Programming My Life

In my previous post on Evernote, I discussed it’s value for simple note taking.

Since that post, Evernote has released a comprehensive update of their mobile application which is significantly improved.  The new interface changes it from a simple note taking app to a mobile version of the full app.  Admittedly, I am not a power user of this software, but I haven’t found anything that I can’t do on the mobile version that I do on the desktop. For taking, searching, and viewing your notes, the mobile app is now just as good for me as the full version.  In fact, for note taking at the Unite conference , I took notes on my phone for almost every session simply so I didn’t have to fire up my laptop each time.

One of the best functions of the mobile app is the ability to snap pictures with a smart phone and keeping it as a note (whole or part).  I like to write notes when I’m listening to a talk, but some slides just have too much code that I’d rather just see as a whole later.  Evernote’s mobile version has a button explicitly for this purpose.  I can take the picture, place it right in line with  the notes, and get right back to taking notes.

In addition to note taking, I have begun using Evernote for lists as well.  The two that I reference the most often are a list of games I want to play (AKA my backlog), as well as a list of links I want to read on various subjects.  The latter is incredibly helpful to me.  Without it, I tend to end up with a ridiculous number of tabs open and end up not reading some of the more in depth articles.  Now, I have a go to list of articles to read if I’m waiting around somewhere or if I actually make it through the open tabs on my computer at the time.

Additionally, I’ve been using Evernote to keep my notes on CS106B (update coming soon) all in one place.  I like this far more than a physical notebook as I just need to click through the notes, and I am able to add more notes (for example, the code on the website for that lecture) and reorganize after I’ve written them.

Finally, I plan to start using it to track my major electronics purchases so I don’t need to worry about where i placed receipts. I can simply take a picture of the receipt and search for it later.

If you haven’t started using it yet, you can find the desktop client here or use the QR code for the mobile app:

Any ways you’re using Evernote that I’m not?

Dropbox is a service that allows cloud file hosting across all major platforms (Linux, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, etc.).  In addition to allowing access to my own files anywhere, I am also able to share any files I choose with other Dropbox members.  Dropbox offers 2GB of free storage for first time users.  You can increase your storage by a few hundred MB by completing some actions when you sign up to get used to the service, or by referring friends to the service*.  You can also get significantly more storage by paying a monthly fee.  Rates are available at the site.

At work, I am currently using Unity3D, which works in both Mac and Windows.  By storing my project files in my dropbox, I can open the project folder I was working with in Unity on either platform and be right where I left off regardless of which platform I was using previously.  Additionally, I am hoping to work with a colleague on a programming project collaboratively.  Instead of worrying about securely sharing files in a timely manner, we can simply set up a shared drop box folder so the work is done for us.

I’ve been using dropbox for over a few months now and haven’t had any real problems.  They also have one of the best hiring pages I’ve seen.  Have you used Dropbox?  Any problems?

*If you are interested in getting a Dropbox account, you can use this link:  https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTY1NDE0NTE5, which will give me some extra storage.  If you don’t feel comfortable with that, you can also get a free account from the Dropbox site linked above.

Notsomuch, actually.  Since my post on browser tab stagnation, not much has changed in terms of offerings from the major browsers. However, I have found two services that have addressed some of the issues I raised:  Google Bookmarks and fur.ly.

Google Bookmarks

In my post on browser tab stagnation, I claimed that bookmarking simply wouldn’t solve many of the problems I have with the state of tabbed browsing.  I still feel that way, but Google Bookmarks has helped with at least one of the problems I’ve had with browsers recently; instead of the named groups of tabs I was looking for, Google Bookmarks’ tag feature allows me to see related sites.  Being able to tag bookmarks and keep them consistent in the cloud (rather than having to update them on separate machines) has helped me immensely.  First, if I find a work related link at home, or a link I think would be interesting for a personal project at work, I am able to put them in the same place, with the same amount of effort as traditional bookmarking, regardless of my location.  Second, instead of having to create folders and worry about organizing bookmarks, I can simply tag the bookmarks and search by tag later.  Moreover, I don’t even have to enter the entire tag if I’ve already created it as Google bookmarks uses autocomplete.

Before I started using Google bookmarks, I would generally just bookmark a site and put off organizing them until later (I still haven’t done that since January).  Now organizing is a simple matter of typing the tag.  The tags are especially helpful because they allow me to see what references I have for a specific topic.  The ability to search and the reduction in the amount of work cause me to bookmark more sites for reference.  As an example, I am interested in programming for my phone, so I have been reading up on Android programming.  The problem is, between work and other obligations, I haven’t been able to look into it for the past few weeks.  Bookmark tags allow me to search for anything I’ve added about Android and either remember where I was in the process, or dive in from a different direction.

To use Google Bookmarks, I have added the Bookmarklet from here to each of my browsers.

fur.ly

fur.ly is a URL shortening service that accepts multiple URLs and provides a shortened link.  Upon opening the link provided by fur.ly, the user sees the first page from the list of URLs topped by a small header with links to 1) get rid of the header 2) move to the next link 3) see statistics about the fur.ly link as well as a dropdown menu of all the pages supplied with the original link.  This is a unique service that allows for a bit more focused browsing on a particular subject.  While I would prefer a browser feature that allowed me to save and load multiple tabs, this service at least allows me to share multiple links in a focused way.

Conclusion

Sadly, fur.ly still requires about the same amount of effort as my usual method of simply copying and pasting the links into an email (to myself or a friend/colleague).   Hopefully newer versions of browsers will address this natively.  Also, while Google Bookmarks has been great, it would be great if I could simply name a tag and click a few tabs that could be labeled and saved with that tag rather than having to click and bookmark each tab and add the same tag repeatedly.  Finally, I would still like the ability to control the state of my tabs in addition to having it automated.  I have learned to work around this problem, but I would prefer to be able to have it addressed by the browsers so I don’t have to worry about losing tabs/windows when I close my browser.