6 ms·

Have any HNers found an effective digital version of index cards? The author mentions a" years of trying all kinds of digital equivalents a much-loved Mac outli

Have any HNers found an effective digital version of index cards? The author mentions a" years of trying all kinds of digital equivalents a much-loved Mac outliner programme called 3×5" but then returns to return to physical cards. Probably the usefulness of actual cards comes from their materiality, but maybe there's some effective replacement that lets you combine/create cards with added digital ease - I can type a lot faster than write by hand.

coreymaass 9y ago
I've found the slow writing exactly what makes them so useful. Whatever I write sticks in my head better.
- bshepard 9y ago
  Yes, that's really true. Not sure what you're writing with, but writing cards in ink and brush is really pleasurable and poses constant design challenges.
- lukewrites 9y ago
  Research backs up your observation. See, eg, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581
kitotik 9y ago
The author mentioned Scrivener, which does have an excellent card view.
maliker 9y ago
I tend to keep a folder full of short text files and pictures for my notes. If the documents are each small, its pretty easy to scan through them using preview functionality in the file browser (Finder.app in my case). And the simple format means its easy to import/export/organize them via scripts or manually.
pveierland 9y ago
The "flashcards" class [1] allows you to easily write nice index cards using LaTeX. I enjoyed using it to write well-typeset cards when studying for exams. You can buy printable perforated index cards for printing [2], but due to price I just used normal A4 paper with 3 cards per page and cut them manually using scissors. [1] http://ctan.uib.no/macros/latex/contrib/flashcards/flashcards.pdf http://ctan.uib.no/macros/latex/contrib/flashcards/flashcard... [2] https://www.avery.com/products/cards/type/index-cards https://www.avery.com/products/cards/type/index-cards
smuemd 9y ago
https://zettelkasten.de/the-archive/ https://zettelkasten.de/the-archive/
floren 9y ago
I've been working on my own version of "digital index cards", although of course being digital you're not strictly limited to 3x5" worth of content. It's a command-line Linux (or MacOS, I guess) tool written in Go. The main motivation was to have a structured note-taking tool always at hand so I'd actually use it. For that reason, all the commands are as low-friction as I could make them: the program itself is called 'zk', and all the commonly-used commands are abbreviated to one character, so instead of "zk new" to make a new note, I say "zk n". It's something I'm still playing with and tweaking, but I went ahead and pushed my latest changes to the repo at https://github.com/floren/zk https://github.com/floren/zk so if anyone besides me finds it useful, so much the better. The README does an ok job of explaining usage, although it doesn't document the 'link' and 'unlink' commands yet because I'm not sure how much I like that concept. I apologize for the Go code being a little clunky and redundant in places, because I've been growing it organically.
komali2 9y ago
If using index cards for memorizing, I think the Anki system can't be beat. Simple HTML/css formatting, tons of configuration options, plug in a .CSV with as many columns as you like and out the other end can come decks with cards configured in all sorts of wild ways. So for example I have a Japanese learning deck with columns "word - Japanese", "example sentence - kanji", "example sentence - hurigana helper text (phonetic speller for characters I don't know)", "English definition for word", "English definition for sentence", "part of speech" , "commonality of word.". So I can make decks sorted by commonality of words with English on front, or Japanese on front, to practice vocabulary. Or I can have one with English sentences on front to practice sentence building. You can even attach media files, like audio. And best of all, last I checked this is all free. Still not sure how the creator funds hosting public decks.
- Spooky23 9y ago
  Thank you for this. I hadn’t come across Anki and it looks like a great tool.
  - tomcooks 9y ago
    AnkiDroid on F-Droid store is an excellent open source mobile version
- learned 9y ago
  I use Anki as well and it really is fantastic. I use it for languages, math, and code (there is a really good markdown plugin). 15-30 minutes every morning is enough to keep many things fresh in memory.
- anitil 9y ago
  Oh yes anki is fantastic! I'm still relatively new to the habit but I don't know how I used to manage without it (spoiler: I didn't) I actually find I am reading and learning more because I no longer worry about trying to remember things. I think of it as anki's job to remember, and my job to understand, so now I have more mental resources to spend on understanding material. I'm rambling, and I apologize, but I HIGHLY recommend anki.
wpietri 9y ago
I think the question is, "effective for what?" Index cards are incredibly flexible. Anybody who has made it through elementary school can use simple office supplies to construct rich, elaborate systems to support particular workflows. For software to come as close in utility requires a trained professional to put in a fair bit of labor, and that is done in large part by closing off possibility. Trello, a very good product, has tried to stay a pretty generic card-like tool. But it's mediocre for kanban workflows, and downright terrible for a flashcard deck or a recipe collection or quickly jotting a shopping list that you hand to your partner. As an aside, getting words on the card faster is often a negative. As others mention, hand-writing something aids memory. It also makes me choose my words more carefully, and write less. I find writing less to be especially valuable during software planning, in that I see cards as tokens for conversation. The more people can write, the more they try to turn them into mini-specs, which shifts them away from collaboration and back toward waterfall-ish isolation.
oe 9y ago
nvALT is one I like. It's fast and geared towards adding new notes quickly. You can type text to a combined search / create bar and either select a previous note or create a new note by pressing enter. All notes are just text files. That said, I still like to use actual index cards especially because they are slower. Writing text by hands gives time to think what needs to be done and how best to express it. And doodling is fun.
- RBerenguel 9y ago
  I also use nvALT (and 1Writer on iOS tied to the same dropbox folder so I can add stuff on the go). It's where I store all my "information snippets".
nautilus12 9y ago
I think the fact this doesn't exist, and that hacker news, the techy portal is talking about index cards is pretty telling. I think its more of a statement of the state of our software and devices. For example, I use a notepad for tracking to dos rather than wunderlist just because even if wunderlist is blazingly fast, there is still some level of delay that is cognitively frustrating enough that I like notebooks better. Mostly is not even wunderlists fault, the delay of getting my iphone to wake up and start working effectively in those couple of seconds makes me not want to use it. Its like my phone is drunk for about 20 seconds after I bring it up. Ive gotten to the point where ive stopped using even more common features of my phone like SMS, camera, calling people for the same reason. Something about my phone puts me in a negative frame of mind I think.
peter303 9y ago
Mac HypeCard was a forerunner of both the web and powerpoint. You put some sort of text or multimedia on a screen. Then connected the screens together with button links. The topology was flexible.
eadmund 9y ago
> Have any HNers found an effective digital version of index cards? I use a real notebook & index cards during the day, but digitise them into org-mode each morning as part of my slip-into-work-mode ritual. That way I always have my recent stuff physically to hand, but I also have everything electronically archived and searchable on my computer too. If I could just get emacs working on my phone (and extend it to be pleasant to use with touch alone) then my life would be complete.
ycombinete 9y ago
The blogger, Taking Note, mentioned in the OP article, is a huge fan of index cards, and he suggests using software called ConnectedText as a digital alternative [0]. [0] https://takingnotenow.blogspot.co.za/2016/03/one-way-i-organize-my-notes.html https://takingnotenow.blogspot.co.za/2016/03/one-way-i-organ...

