Read the post: Staying on top of Canada Day

(For future posts, check the Future Shop Tech Blog.)

My first post is up this morning, bringing you my solution to a very specific and picky iOS4 problem. Imagine that, me complaining about something.

Read the post: iOS4: Rotation lock good, backgrounds bad.

(For future posts, check the Future Shop Tech Blog soon.)

As I recently told Renee, what Twitter’s done for me–yes, beyond all the espresso machines people keep trying to give me–is force me to tighten up my writing. I wondered if Twitter’s limit of 140 characters helps me keep my two-sentence missives under control, how could I benefit from a limit of 140 words?

Renee excitedly jumped to her feet, her mai tai spilling across the other occupants of the sunny patio. This was the best idea she had ever heard. I assured her I had even better ones, but she was having none of that, waving her goodbyes as she rushed off to write her own 140-word post.

So what does a limit of 140 words do? Evidently, it makes blog posts really short.

As promised, Tris Hussey and I presented “WordPress 3.0 & Parent-Child Themes”

Being a generally nice sort of person, I let Tris cover the whole, “check it, I’m dragging categories and posts and things into a menu” bit–definitely a crowd-pleaser, that.

As I mentioned on Twitter, I’m hoping to post a quick FAQ up tomorrow answering the four or five main questions I’ve been asked after our presentation. (Ooh, magazine themes! Picking good parent themes! Multisite! Etc!)

For our slides, please consult Tris’ SlideShare account, or move your eyes slightly downward to the embedded SlideShare widget immediately following this sentence.

Also, be sure to check out Tris’ thoughts at his blog!

Update: For those who have asked, yes, it does appear that WordCamp was filmed, and on what appeared to be a Canon XL H1, so with any luck, we can all look forward to checking out my pores.

I’ve known from a very early age that I tend towards clutter and disorganization. It’s difficult for me–for all of us, I suspect–to handle the ever-increasing number of tasks, appointments and numbers we’re bombarded with on a daily basis.

Seriously, handling the glut of data we’re faced with is fast becoming a major problem for our society. We build software to do it. We buy specialized calendars and schedules to fit in all we need to know–and then resort to tying string around a finger to remind ourselves to check them later. We even write lifestyle manuals describing the methods we use to just buckle down and actually do work. The productivity industry is one of the fastest-growing, and one of the few I suspect can really take off during this Great Recession. After all, if everyone’s a consultant in this brave new future of ours, we’re certainly not going to be dealing with less information than we have before now!

So how do I handle it?

I won’t lie: [pullquote]mine is not a perfect system. However, it’s certainly better than trying to remember everything myself.[/pullquote]

I use a variety of software and practices to help keep myself organized. Google Calendar and iCal handle my schedule. Bug tracking is handled by Mantis and Unfuddle. My projects and documents are all securely backed up online via DropBox, I have an extensive collection of mail filters and folders to help keep me at inbox zero, I read almost all my regular blogs via RSS. I synchronize all of the above with my iPhone, keeping all my data accessible to me when away from my computer.

However, for the past couple of years, the tool that’s helped me more than any of those–yes, even more than my calendar–is text files. Really. While there exist literally hundreds of options for keeping track of notes, tasks, links and even pictures, I kept coming back to Mac OS X’s default text editor, TextEdit, for my notetaking needs. After all, I need a system that adapts to my needs, and nothing will ever be as flexible or customizable as plaintext.

About five years go, there was a lot of discussion in the Getting Things Done and productivity communities around the “One Big Text File” organizational method. The idea behind this is to keep a single text document into which you drop everything you’re working on: snippets of code, ideas for blog posts, meeting notes, reminders–all of which can be searched.

I tried One Big Text File for a time, ultimately, like even most of its advocates, abandoning it in favour of many smaller files, organized by project or category. After all, thanks to Mac OS X’s indexed search feature, Spotlight, Command-Space lets me search the contents of files from any program.

Pretty slick, right? Well, almost. The downside to TextEdit + Spotlight is that notes tend to get scattered around my hard drive (usually in respective project folders, but still!) and that the few that I use as “working” to-do and notes documents end up being sad, “almost-there” parodies of “One Big Text File” cluttering up my desktop.

Enter Notational Velocity! This delightfully-named program has totally replaced my old TextEdit and Spotlight routine, instead replacing many files and separate windows with a single, omnipresent application.

The Notational Velocity window is one of the simplest interfaces around. It’s a search bar, a list of files and an editing pane. There’s no “Save”, no “File”, no “Close”. Notational Velocity handles that part for you. All note files in the Notational Velocity folder are opened and displayed in a list. To find a file, start typing in the search bar. The results will quickly be narrowed down as you go. To create a new note, type its name in the search bar and hit Enter. Voilà!

Personally, I start typing nearly everything in Notational Velocity–even this blog post. It’s simpler for me to draw upon the notes and point form ideas I’ve come up with previously than it is to write a post or an article in a separate editor.¹

When taking notes or starting a project, I tend to follow a standard outline method, jotting down things in point form, organizing my outline with a single thought per line.

