RGdot

Tag: notes

  • Calendar Magic: Useful, Fun And Educational Freeware

    Calender Magic

    Calendar Magic is not a new program, it is at version 17.7 now and its history can be traced back to 1995. Its interface is not the most elegant but that doesn’t detract from what it offers.

    Some of its features follow but there is more and playing with the program indeed reveals lots more.

    Quick Notes for holding text. 15 numbered sheets are available which can be renamed to more descriptive titles.

    Reminders. Three types are available, one which defines a repeatable day and month alarm. A second that lets the user pick things like every first Sunday of the month and lastly a third type to set alarms for day(s) of the month.

    A reaction timer and stop watch (See Time menu)

    A ‘This is your life’ feature (see Dates menu) which provides a lot information about any birth date.

    Gregorian and 30 other calendars from the likes of Persian Astronomical to Baha’i and more. These can be viewed in ‘dual’ or ‘comparison’ mode to compare days with the Gregorian. Additionally a date conversion tool to show what any date would be in other calenders. Also a ‘number of days between’ calculator.

    A list of holidays or ‘observed’ days for many countries.

    Several ‘Planning Calendars’ that lay out dates in a way useful to bankers, teachers and others.

    Solar and lunar phase and eclipse data for any year up to the year 3000. Sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset for many locations.

    World clock to show up to 12 world times together. Many more current local times including distance calculations.

    A rather comprehensive unit converter. Many calculators (scientific, fraction, statistic, Body Mass Index, Ovulation and others) in the Utilities menu.

    Discovering Calendar Magic’s features is a fun exercise. Virtually every screen can be printed and Calendar Magic should run on all Windows versions going back to Windows 95.

  • MemPad: Freeware That Is A More Than A Note Organizer

    MemPad

    MemPad calls itself a text outliner. It is more precisely a freeware 140KB download which is a notes organizer, one which stores notes in a tree structure.

    It offers basic features for fonts and colors, auto save – in minutes increments and/or automatically as text is entered – search (and replace) across all notes and the ability to export notes. It does have some more advanced features like internal linking between notes (highlight and right click to create links) and linking to system files or programs which can be used to launch anything from web links to executables from within MemPad.

    With a F6 click (or Page —>Diary Page) MemPad creates a diary page for the current day and therefore it can be used as a structured diary program. It is also possible to move nodes and child nodes or pages up and down to restructure the tree. Additionally a page can be locked to provide temporary protection against accidental edits, a sort of read only format. It is also possible to encrypt a page to keep it away from prying eyes.

    MemPad can do more via the Lookup.txt and Launcher.txt files found initially in its Examples folder. The chevron button on the far right of MemPad’s toolbar can be turned into a launcher by populating the Launcher.txt file with statements like Calculator;calc.exe for example – to launch the system calculator. Lookups, done via right clicking highlighted text, can be added with entries like Wikipedia;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/$ for example – to look up the highlighted word in Wikipedia. Note that to use the lookups and the launcher the Lookup.txt and Launcher.txt files must be moved from the Examples folder to Mempad’s root folder.

    MemPad is more powerful than its size or ‘text outliner’ description may indicate. Its help file has more, from how to modify text margins and date formats to how to more efficiently work with its launcher and lookup features.

  • Freeware Quick Cliq Is An Innovative Launcher And More

    Quick Cliq, packed into a single executable, is an interesting launcher and productivity tool. It incorporates launching files, folders, URLs and emails with an enhanced clipboard utility and the ability to keep text snippets as memos. It also supports a number of Windows manipulation features.

    The program interface is launched by choosing the Add/Change item via its tray icon or via – the configurable – Win+Z keys. The options for configuring hot keys and mouse gestures are found under the settings menu. Other settings include enabling features such memos and setting colors and such things as adding the program to the Windows context menu.

    The program is divided into four main sections or features each launched in it own configurable way. They are described below.

    Accessing the Main menu: hold right mouse button and move mouse down or the aforementioned Win+Z if using the keyboard. Here you can create quick launches by adding folders, files, URLs, and email addresses in a sort of a list that will then be available for using the same mouse gesture or key combination.

    Windows menu: hold right mouse button and move mouse right or Win+C keys. The Windows menus allows you to hide or show windows and a few others settings like choosing to keep a window on top. When windows are hidden any one of them can be previewed by hovering over their name in the windows list while pressing the Ctrl key.

    Memos menu: hold right mouse button and move mouse left or Win+A keys. Add as many memos as you need and then send them to clipboard or automatically add them to the current open window.

    Clips menu: hold right mouse button and move mouse up or Win+X keys. This is where the program is on the innovative side of things. In addition to holding up to nine clipboard items it is possible to append or add data to any one of the existing clips. As the tutorial video on the developer site shows suppose a user needs to copy only certain paragraphs from a long page or text into a new clip. Using Quick Cliq instead of repeatedly selecting the text and then pressing Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V while going back and forth between the long text and the new clip or document the user can press Ctrl+1 (the 1 represents the numbered clip item so it could be any of 1 to 9) to copy and then press Alt+1 to paste, all without leaving the original long page or text. Then to append or add to the clip (clip 1 in this example) other text can be selected and added to that clip or document simply and only by pressing Ctrl+Win+1.