coreymaass 9y ago

I've found the slow writing exactly what makes them so useful. Whatever I write sticks in my head better.

bshepard 9y ago
Yes, that's really true. Not sure what you're writing with, but writing cards in ink and brush is really pleasurable and poses constant design challenges.
lukewrites 9y ago
Research backs up your observation. See, eg, http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581 http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581

kitotik 9y ago

The author mentioned Scrivener, which does have an excellent card view.

maliker 9y ago

I tend to keep a folder full of short text files and pictures for my notes. If the documents are each small, its pretty easy to scan through them using preview functionality in the file browser (Finder.app in my case). And the simple format means its easy to import/export/organize them via scripts or manually.

pveierland 9y ago

The "flashcards" class [1] allows you to easily write nice index cards using LaTeX. I enjoyed using it to write well-typeset cards when studying for exams. You can buy printable perforated index cards for printing [2], but due to price I just used normal A4 paper with 3 cards per page and cut them manually using scissors. [1] http://ctan.uib.no/macros/latex/contrib/flashcards/flashcards.pdf http://ctan.uib.no/macros/latex/contrib/flashcards/flashcard... [2] https://www.avery.com/products/cards/type/index-cards https://www.avery.com/products/cards/type/index-cards

smuemd 9y ago

https://zettelkasten.de/the-archive/ https://zettelkasten.de/the-archive/

floren 9y ago

I've been working on my own version of "digital index cards", although of course being digital you're not strictly limited to 3x5" worth of content. It's a command-line Linux (or MacOS, I guess) tool written in Go. The main motivation was to have a structured note-taking tool always at hand so I'd actually use it. For that reason, all the commands are as low-friction as I could make them: the program itself is called 'zk', and all the commonly-used commands are abbreviated to one character, so instead of "zk new" to make a new note, I say "zk n". It's something I'm still playing with and tweaking, but I went ahead and pushed my latest changes to the repo at https://github.com/floren/zk https://github.com/floren/zk so if anyone besides me finds it useful, so much the better. The README does an ok job of explaining usage, although it doesn't document the 'link' and 'unlink' commands yet because I'm not sure how much I like that concept. I apologize for the Go code being a little clunky and redundant in places, because I've been growing it organically.

