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Also

  • culturehack
    As Yoda once noted, "There is another." And so it is with my bloggy existence--truth be told, I have another cyber-family across town . . .

    CultureHack has been in mothballs almost from the day I established this little NoteTaker-based beachhead. Recently, however, I've applied the paddles to CultureHack and it seems to be breathing on its own again. Check out the "Honey, I'm Home" post over there for more details.

    The point's this: I'm feeling pretty spunky over at my first blog, and I'm extending a cordial, self-serving invitation to check-out what I'm up to. I've similarly sent the very patient CultureHack readers to pay a visit or two over here.

    As for Exploring AquaMinds NoteTaker, have no fear--it'll still be around. The only thing that's changed is when I want to let loose with with an essay that has nothing to do with NT, I'll have someplace inherently designed to accept my highly developed brand of stream-of-consciousness . . .

What

  • AppleScript
    Though not as overtly cool as contextual spell-check and tabbed browsing, one of Apple's best innovations is also it unintentional Stealth Project: AppleScript. It's is what makes the whole NoteTaker/Ecto Thing happen--and a lot more NT Goodness, to boot. Not now perhaps, but someday the itch will start--the desire for a little script mod here and a little script mod there. And when that happens, I'm trusting you'll be generous enough to share the results here.
  • AquaMinds NoteTaker Demo
    AquaMinds NoteTaker gathers, organizes and shares practically any kind of information--including files, graphics, multimedia, clippings, Web address and Web clips. It also allows the direct input of entries with the textual richness of a word processor. It does all this based upon an intutitive notebook metaphor that can be easily searched and reorganized to accomdate changing needs. I think it's a Killer App that forever changes how you think and approach computing.
  • AquaMinds NoteTaker Manual
    Questions about NoteTaker? Just want an overview of the sheer power of the application? Then this is what you want to read. The documentation is so good, I'm half-expecting that it will be optioned by a major film studio.
  • Ecto Demo
    I love Ecto. Along with NoteTaker, it runs on my desktop 24/7. Ecto is a blogging client that can handily accomodate many of the major blog service providers. But where it really shines is in the way it works with TypePad (see note, below). Ecto is at feature parity with TypePad, meaning if you can do it using the many online input screens of TypePad, you can also do it on your desktop.
  • Ecto FAQ
    Got questions about Ecto? Chances are that Ecto's got answers for you. Read this first.
  • Entourage 2004
    Legend has it that a lot of programmers that created Emailer for Fog City (and then Claris) were hired by Microsoft to work on Entourage. This fact shows. I love Apple's Mail application for a lot of reasons, but I'm beginning to love Entourage 2004 more. One of the reasons for my dalliance with the Dark Side is the fact that Entourage combines with NoteTaker in flexible and useful ways.
  • FastScripts
    Now that you've got that swank new NoteTaker/Ecto AppleScript up and running, what more could you possibly want? Well, hello? How about sending your NoteTaker entry to Ecto or your blogging service without taking your hands off the keyboard? Yup--a shortcut for the NT/Ecto script--or any other AppleScript for that matter. All of this convenience is care of the fine folks at Red Sweater Software. Eventually they will ask you to pay for their brainchild--and you will, because it really is that useful.
  • NoteTaker To Ecto
    Blogging Script
    This is the techno-magic that makes NoteTaker blogging possible. The AppleScript posts a notebook entry or entry selection to Ecto, the premier blogging client.
  • Tagging Service
    The improbably named MonkeyFood.com makes a free services applet that you're going to want know about. Using a handful of two-character triggers and a keyboard shortcut, Tagging Service makes HTML text formatting and the creation of links as easy as they can be this side of WYSIWYG. Did I mention this thing is free? Thank MonkeyFood.com profusely--even consider sending them a case of scotch.
  • TypePad Demo
    If NoteTaker has shaken the foundations of how we gather, organize and share data, then TypePad has had equally dramatic impact on content managment. Lurking below this elegant, simple blogging service are very powerful database technologies with implications that become apparent the longer you work with this amazing service.
  • TypePad Features
    Everything you always wanted to know about TypePad--well, okay, many things you wanted to know. . .

