AquaMinds Weblog

Publishing your web notebooks everywhere even within other web pages

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:31:49 -0800

One of the most popular features of our software is the web notebook format for publishing information on the Internet. Any notebook can be delivered as a web notebook while being updated automatically whenever the source notebook is changed. In education markets, where both NoteTaker and NoteShare are widely used, the web notebook has become an alternative to maintaining a blog or wiki. Why? It's incredibly convenient, it's simpler to maintain and it's very adaptable for delivering educational content (course materials that are easily searched, organized and updated). And now, we've added even more flexibility to sharing content by enabling web notebooks to be folded into existing web sites using iFRAMES. Think of it as picture-in-picture for web sites. Use your web notebooks on your blog or your web site.

For example, users can include and display web notebooks within their own blog sites or web sites for added convenience as well as context. Teachers can continue to blog and post while including reference materials as web notebooks but displayed on the same web page as their blog. But again, it's the ease of changing and updating the content that is the secret of using web notebooks. Whatever you change in your source notebook, whether it's local or on your NoteShare Server, the web notebook version of the notebook is automatically updated and kept current. No need to jump into a special editor or another application to keep your web content updated.

Sharing the content that you created and that you care about
By using web notebooks, information can be published and shared easily. In this example, a short briefing book as web notebook serves to summarize the facts of an upcoming space flight. In a teaching situation, a project team could be responsible for maintaining the notebook which in turn feeds the web notebook version. Here is a simple example of a web notebook embedded in our blog for quick access and viewing.

To learn more about using Web Notebook documents in an iFRAME, please see the following FAQ on our site:
http://www.aquaminds.com/displayFAQ.jsp?id=170

Two new books for your summer reading list and a free eBook for your iPhone

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 13:49:26 -0800

NoteTaker and more recently, NoteShare enjoy a strong following among book authors, music artists and screen-writers. I think it's due in large part to the simple observation that the Mac itself is especially popular in the entertainment and creative businesses. From song writers to book authors to film and TV producer-writers, our software running on OS X has fueled many a creative effort.

Whether it's organizing web-based research or visiting a local library to gather information and then outline source notes; our information processing tools have enabled creative artists worldwide to express themselves while enhancing their project productivity. And it's only fitting that during a US election year, we have two examples of thought-provoking titles on bookstore shelves today that got their start as NoteTaker outlines and shared notes in NoteShare.

Gusher of Lies
For Robert Bryce, his topic is energy policy and our energy future; Gusher of Lies is clearly one of the summer's most important books for anyone and everyone interested in what can and should be done about America's energy future today. If you think you understand the politics of renewable energy and the global economics of oil, think again. Bryce's book couldn't have come at a more important time as energy has become one of the most important global issues of our time.

Flirting with Disaster
Marc Gerstein (with Michael Ellsberg) takes a new and an important in-depth look at the human dynamics of bystander behavior in the face of pending disasters and failed decision-making at the highest levels of our government agencies, corporate boardrooms and public institutions. The book's chapters are each an extensive study about a well-known disaster but surprisingly in each case, a different yet unique analysis of what went wrong and at times, counter to the popular press reporting of these tragic events.

Like Bryce's book, Flirting with Disaster offers an instructive perspective that resonates in an election year when voters are being asked to judge the decision-making potential of respective party candidates. And one might even ask; have they or their brain trusts read these books? Are they prepared to heed the advice of Gerstein and the Ellsbergs (including Daniel Ellsberg) that we have the capacity to make better decisions and not repeat our past mistakes.

Dive into a sci-fi classic with our free e-book for your iPhone (old or new)

In our family library, Jules Verne still fascinates and entertains all ages with his incredible tales. One of my all-time favorites is Twenty-Thousand Leagues under the Seas. Using our built-in "Web Notebook" feature (which is also iPhone-aware), we've created an e-book version of Verne's classic tale of a rogue mystery man and his incredible submarine that takes the reader on a fantastic journey of discovery through the depths of the oceans.