komali2 9y ago

If using index cards for memorizing, I think the Anki system can't be beat. Simple HTML/css formatting, tons of configuration options, plug in a .CSV with as many columns as you like and out the other end can come decks with cards configured in all sorts of wild ways. So for example I have a Japanese learning deck with columns "word - Japanese", "example sentence - kanji", "example sentence - hurigana helper text (phonetic speller for characters I don't know)", "English definition for word", "English definition for sentence", "part of speech" , "commonality of word.". So I can make decks sorted by commonality of words with English on front, or Japanese on front, to practice vocabulary. Or I can have one with English sentences on front to practice sentence building. You can even attach media files, like audio. And best of all, last I checked this is all free. Still not sure how the creator funds hosting public decks.

Spooky23 9y ago
Thank you for this. I hadn’t come across Anki and it looks like a great tool.
- tomcooks 9y ago
  AnkiDroid on F-Droid store is an excellent open source mobile version
learned 9y ago
I use Anki as well and it really is fantastic. I use it for languages, math, and code (there is a really good markdown plugin). 15-30 minutes every morning is enough to keep many things fresh in memory.
anitil 9y ago
Oh yes anki is fantastic! I'm still relatively new to the habit but I don't know how I used to manage without it (spoiler: I didn't) I actually find I am reading and learning more because I no longer worry about trying to remember things. I think of it as anki's job to remember, and my job to understand, so now I have more mental resources to spend on understanding material. I'm rambling, and I apologize, but I HIGHLY recommend anki.

wpietri 9y ago

I think the question is, "effective for what?" Index cards are incredibly flexible. Anybody who has made it through elementary school can use simple office supplies to construct rich, elaborate systems to support particular workflows. For software to come as close in utility requires a trained professional to put in a fair bit of labor, and that is done in large part by closing off possibility. Trello, a very good product, has tried to stay a pretty generic card-like tool. But it's mediocre for kanban workflows, and downright terrible for a flashcard deck or a recipe collection or quickly jotting a shopping list that you hand to your partner. As an aside, getting words on the card faster is often a negative. As others mention, hand-writing something aids memory. It also makes me choose my words more carefully, and write less. I find writing less to be especially valuable during software planning, in that I see cards as tokens for conversation. The more people can write, the more they try to turn them into mini-specs, which shifts them away from collaboration and back toward waterfall-ish isolation.

oe 9y ago

nvALT is one I like. It's fast and geared towards adding new notes quickly. You can type text to a combined search / create bar and either select a previous note or create a new note by pressing enter. All notes are just text files. That said, I still like to use actual index cards especially because they are slower. Writing text by hands gives time to think what needs to be done and how best to express it. And doodling is fun.

RBerenguel 9y ago
I also use nvALT (and 1Writer on iOS tied to the same dropbox folder so I can add stuff on the go). It's where I store all my "information snippets".

nautilus12 9y ago

I think the fact this doesn't exist, and that hacker news, the techy portal is talking about index cards is pretty telling. I think its more of a statement of the state of our software and devices. For example, I use a notepad for tracking to dos rather than wunderlist just because even if wunderlist is blazingly fast, there is still some level of delay that is cognitively frustrating enough that I like notebooks better. Mostly is not even wunderlists fault, the delay of getting my iphone to wake up and start working effectively in those couple of seconds makes me not want to use it. Its like my phone is drunk for about 20 seconds after I bring it up. Ive gotten to the point where ive stopped using even more common features of my phone like SMS, camera, calling people for the same reason. Something about my phone puts me in a negative frame of mind I think.

peter303 9y ago

Mac HypeCard was a forerunner of both the web and powerpoint. You put some sort of text or multimedia on a screen. Then connected the screens together with button links. The topology was flexible.

eadmund 9y ago

> Have any HNers found an effective digital version of index cards? I use a real notebook & index cards during the day, but digitise them into org-mode each morning as part of my slip-into-work-mode ritual. That way I always have my recent stuff physically to hand, but I also have everything electronically archived and searchable on my computer too. If I could just get emacs working on my phone (and extend it to be pleasant to use with touch alone) then my life would be complete.

ycombinete 9y ago

The blogger, Taking Note, mentioned in the OP article, is a huge fan of index cards, and he suggests using software called ConnectedText as a digital alternative [0]. [0] https://takingnotenow.blogspot.co.za/2016/03/one-way-i-organize-my-notes.html https://takingnotenow.blogspot.co.za/2016/03/one-way-i-organ...