May 16, 2005

• I saw this on Lifehack, downloaded but haven't loaded. Anyone try it out yet?
• Oh no. Now I have a new Open Loop. I'd just got my In to Empty, too. Bother.
• Doesn't work on Safari, but I suspect I could just use a dashboard widget to do most of that (except for the index card thing). Wouldn't be as pre-configured, but ah, well.
• I've been messing around with it for the past week. So far I've got all my projects and lists organized, but haven't been able to do any of them since I've been playing with this thing.
• With TiddlyWikiPod you can copy your TiddlyWiki to your iPod and browse it (though not EDIT it) from there.
• Anybody else have problems with Safari? Works fine for me (v 1.2.3/Panther)
• PS... while you don't HAVE to have a web server to use it, you CAN put it on a web server and anyone with the URL would be able to edit. Put it in a protected directory and a group with the password could edit.
• I have played with it. The animation is a pain in the arse; I could spend more time doing stuff if I could turn it off. Oh yes, and I don't really know what GTD is except that you have to pay money to find out.
• Skrik - the latest version of GTDTiddlyWiki has an option to turn off the animations, making it *much* more usable. The options tiddler is in the sidebar to the left. GTD is Goat Tongue Destroyer, of course. Now give me five bucks.
• Oh yes, and I don't really know what GTD is except that you have to pay money to find out. Oh heck, Skrik. It's available as an eBook, so use your **cough filesharing cough** imagination.
• How cool is this? GTDTiddlyWiki I like this. I'm a little confused though. He insists that this tiddlywiki can only be used on your home computer. And this is good because other tiddlywikis go on a server and require an internet connection to read and edit them. But they're all just single html files (with javascript and CSS in them) so what's the deal? I could put the regular tiddlywiki on my desktop and it works just the same as it does on the server. What's the difference?
• Marketing.
• c'mon, smile when you say that!
• If there is a difference, and I say this not having really looked at either tiddlywikis, then it's handling when multiple people try to change an item at the same time. The desktop version wouldn't care about such a situation, since it couldn't happen, but the server version should.
• I believe there are several differences: One of the most important is that most Wikis are written in a server-side scripting language (like PHP or ASP) which means that you need processing to be done on the server side, in response to a client http request. GTDTiddlyWiki is simply javascript and html, so the only thing you need to "run" it is your web browser. Also, most Wikis make use of a database (such as MySQL) with tables for lots of different things. This is a very simple Wiki that appears to completely self-contained in one HTML document. As you add items, the HTML document just gets bigger. What you see depends upon the DHTML buttons you press. For this reason, I don't think it would scale well for a large project, but for the task at hand (managing one's To Do list) it should be more than manageable.
• No, I see that. I'm comparing this to the regular tiddlywiki (linked above). This guy in the 43folders comments says what I'm thinking: Pardon my ignorance, but isn't GTDTiddlyWiki simply TiddlyWiki with some pre-defined categories? I'd like to use it for GTD, but I also like the newest enhancements made to TW. Are we wrong? Of course the GTDTW adds features like printing on 3x5 cards. But as far as running on the client vs the server goes, it's the same, right? I think when the author is singing the virtues of running on the client, he's comparing it to regular wikis, not tiddlywikis. But I could be wrong.
• Very damn cool. I think I might try playing with the original Tiddly. It's pleasant when a meme is actually something useful.
• No, you're right smallish bear. Regular wikis run on a server with a database, like you said. TiddlyWiki (and this GTD-ized version of TiddlyWiki) exists as a single HTML page that you can keep on your desktop or thumbdrive. I've been playing with PmWiki and MediaWiki installations on my web server for my research note-taking needs, and I honestly think TiddlyWiki on a thumbdrive is a better solution for me.
• Just so we're all on the same page: TiddlyWiki Tutorial When I first saw tiddlywikis a few months ago (probably from a link here) I thought they were neat, but generally pointless. I'm currently re-evaluating. I can think of a few things I'd like to do with them, but I'm currely looking into exactly how they work (especially when on a webserver) to see if they do what I'd like them to do. The client vs server aspect is key. I need to be able to edit this from other places, so I don't have to carry around so many 3x5 cards.