(Category/Tags: education, outlining, academic life, lifelong learning, share notes, lecture notes, enterprise, workgroups, productivity, business software, collaborative tools, information sharing, outline processing, OS X, Windows, Linux, smartphones, desktop, webtop, information processing software, enterprise, sharing, notebook, outlines, note-taking, shared notes, workgroup collaboration, Java, NoteShare Server, life sciences research, lab notebook, Web 2.0, NoteTaker, NoteShare Express, NoteShare, Apple, e-books, literature, digital books, iPhone, iPod Touch, Leopard, OS X, Apple, Macintosh, Vista, DELL, web notebook, wiki, blog, knowledge management)

NoteTaker and NoteShare - new ways to collaborate and access information in shared notebooks

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:14:12 -0800

This week we just released NoteTaker 2.2 and NoteShare 1.7.1 as technology preview versions. The biggest news is that NoteTaker is now NoteShare "collaboration" compatible. NoteTaker users will have the option of working and collaborating with NoteShare users as well as have the ability to access NoteShare Server sites. From NoteTaker, users will be able to open shared notebooks and collaborate with other users. It simply means that any notebook being shared by a NoteShare user or being managed by a NoteShare Server site, can now be accessed, viewed and edited by NoteTaker users; from the same LAN or over the Internet. Just like NoteShare, it's concurrent editing of the same notebook at the same time or different times. Doesn't matter when you're working or where you're working, notebook collaboration is a click away.

Open Shared Notebook feature comes to NoteTaker

Sharing notebooks is one of the most compelling features of NoteShare. It's easy to do, it's virtually seamless with its built-in P2P (peer-peer) approach and in combination with Apple's extensive use of Bonjour, NoteShare brings collaboration to the rest of us. With NoteShare Server, sharing notebooks can be managed and hosted 24x7 on a system as small as a Mac Mini. It's like having your own note-taking and information server cloud with all the benefits of collaboration and workflow support whenever you need it. By adding NoteShare "collaboration" support, NoteTaker users can now to work with NoteShare users or access NoteShare Server sites. Collaboration and shared notebooks for everyone. It's a cool way to work.

Sharing notebooks in the classroom - introducing the NoteShare Classroom Team Starter Kit

Tue, 20 May 2008 14:10:41 -0800

With the introduction of NoteShare Server this past April, we've made it even easier to start sharing notebooks all the time whether it's in a classroom, across a campus or around the globe. NoteShare Server is the easiest way to share and manage notebooks for anytime collaboration and access. And to help teams get started with sharing their own notebooks and libraries, we've created a set of starter kits that bundle NoteShare desktop licenses with a NoteShare Server license; everything a team needs to share information and collaborate with dedicated notebook sharing.

With NoteShare, you still get instant notebook sharing (P2P) but in combination with NoteShare Server, you also get managed (hosted) notebook sharing for round the clock access and convenience. No more drop boxes. No more folders and user accounts. And Windows users can view live shared notebooks in their favorite web browser at no additional charge. Sharing notebooks has never been easier.

(Category/Tags: sharing notebooks, classroom, education, outlining, academic life, lifelong learning, share notes, lecture notes, enterprise, workgroups, productivity, business software, collaborative tools, information sharing, outline processing, OS X, Windows, Linux, smartphones, desktop, webtop, information processing software, enterprise, sharing, notebook, outlines, note-taking, shared notes, workgroup collaboration, Java, NoteShare Server, life sciences research, lab notebook, Web 2.0, collaboration, information workplace, NoteTaker, NoteShare Express, NoteShare, Apple, e-books, literature, digital books, iPhone, iPod Touch, Leopard, OS X, Apple, Macintosh, Vista, DELL, IBM, HP, web notebook, wiki, blog, knowledge management, OneNote )

The Organized Student - essential software for lifelong learning

Fri, 02 May 2008 21:20:12 -0800

We just released a new video on our Demo Theater site called The Organized Student. As we were developing the script and narration for the video (using a storyboard outline in a shared notebook), I kept thinking back to when I was a student at Stanford and the tedious (frustrating) process of reviewing my lecture notes and outlines before exams. Some were really good but many of my notes were just plain cryptic and never complete enough to cover all of the lectures. My memory wasn't good enough to recall the key details. I really needed a second brain, a digital tool of some kind that I could use to help me study and review.

