Two articles passed my way which involved the book is going to die and the web is dead. There’s a lot of “death” going on. I view the book, the web, internet, etc as tools. They are tools at which I gather information to increase my knowledge. To understand, to know, to laugh, to cry, to…something. It helps us to connect to something. That is the heart of everything.
As my knowledge increases, I find that the tools that are available to me is not enough. Now that data has become more open, better tools are needed to organize, manage, and understand. So that is my current focus. I’m on a mission to come up with a solution to best find and organize this information.
Because seriously, the ones out there right now ain’t cuttin it.
As stated in an earlier post, I’ve been working on trying to come up with a strategy on managing my brain dump. My brain dump consists of all types of information such as notes (on actual paper) and internet links/articles, etc.
I have moved beyond bookmarking. It does not work for me anymore. It’s gotten out of control. So what is it that I am looking for? Here are my requirements:
- I need to be able to merge the physical (ex. handwritten notes) and non physical information together (ex. internet information).
- Back up the information.
- Host it myself. I do not like relying on a website to host my information. What if the website disappears or does not allow me to export the information that I have gathered?
- Internet information:
- Need to be able to snag a screenshot of the website
- Automatic citation
- Ease of saving, sharing, etc.
- Allow the use across various devices and platforms.
Apps that I have looked at/used:
- Delicious
- Zootool
- Zotero
- Evernote
- Google Docs
- Tumblr
- WordPress
- Posterous
Apps that I need to try:
- All the software by Omnigroup
- Yojimbo
- Devonthink
GAH!
I’m currently in the process of working on figuring out a solution on my brain dump. I have lots of information that I have bookmarked, linked, etc. As I thought about it, this phrase popped in my head.
Hypothesis: The lack of persistent information can discredit said information.
A lot has happened since I’ve last updated my “professional blog”. I’ve been experimenting/playing with lots of things as well as starting to teach as an adjunct at RIT. Here’s a brief overview:
- Movable Type – (see rit.kimheintz.com and kaizen.iciskaye.com)
- I’ve been playing with it and getting a sense of how it works in comparison to WordPress.
- Will make a post on my thoughts.
- Flogr
- I’ve installed it here and will hope to come up with a theme.
- Flavors.me
- a lifestreaming service content gatherer of goodness. Here’s mine.
- Will make a post on my thoughts.
- InfoVis conference – I am contemplating on going.
- Making the Gull Website w/ Kampy
- I learned how to make a theme in WordPress.
- Reading the book Getting Things Done
- Photography – Old school style!
- My dad sent me his Polaroid camera (uses 600 film) and his Canon EOS 2000 along with a telephoto lens. I will be using straight up film and will be having fun along side with fellow Jacob Barber who is into the non-digital cameras.
- Adjunct Teaching – I taught one course so far (Interactive Digital Media – an intro to Flash), and am currently teaching my second one (2D Animation).
- Will make a post on my experience thus far.
- Kung Fu and Tai Chi – I am on a quest to learn!
- My online web presence. I am constantly doing battle with this. I have two. isallcaps – the personal side and iciskaye – the professional side. Should there even be two? Or just one. I will end up writing a post to weigh in on this. This will be my next post.
- Building my sundial calendar app.