Evernote: A great tool for writers

With my recent switch to Linux, which I talked about in my last post, I’ve been forced to search again for a lot of software that I was using on my old laptop. I had a number of different writing and note-making programs, none of which will work on Linux. In my quest for the ultimate note software however, I have rediscovered Evernote, which may not have a Linux desktop application but does work really nicely in Firefox.

I say rediscovered because I did briefly use an older version of Evernote on my old laptop. but ended up abandoning it in favour of other programs. Now however, Evernote has been upgraded and has become an even more useful tool for writers. Why is that? The best way to illustrate is probably using an example:

Say I come across a useful writing article or piece of research whilst browsing the internet. With the Evernote clipper extension installed in Firefox, I can click the handy button at the top of my screen (with a picture of an elephant on it, appropriately enough) and the text I’ve selected, or even the entire page, can be saved to Evernote.

In my case, I can view all my saved bits and pieces by logging into the Evernote website. Alternatively, Windows and Mac users can download a desktop client so that their notes are available offline. I think there’s even a mobile web service, but seeing as I’ve never even seen an iPhone or equivalent in the flesh (not many people in my circle of studenty friends can afford that sort of thing, not surprisingly), I can’t really comment on that.

Overall, it’s a simple idea, which Evernote executes nicely. It’s surprising how much time you can save with it, rather than copying and pasting internet research material into a word document or other program.

I’m aware that I’ve barely scratched the surface of what Evernote offers. It can hold pictures, handwritten notes and all sorts of other media, for example. The easiest way to find out more is, of course, to click that link higher up the page and watch some of the introductory videos that are on the Evernote site. If you’re a writer or just someone who finds the need to save disparate bits of information culled from all over the internet, I recommend taking a look.

Fatal System Error: I haz it

It’s been pretty quiet around the blog for the past week, for a very simple – but expensive – reason: last week, after suffering numerous crashes and error messages, my laptop finally died. I’m fairly certain some vital internal component has simply given up the ghost after two years of fairly intensive usage, but I’ll see if I can get it fixed over Xmas by a family member who knows far more about computers than I do.

Now, on to the expensive bit. With two essays to finish, I didn’t really have time to try to get my laptop fixed or save up for something fancy, so I’ve bought the absolute cheapest thing I could find that would open my essay files and allow me to browse the internet. Yes, it’s a netbook/notebook – the Acer Aspire One. It seems you have to pay an extra £70 or so for a Windows version so I’ve even got one running Linux.

First impressions? It’s light, the keyboard isn’t a great deal smaller than on my old laptop, it’s fast and runs Firefox and OpenOffice with ease. On the negative side, I’m still struggling a bit with Linux. Installing new programs seems to be pretty much impossible because I just don’t know what I’m doing and despite the reams of advice on internet forums, there are generally too many conflicting answers for me to get anything to work. That also means no more PC gaming for me, apart from the occasional hour of Guild Wars on my boyfriend’s computer, but with an X-Box 360 hopefully arriving at Christmas, I’m not too worried about that.

In terms of writing, I’m actually getting a lot done, partly because essays are out of the way and partly because this notebook has far fewer distractions than my laptop did. But an update on that is going to have to wait for another post.

An Uphill Struggle, with added Fingerless Gloves

This last week has seemed like an uphill struggle. I feel a little bit like I’m fighting a war – against my laptop. Yup, it’s the old computer troubles again. Actually, in the 2+ years I’ve owned it, my laptop hasn’t been much of a problem, but this past couple of weeks have seen random program crashes and the dreaded blue screen of death appearing. Fingers crossed, everything’s back under control now after a great deal of prodding and poking.

So what else have I been up to? Less work than I should have been doing, very little writing and lots of playing Guild Wars. I’m firmly back on a gaming spree at the moment, with GW and Descent 3. Which brings me to my moment of ’squee’ for the week:

This Xmas, I will finally, finally, be getting an X-Box 360. I’ve been wanting one for the last six months but, being a poor penniless student (I’m typing this wearing fingerless gloves because I don’t want to turn the heating on – it’s very Dickensian in our house) I haven’t been able to afford one. But hurrah! Come Christmas, I will finally have one, after which point I can bombard this blog with all sorts of games reviews and complaints of how much I suck at anything above ‘Very Easy’ difficulty level. Good times, no doubt.

And now, it’s back to huddling round a cup of tea for warmth, or something equally frugal and British. Good times? Maybe not.