--- title: "Homebrew Productivity via Rube Goldberg" date: 2005-08-09T09:59:00-04:00 url: https://blog.lmorchard.com/2005/08/09/homebrew-productivity-via-rube-goldberg/ author: Les Orchard --- # Homebrew Productivity via Rube Goldberg Here's a quick weekend assemblage of a hack that might be of use to someone: I recently switched to a [Palm Zire][zire] from a Handspring Visor--which itself was [a downgrade from a Treo 600][down]. The Zire was a bit of a lateral move from the Visor, since the Zire is rechargeable and more pocketable, but has less storage and a screen with tinier eye-strainy pixels. (Actually, the product page I linked here shows the Zire 21, whereas what I have is the discontinued classic Zire.) Anyway, I've been idly poking at making this thing more useful as my take-along brain bucket. The out-of-box tools--Palm Desktop, etal--have never quite worked for me, so I wanted to see what might *actually* help me get some use out of the thing. So far, it turns out that it ends up being most convenient when I use it as a glorified electronic notepad, a [Hipster PDA][hipster] with a USB socket. I've thrown together a combination of [MacNoteTaker][notetaker], [Markdown][markdown], [Remind][remind], [Dasher][dasher], and [ShellWatcher][shellwatcher] to implement my own idea-dump and to-do conduits into my PowerBook. The nice thing about [MacNoteTaker][notetaker] is that it simply syncs text files. From there, it's easy to route things through [Markdown][markdown] and [Remind][remind]. I was using [Nick Vargish's Remind Widget][remind_widget] before [my hard drive crash][crash], but since then the download seems to have gone AWOL. So, [ShellWatcher][shellwatcher] it is, running `~/local/bin/remind` to update my Dashboard reminders on a regular basis. To keep these reminders in my face throughout the day, I've got [Dasher][dasher] set to bring the Dashboard up whenever I walk away for more than 5 minutes. As for plain old ideas, I've got a `00-random.txt` file I maintain between the PowerBook and [MacNoteTaker][notetaker]. This is in [Markdown][markdown] format, and I occasionally view it via a filter CGI in my browser. I'm considering plastering it up on my Dashboard via a browser-refresh widget also. Eventually, these ideas migrate into [Tinderbox][tinderbox] or a personal wiki. For my next productivity micro-project, I'm thinking of setting up an email gateway to let my fiancée email me honey-do lists that'll get merged in with my reminders... [tinderbox]: http://www.eastgate.com/Tinderbox/ [dasher]: http://www.splasm.com/products/productdasher.html [remind]: http://www.roaringpenguin.com/penguin/open_source_remind.php [shellwatcher]: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/developer/shellwatcher.html [remind_widget]: http://www.43folders.com/2005/06/dashboard_widge.html [down]: http://www.decafbad.com/blog/2005/06/14/gadget_flashback [notetaker]: http://homepage.mac.com/wis/Personal/programs/NoteTaker/NoteTaker.html [hipster]: http://www.hipsterpda.com/ [zire]: http://www.palm.com/us/products/zire/ [markdown]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ [crash]: http://www.decafbad.com/blog/2005/07/05/exocortex_stroke

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