup for the desktop. On the iOS
side, I use Notesy[1] to access the same data on-the-go.

[1] [http://www.giantyak.com/notesy/](http://www.giantyak.com/notesy/)

------
suhrid
Emacs org mode and Dropbox. I also keep a notebook for sketchnotes and
mindmaps.

~~~
parallelist
Yep same here. org-mode FTW! You can use it as a personal wiki only able to
keep all your data in plain text: no web server or database required. I still
use filesystem as my primary organization so I only use hyperlinks
occasionally. I put the whole load in dropbox so I can access any of it from
my phone.

~~~
subsection1h
> _org-mode FTW! You can use it as a personal wiki_

Yeah, I use Org mode for my personal wiki. I previously had notes in hundreds
of files of various formats, and I eventually moved all of my notes to an Org
mode wiki. Also, my wiki has replaced my collection of thousands of bookmarks.
I couldn't imagine living without my wiki at this point. It's such an
important part of my workflow.

Years ago when I decided to switch to a personal wiki, Org mode met my
requirements far better than the dozens of other wiki solutions that I
evaluated. I'd be interested to know if there are any new wiki or note-taking
solutions that have as many features[1] as Org mode.

[1] [http://orgmode.org/manual/](http://orgmode.org/manual/)

~~~
parallelist
Out of interest how does your wiki integrate with your workflow? Or, in other
words, what do you use it for?

------
alexschiff
I'm the founder, so I'm biased, but I use Fetchnotes for storing most things
like this: links, things to check out (books, music, movies, apps,
restaurants, places etc), ideas, resources, random thoughts, knowledge/trivia
I come across, reminders/tasks and a ton more.

We built it to be simple, lightweight and flexible. Just add a hashtag to a
word in a note, and it groups that thought with anything else with that
hashtag. Involve another person? I just @-mention their username, email or
phone number, or I can send them a link to the note. There's no system to
learn — when you want to find something, just click on the tag you used.

Specifically for things I learn, I have a #randomfacts tag that I add things
to when I come across an interesting piece of trivia (mostly from articles or
audiobooks), and a #thoughts tag for things I think of on my own.

Check it out at www.fetchnotes.com and let me know what you think! I'm at
alex@fetchnotes.com

------
rm445
What a good question.

Personally I curate a directory structure served off an old linux box in my
house. Items created on other machines get synced in by hand. Data is stored
in whatever source format it was created in, and obscure formats get a pdf
version stored alongside.

The thing is, it's absolutely stone age - not automatically synced with my
laptop or phone, not available remotely, and not conveniently set up to be
able to share files or offer use of the server to my partner or family. It
also only has 'files', there's no calendar-type data and things like mail and
contacts only get placed in by hand as backups. I could totally cobble things
together to provide extra features but I am thinking of starting again with a
server 'in the cloud'. I would love to know what people do, with a longer term
view than just stashing stuff in the popular note-taking app of the moment.

------
tcpekin
For notes, I rely 100% on paper. I don't remember things as well when I type
them out, and keeping it on paper gives me a sort of spatial awareness on
where to find what I need.

However, with research papers now, I've started to use Mendeley. Imports
downloaded pdfs and automatically has author, title etc filled in, can
download pdfs from a number of the major publication websites and
automatically add to your collection, allows sorting via author, year, etc.,
allows you to take notes and highlight, and has a search bar that searches
through all of the papers you have. It additionally can keep your pdfs synced
between computers, creates BibTex entries and I believe can help you find
related papers, although I haven't used that function. It's a great way to
keep semi-organized, and works a lot better than any file-naming system I've
tried.

------
cpbotha
Obsessive note-taking lab-journalling knowledge organizer here.

* For years simplenote, first using RespohNotes under Wine, then writing [https://github.com/cpbotha/nvpy](https://github.com/cpbotha/nvpy) \- a cross-platform and open source simplenote client in Python with tikinter. Currently looking for a new maintainer, because:

* Currently in an in-between phase editing Gollum wiki markdown pages with emacs 24 (sometimes I also use gollum to access and edit), all synced with unison, and using Google Keep on my phone.

* Currently working on hobby project, which will be the non-linear super visual (spatial perception and memory FTW!) cross-platform (large displays!!) note- and file-organizing interface I've been dreaming about for months now.

