Note taking in lectures.

iBertus · 2009-10-08 00:20:11

Just place a small spy camera in the lecture room and record everything. If the lecturer doesn't want to be filmed you can always get one of those tiny cameras that fits into a hat or watch...

bruce · 2009-10-08 01:22:58

we have video (projector capture) and sound recordings of almost all our lectures at the uni i'm at... goes a treat when you want to do subjects that clash, but as far as revision goes - to me - it takes too long to rewatch an entire semester's worth of recordings to revise... i'm all about just reading over the leture slides again, and then rewatching etc anything that i'm fuzzy on...
and we have free wifi everywhere around the uni, so cloud based stuff certainly isn't out of the question... i would've thought all unis were already moving (or had already moved) that way already, no?
the fact that someone like google handles making backups etc of all my documents is one of the best things, i would've said, about cloud based apps...

kandrews · 2009-10-08 02:36:41

I use a tablet PC. Got it for $350 off ebay. No need to get a fancier one since the one I got works great with linux.

Pank · 2009-10-08 05:41:00

pseudonomous wrote:

The one thing you really can't capture well is a picture; for that you've got to either skip it or draw it and scan it and embed it into the document later.

Math modes speeds things up quite a bit. And handy macros as you said.
The first year I used Tikz "live" for pictures.
Then I got lazy and started using plain acsii (artist-mode is great!) much the same way I grew to lazy and ditched LaTeX for Org-mode.

Just place a small spy camera in the lecture room and record everything. If the lecturer doesn't want to be filmed you can always get one of those tiny cameras that fits into a hat or watch...

But video is loong. Personally, I have no patience for that kind of stuff. It must be text.

Last edited by Pank (2009-10-08 05:41:58)

Kpunkt · 2009-10-11 20:56:27

Digital notices suck! You can't read stuff properly on a normal screen.

(And there's no flashgame 2 clicks away if you just write on paper )

Acecero · 2009-10-11 21:07:47

kandrews wrote:

I use a tablet PC. Got it for $350 off ebay. No need to get a fancier one since the one I got works great with linux.

Which brand?

Arm-the-Homeless · 2009-10-12 00:21:50

This may sound weird, but I just want you to consider it.

There's this great new thing- called paper.

You should try it.

Ranguvar · 2009-10-12 01:27:17

Arm-the-Homeless wrote:

This may sound weird, but I just want you to consider it.
There's this great new thing- called paper.
You should try it.

Paper is disposable and is made from trees, is hard to manage in large quantities, requires writing implements which are not always present and require constant maintenance, and is messy to edit.

bernarcher · 2009-10-12 09:31:34

Ranguvar wrote:

Arm-the-Homeless wrote:
This may sound weird, but I just want you to consider it.
There's this great new thing- called paper.
You should try it.
Paper is disposable and is made from trees, is hard to manage in large quantities, requires writing implements which are not always present and require constant maintenance, and is messy to edit.

But you can keep it for decades.

Because I lost so many notes in my computer-based lifetime, mainly due to format changes, I won't evermore be dependent on such a complex and rapidly evolving technology. In fact I do now print each and every text of value, and this proved worthwhile several times now. I just remember my latest total machine breakdown, where it turned out that half of my backups weren't readable with the new computer.

So if it comes to information keeping, nothing beates paper and folders (yet). But for processing information, I certainly prefer computers, even if I have to reenter some information over and over again.

Rasi · 2009-10-12 09:36:16

bernarcher wrote:

Ranguvar wrote:
Arm-the-Homeless wrote:
This may sound weird, but I just want you to consider it.
There's this great new thing- called paper.
You should try it.
Paper is disposable and is made from trees, is hard to manage in large quantities, requires writing implements which are not always present and require constant maintenance, and is messy to edit.
But you can keep it for decades.
Because I lost so many notes in my computer-based lifetime, mainly due to format changes, I won't evermore be dependent on such a complex and rapidly evolving technology. In fact I do now print each and every text of value, and this proved worthwhile several times now. I just remember my latest total machine breakdown, where it turned out that half of my backups weren't readable with the new computer.
So if it comes to information keeping, nothing beates paper and folders (yet). But for processing information, I certainly prefer computers, even if I have to reenter some information over and over again.

thats why digital notes should *always* be made in ascii files. Be it vim, emacs (org.mode) or latex

smartboyathome · 2009-10-12 14:32:42

iBertus wrote:

Just place a small spy camera in the lecture room and record everything. If the lecturer doesn't want to be filmed you can always get one of those tiny cameras that fits into a hat or watch...

In my state, it is illegal to film anything without permission from every party. This means no spy cameras allowed here.

fsckd · 2009-10-15 17:29:41

For pictures what you could do is carry a pad and draw the pictures on a side of each sheet. Label them as "Figure 1" and such. Then in your notes you can have "(see Figure 1)" where the image would have been. Later on you can scan the pictures and embed them into your document. The added benefit (at least over paper) is your not stuck with a weird layout from the start.

My classes have lots of large complex formulas and proofs. I'll consider using the latex solutions listed above for my own use.

