I love Evernote.  This program is probably one of the most exciting things I have found on the Internet in a very long time.  What is it you ask, well it is an online reservoir for all your thoughts, and it collects those thoughts extremely well.  Basically, if you can take a picture of it, type it, draw it, or email it, Evernote can store it.

I know there are a lot of storage options out there on the net, but Evernote is a lot more.  Since the Internet’s inception there has been a chasm between the electronic bits created on computers and the ideas, drawings, sketches, notes, and everything else that ends up on paper.  If you wanted those paper things to get stored on your computer, you had to recreate a lot of the work you had already done.  It is no fun to go back and type in the text of a brainstorming session.  Now, with Evernote you can easily upload the fruits of your brainstorm and keep them online for easy searchability and everywhere all the time accessibility.  As long as you can scan it or take a picture of it with your camera phone, you can store it on Evernote.

Once that picture is there, Evernote will attempt to do Optical Character Recognition or OCR on the picture.  As long as the writing is clear and the picture is good enough, Evernote does a pretty good job of finding the words and making them searchable.  Think about that.  You do a brainstorming session and you take a picture of the notes and upload them to Evernote.  After the Evernote servers have some time to do the crunching, you suddenly have the ability to do searches where Evernote shows you pictures that contain the word you are searching for…That is a game-changer.

If that weren’t good enough, Evernote also gives you the ability to run a client application on your computer that syncs with the Evernote website that gives you even more capability to manipulate and use your notes.  You can look at your notes and make changes, and those changes will be reflected on the Evernote website.

In addition to the desktop client, there is a microscopic client that can be downloaded to your smart phone which gives you the ability to create, upload, and search your Evernote notes right from your phone.  Having access to all your notes and ideas wherever you are can be very empowering.

I have only been using Evernote for a week so there are a lot of things the site can do that I haven’t discovered yet but even so I am falling in love with the functionality.

There is one improvement that Evernote needs to add in order to make their product an epic win and that is the ability to collaborate on notes. The notes are so versatile in how you can use them that they would make fantastic collaboration tools and yet I can’t find any way to share notes so that others can add information to the notes.

Other than that, Evernote is pretty close to perfect.

I am in line in Rogers Arkansas at one of the AT&T stores waiting for the new iPhones. I didn’t spend the night because I am not so crazy about getting one which has put me a long way back in line.

Now that Apple and AT&T have dropped the price and the uber-geeks have had one for a year now, the nature of the line has changed. This new phone with its lower costs marks a change in the nature of the common iPhone owner.

My prediction is that this version of the iPhone will be the next Razr. You know, the phone that you see everywhere. That does take away some of the cachet of owning one, but who cares, I am still excited about getting one, though I may not be able to get one today.

Stay tuned, and you can see a picture of the line on flickr. My flickr username is murdog. Sorry I don’t have the address to the pic itself, but I am uploading this post using my Blackjack…ironic

UPDATE:———
Well, if you were following me on Twitter then you no doubt know that I didn’t end up getting an iPhone. Some people on the Internet are speculating that AT&T is rationing its supply of iPhones so that they will have stock throughout the weekend. From what I heard from the people at the AT&T store I was at, I can’t find any proof that they are wrong.

There was something fishy in how cagey the managers were at AT&T. They were pretty “sure” that there would be more iPhones available in the morning. If this is true and they are rationing the phones and thus screwing the people who took the time to line up on the first day that the phone came out just so they could have some to sell on Saturday…that is not ok.

Obviously there is no proof unless someone from AT&T spills the beans on this, but there were striking similarities in experiences across the nation today as I scanned the blogs.

Apple stores had around a thousand iPhones on hand while AT&T stores had from 50 to 75. That is a big difference in numbers. The closest Apple store is two hours away. It would be ridiculous to drive that far for a phone that will miraculously appear on the shelves of our local AT&T store tomorrow morning.

I don’t know. I don’t know why this has made me so mad, but it has. Come on AT&T this looks terrible for your customer service. Quit assuming that customers will put up with your shenanigans forever. We won’t. Stop being ridiculous…

So, umm Matt Jones has been arrested.  Dang.  That’s so cool, I mean dude.

“Hey, Matt, can you step into my office?  Ummm, yeah, we are going in a new direction here at the team as far as receivers go… So, I guess what I’m trying to say is, well, maybe you should clean out your locker and be gone by 2:00 PM or …. gosh this is so tough… ummm…. yeah, we will have to call in security and have them escort you out of the building.  But, hey Matt, before you go, I will put in a good word for you if there is any interest from other teams…”

So, Matt you find yourself out of a job, what are you going to do now?  Apparently, carry illegal drugs and get busted.

This makes Matt another in a growing line of present and past Razorbacks that seem to keep getting into trouble with the law.  Go Hogs!

Well, I finally did it.  I made the jump the Mac.  I went to Best Buy today and got a 20″ iMac for our new home computer.  I just got tired of trying to keep my old Windows box running.  It was time for a new computer at the house.  And, when faced with all the Vista computers out there and having two kiddos in the house it became very apparent that it was time to make the change.

Right now, I am going through the arduous process of getting a new computer set up.  You know, the initial search through all the mp3s and pictures.  It is pretty exciting and I can’t wait to learn everything there is to know about Mac software options.

It has been so long since we have had a decent computer here at the house that I havn’t looked at my photo collection in a LONG time.  As iPhoto went through all our old photos it was neat to see all the pictures of Wyatt and Mary Hadley as they grew up.  If nothing else, this new computer is going to breathe some new life into our old content.

Goodbye Windows, I can’t say that I will be missing you.  I already have started to reconnect to my love of computers.  Finally, I can watch videos again here at the house.

