3 Things Today

Stark Raving Calm is selling his tablet PC in exchange for an Apple Powerbook:

“Despite its immaturity as a platform, the tablet is perfect for many users: managers, students, medical professionals, artists. Anyone who moves around a lot, and needs to jot things down literally on the go, would be very happy with a Tablet PC. That‚Äôs not what I‚Äôm looking for anymore. I want to write, and I want a machine that gets out of the way and lets me write.”

For you tablet pc junkies, two new Tatung tablets:

“Tatung Science and Technology (TST) has released two light weight and ultra-slim tablets for applications in healthcare, insurance, education, inventory management, manufacturing and other areas that require users to carry units for long periods of time. The two new models released are the TTAB-A12D and TTAB-910E.”

GeekyInfo is excited about the new MindManager 6:

“When I heard that a new version of mindmanger was out I was so very excited. In some ways, this is actually putting it quite midly, as to put it simply, this is the application that runs my life on my computer.”

I’m always impressed at how MindManager is is so popular. The debate over GTD tools for shows just how personal this process really is. Each personality needs (or expects?) to look at and manipulate their own “stuff” in a certain way - visually or textually, electronically or analog - and to fight that way is intensely frustrating.

Of course this is a nightmare for toolmakers. All they can do is to create tools that match one world view and hope they picked a view that is reasonably popular among the many that define us.

Ninth Wave has created this
Moleskine template for those who want the storyboard style Moleskine but have been frustrated that it is not available in the large size.

“I was able to transform a Large Moleskine Sketchbook into a Large Moleskine Storyboard notebook with very little effort.¬† My animator friend is happy now, with a larger cell size and page format to make more detailed storyboard sketches to work from.¬† I am making this template available as a PDF file through the Ninth Wave Designs blog, so you too can transform a large sketchbook into a large storyboard notebook, and be the envy of all your friends!”

Minezamac has combined his Moleskine and Tracks to create what he calls a Hipskine:

• one Molskine planner/journal
• one computer (Powerbook or iBook preferably, but any laptop would do)
• An installation of Tracks

What if instead of a 7 day x 24 hours a day week we had a 6 day x 28 hours a day week? Would we actually get more things done by virtue of chopping up the week into less units? We would only have to make supper 6 times a week, sleep 6 times a week, and so on.

But wait! What about weekends? Do I still get two days off every week?

These guys put that question to the test in The 28 Hour Day:

“Everything you do now in a typical day could be done for a little longer: you could sleep longer, work longer, spend longer blocks of time with your family and friends, and have more leisurely meals. Other benefits become apparent when you realize that “daily” activities would occur less frequently: only six times each week instead of seven. Work, for example, could be accomplished in larger blocks of time, with fewer trips to and from the work place.”

One problem with tablet PC’s is that they still tend to be a bit of a lap burner:

“Even with the DVD drive removed, the 4010 is still a little bit too heavy to rest on your lap for long. I‚Äôve found I have to shift my crossed leg to the other several times in an hour meeting just to remain comfortable. These are the times where I see an advantage to the ‚ÄúSlate Only‚Äù version of the tablet PC.”

Eric Mack writes this entry in response to the question, “If right now, during this phone call, you wanted to quickly make some notes or map out an idea, what would you reach for?”

It’s a great question when you think of all the time and effort we expend trying to find the perfect capture tool, from Moleskine hacks to Palm Pilots to Tablet PCs. Of course this is what the Hipster PDA folks have been preaching all along - nothing is as reliable as paper.

“Even before I spoke my answer, I grabbed a colored pen and a piece of scratch paper and made a quick note to myself: “Start using tablet again for note taking;” I tossed the note in my in-box and then answered the question.

A beautiful love poem to the Moleskine over at DIY Planner (go read the whole thing). This article will almost certainly make you rush out and start journalling if you aren’t already:

“I’ve also found that I write about different things, and I don’t necessarily just write for myself, and perhaps this change is the most crucial. My diary is no longer about what I did today; it’s about what I might want to remember tomorrow. And it’s no longer for my eyes alone. If my wife or kids (or just about anyone else) want to have a flick through, that’s fine. Perhaps that restricts what I might want to say a little, but it also makes me think harder about what I want to put in my Moleskine, and the end result is that I have something that is a more enjoyable read ‚Äì something that I’m happy to pick up and read myself ‚Äì and that, surely, is the whole point. These days, my diary can contain anecdotes, funny things people have said, jokes, interesting websites, ideas that I have read about on the web, or anything else that takes my fancy.

Doug Johnston over at DIY Planner reprints his most excellent article, The Beginner’s Mind. Especially when it comes to Geeks Doing GTD (GDGers) there is an overwhelming tendency to over-do it. To make lists and use three pieces of software and two computers and a PDA and, and, and…..
Johnson nails it (as usual) when he writes that you have to throw away everything that is not absolutely needed or you will be hopelessly, and completely lost:

Step one, simplify to the bare essentials.

Step two, seek out the flow of least resistance and effort.

Step three, choose the best tools.

Step four, simplify some more, and streamline.

Be very careful with Step three - that’s where our inner geeks tend to lose all perspective!