Meskarune · 2009-10-18 19:47:15

I'm really surprised no one has mentioned these note taking tools:

Notelab http://java-notelab.sourceforge.net/
Jarnal http://www.dklevine.com/general/softwar … jarnal.htm
xournal http://sourceforge.net/projects/xournal/

You write on the digital paper just like real paper. Including math notation, diagrams, and in my case japanese. You can also annotate pdf documents, and I believe one of those programs allow you to change the paper texture, so you could take notes on graph paper. (in my biology and math classes I always used graph paper notebooks)

The program is similar to windows journal, but windows journal has search, so you can search your own hand written notes. I really want this functionaly to be added to an open source alternative. It would be a huge time saver. The windows journal software can also convert hand written notes into text that you can copy/paste. (I use windows 7 at work and mess the programs there)

Acecero · 2009-10-18 20:47:10

@Meskarune: Thank you for mentioning those. I was wondering if Linux had digital notetaking software. This will be useful for my Japanese course and other courses as well. I need to get a tablet PC soon.

Last edited by Acecero (2009-10-18 20:50:23)

Gen2ly · 2009-10-18 21:04:35

Ugh...

There's also wikidpad I just discovered in AUR. Looks pretty good though I haven't given it a full run yet.

Janarto · 2009-10-18 21:29:00

i only use paper + recording on a small digital recorder (yamaha pocketrack cx) and it's the best combo i've found

my_key · 2009-10-28 01:11:34

I usually use paper, but do record lectures (I'm dyslexic, so that way I can focus on learning and not on spelling).

Since I've got my new laptop with 9h battery life (eee 1000HE) I sometimes use vim for notes (usually half xhtml style and I finish off the markup at home).

I'm in the law field so no maths for me. I would use paper exclusively for maths.

urist · 2009-10-28 14:43:54

Meskarune wrote:

Jarnal http://www.dklevine.com/general/softwar … jarnal.htm

Emacs for text notes and simple ascii art representing hierarchy, etc., Jarnal for any particularly involved diagrams. It would be much easier with a tablet, though. Drawing with a finger and a touchpad is difficult, to say the least.

Meskarune · 2009-10-31 05:11:26

urist wrote:

Meskarune wrote:
Jarnal http://www.dklevine.com/general/softwar … jarnal.htm
Emacs for text notes and simple ascii art representing hierarchy, etc., Jarnal for any particularly involved diagrams. It would be much easier with a tablet, though. Drawing with a finger and a touchpad is difficult, to say the least.

I'm so bad at using laptop touch pads... I always hit the wrong things and get hand cramps... have to use a pocket usb mouse. lol Also I've had a laptop for 5 years, so unfortunately I can't use newness as an excuse. ><

hatten · 2009-11-03 20:29:42

thetrivialstuff wrote:

Theoretical stuff I really wish existed:
Using a touchpad as a poor man's tablet. To make this work, you'd need a battery-powered stylus, because touchpads are heat-sensitive and not pressure-sensitive. I haven't bothered to put together such a device yet because until last week I didn't have a laptop with a touchpad, but I'll let you know (realistically I won't get around to this anytime soon).

I recently got myself a netbook, without harddrive (it got an SD card), and i started searching the internet if it would be affected my magnets. After reading some and realizing that most electronics ain't affected i started testing it by playing around with a magnetic screwdriver. To my surprise the mouse suddenly jumped on the screen. After some googling and practical testing i realized that you can use a magnetic screwdriver instead of your own finger to move the mouse. You can also use a metal device to write as long as you touch the metal. I taped a small magnet to the tip of a ballpoint pen, and i could easily use that to move the mouse and press. Note that at least for my touchpad it wasn't enough to have the side of the magnet touching, it wasn't enough, and the bigger magnet i had the better.
If i now just had a good program, and some training, i could easily take notes.

Does anybody know of a possible program? Like those that pda's uses?

[drooling]left-hand dvorak+writing with magnetic pen on touchpad[/drooling]

fx4 · 2009-11-13 01:25:02

I use LyX.

flamelab · 2009-11-13 01:36:10

Pen(s), pencil(s) and piece of paper/notebook.

Simplicity ftw

evr · 2009-11-13 02:34:46

i don't go to lectures anymore, but when i did i always only used pencil and paper. Having a computer on gives to many reasons to not pay attention.

mikesd · 2009-11-13 04:15:43

my_key wrote:

Since I've got my new laptop with 9h battery life (eee 1000HE) I sometimes use vim for notes (usually half xhtml style and I finish off the markup at home).

I recently discovered vim-outliner and have found it useful. Might be worth looking at. It comes with a script that converts outlines to html.

bernarcher · 2009-11-13 06:26:33

+1 for vim-outliner
I use it for almost all text structuring work. It does even replace most of my former freemind work.
And it is a tremendous todo tool.

Arch Linux

#51 2009-10-08 00:20:11

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#52 2009-10-08 01:22:58

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#53 2009-10-08 02:36:41

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#54 2009-10-08 05:41:00

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#55 2009-10-11 20:56:27

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#56 2009-10-11 21:07:47

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#57 2009-10-12 00:21:50

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#58 2009-10-12 01:27:17

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#59 2009-10-12 09:31:34

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#60 2009-10-12 09:36:16

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#61 2009-10-12 14:32:42

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#62 2009-10-15 17:29:41

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#63 2009-10-18 19:47:15

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#64 2009-10-18 20:47:10

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#65 2009-10-18 21:04:35

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#66 2009-10-18 21:29:00

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#67 2009-10-28 01:11:34

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#68 2009-10-28 14:43:54

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#69 2009-10-31 05:11:26

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#70 2009-11-03 20:29:42

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#71 2009-11-13 01:25:02

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#72 2009-11-13 01:36:10

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#73 2009-11-13 02:34:46

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#74 2009-11-13 04:15:43

Re: Note taking in lectures.

#75 2009-11-13 06:26:33

Re: Note taking in lectures.

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