Evernote
Monday December 29, 2008 by Eric Allen
I really can’t say enough good things about Evernote, the online note-taking application I ran into a few weeks ago. It’s not just online, it’s on my iPhone, my Mac, my other Mac, the PC I rarely use, and I can even send notes in via email! I’ve finally found a place I can keep all of my random thoughts and notes that organizes them well and is accessible from anywhere. Oh, and as a bonus I can record audio and photo notes, and it even searches for text inside the photos! I can take a snapshot of a whiteboard from my iPhone, and have it searchable within minutes. Evernote does everything I could ask for, and more.
Let’s start with basic text notes. When I have an idea, a thought about a project, or some notes I need to take about what I’m working on, I launch the Evernote application. Command+N gets me to a new note, I throw a title and a few tags in, and I’m immediately writing a note with rich text formatting and checklists! The tags are a huge plus for me: I can organize all of my notes and index them without even thinking about it. When I want to go back and review notes about a specific project, I just click on its tag and instantly I have a list of what I want to see. I can select multiple tags at once to narrow the field even tighter. If Evernote just handled text notes and synchronization with multiple computers, I would be sold.
Nothing’s cooler than having an iPhone app, right? Well, Evernote’s app delivers exceptionally well. I hadn’t bothered to purchase a voice recording application yet, and boy was that a good move! Now, when I’m on the go, I can whip out my iPhone and be recording a voice note straight into Evernote in seconds. I can add tags and textual notes to make the audio easier to find in the future, and I’m on my way. I can’t believe how awesome this feature is. But wait, there’s more! In addition to handling text nearly as well as the desktop version, and making audio recording a snap, Evernote for the iPhone lets you take pictures of things as notes and search them later! It did an impressive job on a few of my whiteboard snapshots, and my handwriting isn’t very good. Evernote for the iPhone on its own is worth a few bucks in the App Store, but even it is free!
Last but not least, the synchronization is perfect. No matter where I am, I have all of my notes at my fingertips, and the interface is optimized for the device I’m using. The Mac client is a beautiful piece of software, the iPhone app is well optimized, and the web version seems almost as good as the Mac! Now I never have to think about where my notes are—they’re with me wherever I go. Awesome.
Evernote is already an amazing product, and I think it’s clear that it will only get better. They just launched document synchronization, so you can keep your documents with you everywhere, too! I’m already very happy with this free product, and I will have no qualms about upgrading to their $5/month plan if and when I need it. Thank you Evernote for making my life easier!
Wesabe vs. Mint
Friday February 8, 2008 by Eric Allen
I’ve been using Wesabe to keep track of my personal finances for the past year or so now, and I must say I love it. Uploading data is fast, easy, and secure. Viewing my transactions is simple and intuitive, and getting numbers out for taxes was a piece of cake. It doesn’t do everything, but Wesabe is a great tool for a young person with fairly simple finances who just wants to keep track of his money.
Now, a similar site started up a few months ago called Mint. Their software is much slicker, with window-esque overlays and fading page transitions. However, they lack two features I consider critical: they won’t support one of my credit cards, and they have no API. This means that not only can I not get all of my data in, getting my data back out is a pain. When I needed to file taxes this year, I was able to whip up a little Ruby program that downloaded and sliced up the information in a way that helped my file my Schedule C.
Wesabe gets a few things very much right for the kind of company they are. First, they interact amazingly closely with customers. If you join the “Make Wesabe Better” group inside of Wesabe, you get access to a forum with long conversations between users and developers about how to improve Wesabe. When I have a feature suggestion or a need, I know I can ask for it there and be heard. Second, they favor functionality over flash. Mint is much prettier, but Wesabe actually works. Not only does it work, but it works well and securely. That’s pretty awesome for such an early-stage web startup.
Basically, Wesabe is awesome and I highly recommend it to manage your personal finances.
Sony Fontopia Review
Thursday March 20, 2003 by Eric Allen
Recently, I damaged my headphones to the extent that it wasn’t worth repairing. Since I listen to music on my CLIÉ almost every day, I needed to find a replacement. I had heard about in-ear speakers from an article a friend had forwarded to me. It said that the Fontopias from Sony were the best. I believe that earbuds are really the future but I haven’t really liked normal ones. I looked around online on sites like epinions.com for other people’s impressions of them and they were almost all favorable. Everybody said that they were comfortable and had good sound quality. A few days later, I bought a pair from Fry’s and I am pleased to report that the are great!
Sound Quality – B+
Although they sound way better then cheap earbuds, they are still not perfect. I don’t recommend them to audiophiles. I did read one review that said they had good bass but so-so mid and treble. I think that they are fine at all frequencies including bass and for most of us, they are fine.
Comfort – B
This is a major concern when looking at earbuds or anything that goes in the ear. They are reasonably comfortable once you q t used to them but some people might have trouble. I really like the different sizes that you can put on because I fit the small size well. When I first put them in, I was alarmed that they didn’t feel totally comfortable, like the reviews I had read but after a couple of hours of usage, you get used to them.
Price – C
At $50 they are quite pricey compared to many normal headphones. In my opinion, they are overpriced but considering they fit good sound into a 9mm driver unit, maybe they really are that hard to build.
Overall – B
While they are great for me, I don’t think everybody would want to get Fontopias. My requirements were Small/Portable, comfortable, and I can wear them when going to sleep. One disadvantage is that earwax does build up on them so I carry alcohol swabs in their case to clean them every once in a while.
