Simplify Your Notes

This is the first part of what will likely be a many-part series on Digital Simplicity. I'm excited to get started!
Derek Sivers - Write Plain Text Files: sive.rs/plaintext
Me: kressle.in
My Apps: unobserved.io

[@tomperconti]

FYI, the ASCII Text format that we use today was established in 1961. Excellent video. My personal knowledge management system is roughly 50 years old and is text-based as well... though I prefer to use basic/core markdown to provide basic formatting that is readable WITHOUT a markdown editor. Over the years, I would use special characters in my plain text files to set titles/headings apart from the content. Markdown simply formalizes it. I too use Joplin, but I don't use any of the markdown extensions for charts and equations. This keeps things simple.

[@RickyKresslein]

WOW! Thanks for that info, that's a lot older than I thought. You're right, using Markdown formatting, even in a .txt file that you will never read as markdown, is a good way to standardize your own formatting.

[@chuxTube68]

You inspired me to go back to my note-taking roots. I used text files for a few years with notepad++ before moving over to Evernote which I used for about 10 years.. and then it started evolving into an app that was getting updated everyday and became cumbersome to use... and then they wanted to jack up the cost.. arrggh! It was time to come full circle back to text files. Started using obsidian with local markdown files. Loving the simplicity and flexibility it provides me to organize thoughts and info. Good luck on your journey to simplify! :)

[@RickyKresslein]

Awesome! Good luck to you too!

[@song-explorer]

I share your values of simplification for all of the reasons you mention. Text files are a permanent solution. They are scripable and searchable. I use NotePad++ and nano. Everything is cross-platform. Text files can be structured or unstructured. Markdown is a lightly-structured format and very readable. YAML is similar. JSON is a bit more complicated, but it doesn't have to be a lot more complicated and it's highly readable - much more than CSV or XML. Naming conventions is a big topic because there is so much you can do with it. It's powerful. I like case consistency because it makes the data more cross-platform. I like using hyphens too because it is more compatible with web servers. Keeping your data standard and cross-platform is another permanent solution. It basically eliminates an entire class of future problems. Plus, it's super small.

[@RickyKresslein]

Do you have a way that you sync your notes across multiple devices?

[@song-explorer]

@@RickyKresslein Strictly speaking, no, but for my purposes, yes (well enough). I back up my data to multiple external drives which are normally air-gapped i.e. not connected. I have a simple Python script that just updates. It doesn't remove, but that's what I want. "Air-gapped" means my data is private and can't be encrypted by ransomware. AND, I don't need to back up everything all the time. I like being cognizant of my work and data. IF my main (Win10) computer had a system failure - or need to take my data on the road, I just take a backup drive and plug it into my Linux laptop. That's also my migration plan. At Win10 EOL, I'll take it offline and use Linux online all the time. My next desktop will probably be Linux (System76/PopOS!)

[@RickyKresslein]

Sounds pretty similar to my current setup. I'm excited for that new PopOS! Cosmic desktop!

[@bobbyboxer2664]

Thank you for introducing me to Joplin 😅

[@RickyKresslein]

Haha my pleasure. If you don't want to go the plain text route, Joplin is a great notes app, made even better by the fact that the sync server can be self-hosted and they have a good iOS/Android app.