Fortunately, today's students can create very comprehensive course notes and outlines entirely on their laptops for quick and easy retrieval. Using NoteTaker or NoteShare, they can also turn on the Voice Memo and start recording the lecture itself while using Voice Memo Links to review the audio in the exact spot they typed a note or an outline in their notebook. The organized student is outlining, taking notes, recording lectures and managing their academic work in one convenient place; in their digital notebook. And if they're using NoteShare, they can share their notebooks.

Our video presentation highlights how students can use NoteShare (or NoteTaker) to help manage the demands of academic life. And most importantly, students using our software are acquiring important skills that will continue to serve them throughout their academic and professional lives. Mastering these information literacy skills can help them get things done on time, organize projects, share notes and learn to study together. In short, it's essential software for lifelong learning.

(Category/Tags: education, outlining, academic life, lifelong learning, share notes, lecture notes, enterprise, workgroups, productivity, business software, collaborative tools, information sharing, outline processing, OS X, Windows, Linux, smartphones, desktop, webtop, information processing software, enterprise, sharing, notebook, outlines, note-taking, shared notes, workgroup collaboration, Java, NoteShare Server, life sciences research, lab notebook, Web 2.0, NoteTaker, NoteShare Express, NoteShare, Apple, e-books, literature, digital books, iPhone, iPod Touch, Leopard, OS X, Apple, Macintosh, Vista, DELL, H-P, IBM, web notebook, wiki, blog, knowledge management)

Share notes - organize and share your notebooks using NoteShare Server

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 09:30:35 -0800

Team work. Communication. Shared knowledge. Organization. Information flow. Coordination. Enhanced productivity. Cognition. Augmented intelligence. Transformation. Task-driven workflow.

These are just a few of the many words and phrases used in the industry to describe collaboration software and its potential user benefits. Given the rapid pace of change, the IT industry doesn't know or understand all the choices users have today in deploying collaboration software and sharing technologies. And as a result, collaboration is narrowly positioned around real-time meetings and videoconferencing systems.

In fact, we believe that much of the productivity to be gained by using NoteShare is around the edges or in the asynchronous time spaces when team members don't all work in the same building or they can't meet at the same time. By this definition, collaboration's value is not exclusively in hosting real-time meeting events but instead, it's also in the time invested by members in keeping the project flow moving forward. How? By staying organized and focused on knowledge capture and information retrieval (aka search).

When we first introduced NoteShare in 2006 (see New York Times article), we created an instant sharing platform for sharing your notes and information that worked everywhere since it's based on "peer-to-peer" collaboration. And even today, P2P notebook sharing is one of the biggest features of using NoteShare for ad hoc and on-demand notebook collaboration such as meetings, presentations and brainstorming sessions anywhere (classrooms, campuses, conference rooms, airport lounges and cafes).

A team's project success can depend upon the types and kinds of collaboration tools being used to share notes, collect information, organize communications and generally keep the team on task while putting all the key operational information in one place. If your project activity involves taking just one note or copious notes, NoteShare can provide a seamless yet powerful way for your team to share notes, capture knowledge, organize key information, clip email messages and grab web page snippets. Truly a power tool for information processing on the workgroup level.

And now, with NoteShare Server, our users can maintain 24x7 notebook sharing. It's truly magical as well as seamless. So think about it, NoteShare provides everywhere sharing with its breakthrough P2P approach (just works) while NoteShare Server delivers "all the time" sharing of notebooks. So when you're thinking about getting your team and office focused on capturing knowledge about your business, your research or your projects, think NoteShare Server as your instant collaboration solution. It's the fastest, easiest way to share notes, capture knowledge and keep everyone on the same page.

(Category/Tags: enterprise, workgroups, productivity, business software, collaborative tools, information sharing, outline processing, OS X, Windows, Linux, smartphones, desktop, webtop, information processing software, enterprise, sharing, notebook, outlines, note-taking, shared notes, workgroup collaboration, Java, NoteShare Server, life sciences research, lab notebook, Web 2.0, NoteTaker, NoteShare Express, NoteShare, Apple, e-books, literature, digital books, iPhone, iPod Touch, Leopard, OS X, Apple, Macintosh, Vista, DELL, web notebook, wiki, blog, knowledge management)

Introducing NoteShare Server - create, communicate, collaborate

Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:59:01 -0800

When we first introduced notebook sharing in 2006, our vision of collaboration was driven by instant, peer-to-peer collaboration between two or more NoteShare users. And today, it's being used by thousands of users daily who have the power to share notebook documents and collaborate anytime, anywhere right from their own Macs.

