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Note Taking Application?
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badtz
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Apr 29, 2005, 07:36 AM
 
Does anyone have any recommendations on a good note taking (for lectures) application?

I'm currently using OmniOutliner (and I've used MS Word's Notebook View) ......

... but I'm wondering if maybe there are others out there that are better for this purpose that I may be missing?

I've tried all of the "outline" applications on versiontracker, but those mostly emphasize outlines, and not actual note-taking.

Audio Capture would be nice [a feature I've never gotten to work properly in Omnioutliner].

Any suggestions?

     
headbirth
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Apr 29, 2005, 10:47 AM
 
What features are you looking for?

As far as Voice you might want to try QuickVoice or VoiceStickies: http://www.quick-voice.com/quickvoice/
     
badtz  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 02:55 PM
 
... just a nice note taking application.

i don't need one for "outlines" ... but for good note-taking ....

that's really my only requirement.

nice interface + nice writing ability
     
cpac
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Apr 29, 2005, 03:08 PM
 
Originally Posted by badtz
... just a nice note taking application.

i don't need one for "outlines" ... but for good note-taking ....

that's really my only requirement.

nice interface + nice writing ability
That's not really helpful. What does "note taking" mean to you? TextEdit is probably the cleanest and simplest text editor available to you - the question is what you want/need above that.

I personally used OmniOutliner throughout law school and found it to be ideal.
cpac
     
badtz  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 04:35 PM
 
did you try using MS Word in notebook view?
     
cpac
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Apr 29, 2005, 06:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by badtz
did you try using MS Word in notebook view?
Word 2004 was released after I graduated. I don't think I would have used it however, as I really couldn't ask for much more than OmniOutliner gave me: - clean interface, quick/easy outline structure, and the easy ability to drag/drop notes around once it came to to make a course outline for the exam.
cpac
     
badtz  (op)
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:15 PM
 
Is there a way to more quickly bold a line in Omnioutliner?

I like Omnioutliner, but sometimes after the class is over ... I just have a huge block of text that's barely differentiated from each, only by the little arrows.

I would like to find a faster way to make a sentence bold, like a "main point" for that section of notes.
     
nonhuman
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Apr 29, 2005, 08:18 PM
 
Honestly, I've tried taking notes electronically, and I just haven't been able to find any apps that are good enough to move me off paper.

I do like VoodooPad, though. If it was able to somehow allow for the same sort of freeform note-taking that pen and paper does, i would definitely use it for everything. But I can't stand having to constrain my notes to the formatting options of a text editor or word processor (maybe using something like Illustrator, but that seems a bit like overkill...).
     
badtz  (op)
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May 5, 2005, 03:00 AM
 
does anyone happen to know if there's an easy method to "draw" in notes?

either somewhere inside of OmniOutliner (that I'm not seeing) , or a side application to go along with OmniOutliner for note taking?

Sometimes during class, I'll need to draw out a simple chart (or some simple stick-figure drawings) ... and it's not easy to replicate that in text-form.

?
     
sandsl
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May 5, 2005, 06:42 AM
 
DevonThink came the closest to what I needed - it wasn't perfect, but it was reasonably good. I almost got around to writing my own note taking app, then I stopped needing one.
Luke
     
maxintosh
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May 5, 2005, 09:34 AM
 
MS Word notebook view is nice, but it crashes on me all the time, especially when copying & pasting. Notebook app that crashes = bad.
     
Shades of Gray
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May 5, 2005, 10:39 AM
 
I don't take notes (I give the lectures ), and like one of the above posters I still use paper for that task.

However, if I were to move to an application, I would use Mellel. It has rudimentary outlining that is effective. The styles are very easy to set up for keyboard shortcuts, which is essential for changing styles on the fly. And when Mellel 2.0 comes out in the next few months its native format will be XML. And transitioning between the notes and more polished form could be easily achieved.
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badtz  (op)
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May 5, 2005, 03:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by sandsl
DevonThink came the closest to what I needed - it wasn't perfect, but it was reasonably good. I almost got around to writing my own note taking app, then I stopped needing one.

does devonthink let you draw the image/table/graph/drawing out?
     
CatOne
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May 5, 2005, 06:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by badtz
Does anyone have any recommendations on a good note taking (for lectures) application?

