Syncing Journler across two Macs with Dropbox

Although Journler is a great information management and diary application, one feature that has been lacking is the ability to easily sync across multiple Macs. After syncing using the dependable Chronosync application and a target disc mode connection (Firewire, try doing that on the new Macbooks) I have found a better syncing method using the cloud. 

Dropbox is a new service which syncs a specific Dropbox folder on your Mac (Dropbox also works on Windows and Linux). It works very quickly as there is some sub file level smart updating and compression going on in the background. The links are all made using secure SSL and the storage is on Amazon S3. Your files are stored using 256 AES on the Amazon servers. There is also full versioning for changes to files o make it simple to revert to a previous version of a file.

The key thing is that unlike MobileMe (.Mac) there is a free 2GB account available until recently it was invitation only but now you can just sign up and be running Dropbox in minutes. 

So far I've found it very fast and reliable and also use it for Rapidweaver files I like to keep in sync across computers.  1Password from Agileweb Solutions new Agile keychain feature in 1Password v 2.9 also can make use of Dropbox rather than the more cumbersome keychain sync of MobileMe. Check out the key features at the Dropbox site.

How to set up syncing of Journler entries using Dropbox:

1. Sign up to Dropbox and ensure you are using the latest build available through the Forums at Dropbox e.g. v 0.6.404 solves problems with Mac OS X package folders which helps Journler RTFD files sync properly. 

2. Install Dropbox, on all Macs to be synced.

3. Back up your Journler folder (in 2.5.5 of Journler this is most likely in your Documents folder). 

4. If you have password protected your Journal, temporarily switch off this feature in Preferences, Advanced, before copying the Journal. Then quit Journler.

5. Copy the Journler folder into your new Dropbox folder. The original Journler folder can be renamed later and left as a back up copy.

6. Dropbox should begin its syncing process and eventually, the Journler folder will be synced and available on the other Mac/s.

7. You can now test the sync by opening Journler, using the Locate button and pointing it to the Dropbox stored Journler folder. After creating a test entry,you may reinstate your password option in the preferences menu at this point.

Note: only have one copy of Journler open on a single Mac at any time, otherwise the syncing is likely to be seriously confused. Remember, Journler is intended for single user working only and is not a true networking application.

With the initial sync out of the way subsequent syncing should be extremely fast.

The next step is to see whether this works with Omnifocus!

Find out more abut Journler: Journler - Wherever Life Takes You

Does email encourage insanity?

Merlin Mann on the nature of email to make people behave like sociopaths...

http://www.43folders.com/2008/04/24/taking-crazy-out-email

Welcome to the Tagfest, Top applications for finding and tagging your files.

Punakea screenshot

You are desperately trying to find that document that you worked on last month, but you can't remember it's name or where you saved it? Spotlight can help, but by using tags or labels, you can help classify your documents and find stuff faster.

By applying a tag or metadata your documents will be easier to classify and sort. You can use this approach whether to just dump everything into one folder or have a neurotically organised uber-directory structure of hierarchical folders. Either way, you will benefit from applying tags.

More resources:

For everything to do with tagging on a Mac try http://tagamac.com/

Finding stuff (paid for, but with the option to try):

HoudahSpot http://houdah.com/houdahSpot/index.html

Leap http://www.ironicsoftware.com/leap/index.html very iTunes like, lots of features. Leap allows you to search for files and quickly tag them. Leap can be heavily customised and offers a logical way of searching and grouping your documents. When Leap is running there is a menu bar feature with a clickable "bread crumb trail" of filters to find and isolate files and a pop-out window for quick tagging on the right side of your screen rather like Yojimbo, this is a very slick application with many customisable features. The typical default file types (Word, Keynote etc.) recognised by Leap can increased to any particular file type you wish to allow for fast searchign of files that are important to you. Leap handles tagging and searches, but gets close to being a Finder replacement with copy and move commands. Definitely worth experimenting with in the trial period of the demo download.

Free applications that make Spotlight more powerful:

Easyfind from Devonthink, the publishers of powerful organising and cataloguing software, fast and simple interface, uses multithreading for speed http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/freeware/

Punakea, a versatile tagging utility, free application, but please give a donation to the developer if you find that you rely on it. Has a tag cloud like many Web2.0 sites (think flickr) which helps visualise your content. Allows you to manage, apply and search tags quickly. Simple iTunes style interface. Much simpler than mucking around with scripts for tagging multiple groups of files. Punakea can also move files into a managed folder if you wish.

Spotlaser from Frovil Heavy Industies takes a little practice with the interface but yields good results allows you to narrow down your searches applying various filters. Results are displayed in a normal finder window, which means you can then use QuickLook if you're running Leopard.

For the latest versions of dozens of applications which use or enhance Spotlight check this list from MacUpdate

Another good idea is to add the Spotlight plugin for searching inside zip files. Try the Spotlight plugins section of the Apple Downloads site for the latest version. BetterZip provide a good free QuickLook plugin to show the contents of zip archives for Leopard users.

Quicksilver can also be used for tagging and searching if you're a keyboard orientated person. Quicksilver, is a minimalist but very powerful application but this is one of its many features (freeware). You'll either love it or hate it.

Metadata: this is data that describes other data, such as a library filing system grouping together "fiction" or "reference" books. The tag or label "fiction" is the metadata for a type of book. This principle can be seen in iTunes where songs can be labelled by genre.

Curious about Getting Things Done? Start here

A great collection of links from Merlin Mann's 43Folders site...

GTD - Getting Things Done (David Allen's book of the same name has created at times geeky, but good meme)

http://www.43folders.com/2008/02/19/43-folders-best-gtd

The Best of Getting Things Done (43Folders)

Great collection of GTD Links from Merlin Mann's always interesting 43Folders site:

http://www.43folders.com/2008/02/19/43-folders-best-gtd