In classrooms and across campuses, to board rooms and conference rooms, notebook sharing is a powerful productivity enhancing, application for sharing information, organizing team projects and presenting ideas. The seamlessness of notebook sharing is what makes NoteShare so valuable to users. And as expected, our users told us that notebook sharing was not only a great on-demand application but that they also wanted to share their notebooks all the time. In a nutshell, they wanted dedicated, managed notebook sharing.

Today, we're introducing NoteShare Server for OS X. It's our third major application for OS X and it also marks a major technology milestone in enabling multi-media rich notebook sharing to be both on-demand and now, all the time with a managed server solution. NoteShare Server distinguishes itself in three important areas:

- it is easy to set-up and configure
- it runs on a basic Tiger or Leopard system (such as a Mac Mini)
- it is both convenient and flexible using web-based administration (remote or local management)

And one more key point; it doesn't cost thousands of dollars or hundreds of dollars. It's available for the next 90 days for $49.95 (MSRP $149.95) during our special technology preview promotion. If you're currently a NoteShare user or you're thinking about organizing a classroom or setting up a small office or you just want to manage a remote project team, NoteShare Server can boost your productivity starting today.

Scott Love writes:
On a personal note, I've always dreamed of having "my own personal information server" that I could use at home or in the office or whenever I was traveling. With NoteShare Server, that dream is now a reality. Your notebook information is now at your fingertips.

Anytime, anywhere is now all the time

Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:51:25 -0800

Starting next week, we'll be launching NoteShare Server. When we first introduced NoteShare in 2006, it was and still is the easiest way to share notebook documents between two or more users. As a peer-peer solution, it's flexible, convenient and always available. If you're working in a room or across a campus, you can always share your notebooks for instant collaboration. And if you're in different time zones and need to get things done quickly, NoteShare can enable productive workflow across the Internet. And this is still true today.

But there is another kind of sharing that's equally important to enabling project workflow and teamwork, and that's asynchronous collaboration. Even when we're in the same time zone or even the same building or campus, we don't always need real-time collaboration but rather we need cumulative productivity. Enter NoteShare Server.

A powerful yet clever software application that allows you and your team to manage and host shared notebooks 24x7. Non-stop, anytime, anywhere sharing all the time. Your notebooks, your data, you server; on-demand whenever you or your team need access.

And with NoteShare Server, sharing your notebooks is even more convenient and flexible with remote management tools to allow instant configuration and uploading of your notebooks. And what kind of system can you run NoteShare Server on? We prefer to run it on a Mac Mini but you can run on any Tiger or Leopard system. NoteShare Server is suitable for both home server use as well as classroom and workgroup server use. In short, another powerful way to put information at your fingertips.

(Category/Tags: enterprise, workgroups, productivity, business software, collaborative tools, information sharing, outline processing, OS X, Windows, Linux, smartphones, desktop, webtop, information processing software, enterprise, sharing, notebook, outlines, note-taking, shared notes, workgroup collaboration, Java, NoteShare Server, life sciences research, lab notebook, Web 2.0, NoteTaker, NoteShare Express, NoteShare, Apple, e-books, literature, digital books, iPhone, iPod Touch, Leopard, OS X, Apple, Macintosh, Vista, DELL, web notebook)

"Always On" Notebook Sharing with NoteShare Server

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 11:58:06 -0800

In the coming weeks, we'll be officially launching NoteShare Server for OS X. It's a very flexible yet powerful way to manage "always on" notebook sharing. The application has been designed to run on a very modest baseline system such as a Mac Mini running either Tiger or Leopard. Although we call it a server (a non-stop application service), the software doesn't require an actual server system and can be managed remotely from any browser on any system.

NoteShare Server can handle at least 36 or more simultaneous users working on the same shared notebook which is ideally suited for classrooms, small offices and workgroups. In our early testing, users have been using NoteShare Server to share lecture notes, organize projects, write books, collaborate on lesson plans and manage information from a variety of sources for convenient reference. It's another way to put information at your fingertips.

