Need a Second Brain? Try Evernote

The Uncool Dad — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 03:58:08 +0000

: Image via CrunchBase

I have a horrible memory. Even when I try to be organized and responsibly record and save information, I forget where I keep it. But that’s not the case with Evernote.

Evernote is an online application with an interface that can be downloaded. It’s a note taking system on steroids. It’s a second brain that you can used to remember everything. Yes, everything.

First, Evernote allows you to store anything. Jot down notes. Store photos. save clips from websites. Save emails. Create to do lists.

Everything you capture is automatically processed, indexed, and made searchable. If you like, you can add tags or organize notes into different notebooks.

Search for notes by keywords, titles, and tags. Evernote magically makes printed and handwritten text inside your images searchable, too.

There are so many uses for Evernote there is a FriendFeed group where users continue to share all the new ways they think of. Some of these include:

Snap a photo of a business card with your phone, and have an easy way to store and access contacts.
Capture plane tickets and confirmation numbers, hotel invoices, and receipts for your expense reports.
Keep a file of anything cool you want to buy for yourself or as a gift, whether it’s online or out in the real world.
Keep notes from your meetings all in one place. Take a picture of a whiteboard and you’ll be able to find it later.
Plan your next trip. Clip web pages, maps, and itineraries. Capture sights, sounds, tastes, and anything else.
Research web sites and clip pages directly from your browser.
Keep a record of your favorite wines by snapping a photo of the label when you find one you like.
Remember the things you were supposed to remember. Create to-do lists, jot down random thoughts, leave a voice memo, and more.
Create notes right from Twitter and save tweets that you like.

Popular Posts:

No related posts.

Why You Should Use Google Voice

The Uncool Dad — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:01:28 +0000

: Image by Malabooboo via Flickr

Several years ago I signed up for something called GrandCentral.com. I worked at the office, at home, and also traveled a lot. I needed a solution that would allow me to provide people with a single number and they could reach me wherever I was. GrandCentral provided this plus a few more features.

After a while, GrandCentral stopped enhancing their product and they closed the service to any new users. This caused some concern but the ability to have one common number was awesome. Plus, there were rumors that they were going to be purchased by Google!

Well, Google did buy them. And nothing happened. For a while, anyway.

Then not so long ago, they rebranded the product as Google Voice and added a lot of new features and functionality. Here is why you should try to get an account.

One phone number for everything.

When you join, you need to select a phone number. When I started, I selected a Manhattan area code because I thought I’d be cooler. When someone calls that number you tell Google Voice to send the call to any number of phone numbers – home, office, cell, whatever. You can manually set this or schedule it so that it calls your office during the day and home during the evening. You can even direct specific callers to certain phones.

Intelligent voice mail.

You can send specific callers straight to voicemail and take calls from others. You can have callers say who they are and then Google Voice will call you to decide whether to take the call or not (but that’s obnoxious). And you can record personalized outgoing messages depending on who is calling.

Make free calls.

With Google Voice you can make free calls to the United States and Canada.

Get voicemail sent to your e-mail.

Google Voice transcribes all of your emails (sometimes they are far off, but I find that humorous) and they can be sent to you by email or text message. These messages also contain links to the audio of each message. There are also apps for the blackberry and iPhone that allow you to read these messages.

Have people call you without knowing your number

Do you have a blog or other website and you would like to speak to your readers or users? Google Voice can provide you with a widget that you can embed on your site. If users click on it and enter their phone number, Google Voice will call them and also call your number.

How do you get it?

Current Google Voice users are able to send invitations to their friends, much like how GMail was first circulated. I currently have a single invitation left and can be convinced to send you one (hint: I’d love to get a Google Wave account).

If you don’t know anyone that currently has an account, you can go to google.com/voiceinvite and register for an account. You will be put on a waiting list and provided an invitation in time.