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Re: Note taking...

From: Sacha Chua <>
Date: Mon, 03 Jun 2002 11:32:02 +0800

At Sun, 2 Jun 2002 15:38:11 -0700,
Freeman Pascal wrote:

> I'm playing with ideas for increasing the utility
> of my wearable for taking notes while in class.

Something I'm into as well. =) I'll be moving to a wearable soon (I
just ordered a 5822!), but here are some notes from when I was using a
notebook.

Sketching is really a tough part, but I got by with a yellow pad and
[Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3]. I only use those for the
occasional math equation or diagram, though. =) If the diagrams are
not too complicated, you can redraw them in your spare time. Or you
can even use a webcam to capture the images and bookmark them right there.

For lecture-type classes, I found that downloading reference material
and simply noting additions cuts down on the amount of data I have to
enter. Naturally this won't work for quick debates, but it's useful
when your teachers read off slides. Advantages: Remembrance Agent
makes you look smarter. ;) And you can pull in data from other
websites. I did that when we were taking up Sartre's "Existentialism
is a Humanism", and was pleasantly surprised by the commentary I found
on other people's websites.

Incidentally, you tend to have a flat surface in class. Bring a PS/2
keyboard - even a regular-sized one, although maybe you want something
a little more portable. Put it on your desk and type away. Try not to
type everything your teacher says - summarization is nice and helps
you keep up - but you can actually transcribe pretty decently. Helps
to be a touch-typist.

Last semester, I used Emacs in outline mode. Since we have a copy of
the syllabi, I simply laid out the topics in advance. I'm not sure if
RA helps when all of the data is in a single file, but incremental
search sure did. I'm learning Emacs LISP, and I've already written a
small tool that'll help me keep track of possible conflicts in my
class schedule (registration's tomorrow for me!). I plan to eventually
write a random information manager, or at least try to - something
that timestamps and cross-references random things I come across all
the time. Like EmacsWiki, perhaps, but lending itself well to random
muttering.

Don't have a CrossPad. Wish I had!

Someone wrote some apps for a notebook+webcam as a major qualifying
project. Called the WearBook, I think? Hmmm.. Google says it's at
http://users.wpi.edu/~bradford/MQP/cs/wearbooks_report.pdf . Worth a
read for the kind of application written.

Hope you find a solution that works for you! =)

Sacha 8)

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