• mecurious, your ebook link no worky. I've been thinking about getting into GTD. Any members of the cult here care to testify? I'd like some feedback on how effective it is. I don't really know anything about it other than the tickler file and Merlin's personal addition of the Hipster PDA, a smaller version of which I already use.
• I should've hit preview. Like you, I think Mediawiki is just way more than I need. A TW on a thumbdrive would be perfect for my PIM stuff, except I don't have a USB port at work, so I was hoping for something with online access. I like the simple one file implementation, and the interface- not having to load pages to get to different sections, and viewing/editing a few different sections at a time. A TW with an HTTP password in front of it might do the trick, if the server allows it to save the file and the backups. I have no idea, I guess I'll have to try it. I also think a TW would make a neat crapdump-style personal webpage that could be easily modified. In this case, you'd want to be able to sign in to modify it. Maybe a regular editable tiddlywiki with http password protection, and a script that, when you edit your TW, generates another TW file with the editing functionality taken out, which is then exposed to the general public. Just thinking outloud I guess.
• Oops! Corrected eBook link mecurious regrets the error
• That is some p-funk javascript, btw. I love making those little cards come up and move around.
• There are currently 134 Reader Reviews on Amazon, where overall it gets 4-1/2 stars. They should give you plenty of opinions on GTD. http://tinyurl.com/b5v6j
• There is also a GTD wiki, if you want some of the info from the book in another form.
• FWIW, some of the TiddlyWiki adaptations do add a server-side component - you'd have to put it on a server that supports passwording directories (I'd imagine most do, it's not difficult or non-standard or anything) and have PHP/MySQL set up but outside that it works just like a TiddlyWiki.
• middleclasstool, I'm a fan. The small portion of the GTD protocol that I've implemented so far has greatly reduced my "OMG I HAVE SO MUCH TO DOOO!" anxiety. As far as I'm concerned, that's worth the price of admission right there. One of Allen's tenets, in a nutshell, is that your mental to-do roster effectively runs in your brain's RAM. And since you only have so much RAM, if you use it for stuff like remembering what you have to do, it hogs your CPU. If you write everything down into a form that you can trust to remember things for you, it frees up all that RAM, so you can maybe enjoy life a little. The first exercise towards this goal is to write down everything that's on your mind - unfinished projects, errands to run, tasks to complete, that sort of thing. I became a believer the moment I sat down, wrote each thing on its own index card and then realized that I had a stack of 63 INDEX CARDS. Just having all those things down on paper (instead of running around chasing their tails inside my head) effected a HUGE reduction in my free-floating anxiety. And no wonder! I didn't realize how many things were running around inside my head, and I think a lot of other people are the same. It's easy to discount how much of your mental energy is being sapped by that kind of thing. I urge everyone to at least give it a try - most people will probably think it's useless bunk, but some of you might find it extroardinarily helpful. (The bulk of the GTD protocol is a sensible way to triage incoming items, and a bottom-up approach to handling projects and tasks. At the very least, it's easy to follow and does no harm.)
• mechagrue, I could fill that many cards just thinking about MoFi. I think you just sold it to me. Mind you, I've also tried writing them in my blog and using Ta-Da List, and they haven't made me feel any better or more productive...
• FWIW, pmwiki is php based; it needs no DB; and single pages, sections, or indeed the whole thing may be password protected (with different passwords for viewing and editing, if that's what you want). Mine is here. And you don't need to carry that hefty thumbdrive around, either.
• Great Skrik. Now I have "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" in my head. :P
• Here's a nameless tiddlywiki that runs on the server, has basic login capabilities, and does not require a database. It does not have the neat CSS-in-a-tiddler functionality that the original TW author has recently added, but the CSS is in a separate and well-organized file that can be easily customized.
• Now I have "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" in my head. There are worse songs. Ask anyone on #MoFIRC.