Possibilities

SearchCloud

« New Rulez for a New Technology | Main | MarsEdit and NT: My Blog, My Rules »

October 08, 2004

I'd Tell You, But Then I'd Have To Kill You

Frankenstein_labHoney, I'm home. . . . Now someone much smarter than myself would simply reach for the Dallas Dream Season Stratagem: I could simply pretend that this was indeed September 1st and hack the posting dates to mess with your collective minds. But of course, That Would Be Wrong. Suffice it to say, I can't tell you what I've been up to in the past five weeks because many of my associates would wind up behiind bars or worse. However I can tell you that the seriously bent incident concluded with me waking up in the back of a 1954 Chevy in Rio with no clear idea how I got there. And there is the other small matter of a tattoo that says Res Ipsa Loquitur in the precise Old English typeface of The New York Times. Indeed. If I needed any further evidence that my Speedo days are over, this is certainly it.

And that takes care of that--or will have to until certain statutes of limitations run out. Now, in the immortal words of Pink, "I'm comin' up so you better get this party started . . . "

As it's wont to do, Time trudged ahead during my twisted hiatus and, Lo, Ecto has evolved into Ecto2. (Am I the only one who wants to use a roman numeral? It must be fallout from the just-passed Big Dumb Summer Movie season.) And not only has Ecto reached the next level of tech enlightenment, it's also been joined by MarsEdit (The Application Formerly Known As NetNewsWire Built-In Blogging Client. Hey, if Prince can get away with this sort of thing, well. . . ). Both blogging clients are wonderous, increasingly powerful displays of programming ingenuity and I strongly to urge you to check out the details by following their respective links. Me, I proudly own both of them--each has slightly different useful features and I'm just that kind of geek.

And yeah, the mere fact you're visiting this site means I know what you're thinking: How does NoteTaker get along with Ecto2 and MarsEdit? Are you sitting down? Good. Initially, Ecto2 didn't work with NoteTaker--and of, course, NT didn't have a MarsEdit script to begin with. Terminal Yikes. As soon as I saw that the New And Improved Ecto2 pretty much rendered this entire site, well, useless, I contacted the good folks over at AquaMinds, who, while always polite, are understandably leery when I ignore the restraining order and actually approach them.

"Hey guys," I say, "NoteTaker no longer works with Ecto!"

After edging back slightly, the Developer blurts out "Sheridan! I thought you were in Rio? Did you ever make tattoos in Latin the next big thing?"

"Look, forget about that," I snarl. "Er, nothing ever came of it! Nothing!. I'm here on much more important business: Can you get NoteTaker to work with Ecto2?"

"Perhaps," the Developer says slyly. "If something could be done, do you promise to honor the half-mile Sheridan-Free-Zone around AquaMinds World Headquarters?

I ponder this for a couple of minutes. It wouldn't be that much of a sacrifice after all. As it stands now, I have to put up with watching all the employees over at AquaMinds obviously kill the lights and hide whenever I approach--plus all of the "Shhh--he's just outside" stage whispers. And if we could just get back to blogging with world-class NoteTaker . . . "Okay, okay," I answer. "If you can make NoteTaker play nice with Ecto2, I'll keep away. But realize I had planned to come trick-or-treating here dressed as a boxed version of NT."

At this news, the Developer looks like man who's had a near-death experience. "What would it take to maybe pal around with the TypePad guys instead?" he asks, still ashen.

My eyes narrow. "Can you do anything about MarsEdit? If you can make NoteTaker work with MarsEdit, well, I think I hear the TypePad guys calling me right now . . ."

Even the mere thought of this greatly cheers the Developer. "We'll see what we can do. Go home and we'll call you." as I leave AquaMinds World Headquarters, giant wall switches are being thrown, electrodes are descending from the vaulted ceiling and the very foundations are vibrating with a powerful thrumming sound. On the roof, programmers are launching kites into the suddenly stormy skies to capture the lightening needed to resurrect the NoteTaker/Ecto script.

