Naming the documents that you put into your DEVONthink database can be a science or even an art in itself. Some prefer to use some systematics, other precede the documents with the current date (something I used to do but have long abandoned) , and even others simply try to describe the contents of the file. For most documents, however, a good name is already there: the headline of the captured article. To quickly rename the document, select the headline or whatever text passage you would like to use, right-click or Control-click, and choose Set Title As from the contextual menu. (mehr)

Just a quick reminder: If you are writing for your own blog or you are linking to our web site for whatever other reason, be smart, grab your share in all the revenue we make from your link to us! Joining us as an affiliate is easy. Our affiliate page explains all the details in-depth, and if you want to even place a jungle-themed banner, I have worked night-shifts for you to make nice-looking ones on common formats. (mehr)

Mark Shead asked a number of people how they would advise creating a filing system from scratch. Then the readers of Productivity501 voted for the best one. Of course, this also involved the use of DEVONthink when it comes to effectively organizing electronic documents or getting rid of paper. (mehr)

With all the buzz about the old and new iPhone as well as other smartphones and the the still-existing Palm devices, I wonder how many of you are actually using them for more than just a super-calender, address book, and mobile web browser? Do you take notes, make outlines, even store files on them like on a USB stick? Vote here.

In The Atlantic, Nicholas Carr writes about the inpact that media of any kind has on the way we think, from the invention of the printing press to the Internet. Being four (!) pages long, the article puts itself clearly into the opposite position to what it defines as how the Internet distributes information: ‘in a swiftly moving stream of particles’. Definitely worth reading. (mehr)

Just a short note that we have released DEVONagent 2.3.1, a maintenance update that brings a large number of smaller improvements in all areas, from updated search engine plugins, scanner plugins, and default search sets to better advertisement and index spam filters.

Even after reading so much about Twitter, I am still unsure about what it can be useful for. Looks like a mixture between blogging, instant messaging, IRC-style discussion groups, everything together cooked up in a pot and carefully stirred. The AcademHacK blog gives a few firsts shots about one can use Twitter professionally, but what do you think? BTW: I have opened my own account, but still experimenting.

At the moment, I am trying to build a network of consultants who help users of DEVONthink and DEVONagent in their area with setting up the applications, integrate it into their workflow, and share the little tips and tricks that squeeze the most of the apps. If you are working in the IT field, consider yourself savvy in DEVONthink and DEVONagent, and would like to share your expertise with a user when needed, please feel free to get in touch with me.

As the President of a US company I just had to visit our local copy of an American Wild West festival. For a couple of days wanna-be cowboys and indians lived in tents, worked in small craft shops, operated a stylish saloon — and had a lot of fun! Click the image to the left to see the Swabian/German/English menu 🙂 … (mehr)

If you want to import a batch of scanned PDFs without converting them to searchable PDFs right away, e.g. because you want to run the time-consuming OCR process later, you can easily do so. Import the files, e.g. to a group “To OCR”. Later, make sure to check Preferences > OCR > Original Document > Move to Trash, select all the documents, and convert them in one batch using Data > Convert > To Searchable PDF. This replaces the selected scanned PDFs with searchable copies and deletes the original file in one batch.