Just under two months ago, I wrote about how I was switching my task manager of choice from Remember the Milk to Wunderlist. As of today -- as soon as I finish writing this post -- I'm switching back. Here's why.
Date entry
To add a task in RTM using the web interface, one enters the name of the task and any associated information (due date, priority, tags, etc.) into a one-line text box. Task details are prepended by a designated character. This is called Smart Add, and it's brilliant. For example, "Wash car ^3 weeks" will set a task due three weeks from today, and "Elgar's time capsule opened in Worcestershire ^2-23-2034" will remind me to watch BBC News in 23 years. No sweat.
To add a due date to a task in Wunderlist using the web interface, you have to flip through a pop-up calendar. Want to set a reminder for the year 2034? You best start clicking; you have 276 months to get through. The only way around this is to use the Wunderlist mobile app (on iOS, you can use the scrolling date picker) or to send your task via email.
The RTM mobile app allows you to use the scrolling date picker or choose from a list of never, tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, etc. or enter the date in text like you would on the web version. I can't speak for email adding, because I haven't tested it thoroughly.
Interface blues
Once, I had Wunderlist open in a Chrome tab. I was going about my business and decided to switch to it and add a task. I jumped to the tab, clicked in the add-a-task box and started typing "read this article" or something. Unfortunately, I was too fast for the interface, which decided to refresh itself, which caused the focus to be stolen away from the text box. The shortcut key for deleting a list of tasks is D. I lost the focus, hit D, hit space (accidentally confirming the action), and permanently lost an entire list of twenty tasks in less than a second. Yes, I did it, and it's my fault, but I am not okay with having to wait a moment to make sure an app is ready when I switch to it.
RTM is zippy, and every action is echoed at the top of the page: "List 'Personal' deleted. Undo?" "Task completed. Undo?"
No big picture, no big sorted list
For better or worse, I need to be able to see all my tasks in one big list sorted by date. Wunderlist does not offer this. Wunderlist does not sort tasks by date -- even when viewing a single list -- unless you drag them into order yourself.
Whose fault is it, anyway?
In my previous post, I wrote that "[S]ometimes I worry that I spend more time managing my tasks than actually getting anything done." However, that's my fault, and mine alone. I shouldn't blame RTM for being a feature-rich app.
The two things I'll miss...
Wunderlist is more attractive than RTM. I love the wood-panel background and chalkboard background that you can set your task list on. Even the reminder or news emails from the team are gorgeous. RTM is simple and clean and good-looking enough, but more than once, I felt like an idiot at the Baylor Library for opening up a page with a big picture of a cow at the top.
Also, free syncing across all devices. Wunderlist, and all of their mobile apps (Android and iOS), and all syncing, is all free. Free RTM users get one manual sync every 24 hours. Pro users, for $25 a year, get free, unlimited, and automatic syncing. Note that this is only for the sleek RTM app, though -- rememberthemilk.com in mobile Safari is always free as free, and it works ~fairly well.
But, the thing is, you know... I just might love RTM enough to go pro. And I'm okay with that.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Dear RTM...
Dear RTM,
I met someone new the other day.
I can explain...
I love your interface. It's so fun to use. I trust it, and I trust you so much. Wunderlist is strange. It doesn't have a sort-by-date option. I can't tell you how much I'll miss your glorious, long list of tasks, sorted by date. With Wunderlist, I don't feel like I can get a big picture overview... since it can't even sort by date. But... maybe that's not what I need. Maybe I need a segmented list. Maybe I only need to see what's just ahead. I do tend to get scared by big pictures. I do tend to lose focus.
And you're so powerful, it's really great... but I don't always use all of your features. I never use locations, or time estimates... and tags are just another way for me to procrastinate. "Put off"... "Really put off"... and I love your rainbow of priorities, too, but sometimes I worry that I spend more time managing my tasks than actually getting anything done. Wunderlist is so simple, there's no way for me to ignore whether I'm ready for tomorrow or not. She just tells me how it is... and maybe I need that.
And... I like your iPad app, but it can only sync once a day unless I pay. I have given you so much attention these last few years, and you still ask me for more, while Wunderlist just sits there and shines: "Free for Every Device." If that ever changes, I'll come a-knocking, but until then, dear, what else can I do?