I leave a happy man, only slightly guilty about the fact my fingers have been crossed in my pockets the whole time. After all, the TypePad guys aren't nearly as much fun to annoy . . .

The next day, the Developer contacts me: "It's Alive! Er, I mean, it's done--NoteTaker now works with Ecto, Ecto2 and MarsEdit! We decided to keep the original NT/Ecto script around for any user who chose not to upgrade to Ecto2 or migrate to MarsEdit. Though we didn't discuss it, I hope this means that you'll stay on this East Coast this New Years Eve."

What could I say? He had me there. So in deference to his generosity, I promise not to crash the AquaMinds New Years Eve party this year. (All of you reading this, remember: You owe me one, okay?)

So here's the drill: You can download the original NoteTaker/Ecto blogging script here. (Think of it as NT/Ecto Classic.) You can lay virtual hands on the NoteTaker/Ecto2 blogging script here. And, should you be seduced by the genuinely intriguing and tasty MarsEdit from the Ranchero Software folks, a NoteTaker/MarsEdit blogging script can be found here.

Currently, everything discussed above in terms of the original NT/Ecto blogging scripts is completely applicable to both the NT/Ecto2 and NT/MarsEdit scripts: Installation, configuration, tweaking, tricks, et. al. But, because it blew by kind of fast, let's repeat some basic and obvious things here. First, you must have Ecto or Ecto2 or MarsEdit installed on your Mac to use the scripts. (Yeah, yeah, I know--but you'd be very surprised by some of the email I get with regard to the information on this site.) Second, each script is perfectly matched to the specific blogging client you choose to use. Put another way, the NT/Ecto2 script won't work with the first version of Ecto. The NT/MarsEdit script will do nothing if you use Ecto2 as your blogging client. You get the picture . . .

So let the downloading begin. Enjoy the new ways to blog with NoteTaker--honest-to-god, one of the best Mac applications in the world. And because Ecto2 and MarsEdit do more things than the original Ecto, rest assured I'll be pleading with the AquaMinds Developer in the future (after all, we had no deal concering email.) Which reminds me, after he reads this, I'm pretty sure that I won't have a place card at the gala AquaMinds Thanksgiving Dinner--does anyone else want to save me from my stoic loneliness this November?

Here endeth the season premiere of Blogging With AquaMinds NoteTaker. My sense is that we're regularly broadcasting once again--except, possibly, during the week I have that tattoo removed . . .

Res Ipsa Loquitur.

The composition of this entry was made possible in part by Insensatez from the album "A Day in New York" by Ryuichi Sakamoto


Friday, October 8, 2004 12:21:32 PM

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Comments

Web Gecko aka Penny

How about a thread about using DevonThink with NT? You know you want to!

Posted by: Web Gecko aka Penny | October 13, 2004 at 12:09 AM

Marc Bizer

I wonder if you would give Circus Ponies' Notebook some consideration? I find it much easier to use than NoteTaker.

Posted by: Marc Bizer | October 10, 2004 at 01:48 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.

Why

  • Same Place, Different River

    You can’t step into
    the same river twice.
    --Heraclitus

    This site is changing. And, given a very peculiar sense of fun, my first inclination is to just make the changes and say nothing--perhaps even vehemently deny that anything is even slightly different. Just to mess with you. But as weblog culture has evolved, there’s increased pressure to act grown-up--even responsibly. (This, of course, is why I tend to like my technologies interstitial as opposed to codified.) Thus, since it’s now seen as Thoroughly Wrong to mess around with visitors’ impressions, I’m here on my best, most hospitable behavior, writing this helpful, clarifying note. (Imagine Basil Fawlty, going way overboard as he welcomes guests to his hotel.)