If you are interested in learning more about NoteShare Server or want to test-drive it first, make sure you either subscribe to this blog's feed or you're already receiving our mailing list messages which we use to post new product announcements.

(Category/Tags: enterprise, workgroups, productivity, business software, collaborative tools, information sharing, outline processing, OS X, Windows, Linux, smartphones, desktop, webtop, information processing software, enterprise, sharing, notebook, outlines, note-taking, shared notes, workgroup collaboration, Java, NoteShare Server, life sciences research, lab notebook, Web 2.0, NoteTaker, NoteShare Express, NoteShare, Apple, e-books, literature, digital books, iPhone, iPod Touch, Leopard, OS X, Apple, Macintosh, Vista, DELL, web notebook)

New release day

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:53:45 -0800

We've updated both NoteTaker and NoteShare today. They are free upgrades for all registered users. Both public releases support Leopard (CoverFlow) and come with a new plug-in that you can optionally install if you're now using Leopard.

We do expect there will be additional updates in the coming months since Leopard is just now being adopted among our user community which means there will be some issues and new bugs that we missed during our development and beta-testing cycle. Leopard is a very visual OS and we think it offers a lot of value to users who are switching or planning to upgrade.

In the coming months, we'll be talking about new releases and products. Make sure you're either subscribing to our RSS feeds (What's New or our company's blog) or you're signed-up to received our mailings (it's opt-in only). Next up, NoteShare Server for OS X.

Leopard: the flowing, highly visual operating system arrives and we're excited

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 08:50:02 -0800

First off, both NoteTaker and NoteShare work great with Leopard. If you're a registered user of our products, you can download the new versions (free upgrades) today and get started using Leopard later today. We've included a QuickLook plug-in (separate installation) that takes advantage of Leopard's highly visual experience when using the Finder to browse and display your files and documents.
CoverFlow is one of the best reasons for going Leopard; it's so pleasing to the eye to browse this way. As for performance, in my case, my old PowerBook G4 just seems to be faster running Leopard (start-up, launching applications and shutting down the system). I have Vista too (running on a very hopped up DELL system) and it's not nearly as fast or as clean running so far as Leopard has shown. Maybe it's not a useful comparison but Leopard just feels and performs like a better engineered operating system. At any rate, NoteTaker and NoteShare are Leopard compatible today. And if you have an iPhone too, check out our newly enhanced Create Web Notebook feature that generates iPhone aware web sites. Very powerful.

And one more nice thing to say about Leopard; Spaces really adds a lot to reducing desktop clutter while allowing you to customize your workflow according to applications and groups. It's a Leopard feature I'm using daily now.

Bringing digital books to the iPhone and the web: under the sea with the other Nemo

Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:23:38 -0800

Even before we launched AquaMinds, we've always been passionate about digital books especially classic works that are readily available without any special copyright considerations. When we introduced NoteTaker and later NoteShare, we included a one-step, easy to use web publishing command called Create Web Notebook that enables instant publishing of your notebooks as standalone, interactive web sites.

Since then, we've been updating and improving this feature with each software release. This week, if you're a registered user of our software products, you'll be able to update your copy of NoteTaker or NoteShare to the latest version (free) which includes a new version of Create Web Notebook (File menu) that automatically builds iPhone-aware web notebook documents.

Web notebooks are still universally viewable from any browser on any platform but they are even more interactive (touch UI) when viewed from an iPhone or iPod Touch. See for yourself and take a voyage of discovery into one of literature's classic works of early science fiction as we present 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne.

It's that time of year again.. more innovation, more products, more releases coming.

Fri, 05 Oct 2007 09:12:11 -0800

As expected, Apple is getting closer to shipping Leopard. For what it's worth, I think it's going to be a solid software release especially in comparison with Microsoft's Vista. I happen to run both operating systems for business and personal home use but Apple has done a lot of the basic things right to get Leopard ready for a very important release.

Much of the "deep" innovation in Leopard is still months away from showing up in third-party applications but it's both subtle and powerful. In some ways, Leopard is not so much a user innovation milestone as it is a developer milestone. Apple is providing more ways for developers to innovate while leveraging Apple's superb OS X architecture with the release of Leopard.