I'm currently using OmniOutliner (and I've used MS Word's Notebook View) ......

... but I'm wondering if maybe there are others out there that are better for this purpose that I may be missing?

I've tried all of the "outline" applications on versiontracker, but those mostly emphasize outlines, and not actual note-taking.

Audio Capture would be nice [a feature I've never gotten to work properly in Omnioutliner].

Any suggestions?

Circus Ponies Notebook is like a super outliner. It's mainly an outliner, but you can have tens or hundreds of pages, and you can have text annotation, graphics, all sorts of stuff. If you're used to OO it will be very familiar.

For plain text notes and the like, Hog Bay Notebook is excellent. Search is very good. StickyBrain might also be worth looking at.

I'd suggest you read "About This Particular Outliner," which is a feature of "About this Particular Macintosh." They have so much detail and review a bunch of products, you will have no more questions after the 2 hour read. Just Google for it.
     
cpac
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May 5, 2005, 07:29 PM
 
I used OmniGraffle for my diagrams in notes. They dont' happen often in law school, but that's what I used when I came across them.

As for easily making a sentence bold - highlight the sentence, hit command-b. If it's an entire entry you want - click the little handle (so that all the text is highlighted) and hit bold.

In general though, the whole point of outlining is to use structure for emphasis, so if you have a sentence that is the main point or conclusion of a whole series of notes, you should make that the "parent" and all the little notes "children" of that "parent." You can then collapse them so that you only see the parent and can expand it to get more details etc.

In this respect, OmniOutliner can also help - by letting you define level styles - so that, e.g. all you top level outline entries are bold and in 14 pt. font, etc.
cpac
     
Shades of Gray
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May 5, 2005, 07:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by CatOne
I'd suggest you read "About This Particular Outliner," which is a feature of "About this Particular Macintosh." They have so much detail and review a bunch of products, you will have no more questions after the 2 hour read. Just Google for it.

ATPM Outliners

Not sure how you got them all read in 2 hours! I am a speed reader, and didn't make it through that fast.
Ignore the argumentative nature of this poster. He is old and can't engage in meaningful dialog
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torifile
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May 5, 2005, 09:26 PM
 
OO is the program for you. Use styles to define the way things should look. It's fantastic. I've got Word, DevonThink, AND Aquaminds' Notetaker, as well as OO. (And I've paid for them all). OO takes the cake. Couple it with OG for diagrams and you've got a great solution. Nothing, IMHO, beats it.
     
badtz  (op)
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May 6, 2005, 04:54 AM
 
Originally Posted by cpac
I used OmniGraffle for my diagrams in notes. They dont' happen often in law school, but that's what I used when I came across them.
I've taken a look at OmniGraffle, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to draw stuff out [as if you were doing it w/your hand] (freehand) ?
     
badtz  (op)
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May 6, 2005, 05:01 AM
 
Originally Posted by CatOne
I'd suggest you read "About This Particular Outliner," which is a feature of "About this Particular Macintosh." They have so much detail and review a bunch of products, you will have no more questions after the 2 hour read. Just Google for it.
Thanks for the informative post! I'm looking into NoteTaker now ... any clue on how well this program is? Any cons?
     
cpac
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May 6, 2005, 07:45 AM
 
Originally Posted by badtz
I've taken a look at OmniGraffle, but there doesn't seem to be an easy way to draw stuff out [as if you were doing it w/your hand] (freehand) ?
That's true - it's a diagramming application, not a drawing or painting application.

Still, since all I would draw would be pseudo flow-charts anyway, the diagramming worked well for me. If you need more free form painting/drawing, you could try something like Graphic Converter.
cpac
     
CatOne
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May 6, 2005, 12:03 PM
 
Originally Posted by badtz
Thanks for the informative post! I'm looking into NoteTaker now ... any clue on how well this program is? Any cons?
NoteBook and NoteTaker are two products that share a common heritage (a product called NoteBook on NeXT). The developers split due to a differing of opinions on how the products should progress -- NoteBook is more "purist" and "lean and mean," while NoteTaker is more "Tons of features... everything but the kitchen sink."

