My Digital Life, Filing part 3: Tags, Folders, or Both Intro MacPowerUsers had a cool episode with Brett Terpstra talking about tagging vs folders. It encapsulated the debate well — do you rely on a: non-hierarchical system of tags for your files; or regimented system of folders to provide appropriate differentiation and order to your files? The show described those who take the former approach as being hunters (finding files by searching, as the location is less relevant) and the latter as gatherers. Brett was pro tagging, but not at the expense of folders, in fact he seemed to have as many or more layers of folders as I do (though as he works on his home machine, this may make sense). My system aims to combine both. Defining terms Tags are non hierarchical keywords embedded alongside a file, often separately from the filename itself. They are in specific formats such as the open source openmeta format compatible (currently) with OS X. Each file can have many disparate tags. Folders group files hierarchically by subject. You can have layers of sub folders to further constrain and define the files contained therein. Each file can only exist in one folder. They are natively in every non-mobile OS / file system. If an OS can read the relevant file system it can interpret the folder structure. Tags Pros see Brett‘s pitch for tags from his site and mindmeister Never having to worry about where to file Never getting lost in a myriad of folders to locate what you need File metadata is protected wherever the file is — it is independent of folder names Allows cross-linkages between files that would not be readily connected in a folder (i.e. akin to a database, not a filing cabinet) Using dedicated tagging software can allow you to add or edit tags on large collections of files very quickly, with things like autocomplete. These don’t change the filename. Cons Lots of typing required, certainly if the tags are in the filename itself The tagging framework (such as openmeta) may not continue to work in the OS or be supported, requiring a potentially annoying migration Tags largely do not sync between operating systems (no iOS app beyond Simplenote seems to support them) Can lead to a long list of tags that creates confusion, without order Need extra software on the mac to add, search, view tags Even with software, tags are not, I think, readily visible in Finder Tags can be used in gmail, but other dedicated data systems all generally use folders NB Although tags, as used by Brett, are held separately from the filename, they can be added to the filename itself. using a designated nomenclature to differentiate tags from names this is bit hacky, but almost as effective. One kind of filename based approach for tags is that by Dougist. he talks of transitioning more and more to a single folder for all his notes, using search to filter down readily to what he needs this has a lot of appeal, but I didn’t find that it completely worked for me. I will refer back to his approach in other articles. Folders Folders are probably how most people organise their stuff (assuming they organise at all). Pros They are easy and ubiquitous Quick to create, move, edit Quick to select all items under one issue Works across systems allows people to often not to think about naming files with much precision (though I view this as bad practice) Allow increasing or decreasing of the relative importance of a bunch of files as every folder (1 of 1000 files) has equal weight in the structure Cons Can make things easy to forget about if lost in a sub folder somewhere Placing too much metadata in the folder structure, as opposed to the filename, can make the contents of the file unknowable when moved out of context. Too many nested folders can be confusing Can’t see links between files easily, which is supposed to be one of the advantages of a modern, digital filing system Nested folders are not compatible with nvALT, my note storage system of choice, or with iCloud. The solution: Synthesis! My preferred approach is to take the best of both tags and folders. Use folders to organize data in a structured hierarchy Use a relatively controlled system of tags in the filename itself This preserves metadata in filenames, albeit at the cost of time and effort to set up and maintain the system (at least until you develop tricks and shortcuts). So, this may be gold plating it for many. It can allow for forming connections across folders if filename tags are done right. It creates some duplicate information — I may have both a tag and a folder called ‘money’ — but this allows for automated filing (e.g. using Hazel). Folders definitely have their place To separate types of data: photos, ebooks, documents Within each data type, to provide separation of files at the broadest levels: for instance keeping photos separated by year, decade, or event These folders can also provide equality across bulks of files, or relegate 1000 files (placed in a single folder) to be on equal footing to a single file in the same root directory. I find this very useful for maintaining focus on the files I should be focusing on, and not simply getting lost in a sea of files this getting lost is is the affect I get from Dougist’s approach). I see this approach as akin to outlining, where you can dive down a level to explore an issue, but then fold it up easily when you want to focus elsewhere But tags are useful too Tags, in my view, should be in the filename, to provide persistence The number of tags should be kept to a minimum, and in a consistent way I use a consistent prefix before tags of a dash The tags I use are roughly hierarchical but not essential for them to be so
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My Digital Life, Filing part 3: Tags, Folders, or Both

Intro

MacPowerUsers had a cool episode with Brett Terpstra talking about tagging vs folders. It encapsulated the debate well — do you rely on a:

  • non-hierarchical system of tags for your files; or
  • regimented system of folders to provide appropriate differentiation and order to your files?

The show described those who take the former approach as being hunters (finding files by searching, as the location is less relevant) and the latter as gatherers.

Brett was pro tagging, but not at the expense of folders, in fact he seemed to have as many or more layers of folders as I do (though as he works on his home machine, this may make sense).