I start with a premise: say, reorganizing my cluttered desk. I then break the overarching task down into sub-tasks:

1. Move papers and junk off desk.
2. Move monitors around.
3. File papers.

I then break “File papers” down into sub-tasks. A lot of these aren’t just receipts, they’re business cards and things! I write “todo: research: business card scanners”, then pause as I realize something that’d be rather spiffy. Under it, on a new line, I write “a) For iPhone.” Later, I’ll search Notational Velocity for “todo” or “research”, finding these tasks and striking them from their respective notes.

Ultimately, the note titled “Project: Clean Desk” will be deleted, as its tasks are completed and related ideas moved to notes like “Idea: Business card scanner for iPhone”. On the way there, I might break it down into multiple cards, involving filing or doing research on buying a new monitor, but ultimately, the goal for this particular note is for its tasks to all be completed. When they are, there’s no sense in keeping it around.

I find this method to be the most effective for managing my data and thoughts. When an idea occurs to me, it allows me to quickly and easily jot it down, later referencing it or moving it to its own separate note. [pullquote]By breaking up discrete ideas or pieces of information as needed, I can keep notes short and easily skimmable, [/pullquote]avoiding the problems I constantly faced with the One Big Text File system.

For a real-world example,² consider this post. Yes, the one you’re reading right now! The initial task, reviewing a single program, has grown into four separate blog posts as well as some notes on usability, criticisms of Notational Velocity itself, and–for some reason–the makings of a mini-rant about the Singularity. If you tend to follow a similar workflow and process, perhaps now a little puzzled by the implication that anyone could arrive somewhere else, Notational Velocity just may be what you’re looking for.

So how is Notational Velocity better than or superior to TextEdit + Spotlight?

It’s a much simpler application, and your recently-edited notes are visible at all times. You don’t have to worry about saving files, or opening one after a reboot only to be forced to find your spot again. Without taking my hands off the keyboard, I can search notes, create new ones, and quickly find the information I’m looking for.

However, where Notational Velocity really shines is synchronization. Every five minutes, Notational Velocity uploads and downloads changes with Simplenote, a web service with very similar functionality. Simplenote, in turn, rocks because it has a slick iPhone app that also connects to their service. Its functionality is very similar to that of Notational Velocity.

Notational Velocity + Simplenote are currently the two most useful applications I use. Between Notational Velocity on my Mac and Simplenote on my iPhone, I actually don’t use the Simplenote website at all, though it’s nice to remind myself that it exists.

Using Windows? You may have noticed my described workflow is pretty specific to Apple devices. It sure is. Fortunately, while Notational Velocity’s Mac-only, the Notes app for Windows looks quite similar. Caveats: Simplenote support has been announced for Notes, though it’s not yet available. I’m not sure if Notes can run without its own database, storing notes as discrete files as Notational Velocity does. This latter feature in Notational Velocity can be handy for editing files with other programs.

In conclusion, the system I’ve outlined here is most definitely not for everyone. I can think of any number of ways I’d improve Notational Velocity and Simplenote to better fit my needs, but that’s another post. However, it’s definitely the best system for keeping notes I’ve found so far. Have you used a better one? Leave me a comment!

Download Simplenote for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Download Notational Velocity for Mac OS X.

Update, June 13, 2010:
Using Windows? You might want to try ResophNotes, currently in beta. (License: proprietary; Cost: free.)

1. Email tends to be an exception: those get composed in a single sitting in my email client.
2. My desk is in pristine condition at all times. Obviously.

I’m pleased to confirm that, yes, I will be at WordCamp Vancouver 2010 on June 12. I’ll be speaking with Tris Hussey about the upcoming (Possibly just-released by then!) WordPress 3.0 and child themes. For more information about child themes, check out Tris’ blog.

Personally, I’m excited about the new content types and menu features available in WP 3.0 and I’m looking forward to seeing what people do with them. Remember, WordPress isn’t just for blogs!

As a longtime Drupal developer, I’m particularly impressed to realize that all but three sites I’ve ever worked on could be implemented in WordPress 3.0 as or more easily than the Drupal, ExpressionEngine, or Plone backends they were built with. As such, I’ll be paying close attention to the “WordPress as a CMS” panel discussion with Christine Rondeau, Cam Cavers, and Dave Zille.

I’ll also be volunteering at the WP Genius Bar, where I’ll be free to answer any questions you might have or help fix any problems you might be having with your blog. I’m particularly happy to offer advice on WP 3.0 or child themes, topics I enjoy doing more than just give talks about.

If you don’t already have tickets to WordCamp Vancouver, I’m afraid they’ve sold out, so tough beans. However, as the WordCamp Vancouver site notes:

Tickets are currently sold out, but we’re hoping to release a few more before the event, so hang tight!

Fingers crossed!

I hope to see you there–and if you have any questions about child themes, leave a comment on this post! I’d love to hear about what people are interested in.

See? Photographic evidence:

Catherine Winters, typing on her iPhone. Photo by Jeremy Lim.

“Hey,” you might exclaim, upon seeing the above photo, your voice pitching with excitement in having caught me with my iPhone out. “Catherine’s not paying attention to the speaker at all! Look at her tweeting away!”