The transition might not be easy, but there's no better time to do it.
RTM, you got me through college, and I'll always have a special place for you in my heart.
Good-bye... for now...
--Anson
I met someone new the other day.
I can explain...
I love your interface. It's so fun to use. I trust it, and I trust you so much. Wunderlist is strange. It doesn't have a sort-by-date option. I can't tell you how much I'll miss your glorious, long list of tasks, sorted by date. With Wunderlist, I don't feel like I can get a big picture overview... since it can't even sort by date. But... maybe that's not what I need. Maybe I need a segmented list. Maybe I only need to see what's just ahead. I do tend to get scared by big pictures. I do tend to lose focus.
And you're so powerful, it's really great... but I don't always use all of your features. I never use locations, or time estimates... and tags are just another way for me to procrastinate. "Put off"... "Really put off"... and I love your rainbow of priorities, too, but sometimes I worry that I spend more time managing my tasks than actually getting anything done. Wunderlist is so simple, there's no way for me to ignore whether I'm ready for tomorrow or not. She just tells me how it is... and maybe I need that.
And... I like your iPad app, but it can only sync once a day unless I pay. I have given you so much attention these last few years, and you still ask me for more, while Wunderlist just sits there and shines: "Free for Every Device." If that ever changes, I'll come a-knocking, but until then, dear, what else can I do?
The transition might not be easy, but there's no better time to do it.
RTM, you got me through college, and I'll always have a special place for you in my heart.
Good-bye... for now...
--Anson
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A Spring Break Sampler
I've got a bunch of things to share that I discovered this Spring Break! Topics include:
Linotype machines, invented in 1884, allowed typesetters to prepare type (to be used in a printing press) one line at a time instead of one character at a time. Despite their extreme complexity and awesomeness, these machines were smashed up like junk in the 1970s, as new technology took their place.
A few machines have survived, though, and a feature-length documentary is in production!
Be sure to check out the trailer. I'm really looking forward to it, and when I grow up and have a job, one of the first things I'll do is buy one of their posters or something.
What fascinates me most about this contraption is its ability to create justified spacing (you know, when a paragraph is square on the left and right sides). Think of it -- a mechanical device, automatically spacing out words to make everything line up via flexible spacebands. Brilliant.
Maybe this is just me, but sometimes, the animation felt strange. I remember it was heralded as a big deal -- Disney's return to classic animation!! Most of the time, everything looked fine, hand-drawn and normal. Every few moments, though, it looked like the animators had taken a drawing and used the computer to translate it across the screen in a certain way. Characters moving across the screen, or shrinking and growing, and camera pans were smooth... but too smooth. Almost unnaturally so.
It's hard to describe, but every time something like that happened, it stuck out to me. To use an extreme example, it's like when Family Guy is going along normally, and all of a sudden a plane crash-lands in the middle of the street, and you can tell that the plane is computer-animated because it doesn't match anything else.
Or, perhaps my brain was confused, because the night before, I had watched...
OH. MY. GOSH. I don't know what it is about this movie, or the universe happening to line up at a certain perfect point, but I was completely enraptured from start to finish. The trailers are alright, and I thought it might be cool to see, but I was just completely blown away. I have not gotten so into a movie while watching it in quite a while.
I could go on and on about it, but I will stop here with my enthusiastic recommendation. (Personally, I find that my best movie-watching experiences occur when I am the least informed. A trailer or two is more than welcome, but I like to give movies a chance to speak for themselves.)
Here are some must-reads and must-sees that I found during my splurge of fandom. First, this:
I'll leave the link-hopping adventure to you (beware of spoilers at your own risk), but here are a couple of things I wanted to comment on:
... (I'm done.)
After driving past it a billion times, I finally went to Niko Niko's with a good friend last night. The place has received tons of awards and recognition, and I reckon it deserves them!
The place was full (on the inside; outside tables were empty), but we had no wait -- bustling, but cozy. You step in, and feel like the place is fun, welcoming, and serious about food all at the same time. If I was a downtown Houstonite, I'd hit it up for lunch once a week and for coffee and dessert dates as often as possible.