My system aims to combine both.

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My Digital Life, Filing part 2: Life meets Folders

Intro

  • My life plan is a large outline of what I want to achieve or attain in life and the tools I think I need to get me there.
  • It breaks into large means of delivery that broadly align to how I (should) spend my time.
  • My filing buckets should align with these chunks.
  • As my focus in life shifts to help me meet my goals, my filing should adapt to help me deliver.

What is a life plan?

  1. Focused

    • A life plan is about the big stuff — what really matters
    • It should focus on, from the top down, what you really, really want
    • If you want world domination, ask yourself why

  2. Specific

    • Be as clear as possible about what you want from life

  3. General

    • Don’t get lost in the weeds or in things that aren’t really going to help you succeed in your life
    • Start with the big picture - I think whole of life, not the next year
    • Yes, it’s a plan, but be open to life moving you in unexpected directions
    • NB: GTD, takes a bottom-up approach. I like taking a step back as I don’t trust myself not to get captured by the mini dramas of my life and plans and squabbles at work. The life plan process is supposed to be removed from those dramas, given broad perspective.

  4. Structured

    • Order never (normally) hurts.
    • Below is the hierarchy I use, but there are many other ways. The top two bullets seem required.

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My Digital Life, Filing part 1: Why and What

Intro

Effectively capturing and storing information so it can be retrieved and used whenever and wherever needed is important. Especially so for those who geek out about being super organised, or who have lots of files. Lots is written about this and I’ve read much of it (note this excludes how librarians do it which feels too much even for me). I’m still iterating my system, but wanted to codify and share where I’ve got to. This is the first in quite a number of posts on the subject.

I’ve done this in an annotated outline kind because it is:

  • quicker to write
  • more aligned with my thought process
  • hopefully quick to read and refer back to

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onethingwell: CheatSheet shows you the available shortcuts of the active application after holding the command-key for 2 seconds. Then a panel will show up displaying the shortcuts of the application you are currently working in. I can see this being incredibly useful to folk who are new to OS X, and existing users who are learning a new, complex app. Mac App Store
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onethingwell:

CheatSheet shows you the available shortcuts of the active application after holding the command-key for 2 seconds. Then a panel will show up displaying the shortcuts of the application you are currently working in.

I can see this being incredibly useful to folk who are new to OS X, and existing users who are learning a new, complex app.

Mac App Store

JDU Themes: How to make custom photoset layouts WITHOUT installing Greasemonkey script

jduthemes:

Chances are that you’ve already seen examples of photosets with special layouts (e.g. 3 rows, 3 columns or 4 rows, 1 column) made by certain individuals on tumblr, and you might have asked yourself how they do it. One way is to install a Greasemonkey script that someone developed, and if…

Many thanks for the incredibly helpful tips on how to get some completely custom photo layout in Tumblr

laughingsquid: Etón BoostTurbine2000, Hand Cranked Backup Power for Smartphones This thing looks like a great solution to power when the grid is down or you are travelling. BUT… The hand crank is meant for small top ups only - it looks like it would take hours to fully charge it with just cranking. Not really viable for more than a short emergency in my view.
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laughingsquid:

Etón BoostTurbine2000, Hand Cranked Backup Power for Smartphones

This thing looks like a great solution to power when the grid is down or you are travelling.

BUT… The hand crank is meant for small top ups only - it looks like it would take hours to fully charge it with just cranking. Not really viable for more than a short emergency in my view.

(via laughingsquid)

Review of stock iPhone apps: the Contacts App

What I like about the app

This is a capable app that does almost all I could really want:

  • it syncs with my Google contacts (everything marked as in ‘My Contacts’ anyway)
  • it integrates seamlessly with the Mail, Messages and Phone apps, as well as Spotlight
  • it is straightforward and clean. In particular, the quick select letter and search bar on the right was a great innovation
  • it is very quick to edit an entry
  • the iPhone version doesn’t have the ugle chrome of the iPad version

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Review of stock iPhone apps: the Calendar app

Every iPhone owner can do the basics on the device; that’s the beauty of its intuitive simplicity. But there are plenty of power tips for savvy users to discover. This post gets under the skin of the iOS Calendar app, what I like about it and don’t, how to make the most out of it, and ideas for alternatives when it just doesn’t cut it.

Review of the iPhone Calendar app

The Calendar app does just about everything I need. At its core it’s a solid, simple, intuitive, useful and useable app. I particularly like:

  • that it can manage invitations received over email
  • that it is easy to manage a range of data about an event easily and quickly
  • that the app icon on the home screen changes to tell the day and date: this is pretty valuable and is the only app with a dynamic icon like this
  • that — since iOS 5 — you can click on a location in an event and be taken straight to the Maps app

  • that it can readily view multiple calendars (e.g. from Gmail), as well as from multiple accounts, public ical calendars and iCloud (of course).

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