The Home Of ob81

What is Evernote?

Evernote allows you to easily capture information in any environment using whatever device or platform you find most convenient, and makes this information accessible and searchable at any time, from anywhere.

I recently received an Evernote invite from Peety via plurk.  I must say that in the short time that I have been using it (a few hours!),  it has been very handy, and I wish I had it earlier.  I can think of several situations where it would have come in handy in the past.

Before Evernote was introduced to me, I used Stickies on Mac and Mail.app for notes and To Do’s.  This worked fine, as I could see my notes like emails and while away from home they were available online.  I really don’t have a method for taking notes of other things that I see when I am out and about, or browsing the web.  Sure I can bookmark a site and check it later, but what if I want to keep a picture of some shoes that I was checking out at amazon, or the speaker system that I am looking at for my car?

My Firefox bookmarks tab was getting flooded, and posting random links for homes and cars (I am moving back to the US!) that I am interested in onto delicious is not very helpful.  This is where Evernote comes in.

Private use

Evernote has been great for my private information.  I am set to travel in a few weeks, and I have added copies of my credit cards, passports, and other important documents.  I had recently download  Wallet for Mac, but it costs, and it won’t help me if someone swipes my laptop as it is only desktop based.  I can backup my files to iDisk though.  Evernote eliminates all of this hassle and automatically updates online without me ever having to worry about it.

Social Use

You can also share notes with the public as well.  I have yet to find a true use for this portion of the service.  In example screenshots, people are sharing pictures and little clippings that they see on the web.  I use Tumblr for that, which happens to be perfect, so it is a tossup with Evernote and social aspects.  If there was collaborative note taking, then I could see how it would be great for doing projects with multiple users.  Other than that though, anything that I deem important enough to share with friends, I use delicious, digg, or tumblr.  The feature is there though if you need it!

I have 20 invites to Evernote, so after you browse it and feel that you want in, leave a comment with an accurate email (not in the comment!!) and I will be sure to send one your way.

Enjoy!

Tags: client, evernote, firefox, mac, note taking, Social Networking

Posted under Just Blogging, Social Networking

I had a “wow” moment when I was browsing digg earlier today. I came upon a site that had a short video of a Fox News employee commenting on Hillary’s comments about Sen. Obama and her decision to stay in the race. I have to say that I wasn’t really surprised that Mrs. Clinton would say such things, or make inappropriate references. She probably didn’t even mean it that way. She has said a lot of crazy things this year, and putting myself in her shoes, I figure that she is doing great, because I would have dug myself a hole a long time ago. They have to answer many questions at the snap of a finger and they always don’t know what to say, or how to say it.

That out of the way.

This Fox News employee, her response was a little too “natural” for me. Even I have made the mistake of calling Sen. Obama, “Osama”. Hell, I am in the military and I have been hearing that name about twice a week for the past 7 years. Big deal that she said that. Upon the recovery from her mistake though, she implies that assassinating “both” would be great, then laughs!

Update: The lady apologized, and basically said that it was a bad joke. Public apologies seem to be taken less and less seriously these days.

Tags: clinton, fox, fox news, goofs, media, obama, politics

Posted under Just Blogging

                                      I was running around having a hectic day at work today and finally got some downtime.  To my surprise, I saw a groups tab and several messages from friends on twitter requesting others to join certain groups. 

   Upon joining my first group, I was immediately impressed.  The groups obviously made it easier to chat as a community, and I could see 8 or 9 different conversations going on.  Genius from a social point of view.  It feels like a mix of IRC, IM, and Google groups all in one.  I added 10 more people to my subscription list in about 5 minutes.  Since we were in the same group, we were into the same things, and I actually got to chat with them first and check out their previous activity before subscribing.

   I am really enjoying the way friendfeed is going, but I still think that it is most beneficial only subscribing to a selected group of interesting friends, and hanging out with 2-3 groups. 

   I hope that you are checking out the groups, especially if you were undecided.

  Friend me on friendfeed!

Tags: friendfeed, friends, rss, social, Social Networking

Posted under Social Networking