Personally, I prefer and use NoteBook. But that's me. You could evaluate both and make up your mind over a 30 day period; that's what I'd do.
     
headbirth
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May 6, 2005, 02:44 PM
 
I believe Voodoo Pad and a couple others have drawing capabilities.
     
badtz  (op)
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May 6, 2005, 05:44 PM
 
Are there any bluetooth "pens" out there that don't require a pad to be drawn on?

I'm not sure if such a thing exists, but that would make drawing quick sketches very efficient ... w/out the need to carry a "pad" for it to work.
     
nonhuman
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May 6, 2005, 05:55 PM
 
Originally Posted by headbirth
I believe Voodoo Pad and a couple others have drawing capabilities.

VoodooPad does, though it's not all the great if you're using a mouse.
     
badtz  (op)
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Jan 25, 2007, 08:52 PM
 
Any update to this situation?

I'm still using OmniOutliner (which is great!).

I'm just trying to find something to pair it with for freehand drawing, so I don't have to use a piece of paper just to draw simple graphs.

Any suggestions on a program to pair with OO?
     
Chuckit
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Jan 25, 2007, 08:58 PM
 
Have you looked at FlySketch? That seems to be the general idea behind it.
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blueleaf
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Jan 25, 2007, 09:12 PM
 
MS Word Notebook works great for me..

I've been using it for two months and have yet to have it crash. There is also a voice recording app built in, a drawing app built in, and to bold your writing all you have to do is press apple-b. I also like the tabs at the side.
     
badtz  (op)
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Jan 26, 2007, 12:56 AM
 
Originally Posted by Chuckit View Post
Have you looked at FlySketch? That seems to be the general idea behind it.
I think that's going to work!!! thanks!!!
     
Gee4orce
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Jan 26, 2007, 05:19 AM
 
If you have a graphics tablet (or one of the new ModBooks ) you can draw a graphic in the Ink window and send it to any application. Shame it doesn't seem to work with the mouse though.

As for quickly bolding (or any other style attributes) in Omni Outliner, you can set any style to have a keyboard shortcut. I think this is a Pro version feature though.... You can also set up styles based on the level in the outline, so your headings are styled differently to your sub headings. Also, don't forget to use the notes feature for an outline item (Command-' )
     
DP Roberts
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Jan 27, 2007, 10:39 PM
 
I was looking at:

http://www.magesw.com/inkbook/

You can only draw with a pen and tablet, or with ModBook. I like the feature where it will load PDF's and you can make notes on them. I haven't tried the app, but it looks interesting.
     
trillionandone
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Jan 28, 2007, 10:42 AM
 
Originally Posted by badtz View Post
Does anyone have any recommendations on a good note taking (for lectures) application?

I'm currently using OmniOutliner (and I've used MS Word's Notebook View) ......

... but I'm wondering if maybe there are others out there that are better for this purpose that I may be missing?

I've tried all of the "outline" applications on versiontracker, but those mostly emphasize outlines, and not actual note-taking.

Audio Capture would be nice [a feature I've never gotten to work properly in Omnioutliner].

Any suggestions?

I spent an unbelievable amount of time looking to replace Microsoft's (yes, unbelievable but true) "One Note".

When you have given Curio a workout (and put every other possible alternative through its paces), I believe you will also conclude that Curio is as good as it gets for now.

I too use Omni Outliner and Omnigraphle for the heavy lifting, but for thought capture (outlines, quick diagrams, rich text, web clippings, pdf's, etc.), I always revert to Curio.

Make sure you give it a try before settling down...

http://www.zengobi.com/products/curio/
     
iREZ
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Jan 29, 2007, 01:37 AM
 
i use voodoo pad but am considering using pages seeing how i dont use the link feature in voodoo pad as much as id like to.
NOW YOU SEE ME! 2.4 MBP and 2.0 MBP (running ubuntu)
     
digires
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Jan 29, 2007, 03:51 PM
 
I have found Devon Note to be a great tool for organizing notes without going too overboard on features. A definite upgrade from the notepad app within Entourage.
     
mitchell_pgh
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Jan 31, 2007, 05:28 PM
 
I'm religious about note, but have found that taking notes with the old pen/paper and later translating them to the computer works best and is an excellent study technique (for me) as it requires you to go back and do a little review.

Just my 2ยข
     
   
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