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An acquaintance once advised me to keep a context file: all the little "notes to self", code snippets, key config elements, etc, in a file. I've tried a few tim

An acquaintance once advised me to keep a context file: all the little "notes to self", code snippets, key config elements, etc, in a file. I've tried a few times in Vim but finally really got traction in Jupyter, through a combination of my org's massive Windows dependencies, which is definitely not the Jupyter community's default (needed to document lots of little idiosyncrasies), and actually having interesting data in that world. What I really like about Jupyter for this is that it's trivial to mix it all together: a link to a handbook like this, how to decode and encode Windows environment variables, tips on Vim, python, pandas, plotting, etc. And I was really struck how a number of the headings in this handbook mapped exactly to the headings in my context file. I suspect this will not be the last time I click that link.

random_kris 8y ago
hmm interesting idea. I've been trying all kinds of different tools for documenting my work/code snippets/notes.... But nothing sticked. Mind explaining more on that? Would it be stupid to have a wiki like system inside jupyter?
- killjoywashere 8y ago
  Have you tried the new JupyterLab interface yet? It's pretty straight forward to segregate your content into separate notebooks in that setting since you have quick access to a filesystem view. That said, I also have a wiki with 10+ years of my medical notes in it. I love the wiki, but work keeps blocking my domain (I have lots of images from med school that I'm sure have a copyright on them, so I can't just make the wiki public access, therefore the little ladies in tennis shoes at BrightCloud mark it as "personal storage".
- impostir 8y ago
  I have just started using jupyter with jupyter lab for notes. I havent gotten as far as making a full wiki system, but I definitely think it is possible. My killer feature is the ability to drop in code from a lot of different languages. I haven't fully tested it, but I am optimistic in its power Disclaimer: I have used todoist, emacs org-mode, wunderlist and trialled a dozen other task management programs.
- mark_l_watson 8y ago
  I really prefer small text files, preferably org-mode. But, I just made a radical change that is so far working for me: I signed up for G Suite for my personal domain, and manually copied over org-mode, Apple notes, etc. to Keep Notes. I copied all purchased PDF eBooks, ACM Communications PDFs, and important research papers to Google Drive, and copied over all old email. With Cloud Search, I can find any of this stuff instantly. As a programmer, there is no larger time saver than having notes for code snippets, configuration file examples, etc. I used to use Evernote, then I wrote a personal version of Evernote in Clojure that worked really well for me, except everything was just on my primary laptop. G Suite is not great from a privacy standpoint (but I can live with it) but for me wins out for convenience - well worth $12/month. EDIT: I used to keep Jupiter-lab running on a GPU leased server for machine learning educational projects. If I still did that, as other people here have pointed out, with the new file interface Jupiter-lab would be a good choice, esapecially with some customization to implement a global search to find stuff quickly in all notebooks.

random_kris 8y ago

hmm interesting idea. I've been trying all kinds of different tools for documenting my work/code snippets/notes.... But nothing sticked. Mind explaining more on that? Would it be stupid to have a wiki like system inside jupyter?

killjoywashere 8y ago
Have you tried the new JupyterLab interface yet? It's pretty straight forward to segregate your content into separate notebooks in that setting since you have quick access to a filesystem view. That said, I also have a wiki with 10+ years of my medical notes in it. I love the wiki, but work keeps blocking my domain (I have lots of images from med school that I'm sure have a copyright on them, so I can't just make the wiki public access, therefore the little ladies in tennis shoes at BrightCloud mark it as "personal storage".
impostir 8y ago
I have just started using jupyter with jupyter lab for notes. I havent gotten as far as making a full wiki system, but I definitely think it is possible. My killer feature is the ability to drop in code from a lot of different languages. I haven't fully tested it, but I am optimistic in its power Disclaimer: I have used todoist, emacs org-mode, wunderlist and trialled a dozen other task management programs.
mark_l_watson 8y ago
I really prefer small text files, preferably org-mode. But, I just made a radical change that is so far working for me: I signed up for G Suite for my personal domain, and manually copied over org-mode, Apple notes, etc. to Keep Notes. I copied all purchased PDF eBooks, ACM Communications PDFs, and important research papers to Google Drive, and copied over all old email. With Cloud Search, I can find any of this stuff instantly. As a programmer, there is no larger time saver than having notes for code snippets, configuration file examples, etc. I used to use Evernote, then I wrote a personal version of Evernote in Clojure that worked really well for me, except everything was just on my primary laptop. G Suite is not great from a privacy standpoint (but I can live with it) but for me wins out for convenience - well worth $12/month. EDIT: I used to keep Jupiter-lab running on a GPU leased server for machine learning educational projects. If I still did that, as other people here have pointed out, with the new file interface Jupiter-lab would be a good choice, esapecially with some customization to implement a global search to find stuff quickly in all notebooks.