The computer was so bad that I stopped using it to sync my iPod.  Now I have to make the decision of whether or not I am going to make this my main music computer.  It is handy to have all my music and media on my work computer, but it seems to make more sense to have it here at the house.  I may have to take my external HDD to the office and copy all the new music that isn’t on this computer and bring it home.

Megan has long since given up on syncing her iPod.  I hope this new computer will breath some new life into that situation.

I am still getting used to this new microscopically thin keyboard.  It is super cool looking, but typing on it is a little daunting.  There is a lip on the little keyboard shelf it is sittin on and it makes typing a little clumsy.  My old keyboard was a lot taller, and I had gotten pretty used to it.  And, don’t even get me started on this Mighty Mouse.  It may be a mouse, but it is hardly mighty.  I forsee the purchase of a good ole Microsoft mouse and sending this little beauty on its way.

Next, I am going to download Adobe Air and Twhirl so that I can keep up with my Twitter.  I may do that tonight, or I might just go to bed.  I don’t feel like twittering tonight anyway.  The real trick is going to be getting Hamachi working on this computer.  On the Windows side, there is an installer and a graphical user interface which make it exceedingly easy to install.  On the Mac side, it involves Unix commands and liberal use of the Terminal.  I have tried twice to get it running on the Mac at the office and have failed twice.  Now that I have this here at the house, I might get it working.

It is important to get Hamachi working on this computer so that I can access it from the office or whatever computer I am on.  I have already gotten TightVNC to work which allows me to remote in from my other Windows computers.  Using Mac on a Windows box is rather intoxicating.

I also have to make the decision of whether I am going to purchase iWork or just use NeoOffice.  NeoOffice isn’t that big a deal to me, but the interface may be a little arcane for Megan.  And, it is important to me to get her using this computer.  It is a much better computer than our ailing laptop which is failing to see one of the two expensive RAM simms I intalled earlier.

Blogging on this computer is rather fun.

Happy fourth of July everybody.  I hope you have big plans to blow some stuff up and eat some hot dogs, brats, or burgers.  Well actually, how American are brats? Hmm, anyway it doesn’t matter whether or not they are American or not they are totally delicious.

Growing up in the south, brats were never a part of the BBQ plans.  It wasn’t until just a few years ago that I actually tasted bratwurst for the first time.  We just didn’t eat them down here because they weren’t good ole southern food…what fools we were.  Wow have the times changed.  Now, whenever I smell charcoal, my mouth starts watering for a delicious brat.  In fact, writing about it right now, I am getting hungry.

Computer Update

My laptop has been slowly grinding to a halt.  It has been taking forever to boot and open programs.  I rebuilt it in hopes that having a fresh install of the OS would speed it up to the point that I want to actually use it.  It didn’t.

Last night I checked the system properties to see how much ram I had on this system.  Even though I technically had 512 MB, the system was only seeing 198 MB.  I don’t know if you have ever tried to run XP on 198 MB of ram.  If you haven’t, here is a hint… it doesn’t run.  It is the slowest and most frustrating experience ever.

I decided to head down to Best Buy and get some new ram.  I didn’t want to spend anymore money on this laptop, but now that I have, I am soooo glad.  You can’t even begin to believe how much better this laptop is to use.  I now have a Gig of memory and it is absolutely luxurious.

Evernote

I am in the process of testing Evernote.  It is a program that allows you to clip stuff from the internet, upload pictures, take notes, and keep to-do lists.  It is a productivity site that allows you to keep and access all your thoughts.  Evernote has a site that shows all your notes and stuff.  It also has a desktop client that sychronizes with the Evernote site and allows you to search and interact with you notes in a super quick and handy way.

I am not a big productivity guy, and I don’t know if I have the right temperament to really take advantage of a site like Evernote, but I am going to give it a try.  So far, it is pretty fun.

Mike Thompson, my boss is writing a new book called Organizational Champions, and I am helping him with some research.  I decided to use Evernote to keep up with all the notes, and so far it is working like a champ.  I am afraid however that Evernote will just be a fad and I will stop using it.  We shall see.

Happy Fourth of July!

It all started with the spark and the new tagline of ‘Save money. Live better.’ which made its debut last year. It all culminates with this. Presenting the brand new Walmart logo.

Its letters are now more rounded and the hyphen has been removed.  The changes definitely freshen the look and gives the logo a decidedly european feel to me.  I like it.  The Walmart logo has been in need of a refresh for a long time.

The branding change comes hand in hand with Walmart making a concerted effort to rebrand itself on all fronts.  It is trying to make its late nineties image of ‘Always the Lowest Price ALWAYS’, a tag line that has a decidedly authoritarian flavor, a thing of the past.  That old tagline seemed to say that having the lowest price was worth whatever it took to get it, and customers began to cry foul.

Now, Walmart is taking the lead in green issues and working very hard to address social issues an organization its size causes.  It is hard to miss that they are spending a lot of money and effort to put together a newer and more approachable brand.

Just posted to Last.fm.  I am afraid that I am talking to myself there so I am posting my entry here as well.

Wow, the value of this site is starting to rear its head. It is a lot of fun to look at what I have been listening to since the last time I had to rebuild my iTunes library.

It has been about a year, but a while back, the hard drive that I used to keep my music collection got corrupted and I had to go to backups and rebuild my music collection. Unfortunately, as in many cases, my backup wasn’t complete and I lost a number of files.

That was the point when my music listening statistics began again.

The great thing about this site is how it confirms some beliefs and denies others. For instance, I knew that I liked Coldplay, but according to the stats here, they are my number one band. I would have assumed that John Mayer would have been number one.

All these stats get me thinking. Now, I wonder what the numbers would look like if I combined my wife’s stats with mine. I can assure you that John Mayer would win in a landslide. Even more interesting, if I added my kids, High School Musical, Jonas Brothers, and Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana would show up with alarming frequency