#note taking software

[aetherspoon]

Other applications I've tried for comparison, since I've been on a "replace OneNote" kick:

Joplin (as mentioned above). open source, kind of messy to export from though and the UI isn't the greatest. If you're using a cloud sync thingy using WebDAV like NextCloud, you can even sync your notes without worry of conflicting between devices - useful to sync a grocery list between yourself and your roommates / partners / etc. Probably the most stable of the bunch, but I really don't like how they name files.

QOwnNotes is my personal choice at the moment. Still a bit of a clunky interface but slightly better than Joplin in my mind. Also open source, runs on a potato, and easier for other programs to open the notes of. It also integrates in NextCloud just like Joplin.

Standard Notes is a free and open source program that also has paid options - basically, if you want to host your own syncing server, it is free. If you don't need syncing, it is free. If you want more complex features, it isn't free. Unfortunately, "complex" means "anything beyond plain text", which is why I didn't want it.

Logseq is a newer option, free and open source, and it does have a nice UI, but it isn't all that stable yet. Syncing features (which work very differently from the other options, long story) are still in testing, but you can probably sync things using your cloud client of choice - just don't try using it on multiple devices concurrently that way.

TiddlyWiki is a bit of an unusual note taking choice - basically, think hosting your own personal wiki locally, all shoved into a single HTML file. If you're more familiar with wiki than Markdown (which is the format every single one of the ones above use), then it might be a better option for you. All you need is a web browser to use it and you could just sync that HTML file using your syncing client of choice.

Obsidian is a decent note taking application, but it isn't open source. It was super nice to use with a whole heck of a lot of plugins, plus you can export in the same format as Joplin and QON, but you have to pay to sync notes. It uses the same markdown format as almost all of the above though, so at least exports are easy.

Notion is a current-new-hotness notetaking application. It is free for personal use but not open source, so you run the risk of the same thing happening again. It is also much more powerful than the other options here and is more meant for personal project management types of things. It specifically does not use Markdown though, more akin to Evernote or OneNote.

Excuse THE FUCK out of me?

Okay I gotta double back and add to this. I have been using Evernote since 2010 and I have 4500+ notes. What I DON’T have is $130 a year. Are you absolutely fucking shitting me. Like I’m going to be moving all my shit to a different service, do not make any mistake about that. But I’m also just—it’s such a STARK difference. I don’t know what longtime users are supposed to do here—obviously we’ll have 100s-1000s of notes, “fifty” isn’t gonna do shit. So we just have to cough up $10/month, or…? What do you THINK we’re gonna do?

[mariana-oconnor]

How do you design your patterns for knitting?? They are so pretty! 😍

In Excel (or the spreadsheet program of your choice*). First I set the ratio of the cells so each cell is one stitch. Double knitting, like for the blanket is a 2:3 ratio, roughly, which means that every two stitches across is about the same length as three stitches upwards. So I set the width of each column to 0.3 cm and the height of each cell to 0.2 cm. (For contrast, standard colourwork is usually closer to a 4:5 ratio, so don't use double knitting diagrams for single knitting or vice versa)

(Weirdly, in Excel you only seem to be able to adjust in centimetres if you put the spreadsheet in print view first, so it looks like different pages, idk why. Excel sucks like that I guess.)

*Not Google Sheets, because last time I checked it doesn't allow background images. This may have changed since.

Then I put a thick black border around the limits of my pattern. For the baby blankets it's about 176 columns by 264 rows, though the width is subject to change a little based on the pattern (if I decide on a repeating border it has to be divisible by the right number), and if I change that, I might adjust the length as well because I want the blankets to be roughly square.

Once that's done, I decide on a theme and a rough idea of what I want it to look like. For my most recent blanket I knew I wanted mountains because my friends like to hike. I knew I wanted space because one of them is really into space stuff. And I knew I wanted chickens because the other has chickens that she loves.

When I know roughly what elements I want to include, I do an image search for silhouettes of that thing. This is one of the reasons I haven't made any of the patterns available, because copyright. I do transform the images I find, and some of the elements (borders, patterns) are entirely from my own mind, but there's a lot that's based off images I find. I don't specifically go searching for creative commons images because it's personal use and the only place I even show pictures of them is here on Tumblr. Like I said, I transform them, and it's personal use, so I'm pretty sure I'm clear just making my blankets for my friends, but any further might be questionable. Idk. Copyright is a thorny sort of a thing.

ANYWAY. I get a silhouette image (silhouettes because they're clearer, although one of the chickens on the latest blanket is from a photograph, but that's trickier to work with). Then I set it as the background of my Excel spreadsheet.

One interesting thing about Excel is that the zooming in and out doesn't affect the background image like it does the cells, so I zoom in or out until the image is about the size I want in relation to the size of the whole blanket. Then I colour in the cells on top of it. At first it's just the cells that are completely filled in in the image below, then it's the ones that are half filled in or more.

Once that's done, I remove the background image and I fuck around with what's left (essentially a pixel art version of the silhouette). This is the stage that takes a lot of time, because there's often a lot of tweaking to do to make it look good. Fine lines and curves are difficult, and sometimes things just need to be changed. For instance, the owl on my most recent blanket started out life as a long-eared owl and I changed it into a barn owl because that suited my aesthetic more. The mouse I adjusted the size of multiple times and the shape of the back and the ears and the nose... and the tail... to make it fit the space I wanted it in and also to make it look more mouse-like. Literally changing one cell can make a huge difference to how something looks, it's crazy.

