Re: ThoughtBack

[brian powell <briangpowellms@gmail.com>]

On Fri, Jul 15, 2011 at 9:00 AM, Memnon Anon
<gegendosenfleisch@googlemail.com> wrote:
> John Hendy <jw.hendy@gmail.com> writes:
>> On Wed, Jul 13, 2011 at 11:11 AM, Bastien <bzg@altern.org> wrote:
> [...]
>>> Or did I miss something?
>>
>> Don't think so. Googling produces little, either.
> [...]
>> So... looks like notes + some other feature set that's unexplained?
>
> I found some stuff, e.g.:
> http://vimeo.com/16594128 [which I did not check]
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k4CXVFcgDg [which I just watched]
> http://www.facebook.com/thoughtback
>
> But I wholeheartedly do *not* recommend it:
>
> ,----[ https://thoughtback.com/ ]
> | Put Something In
> |
> | Enter something in that you find important. Do it through your iPhone, Mac, or Browser.
> |
> | Get Something Back
> |
> ! We store it and then randomly send you back something from the past. Keeping your brain flowing.
> | ^^^^^^^^^^^
> `----
>
> Who would want to keep his data, especially when it is easily and
> quickly captured (to use org terminology) - i.e. probably some very
> personal stuff - to be saved "in the cloud"?
>
> I did no serious investigation on this, please correct me if I am
> wrong, I don't want to spread FUD about a new project!
>
> Memnon
>
>
>
>
>

* I agree with your concerns Memnon and Bastien; but, I'll play
"Devil's Advocate" with you:

** Completely agree with the lack of help and documentation--major
reason I started the thread--fishin' for info!

** BTW: https://thoughtback.com/about/terms?/privacy

*** Your email address is one of the most public things you "own".  I
worry about giving out any information too nowadays.  But hacking into
someone's email can land you in jail--even if they previously gave you
their password and temporary permission at some point.

** I believe the idea is you put things like "Need to get a new ladder
#HomeDepot." or "Work on #OrgMode software."

*** Don't believe the idea is that you put in any private information.

* To me I see a free online service that is searchable and one can jot
notes, reminders and/or URL's in--it could be used as a NotePad app
for copy and paste, it is indexable and searchable--and (most
important to me) as a remote SMS messaging service:

** "The Future of Thoughtback":
http://blog.thoughtback.com/post/7630178945/the-future-of-thoughtback

"Our goal is to help people choose and organize the thoughts they want
to remember. Programming your mind to think and act the way you want
is not only powerful, but exciting. By constantly getting these
“thoughts back”, your mind begins to shape itself differently. These
form your actions, ideas, habits, and choices.

* So what’s the near-future roadmap look like?

An API for developers
SMS (texting) to send/receive thoughts
New settings for getting your thoughts back
Improved iPhone and Mac apps
Beta opt-in program to test new ideas"

* What does this have to do with OrgMode!?:

** ThoughtBack sends you random reminders from the thoughts you put in
(I'm thinking GTD)--I'm thinking maybe a mashup with MindMaps and
maybe OrgMode.

* At this point, to me: Its another (minor) tool in the toolbox--its
free, and always-on and available--as long as I have an Internet
connection.

** Its like Twitter I guess; but, it sends thoughts back to you rather
than the millions of Tweeters that probably don't care about how your
cat seems to feel or that you ought to get a new ladder--but to you,
these things may be important.

** This sort of thing, writing down things to do and/or thoughts or
ideas that may be useful in the future is a good thing to do--you can
stop dwelling on it, its often a worthless or obsessive thought but
the act of writing it down somewhere allows the mind to relax on the
subject and get back to what is more important at the time: I learned
this from a book by Tony Buzan: "Make the Most of Your Mind (February,
1984) ISBN 0-671-49519-4 "

*** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Buzan : "Anthony "Tony" Peter
Buzan ( /ˈbuːzən/; born 2 June 1942) is an author and educational
consultant. He is a proponent of the techniques of Mind Mapping[1] and
mental literacy."

** In OrgMode I guess most people put in deadlines and schedules etc.;
maybe https://thoughtback.com could become a site one can use to put
thoughts that don't fit any structured category, time-lined project or
pressing to-do list.