~~~
porker
> Currently working on hobby project, which will be the non-linear super
> visual (spatial perception and memory FTW!) cross-platform (large
> displays!!) note- and file-organizing interface I've been dreaming about for
> months now.

That sounds like what I've been dreaming of for years - and be something with
multiple views of the same data too. Keep us informed!

------
rawland
* Brain

* Bullet Journal ([http://bulletjournal.com](http://bulletjournal.com))

* Instapaper -> Pinboard.in

* Research Diary in LaTeX ([http://www.writelatex.com](http://www.writelatex.com))

* Markdown (pandoc) and git for each and every project

------
kylorhall
I just use Google. Keep, Gmail, Calendar for most things. I have a few text
documents for recording important information I keep in Google Drive as well.
Emails and sometimes even pitches / speeches I keep in gmail as a draft. Used
Evernote for a while, but it's just bloat, I don't need another app.

I often have a text file open on my computer that I write quick notes in. Most
of my knowledge that isn't like a random reminder note lives in my head
though, I'm pretty solid on my memory.

We use Trello for business, so I keep anything business related in there, so
other people have access to it if need be.

------
ryanobjc
I have discovered, before the recent studies, that when I take paper notes
during anything, I remember the meeting/lecture/whatever quite well.

So I use paper notes as a backup, but as someone else noted, good old
fashioned Brain 1.0.

But when that isn't enough, paper files are good for formal stuff.

On the computer, well, it's kind of a disaster. Gmail has helped here. But
there is no compelling note organization system. And I'm not sure you'd want
one, I think we've learned is that 'findability' is the most important
feature, and organization isnt the only way to achieve that.

------
lachgr
I use Workflowy ([https://workflowy.com/](https://workflowy.com/)) for
everything: note-taking, planning and even project management (see
[https://medium.com/no-label-inc/4e911278c902](https://medium.com/no-label-
inc/4e911278c902)). I always have it open on my desktop and with their mobile
app I'm always in sync. Workflowy is an excellent app and it keeps my thoughts
organised.

For longer documents that don't fit in the bullet-organized workflow of
Workflowy I use Markdown.

------
biscarch
I've recently (this year) taken to writing more blog posts[1]. It helps me
make sure that what I'm writing will be readable by me X years from now and
also could help other people. For more private thoughts or thoughts I haven't
developed into posts yet I use text files and Dropbox or Evernote.

[1]:
[http://www.christopherbiscardi.com/](http://www.christopherbiscardi.com/)

------
ericHosick
I dump stuff in one big TextEdit/Notepad file that sits on my desktop. It is
really easy to arrange stuff in it, take notes for meetings, etc.
TextEdit/Notepad loads really really fast. I can move stuff out of it easily
(say contact information into my phone) and every once in a while I clean it
up.

I've tried so many other things but a single text file sitting on my desktop
just seems to work really well.

~~~
chintan39
I wonder what will it look like after a year, when you work on mutiple
project,multiple poeple.

------
fractallyte
I spent a _long_ time looking for my ideal knowledge organizer, and eventually
settled on Notecase Pro
([http://www.notecasepro.com/](http://www.notecasepro.com/)).

It's cross-platform, with a functional free version. I have no problem paying
for good, useful software, especially (as in this case) when it's produced by
a dedicated individual or small company.

Evernote is overrated...

~~~
nekopa
I don't know if I agree that Evernote is overrated, but I personally don't
like them for what they did to one of my favorite apps, penultimate (iOS
notebook app). I specifically bought that app so I could have my notes always
with me. Then Evernote buys the company and makes it so I can only access my
notebooks if I am online, or if I pay for a pro version. So I buy something
for a specific feature, and they take it away but offer to sell the feature
back to me.

Shame, as I really liked penultimate.

------
palcu
I throw every random information in an Evernote notebook. For more complex
stuff, like what are my priorities this month, I draw a mindmap using
MindNode. Also, I've got in a habit of reviewing all my important notes and
trim them every month.