For borders and decorative bits, I tend to just mess around with colouring in the cells in swirly patterns until I come up with a shape I like. Repeating patterns are a lot easier to do, but do require you to do maths to make sure they fit properly. This probably requires patience, but I find it strangely addictive and zen-like.

For the ivy on my last one, I used silhouettes for the leaves, then used the transform tools in excel to mirror the five or six different leaf silhouettes I had vertically and horizontally, then moved them around and connected them with twisting lines to create the impression of vines.

Once I've got all the separate pieces, I copy them all into the outline I have of the blanket and move them around (it's important to keep the originals separate, because when you move things in excel you can often copy over something and chop off an ear or a tail or half a bird).

But yeah, then I move stuff around until the layout works for me. Sometimes at this point I have to resize things, which is annoying.

Then, when I've got things roughly in place, I mess around with them some more until they look right. It's a lot of trial and error at this stage

For example, in the dragon and unicorn blanket I did, the dragon's tail was messed around with a lot at this point. I had it curling one way, then the other way. I made it really long. I made it really short. I had it end with spikes. I had it end with the spade.

As a final touch, I then add the more random details that don't need as much work, like the stars or the snowflakes, which are fairly easy to just design on the spot. I move those around as well, until I'm happy with them.

Then I start knitting.

The design does often evolve as I'm knitting. For instance, after seeing how the tension worked on the mouse in my most recent blanket, I realised that the planet was going to be stretched thin the way I had initially designed it, so I tweaked it to be fatter so it would appear more round in the finished product. Similarly I added some more leaves to the tree and moved the top branch down a bit for better framing.

That got kind of long, but I hope it helps.

[terra-nightgale]

reallllly don't wanna do my final today but I gotta.

[teethbomb]

Are there any storyboarding apps that are good and not super expensive or subscription based

[tarczar]

froggies on my school 'puter I'm not safe anywhere

[daybreakrising]

HEADCANONS - J.IAOQIU & EXPRESSION

by default, j.iaoqiu's expression is carefully constructed. he wears a smile almost permanently - at least, in public. this initially began simply as a practice he employed during his early years as a healer, because he believed a smile would help set a patient at ease. then, over time, and particularly during war, the smile became a shield.

i've said before that he's someone who smiles through pain - he will rarely show his true emotions on his face, except when in the presence of trusted people. he has honed the art of the smile, so much so that only the most perceptive of people might be able to see its falsehood.

there are few occasions where he lets the smile slip, and those are always under more serious circumstances. because of this, many who know him (but not too well) may claim the healer only has two expressions: smiling, and severe.

however. those who know him very well indeed will know that there is more than one smile, and more than one way to read his expression. though it may be subtle, and therefore easily missed by those who aren't familiar with his tells, a lot of j.iaoqiu's expression can be read through his ears and tail.

something as simple as the position of his tail can differentiate between a genuine smile and a false one. even the angle of his ears is telling to anyone who has had the time to study them.

he has, of course, learned how to somewhat control both his tail and ears in order to further conceal his mood, but he will be more lax with this when he is comfortable around someone. a person he trusts is likely to see the happy tail wags; the softer, less alert ears.

[thesolarangel]

This week was so exhausting and I have only 2 weekend days to rest, that's far from enough! But I had a good talk with my teacher, she's very empathetic ❤️ she praised me for my work, for participating in class and she said I can totally skip the voluntary afternoon tasks and i would still pass the class! After class I took a walk and now I'm on the couch and ordered a large pizza with pineapple 🍕🍕🍕 The only thing I need to do on the weekend is buy groceries and do some meal prep but otherwise I'm gonna sleep, do yoga, binge "listen" to a show while I draw and not think of After Effects for 2 days😭🥹

[vimbry-moved]

don't know enough about US graphic design in the early 1990s to know why/if this was a noted trend with a direct influence tying them together, but I do like this recurring look of simple yet eye-catching big sans-serif block white text people were going for in some commercials/promos. there's something more magazine spread about it than television.

[justhereforeskel]

My two week saga of trying to remember to order more post it notes, but forgetting because I'm out of post it notes and I can't make myself a note on a post it to order more post it notes, is finally over! 💜🎉

[checkthebox]

fansong abt veronica santangelo

[sundial-girl]

For Oliver a good config is:

BRE always negative >(-12) <-(-80) (in other words, between -12 and -80) CLE > 15 < 40 BRI Aprox 20 GEN its up to you (depends on the song)

After this you need EQ and filter his voice for better results and stuff.

Extra: Amplify the vocals in a programme of your choice.

[naberiie]

oh yes i am having a wonderful sunday. hmm? what am i doing? thinking about knowledge management systems and mental models in the digital age, and how they might evolve as our technology advances (or, honestly, crashes) of course

[vulpinesaint]

oh the euphoria of ipod with into the spiderverse soundtrack loaded onto it. youtube to mp3 converters + editing metadata my bestest friend ever

[blvck-coffee-dad]

Here's version 2024.2 of this chart, which is the most up to date (as of 11.26.2024). Take a look at @XDanielArt on Twitter to see if there's a newer version.

[worlds-tallest-fairy]

"We have clinical people that make sure our data set isn't biased and doesn’t go off the rails"

My immediate thought: “Ah, I don't have to worry about omegaverae showing up in my therapy note, that’s great news.”

[literally-1894]

I just took an anti-Gehrman stance in that From Software level up lady baseball pitch post's replies.

Wish me luck, kids.