    Quick Cliq is in active development and in addition to the video tutorials it is also a good idea to follow the developer blog. It requires Windows XP as a minimum.

  • AH Note: Free And Simple Notepad Alternative

    AH Note Freeware Notepad Alternative

    AH Note is a young entry in the notepad alternative universe. AH Note’s capabilities are all visible via its icons around the program interface. Its features, those not common to all simple notepad alternatives are listed below.

    Copy options to copy the current file name and path. Indent selected text by 1 column increments. Add bullet points to selected text. Add images to any text document. Zoom in and out of pages. View the page in a browser and finally convert selected or all text to lower or upper case.

    AH Note can open many text files formats and save them in its own native *.aht format in addition to *.txt, *.rtf and others. AH Note is obviously a young project, one area which makes that clear is the tool tips (hover the mouse over menu buttons). As of this review – version 1.0 – some tool tips are not properly labeled and are still the likes of ‘ToolStripSplitButton’, a mark of the programming language used to code AH Note. AH Note is one self contained executable file that doesn’t require installation, just download it and run it.

  • XPad: Lightweight, No Install Text Editor

    XPad is a text editor with a compact interface and a good number of extra tools. The program can be run right after download with no need for an installation. The program’s menu surrounds its interface (see image).

    The left hand side icons or menu are the usual New, Open File, Save, Save As, Print, Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete (the selected text), Find, Search Again, Replace and About. Of course all the usual keyboard shortcuts – Ctrl+P, Ctrl+S, etc. – apply as well.

    The right hand side icons or menu is where the XPad extras can be found, they are as follows:

    • Word Wrap
    • Automatic Copy Selection To Keyboard
    • Multiple Clipboard, if activated or pressed it will hold a configurable number of clipboard items that are automatically pasted when they are highlighted or chosen from the generated list
    • Open system’s font selector
    • Text format, set any of Windows, Mac, UTF-16, Arabic Characters and many more for the text document
    • Filters for such tasks as removing spaces, converting HTML to text, converting tabs to spaces and more
    • Encode and decode Base64, UTF-8
    • Clean or remove clipboard content
    • Delete file securely
    • Open another instance of XPad
    • Open system calculator
    • Send current text as email, in my test the text was automatically copied to the email subject line with nothing in the body
    • Open (default) browser, if a URL is highlighted it will be loaded otherwise a blank browser window opens
    • Open an instance of Windows Explorer
    • Keep XPad on top, click the pin icon

      The final icon is for XPad’s configuration options. In it one can create a shortcut icon for the program, associate it with *.txt files (so all *.txt files open with XPad instead of Notepad or other system default text editor), remember last opened files and/or directory and the aforementioned multiple clipboard option. There is also a Window with a list of XPad’s hotkeys or shortcuts (see image).

      XPad is just over 1MB, it is only one single *.exe file (and one *.ini file to hold its settings) and should run on all Windows versions.

    • KeepNote: Open Source And Cross Platform Notes Organizer

      KeepNote is described by its author simply as

      KeepNote is a note taking application that works on Windows, Linux, and MacOS X

      KeepNote is started by creating a new notebook and then new page(s) within it. Each page can contain text of course, but images can be inserted (Edit—>Insert Image…) as well as screenshots (Edit—>Insert Screenshot…) and files (Edit—>Attach File…). For screenshots KeepNote Minimizes itself and in dragging the mouse one can choose a rectangular area for capture. Note that the aforementioned insertions work when in a page or when a page is visible or highlighted in the tree structure.

      The notebooks are saved in a tree structure or hierarchy with a notebook as the root and page and sub pages within it. Search and replace is available across all notes or for the open/visible page. The usual text formatting and aligning options are present as well.

      The View menu’s ‘View Note In File Explorer’ opens the highlighted or open notebook’s folder in an instance of Windows Explorer (or other alternative). ‘View Note In Text Editor’ opens up a page in Wordpad. In both ‘View Note In Web Browser’ and ‘Open File’ options the page is shown in Internet Explorer (and not in system’s default browser).

      The Go menu adds navigation options to move between tree nodes (notebooks), individual pages, to expand or collapse notes and more.

      The Tools menu is where the python prompt (KeepNote is implemented or written using PyGTK) and optional Spell Check features reside but the required GtkSpell is not cross platform (it is Linux only).

      The help menu includes a link to the program’s preferences file, here one can play around and change settings such as ‘new_notebook_path’, the aforementioned browser used to open notes (by changing ‘Web Browser’ from ‘C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe’ to the path for Firefox, Google Chrome or other browser) and even change Windows Explorer to an alternative such Ac Browser Plus, FreeCommander or other (by changing ‘File Launcher’ from ‘explorer.exe’ to the (full) path of the chosen executable).