Finally, I put all the interesting web articles in Pocket, because I search
them later.

I tried to make flashcards in Anki for random stuff, but it didn't work out.

~~~
stayparanoid
hi, you do know that every single word you submit to the evernote service
becomes their intellectual property and can be used without your consent, do
you?

~~~
iamwithnail
That's simply not true. In fact, it's explicitly excluded in the TOS.

~~~
stayparanoid
So what exactly this means? "... This means that by using the Service and
uploading Content, you grant Evernote a license to display, perform and
distribute your Content..."

Source:
[https://evernote.com/legal/tos.php](https://evernote.com/legal/tos.php)

~~~
iamwithnail
You ignored the important qualifier at the end of the sentence: _...to enable
Evernote to operate the Service._

And the preceding clause: _In order to enable Evernote to operate the Service,
we must obtain from you certain license and other rights to the Content you
submit so that our processing, maintenance, storage, technical reproduction,
back-up and distribution and related handling of your Content doesn’t infringe
applicable copyright and other laws._

You can't read half of a line of a TOS and assume it means something separate
from the totality.

~~~
pinoyyid
exactly right. Under US copyright law, Evernote could be deemed to violate
your exclusive right (as copyright holder of your content) to make copies
whenever they made a backup. So to avoid any opportunist litigation, you grant
them a limited licence to copy your work. The same goes for your right to
display/perform.

------
pjungwir
Manpages!:

[https://github.com/pjungwir/manpj](https://github.com/pjungwir/manpj)

You don't even need to learn man macros unless you want to (and I have `man pj
man` for that). I usually just give text files a .pj extension and add
formatting later if I need it.

I bet someone has even written a markdown-to-man converter, now that I think
about it.

------
cynik_
Deft in emacs synced over dropbox. I get notational velocity like UI for
searching/manipulating notes, evil mode so I have vim key bindings and I can
pull stuff up on my phone whenever required. It's also easy to just send a
link to someone to share a file because it's all on Dropbox.

Pen and paper when I'm thinking through something.

------
kinj28
I use Http://www.teamgum.com, I just gum whatever articles and web pages I
like. I import content from my pocket, twitter accounts as well. And it
automatically builds a knowledge base. Then when I do a google search for any
knowledge bit. It shows all relevant gums from me and my team on right side.
Bingo! Do give it a spin.

------
Paul12345534
I used to use KeyNote also but I didn't really care for the underlying RTF
storage format especially when it came to images... and the program had some
other limitations.

[http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote.html](http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote.html)

~~~
Paul12345534
I think my other comment got lost. I use OneNote and UltraRecall now.

I used to use Macropool ContentSaver (now known as WebRecall) and gladly
bought a license, but I didn't upgrade when their browser extensions quit
working in newer browsers without paying to upgrade. I had also moved on
because of breaking changes to the underlying storage/functionality.

------
kbart
I simply use a dedicated Gmail box with many different folders like "events",
"todo", "links" etc. where I send emails ("notes") to myself. This way I can
easily access them using any platform and it doesn't require any additional
software.

------
consta
[http://www.mymundus.com](http://www.mymundus.com)

I am the cofounder of MyMundus, so my opinion is quite biased. We started
MyMundus because conventional note taking apps such as bookmark services did
not suffice, especially when you forgot to create a bookmark.

------
stangeek
I use [https://rawgit.com/lollipierre/react-bullet-
app/master/index...](https://rawgit.com/lollipierre/react-bullet-
app/master/index.html) \- based on bullet journaling concept

------
harveytoro
Github repository, I wrote a simple app to pull in a repo and I can view, edit
and delete and also create new files. All the files are markdown so I can
export to PDF or HTML if I need them outside the app.

------
ejain
Brain 1.0

~~~
tdicola
I use it too, but it needs a constant supply of caffeine or it crashes.

~~~
servowire
Try the hidden feature, it's a defrag storage procedure called "sleep". You
can start it up by putting the brain in a dark room, and make it count an
array of the species Ovis aries.