To prepare for Leopard and beyond, we're making new preview versions of NoteTaker and NoteShare available to all registered users for download. If you need to test for compatibility or simply want to check out the new enhancements then go to our updates page and get yourself a preview copy of either NoteTaker or NoteShare now. As with any early access release software, you should expect bugs and issues. Please use our feedback form to report any issues or problems with our preview software. Our intent is to quickly address and fix bugs as they show up while getting our software ready for final release. And finally, you can expect updates from us and in the near future as we prepare for Leopard's arrival.

And yes, we have new products coming too...

NoteShare Express delivers instant, live notebook viewing

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:31:22 -0800

Today we officially released NoteShare Express 1.0 as a free add-on technology for all NoteShare users. In a nutshell, it enables non-NoteShare users to view and access shared notebooks from their browser. This means that NoteShare users can be working in real-time on a shared notebook while NoteShare Express viewers are actually seeing the changes and edits as they happen; all from their web browser. No software to install. Just simple browser access to view a live, shared notebook site. And all the same security, encryption and password protection to NoteShare spaces and notebook documents are supported in NoteShare Express.

Try NoteShare Express now by clicking on this link.

Why a cross-platform notebook viewing solution?
One of our early NoteShare users asked how they could allow non-NoteShare users in their research lab to view their lab notebook documents especially those researchers in the organization with Windows and Linux systems. Enter NoteShare Express. Within minutes, they were conducting real-time meetings using NoteShare Express to enable non-NoteShare users to access and view the live notebooks during meetings. Additionally, this life sciences customer has also been running NoteShare non-stop as essentially their notebook server (more about this in my next post). This means that NoteShare Express provides convenient viewing access to the shared notebooks 24x7 which is an essential workflow requirement for many of our customers especially when its collaboration-based research and data collection. And naturally, all of the security features of NoteShare are supported in NoteShare Express.

AquaMinds Summer Update Report
We've been really, really busy with new development. NoteShare Express is the first of a series of new releases that will coming at the end of 2007 and early 2008. All of which will result in an AquaMinds cross-platform offering for both server and desktop product lines. Next up is NoteShare Server which is going beta at the end of this month. Summertime has been nice but the busiest ever for our company all around.

Productivity Magic: The power of using a shared notebook

Wed, 09 May 2007 10:12:08 -0800

We just finished a new video for the AquaMinds Demo Theater which will premier this week. As we did with the first video, the entire project (including outlines, meeting notes, brainstorming, research, clippings, schedules, script writing, edits and reviews/changes,) was managed using a shared notebook in NoteShare. During the project, no one worked in the same physical office. Everyone on the project was working at a different location but working on the same notebook document. We "hosted" the shared notebook on a Mac Mini so team members could access the project information anytime, anywhere.

CLICK HERE to view the movie in this page

CLICK HERE to view the full size "Sharing Notebooks Anytime, Anywhere With NoteShare" in a new window.

Keeping Everything Organized Automatically
One of the more interesting aspects of this project has been the ease at which we've been managing the video versions and changes. Instead of sending around new video segments via email and then waiting for the usual back and forth replies, we managed the entire review process in one shared notebook. In this way, comments and edits were always being added and organized in context with the actual video being reviewed. Not only did this improve the review cycles but we could easily go back and review what had been said by team members. We still used email for sending around notifications or reminders but little or no production content was exchanged in email. The result is that our video project binder is a "living" archive of our work while also a reference document of our editorial process and design.

A Smarter Way To Work
Which brings us to the main point of using a shared notebook; it's just a smarter way to work and collaborate with your team while sharing information in a snap. And what kinds of teams use NoteShare? Sales teams, life science researchers, small office workgroups, creative teams (music, film, advertising, entertainment), consultants, small businesses, study groups, educators, students and just about any project team that wants to get organized. It's truly productivity magic when your team is working on the same notebook.

(Category/Tags: note-taking, notebook, knowledge, communications, enterprise, workgroups, productivity, business software, collaborative tools, information sharing, outline processing, OS X, Windows, Linux, smartphones, desktop, webtop, information processing software, social, project teams, NoteTaker, AquaMinds)