According to my receipt, our cashier's name was Daphne, which is awesome (friendly, check; cute, also check). I had a Greek Chicken Parmesan, which is like Italian chicken Parmesan, but Greekified and served in a pita -- delicious!! Greek salad, also good. Side of French fries, gigantic and good.
Thus, I give it my official recommendation and blessing. Be sure to check it out if you're ever in the neighborhood!
- Linotype
- The Princess and the Frog
- Tangled
- Niko Niko's
Linotype
Linotype machines, invented in 1884, allowed typesetters to prepare type (to be used in a printing press) one line at a time instead of one character at a time. Despite their extreme complexity and awesomeness, these machines were smashed up like junk in the 1970s, as new technology took their place.
A few machines have survived, though, and a feature-length documentary is in production!
Be sure to check out the trailer. I'm really looking forward to it, and when I grow up and have a job, one of the first things I'll do is buy one of their posters or something.
What fascinates me most about this contraption is its ability to create justified spacing (you know, when a paragraph is square on the left and right sides). Think of it -- a mechanical device, automatically spacing out words to make everything line up via flexible spacebands. Brilliant.
The Princess and the Frog
I watched this movie with a friend the other day... and I thought it was fine. I very much liked the main character, and her family, and her dreams. The story was fine, the songs were fine. The bad guy was creepy. The trumpet-playing alligator was... slightly annoying. My favorite parts were the beginning moments, during Tiana's introduction and whenever she was with her family.Maybe this is just me, but sometimes, the animation felt strange. I remember it was heralded as a big deal -- Disney's return to classic animation!! Most of the time, everything looked fine, hand-drawn and normal. Every few moments, though, it looked like the animators had taken a drawing and used the computer to translate it across the screen in a certain way. Characters moving across the screen, or shrinking and growing, and camera pans were smooth... but too smooth. Almost unnaturally so.
It's hard to describe, but every time something like that happened, it stuck out to me. To use an extreme example, it's like when Family Guy is going along normally, and all of a sudden a plane crash-lands in the middle of the street, and you can tell that the plane is computer-animated because it doesn't match anything else.
Or, perhaps my brain was confused, because the night before, I had watched...
Tangled
OH. MY. GOSH. I don't know what it is about this movie, or the universe happening to line up at a certain perfect point, but I was completely enraptured from start to finish. The trailers are alright, and I thought it might be cool to see, but I was just completely blown away. I have not gotten so into a movie while watching it in quite a while.
I could go on and on about it, but I will stop here with my enthusiastic recommendation. (Personally, I find that my best movie-watching experiences occur when I am the least informed. A trailer or two is more than welcome, but I like to give movies a chance to speak for themselves.)
Here are some must-reads and must-sees that I found during my splurge of fandom. First, this:
- "The Art of Tangled" @ Pushing Pixels
I'll leave the link-hopping adventure to you (beware of spoilers at your own risk), but here are a couple of things I wanted to comment on:
- Once you've seen the movie, be sure to check out one, two, and three Tangled articles on a blog called Temple of the Seven Golden Camels, which I would say is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen on the internet. If you've ever been curious about storytelling, or making movies, this blog is for you. Read it now. There are other Tangled articles in there, too, but you've got to do some digging!
- A Flickr account where a guy reviews "The Art of _____" books, including The Art of 'Tangled'. (possible spoiler alert!) His reviews include hi-res pictures of pages from the books, which you can see at the link above.
- You can also dig around for pictures from other "Art of" books. Just search this page for the text "artof".
- How about some hazelnut soup?
- How about some Pascal / Rapunzel papercraft?!?
... (I'm done.)
Niko Niko's
2520 Montrose, Houston, TX
The place was full (on the inside; outside tables were empty), but we had no wait -- bustling, but cozy. You step in, and feel like the place is fun, welcoming, and serious about food all at the same time. If I was a downtown Houstonite, I'd hit it up for lunch once a week and for coffee and dessert dates as often as possible.
According to my receipt, our cashier's name was Daphne, which is awesome (friendly, check; cute, also check). I had a Greek Chicken Parmesan, which is like Italian chicken Parmesan, but Greekified and served in a pita -- delicious!! Greek salad, also good. Side of French fries, gigantic and good.
Thus, I give it my official recommendation and blessing. Be sure to check it out if you're ever in the neighborhood!
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