Pernicious lies! Zoom in, and you’ll find that’s not this “Twitter” thing all the kids have been talking about at all! No, in fact, I’m using the excellent cloud-based note-taking app Simplenote to take meticulously detailed, hierarchically-indented notes! Ha!

In fact, I took a great deal of notes on my iPhone that day, as FreelanceCamp Vancouver turned out to be extremely useful. I was particularly interested by the session I was at when Jeremy Lim snapped the above picture, Contracts for People Who Hate Contracts. Led by Martin Ertl, cofounder of Vancouver open-source contracts startup LexPublica, it covered a number of contingencies and best practices surrounding the most inconvenient of all business practices: agreeing on things for money.

Martin clarified a few issues for me, including, when I, as a designer, ought to write a single project-spanning contract as opposed to a preliminary contract to determine project scope and one to cover the actual work as outlined in the resulting scope document. Which is as important as it sounds. I’ve used one of LexPublica’s contracts before, and I plan to continue to do so in future. One point he did emphasize: the most important part of such an agreement is a good explanation of the actual work to be undertaken. It turns out that, “I’ll have one website, please” can mean somewhat different things to different people. Who knew?

Other highlights included Kemp Edmonds’ talk on how to ask Kemp Edmonds to not call you a plagiarist when you plagiarize his presentations, and one particularly interesting discussion on “solopreneurs”. Google indicates this is indeed a word, and it seems like everyone is using it to mean roughly the same thing. (“It’s not quite a freelancer, not quite an entrepreneur, but OH MAN–”)

The big distinction between a freelancer and a solopreneur seems to be that the solopreneur has somewhat more infrastructure–they’re able to go after larger projects because they can outsource, team up with, or subcontract to other freelancers and solopreneurs, dividing up labour, while still not having all the overhead of an actual company with employees.

Which sounds appealing. After all, companies are expensive, right?

In any event, whether it ends up being a direction I choose to go in or merely interesting food for thought in a changing economy, the solopreneurs session was fascinating, and you should’ve been there. So there.

If you weren’t able to make it, I strongly recommend any future FreelanceCamps Vancouver¹ and I wholeheartedly endorse it as one of the most informative — and demographically representative – –Camp-suffixed events I’ve ever attended in Vancouver.

1. That’s the correct plural, right?

Since Apple added their super-convenient Time Machine app to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, I’d been meaning to get around to using it. A year later, I bought a simple external USB drive, a Western Digital MyPassport. Easy. Tiny. USB-powered.²

So I finally made it to the counter to pay for the thing. No, I hadn’t shopped there before. Would I like to sign up for the Best Buy blah blah card thing? I sure would! And I proceeded to do so. Take that, people behind me in line.

“Oh, my email address? Certainly. It’s ‘catherine’…”

*tap tap tap*

“at”

*tap tap tap*

“catherine–”

*DELETE DELETE DELETE*

“Uh…no. I mean, yes, my name is Catherine. You spelled that correctly. My email address is Catherine at CatherineWinters.com.”

*tap tap tap*

“Catherine with a ‘C’.”

And so on and so forth. So that was pretty fun.

Protip: Once Best Buy security agrees not to call the police if you promise never to set foot in the store again, you can partition your external drive as half Time Machine and half storage, formatting it for convenience’s sake as NTFS, not MacOSX-native HFS+. The NTFS 3G driver for OSX allows you to both read and write NTFS-formatted drives, and you’ll still be able to connect to Windows PCs should need arise.

If you do this, however, you have to be really careful about ejecting the stupid thing properly. If any files get damaged, you’ll lose write access to the NTFS partition and the resulting error message will in no way be helpful. If you suddenly find that you can’t write to an NTFS-formatted disk, plug the thing into a Windows PC and run chkdsk on it to fix the errors.

Congratulations, I just saved you three hours of Googling.

Next Time: In Case of Fire.

1. Yeah, you know that time that your computer died and you lost everything and you said, “next time, I’m going to do regular backups” and then you didn’t? I’m marginally smarter than you.
2. Unfortunately, my 5-year-old Dell 24″ monitor has a crappy, crappy USB hub that causes my MacBook Pro to kernel panic whenever Time Machine starts–Windows users: that’s the OSX version of a bluescreen. There’s an app for that. So I lose a USB port; no hub for you, WD My Passport! This is actually a good reason to use Firewire, come to think of it.

Yeah! I tore my rotator cuff¹ doing extreme sports.

“It’s a good thing you wore your loosest possible jeans to work then, isn’t it? Really tight ones would make going to the bathroom really, really difficult.”

It sure would. Dammit.

1. Yes, again.

• To say you are excited to hear I was speaking
• To ask questions about why on earth I would speak at SL Pro!
• Expressing surprise that I have been in Second Life at all in the past 2 years
• Telling me I have no business speaking about anything
• Complaining about a video you saw of me
• Complaining about LSL
• Complaining about a script I wrote in 2004
• Asserting that women who use computers or are literate taint the purity of the Aryan race–yes, even women of colour–and that gays and lesbians should be arrested and sent to concentration camps.

So yeah, I just wanted to clear that up.