Archive for internet

An analog PDA in a digital world

August 1, 2009 at 10:32 · Filed under internet, paper, simplicity, technology

A while ago I wrote about my analog PDA. It is still my primary calendar and todo solution. I have however made some upgrades since.

The basics of the system are the same. Printouts from Google Calendar and Google Tasks gives me a “wear and tear” couple of A4-sheets which fold nicely into my back pocket. Extremely portable, nobody will steal it and it doesn’t matter if I loose them or I get caught in a downpour.

I previously used Remember the Milk for Todo’s, but since Google Tasks now provides a printout option, I decided to try it out. I have absolutely no complaints against RTM, but I think it’s nice to have a fairly homogenous base for the Analog PDA.

I also print out a sheet with all my contacts phone-numbers and fold it between the calendar-sheet and the todo. This is a precaution in case my phone battery is dead or otherwise freaks out and loses all numbers.
I still use the Fisher Bullet Space Pen as my stylus.

So how does this very lo-tech solution gel with hi-tech cellphones and Internet applications? Well, I still think it’s nice to write things down on paper. The todo-sheet is ubiquitous in a way that an electronic notes-application can’t be. You can doodle anything you wan’t. Mix and match different kinds of information and it’s feels very natural and organic. A proper PDA feels a bit too organized for my tastes. Everything in it’s place and so on. With a sheet of paper I can match my grocery-list with songs I wan’t to buy from iTunes with GPS-directions for a restaurant with a reminder to book service for the car.

I also think it’s kind of nice to check the calendar in the phone for availability and then jot down the new appointment on paper. That’s right, I one-way sync my Google Calendar to my phone. I’ve had to much problems with two-way syncs to try that again, and with the analog PDA I don’t need it.

This also gives me an amount of freedom. I can now go to the beach with my old rickety Sony Ericsson K700i and my analog PDA. I can leave my real phone at home, not having to worry about it being stolen while swimming and still be organizationally aware.

The key is in the analog PDA.

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Google Chrome OS

July 8, 2009 at 08:53 · Filed under internet, minimalism, simplicity, technology

Google just announced their new project, Google Chrome OS, which is Googles second operating system (the first being android).

This one however is targeted at netbooks, not cellphones. 

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

I love the simplicity of the Chrome browser, and an entire operating system along the same design principles sounds very exciting.

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Living Online

April 24, 2009 at 12:06 · Filed under internet

I have lost more files than I care to remember. For all kinds of reasons. Harddisk crashes, sloppyness, lost access, accidental deletes, you name it. After a while you start to think about backups. And being simplicity minded, you don’t want complicated, elaborate systems. You just want it to work.
I have tried different solutions. Automatically backing up a folder to my own server via scheduled tasks. I have tried some of the online backup solutions, such as mozy, streamload (later mediamax, later thelinkup, now out-of-business), x-drive, box.net, etc. But the problem remain the same. You need to perform the backups. And you also need to trust the backups.
Not to mention the problem you get when you realise that the document or file you needed is actually on your work-computer and vice versa.
Yes, I tried the route with having my own server, but you know what. I don’t want to be a sysadmin. 
My answer to all of these problems is online applications.  I now have all my documents in Google Docs. I use WordPress.com for blogging. My photos are on Flickr.  This approach means that effectively any computer connected to the Internet can become my personal workstation. A terminal for my data.
It’s interesting how the IT evolutions goes in cycles. It all started with terminals connected to a mainframe. Then came the PC revolution when everything was to be standalone. Now, it’s swinging back to terminals again, with everything in the Cloud.

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My Analog PDA

June 27, 2008 at 08:35 · Filed under internet, paper, simplicity

As I confessed earlier, I am a perpetual switcher. But for the last couple of weeks I think I have found a solution that finally sits well with me. I know i’m not the first to coin the phrase “Analog PDA”. Others, far greater than me have already written about this type of device. But I do think i may bring something a little new to concept.

I keep all of my appointment in google calendar, and all of my todo’s in rememberthemilk. Both of these services offer the possibility to print out your calendar and todo items. In gcal, I select the 4 weeks ahead view before printing, giving me a nice overview of the weeks to come. In rmilk, I have prepared a “smart list” with the search dueWithin:”1 week of today” OR due:never OR dueBefore:today, but you can use whatever suits you best.

I then take these two printouts, fold them twice and put them in my back pocket.

Done.

My stylus for this PDA is my fisher bullet space pen. When folded, it barely takes up any space at all in my pocket and it’s nice to write with.

How to work the system

There are two key points to making this system work. First, I need to view my printouts as my main system. Not the online applications, they are backups. This helps me to not confuse which version is up to date. Nothing can exist in the backups if they are not on paper. Which brings us to the second point. I need to sync events from my PDA to the backup systems daily.
To create a quick overview process of which items are backed up from paper I use a few tricks.

In my todo-sheet, I write down new todos as I come up with them. As an example, we’ll use the task “Investigate USB memory stick memorysizes”.
As soon as I remember I need to do that, I write it down in the todo-application of my PDA (i.e. the printout from rmilk).

When I get a chance to sync todos, I look for any written down tasks on the sheet.. err.. I mean in the todo-application. All tasks that aren’t completed I copy into rememberthemilk, and then I put a square box next to the item on paper for checking them off.
The presence of a box next to the todo item is a signal to me that the item has been synchronized.

For calendar items I put a small dash in front of the task as a signal that the item has been synchronized.

So when the PDA starts to look worse for wear, it’s time to “recharge” it. This means I print out new copies from the backup systems. It’s important to synchronize before recharging to prevent loss of data.

But what about appointments further away than four weeks?

I’m glad you asked.

For this I use a neat little program developed by Johnny Matthews called getCals (as reported on lifehacker), to copy my google calendar into my iPod when I recharge or update the iPod.
As long as I do this at least every four weeks I’m ok.
So, when someone asks if I’m free at some specific date three months from now, I just whip out my offline backup device (i.e. my iPod) and check the calendar. Then I still write down the appointment as a todo or on the back of the calendar application (the printout).

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Perpetual Switcher

April 25, 2008 at 08:28 · Filed under internet, paper

I confess.

I am a perpetual switcher when it comes to calendar/planning solutions. So far nothing have been able to keep my interest for more than a couple of months.
I have had a period now when I’ve tried Google Calendar. There is no question it’s a great calendar solution.
And it’s got all these cool plugins too, like Remember The Milk for todos that plug right into you calendar. Schweet!
Online at your fingertips, all you need is a browser. It even has a great printout function so you can take your calendar with you when you’re offline.

It lasted about a month this time, but now I’m back with my trusty Filofax. I just can’t help myself, it’s like I get bored with my current solution. Either that or there is some flaw with the system that eventually gets too uncomfortable to deal with.
This time, I think it was the fact that it got cumbersome to keep reprinting the offline calendars every time I updated something.
I know, I know. You can use your mobile phone to access gcal, but the overview isn’t all that great. You just get the next couple of days.

So I swing back and forth between different digital solutions and paper. At times I’m a card carrying member of the “back to paper” revolution. But then there is always some new technology or gadget which gets too tempting to ignore and I swing right back.

But I keep looking for that perfect solution. Ultra portable, complete and redundant.
I wonder what it will be next time.

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