      Notebooks or pages can be exported in HTML format and can be backed up and tarred as well.

      KeepNote deserves top marks for ease of use and the convenient and many editable options it provides.

    • Notebox Disorganizer Tries To Organize Your Notes

      Late last year Paulo Brabo commented in response to the post on Pigeonhole here on RGdot and recommended I take a look at Notebox Disorganizer. This is a much belated review on the somewhat unusual freeware.

      Notebox Disorganizer uses spreadsheet type cells or note areas to help organize and jot down notes and text. The author explains all the features in a very refreshing and entertaining manner and is the first to admit that the disorganizer part of the program may turn off users who prefer tree type note keepers for example. He also points out that the interface has ended up not following the best of design practices. In short Notebox Disorganizer will probably only work for you after getting used to using it.

      The main portion of the program interface is divided into a note grid and an editor, group of notes are visible in the grid and clicking or highlighting one shows the full note in the editor below it, the editor has few keyboard and mouse controls, for text manipulation for example. These controls like every other feature is explained in detail in the accompanying documentation or on the program’s site. The two drop downs to the right of the grid and editor provide additional tools and navigation options which will be populated depending on the note in use or the feature being accessed. For example in the image above ‘categories’ (from the drop down menu) would be the months of year of the journal on the left. Note that the journal is part of 7 ‘NBTemplates’ that come with the program and provide starting points for its use, other templates (available via File —>Open Notebox and in the NBTemplates folder) include the likes of Companygoals and NonfictionPlanner.

      There are many aspects to this program but a few words on some of it tools and features should prove useful:

      • Outbox (Outbox menu) lets you save notes from different grids together for use on their own as a kind of quick view or move a note into another or elsewhere, as ‘semi-formatted’ text files.
      • Exploded notes provide a similar function as Outbox as in providing a way to use notes to exist outside of Notebox Disorganizer perhaps to be used in another instance of the program, these notes will be tagged with their name and be placed in a folder of the same name.
      • Keywords – in the lower right drop down area – let the user assign keywords to notes.
      • Bookmarks – in the upper right drop down area – allows certain notes to be marked and therefore be easier to find later.

      Notebox Disorganizer needs to be used to discover all of its features and nuances, I confess that I haven’t really discovered or understood the program fully. Once grasped it can prove very usable. It weighs at less than 1MB and is portable.

    • New Version News: Dirhtml And SysPad

      In this edition of New Version News I will highlight two new versions of freeware downloads reviewed earlier on RGdot.com.

      dirhtml featured here and here is at v.4.851 now with some improvements such as:

      • Config and XML files are now UTF.
      • Ability to create HTML5 doctype files.
      • New variables such as %%ROOT_FOLDER% and %%FNAME% simplify and improve file creation.

      SysPad which is now also in its own home at Serysoft has newer versions, for example:

      • One can now start typing in FolderPad’s text box to filter and easily find the folder entries or destinations one is looking for.

    • Jotx: Free Minimalist Word Processor

      Jotx is a minimalist note taker or perhaps word processor that does little but could be useful in taking quick notes with something other than Notepad.

      It comes with a built-in spell checker, a ‘task list’ pane and a pane to keep track of a favorite folder or two. The latter can be useful for immediate navigation to a folder for opening or saving notes. Jotx works and saves in plain text and RTF formats and via its options, among others, one can change the background color and the font used. It is also possible to set a default folder for immediate access when opening files.
      Jotx is somewhat unusual in that it includes links to a religious book and blog in its menu options (both within the program and the windows start menu).

    • OrangeNote: Freeware For Notes and Clipboard

      OrangeNote is a clipboard and notes manager that will ease and extend the use of the Windows clipboard. OrangeNote provides an interface to keep the contents of each clipboard entry forever. Additionally one can enter notes or keep clipboards as notes that can be fully searched and optimized for easy retrieval later. Left clicking the tray icon of the program brings up a bar like interface to add notes and the ability to not only tag them but add titles to them too.

      PhotoScape
      A left click shows all the clipboard entries OrangeNote currently holds and all or more recent notes as well. In this area one can favorite or star a note. The Additional Commands option gives access to a number of options some of which are executed via a command line like a console or a terminal. This terminal allows changes to many program settings, looks and other properties. The Options themselves, a few of which are restricted to the Pro version of the program, control such things as program update checking, database maintenance and boosting the program’s process priority. The latter is worthy of an additional observation because the program can sometimes consume excessive, almost Firefox type, amounts of CPU and RAM (OrangeNote tested on a XP computer). This does not seem to coincide with any optimization or other background action the program is undertaking so it is a mystery as to why the program’s CPU and RAM usage varies so much over short periods of time. OrangeNote also has a number of (global) hotkeys such as Ctrl+Win+N to create a new note and others that can be accessed and modified via the Options menu or the aforementioned terminal.

      The requirements are listed as “Microsoft Windows XP or Vista with .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 and 512 MB RAM” and one would presume Windows 7 as well. It should be noted that OrangeNote is WPF based program and that there is a Mac version available as well.