    Until recently, this little piece of the blogosphere was known as Blogging With AquaMinds NoteTaker. And, as long we’re dealing in trivia, also know that this is a perfect example of a spontaneous, accidental weblog. Originally, this site was an exercise in self-fulfilling prophesy: I predicted NoteTaker could be used as a blogging tool and then proceeded to actually use it to blog about, well, blogging with it. (Read that last sentence again--it makes twisted sense, I promise.)

    Put another way, this weblog is basically a proof-of-concept that somehow got above itself. Much like Pinnochio aspiring to be a real boy or Bela Lugosi being buried in his Dracula cape or Joey from Friends getting his own TV series, this site is the result of a could that became a can. And although I was there at the time, I can’t say for certain how (or why) it happened. All I know is that here I am, more than a year later, still dancing with this thing.

    The first 66 posts on this site represent my initial obsession with NoteTaker as a blogging tool. And then came The Hiatus, during which I thought a lot about NoteTaker (far more than is healthy for someone who does not work for AquaMinds) in other, broader contexts.

    The main take-away from all this pondering is simply that NoteTaker is an extremely deep and multifaceted program and I feel the need to explore some of its other not-obvious uses. And yeah, blogging will continue to be one such application--but as part of a larger index of possibilities. For those who have previously visited this site, I encourage your continued pop-ins. While you won’t find wall-to-wall NT blogging tips of yesteryear, there will be a steady stream of tricks that usefully extend NoteTaker into all areas of a productive online life.

    Blogging--properly-done--is the refinement and crystallization of living; the tip of an experiential iceberg. And I currently have 66 posts that demonstrates the many ways NoteTaker can hone that tip. But what about the run-up to a blog post? All the stuff that has inspired, driven and enhanced whatever it is you’re writing about? What about the 90 percent of resources that supports the posting, yet remains invisible to your readers? The intellectual dark matter comprised of searching, compiling, thinking, annotating, collaborating and exchanging ideas--all critically assisted by local and online tools and services? How does NoteTaker fit into this Panavision and Technicolor scheme of things?

    This, my friends, is what the newly christened Exploring AquaMinds NoteTaker will be chronicling--along with continued coverage of the ways NT can be used to blog per se. I think you’ll find the new direction as helpful as the old one.

    During the next few weeks the overhaul and repositioning of this site will be unavoidable. Try to treat this as a home remodeling job--some inconvenience, a lot of dust and, inevitably, the feeling it will never be over. But, of course, it will be--and better for those successive swarms of craftspeople. Here’s an example of what I mean: While the posting categories will be expanded to accommodate the new, broader vision of NoteTaker, I’ll also be building topical descriptors into the headline of each post, putting them at the reader-friendly top-of-entry.

    Bottom line, there’s a good chance that some of the hitherto solid structuring of this blog may intermittently flicker and I beg your collective pardon in advance. What passes for normalcy in this place will be restored as soon as possible . . .

Disclosure

  • Your Miranda Rights

    While the tagline of this site successfully articulates its high concept, some additional detail is owed to you--call it the Miranda Rights of this weblog:

    (1) While I'm not an employee of AquaMinds or any of the other companies mentioned in relation to leveraging NoteTaker, I am unashamedly evangelical about the mentioned products. Thus, while I'll do my best to to ensure the content of this weblog is informative, useful and accurate, it it is in no way objective. In fact, I am biased as hell when it comes to the cited software and services.

    (2) I played a role in forging the connectivity between NoteTaker and Ecto, so it stands to reason I have a strong (and possibly warped) sense of psychological ownership regarding the new intra-application capability. This may lead to more bias (see point one, above) and, potentially, to the literal and unaffected use of the word "we."

    (3) This is a labor of love for me, not a money-making venture. If I am passionate here, it is not the strum und drang of the paid flunky. Rather, it's the vaguely dangerous enthusiasm of the amateur / advocate / fan.

    (4) Unlike Las Vegas, what's said here is unlikely to stay here, so it's important to further understand that I speak for myself only. The opinions expressed here are mine--and hopefully yours--but not necessarily those of the AquaMinds or any other developer or product with which it may have an interconnected relationship. With regard to any comments posted here, please intone Stewart Brand's digital benediction with me: You Own Your Words.

