I'm warning out to you right now, the following post is going to turn into a love letter. It'll get real mushy, real fast. It's designer/geek-love for an Web 2.0 service. Why I can't get enough of Evernote.
Since I picked up the blogging bug a few months ago (and can't seem to shake it) my go-to tool has been Evernote. Even before the post writing began, I've relied on Evernote to keep me sane and keep my thoughts semi-organized. It's become a combination of a junk drawer for thoughts, a book shelf for projects, and a personal assistant that knows where everything's been placed.
A place for every thought.
One of the killer features in Evernote is also one of the most basic; Notebooks. Whether you want to keep your personal notes in different "stacks" or need a way to keep business projects organized, setting up Notebooks is one of the easist ways to get this done. I use more notebooks than I can count, but they help keep me organized and that's half the battle.
Something for everyone.
There's no telling when inspiration will hit or in what form it will come and for that, Evernote has you covered. Besides written notes, you can upload photos or snap them from your phone or computer for those that are visually-inclined. If you'd rather talk things through, their apps support audio notes as well, so you could use it to record podcast audio or brief meeting notes if you'd want. On top of all of that, you can also clip Web pages and Web content into a note for later reading or inspiration.
A just-released feature for bloggers and Website owners, the Site Memory button, allows site readers the ability to clip individual posts and save them to their Evernote accounts. A one more useful tool for an already-useful service.
When I started writing on a frequent basis, I never imagine the many and varied (yet connected) topics that could be presented. A Twitter chat with Rob Cairns, John Lusher, and Marty McPadden earlier this week sparked such a topic.
The chat started off talking about football, which shifted to win/loss records which then changed gears to racing and performance expectations. As a fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr., the last two NASCAR Sprint Cup seasons have been less then stellar. When an athlete is in a performance tailspin that they seemingly can't get out of, what can be done to reverse course?
Let's shift gears one more time (but still stay on topic). How do you, when things get stuck or slide out of control, get things back on track? There have been times where I've been in a creative rut, feeling like I'm spinning my tires, not getting anywhere, and just burning myself out. Taking a step back helps, but it takes more than that. Combine that with a change of environment, music, or switching to a different task altogether seems to do the trick. What about you?
Thanks to Pat at Escape Route for letting me post this video review here. When we started on concepts and topics for video reviews for her site, there were a few that I felt could serve not only the crafting & scrapping set as well as designers. The first that came to mind was Think Ink from Neenah Paper.
This free app for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPad (non-iPad native) is perfect for creating color palettes from any color you have in mind, or even pull a color from a photo or design in your photo gallery. This is a handy tool to have with you when looking for inspiration or working on a project.
Not much needed in the way of an explanation here. These are based off of my earlier-released iPad wallpapers and work great with the iPhone 3G and 3GS (not to mention the iPod Touch). iPhone 4 wallpapers are coming soon! Just right-click and save or tap, hold, and save.
My oldest son started 4K today, marking the beginning of his school career. While I can't fully describe how proud I am of him, sending him off into the world does come with a few unknowns.
As he got onto the bus today, I had a feeling come over me that's similar to when I launch a new site or project (only this was on a much larger scale). Those thoughts and feelings were "I hope this works!". As that yellow vessel drove away, there was nothing I could do to help him, if he needed it. He was on his own...and he'd be fine. The more I thought about it today, he's in a great position to be learning new things and encountering new experiences.
Oh, to be young again.
The past few months have been filled with many new experiences for me including some great public speaking engagements, many opportunities to meet some thought leaders, and a few projects that have pushed and challenged my skill-set. Going into all of these, there's been a bit of trepidation, hesitation, and a bit of self-doubt thrown in, just to make things interesting. Today it struck me, my kids have the right mindset going into any new experience they'll encounter. They have no fear.
They don't know the risks, they aren't afraid to fail, in fact they don't even know what failure is. Failure, truly isn't an option. Isn't that great? I'm keeping that in mind when taking on new challenges. After all, it couldn't hurt.
I'm warning out to you right now, the following post is going to turn into a love letter. It'll get real mushy, real fast. It's designer/geek-love for an Web 2.0 service. Why I can't get enough of Evernote.
When I started writing on a frequent basis, I never imagine the many and varied (yet connected) topics that could be presented. A Twitter chat with 