Does wonders.

~~~
lelf
Unfortunately it takes, like, 8 hours (I'm not kidding) to do it.

------
htk
I use Mindown ([http://mindown.com](http://mindown.com)) on my Mac, iPhone and
iPad.

(Sorry for the shameless plug, but it's true)

------
marcinignac
Wow. What I haven't tried before... One html file wiki (tiddlywiki i think).
Something like 3 self written web task editors before DropBox happened. Mori
(kind of evernote from the past), Google Wave (still missing it), made couple
of money tracking apps with couchdb, remotestorage and other offline capable
but syncing apps for personal use on mobile.

Currently

Notes: Plain text notes with markdown elements synced via DropBox edited in
NvAlt on Mac, and Notesy on iOS.

Sketches: Moleskine notebooks of various sizes (mostly Reporter). Currently
experimenting with even smaller ones (Cahier journals)

Visual References: After years of screenshots on my desktop and reference
folders full of unnamed images I made lightweight pinterest clone
[https://github.com/vorg/kollektor](https://github.com/vorg/kollektor)

Articles: Pocket as 'todo readme' solution but currently working on and app
for hyperlinking pdf's for computer graphics papers.

ToDo: Gave up on per project hierarchical task list as they always get old and
dusty. So instead I split information into long living stuff and references
(links, project requirements, hardware specs etc) that goes into notes. And
one task list for MIT (most important tasks) daily similar to Autofocus system
(Autofocus system -
[http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2009/1/6/autofocus-s...](http://markforster.squarespace.com/blog/2009/1/6/autofocus-
system-instructions.html?printerFriendly=true)) + smaller ones for bug lists
per project, TaskPaper for Mac, and TaskMator / Listacular for iOS. I even
wrote custom editor for TaskPaper notes that takes advantage of fullscreen
(think TweetDeck for todos).

Bookmarks: Everything after delicious got bought
[http://pinboard.in/](http://pinboard.in/) (but moving to Kollektor more and
more)

Mindmaps: For notetaking (FreeMind on Mac, MindNode on iPad) and monthly
planning where I list all my current projects, incoming ones, ideas, goals
etc.

Limitations: \- NvAlt search is fast but sucks if you have long notes (hard to
search inside them) \- Still haven't found good outliner for iOS. Taskpaper
was promising but died (discontinued on iOS). \- Plain text is cool and
durable but missing possibility of dropping images here and there

Dreaming: \- not sure if one size fits all will ever happen but something like
pinterest mashup with workflowy with one data structure but multiple editing
modes (list, outline, mindmap, spatial) \- i'll call it RAM (Remote Access
Memory)

~~~
porker
> Dreaming: - not sure if one size fits all will ever happen but something
> like pinterest mashup with workflowy with one data structure but multiple
> editing modes (list, outline, mindmap, spatial)

That would be amazing!

------
kidsil
Pretty simple - I try to put them on my Blog. It's public, I know I'm backing
it up always, and it helps others.

------
blissofbeing
I have been using google keep for a bit and it seems to just work for me, but
its just for simple notes really.

------
chintan39
I have used evernote for a long time.But Onenote is my new fav after they
release a free desktop app.

------
JesseAldridge
Notational Velocity, Dropbox, and Workflowy

There's a lot of synergy between the three.

------
pinoyyid
www.CleverNote.co, kinda like Evernote over Google Drive. The cool Android app
allows notes to float over whatever else you're doing.It's currently free
while in beta.

------
DrinkWater
Evernote, works perfectly for me.

------
aesptux
Evernote is perfect for me.

------
fxpester
Google tasks + dokuwiki

------
brandonhsiao
Paper notebook.

------
flyt
simplenote + notational velocity

~~~
sawan
Simplenote for me too on all my devices.

~~~
jops
Me too.. until recently, because there's no way to switch to a fixed width
font. So I've moved to the built in mac Notes app. You can hack the resources
files to set a plain background and better default font.

As soon as Simplenote allow font changes, I'm going back though for the
Android cross platform support.

------
dar8919
Evernote

------
ing33k
Evernote

Github wiki