    (5) This is not my only weblog and in other online iterations I tend to be, well, waspish about most current uses of blogs and blogging. Others often refer to it as being a provocateur Know this in the spirit of Full Disclosure, but don't call me a hyocrite: Blogging is dramatically changing the nature of the Internet; I am an avid proponent of the possibilities of weblogs distinct for most of their implementations. I see the near-seamless use of NoteTaker and Ecto to post blog content as the realization of one of those possibilities. And while this capability will undoubtedly result in more Dumb Blogs, it will also facilitate greater numbers of Smart ones.

    Someone once remarked that the blog phenomenon was the equivalent of giving everyone a printing press. The integration of NoteTaker, Ecto and TypePad takes that metaphor a step further: Mindbogglingly wide publication results from simply writing in a virtual notebook. Needless to say, I expect you to use your new super powers for Good . . .

Address

  • Email

Feeds

  • subscribe to this feed
  • del.icio.us

Chat

Connection

  • typecult

Proviso

  • Obligatory Legalese

    I freely admit to having a small fetish about using the phrase "void where prohibited by law" both in context and in a non-ironic manner. Seemingly, this is my Big Chance:

    All of the products and trademarks mentioned belong to their respective companies. The opinions expressed on this site are not necessarily those of any company that may be referenced here. When used, the tips, tricks, work-arounds and AppleScripts discussed on this site affect your data. While the intent is to improve your management of data, every computer is configured differently. No suggestion or technical tweak can take into account the specifics of every computer. You owe it to yourself to back up any critical data before you manipulate it in new and possibly unproven ways. Let's say that again: You owe it to yourself to back up any critical data before you manipulate it in new and possibly unproven ways. Put another way, before attempting to do anything suggested on this site, ALWAYS BACK UP YOUR DATA FIRST. Neither I, any contributors or the companies mentioned on this site are responsible for the loss of any data on your part.

    And oh yeah, on the off chance some sort of offerings are made on this site, they are--of course--void where prohibited by law. (I've waited a long time to say that!)

How

  • notetaker
  • ecto
  • typepad
  • AppleScript
  • marsedit
  • humanetext
  • audioblog
  • atomz
  • maccom
  • omnigraffle
  • voodoopad
  • nisusexpress
  • milesdavis
  • johncoltrane
  • endlesscoffee

Soundtrack

Who

  • Among Other Things, I Am:
    Human, male, an information architect; a computer geek; a music lover; a writer; a reader; a songwriter; a designer; a lover; a magazine-maker; a publisher; a film buff; a diagonal thinker; a scholar; a cultural anthropologist; a jazz fanatic; a reframer of questions; a drifting clarifier; a student of complexity; a conservative dresser; a bad singer; a disbeliever; a bullshit detector; at ease with myself; an organizer; a project manager; a private person; bigger-than-life; a simplifier; a creator of systems; a dismantler of myths; a failed rocker; a successful editor; a humorist; a structuralist; a conversationalist; a no-show at parties; in love with the sea; not a beach person; an American; an Anglophile; an orphan; tall, fascinated with the fashionable, never in fashion; a gardener; a cat fancier; a collector; a thinker; too patient; an intellectual brawler; a critic; a teacher; a marketer; a communicator; creative; a conceptualist; an implementer; of two centuries; a specialist; not a camper; increasingly annoyed with the media; part of the media; someone who sleeps in the nude; eclectic; passionate; learning to balance my life; seemingly smart; intuitive; logical; a right- and left-brain person; happiest on unstructured autumn Saturdays; aspiring to be a digital nomad; young-looking for my age; endlessly curious; completely disinterested in sports; a question asker; a natural consultant; appalled by reality televsion; a zealot about Apple computers; a fan of flim noir; in awe of Hitchcock's Veritigo; someone who finds smart and funny sexy; a workaholic; certain there is no such thing as objectivity . . .

    TheAuthor
    (Fig. 1) Authorial Interface