Ed Berger dot com

TiddlyWiki – a reusable non-linear personal web notebook

I gotta say I just LOVE TiddlyWiki! Well ok everything but the name. It is a Wiki in a single file combining HTML, CSS, and JavaScript in one file. The user opens the file in a browser and then has the experience of using a wiki even though there is no server involved. You can just save the file or let it autosave and you’re done.

What I love is to be able to create Hypertext documents as opposed to linear documents, such as a memo. This allows the reader to choose the order of headings they want to read. One reader can read Conclusions only and an another reader can start with Scope for example.

More technically this is an example of how to create and organize Microcontent. Microcontent is fragments of information which are less than a full page and sometimes more than a paragraph. This blog entry is another example of microcontent and so are the RSS feeds which may have led you here.

TiddlyWiki is therefore a way to enter and organize microcontent in a local file using the simplified markup language of Wikis. Get it? Cool now get it.

Remember The Milk

This is another great web 2.0 service site. It is a place to consolidate your todo list ala “Getting Things Done” allowing you to access your too list from any networked computer. Remember that the GTD precept is that you have one and one only list of “Next Actions” and projects, deferred etc.

The coolest part of Remember the Milk in my estimation is its pre-programmed active reminders. For example, if you neeed to remember the milk, you can set the site up to SMS text message you via your cell phone at the appropriate time. It can pro-actively remind you of things via e-mail, IM, text messages and it is currently free. In addition, as a web 2.0 service, there are also social aspects where groups can share lists or you can make portions of your list public.

flo’s freeware – Notepad2

This is an incredably useful freeware-open source utility intended to replace notepad. It adds a great deal of functionality to the original Windows notepad. Among its features is the ability to recognize different languages such as HTML and XML and to appropriately color the text in those languages. This is to me one of the main reasons I use Eclipse. Notepad2 gives you many of the capabilities a geek needs in a lightweight package!
You can go through the rigamarole to actually replace Windows notepad with notepad2 but it may not be worth it. I do the following:

1. place a shortcut on my Windows desktop,
2. place a shortcut in the directory C:\Documents and Settings\[Your UserId]\SendTo, and
3. place a copy of the executable in the Windows directory.

This allows me to (in the same order as above):

1. Drag a file to an desktop icon,
2. right click the use the “Send To…” submenu, and
3. type notepad2 [file] on the command line

to edit a file with notepad2.

I finally found a management (anti-procrastination and anti-senior moment) tool that works for me. It’s this “Getting Things Done” system in the attached book. This system strongly advocates have ONE and only one todo list and / or in-basket. The author feels that having multiple lists, places and file systems makes us have to keep too many mental threads alive to track things. If we just have one place to put things then we can trust that we will be able to pick them up again and we can let them go until then. Of course this is a gross simplification and the specific tools and habits that are include in the system are part and parcel of becoming more effective. Danged if it hsn’t worked for me.

Here is a link to the book on Amazon (affiliate link).