NB

November 14, 2007 5:29 PM

50 Ways to Take Notes. Brian Benzinger (previously) apparently often finds himself without paper and pencil, but with access to a computer. He's linked to dozens of places online where one can Get It Down (for free!), from public pages to note-taking software to voice recording.
posted by Rykey (9 comments total)

I used SubEthaEdit to take collaborative notes in some classes last summer, and it was definitely an interesting experience to have 3 or 4 people taking notes on the same document at the same time. I found that I don't really enjoy taking notes on a computer, but for those who do, it might be interesting to try. It was extraordinarily effective in many ways.

I believe they still offer an older yet perfectly functional version of the software for free. (NB: Requires OSX.)
posted by spiderwire at 5:40 PM on November 14, 2007

subEthaEdit is definitely worth downloading
posted by NVjulie at 6:24 PM on November 14, 2007

OmniOutliner Pro. It can also embed voice notes in the document for later playback.
posted by Tacos Are Pretty Great at 7:57 PM on November 14, 2007

How strange. I often find myself with pen and paper, but without a computer. In these instances, I usually find that one way to take notes is enough.
posted by rhymer at 1:10 AM on November 15, 2007

Of course, sometimes I have paper but no pen or vice versa. In situations like these I often 'crowdsource' my pen by borrowing one from a stranger or utilise a 'freeware' model by writing on a napkin. When I have neither pen nor paper, I employ a hybrid strategy (borrowed pen, napkin); I then keep the resulting file in a storage device known as a 'pocket'.
posted by rhymer at 1:27 AM on November 15, 2007 [4 favorites]

Due to being a big dafty, I use a Newton for taking notes - it's like a pen and paper, only really heavy, prone to running out of batteries, liable to translate what you're writing into random nonsense, and requires a fair amount of faff to get your notes onto a computer. Good fun, though.
posted by jack_mo at 7:08 AM on November 15, 2007

The blog post is 18 months old, and half the sites listed are defunct.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 3:53 PM on November 15, 2007

The blog post is 18 months old, and half the sites listed are defunct.

Therefore it is our responsibility to fill the gaps. :)

OmniOutliner Pro is awesome. It's been my lifeline in law school.
posted by spiderwire at 5:41 PM on November 15, 2007

I prefer leaving myself notes in a series of random guestbook entries on old, disused geocities pages.
posted by Eideteker at 7:53 PM on November 15, 2007 [2 favorites]