SalesForce.com acquires Clipboard, plans to shut it down.
blog.clipboard.com
blog.clipboard.com
I used to maintain an enormous bookmarks list with Delicious but ever since I matured my use of Emacs with org-mode that habit has changed.
I now maintain a number of well-organized files with org-mode and remember-mode. It's not just the "files" though, it's also the process, org-mode, org-agenda, and remember-mode (now org-capture) is fluid and stays out of my way while being highly expressive. Because Emacs is always open and I'm practically always using it moving all of it into Emacs with org-mode has made my life much more streamlined when clipping/capturing the information I encounter throughout daily life.
I have these different files:
- Prospectus
- Spark
- Grimoire
- Dreams
- Fashion
- Food
- Music
- Bookmarks
- Software
- Recreation
- calendars/parnell
I keep ALL of my org-mode files in my ownCloud directory (like DropBox but I own it) - which syncs with my ownCloud server on Rackspace which backs up all the data daily.
Prospectus is an org file that contains all of my project ideas. I use a remember-mode template for this so all I do is hit M-F1 select [p] and it pops up a template for the project idea prompting me for the name, keywords, and description - it also auto-fills the date and time I created it. I then type C-c C-c and it's automatically saved into prospectus.org. Any project idea is captured here, electronics, carpentry, startups, opensource, whatever.
Spark is an org file for capturing pithy sayings, great comments on Reddit/Hacker News that I like, blocks of text that are important or memorable from anywhere (books, email, web, etc...). I capture conversations, inspirational stuff, anything that I've discovered from other people. I have a remember-mode template for this one too.
Grimoire is like my personal recipe/potion book - I use it to capture a unique and interesting process I've figured out; novel solutions to anything from cutting an X leg for my desk to software. Meditation and life-process; my own personal anecdotes; relationships; psychology; pretty much anything that I've discovered, experienced, or figured out on my own. This is NOT a journal though, it's restricted to process, knowledge, and observations. I have a remember-mode template for this one too.
Dreams when I remember my dreams I capture them in there with remember-mode.
Fashion any interesting styles I find on the internet, clothing/apparel makers I find, shoe makers, tips, etc... This has its own remember-mode template.
Food recipes (my own and others) and restaurants. Remember-mode template.
Music any artists/tracks I find that I like.
Bookmarks any websites that are interesting to me with description as to WHY it is interesting to me and a set of keywords. Remember-mode template.
Software any interesting software that I discover and that I'm using - I often times find neat little scripts or utilities that I install in the moment and use, but tend to forget about what it is named and where I found it.
Recreation I capture all of my own ideas and other people's ideas/activities for fun things TO DO. Specific locations for hiking/camping; science museums; etc... Remember-mode template.
calendars/parnell is my personal calendar synced with ownCloud, org-agenda, and my Android phone - pretty obvious why and what, but the system is remarkably smooth and really stays out of my way while still being highly accessible. Calendar TODO and EVENTs have their own remember-mode templates too; because it syncs with my Android phone through ownCloud from org-agenda; it means I can quickly insert new TODOs or EVENTs and still get the helpful calendar reminders on my phone.
Are you familiar with Gina Trapani's ToDo.txt? http://todotxt.com/
Seems like it might be up your alley if you don't have a system already. You should ping @ginatrapani with a link to your comment - I imagine she'd be interested...
The problem with Gina's solution and any other solution is that the code is proprietary. I don't know what the data-format is used (sounds like it's just text, which is good) but I like that org is all text based.
Gina's solution also doesn't include highly customizable remember-mode templates (I have quite a few of my own elisp extensions to remember-mode).
Another thing that I can do right in emacs with org-mode: Spaced Repetition. Every day I run a spaced repetition routine using org-drill that runs through thousands of vocabulary words I've collected over time that I didn't know at that time (a remember-mode template, of course); I have org-drill cards for math, logic, science, &c... Anything factual that I want to remember I keep in org-drill and run through it every morning.
I also customized the org-drill system: http://ixmat.us/articles/2012-12-01_usable-org-drill.html
[EDIT] Here's the port of mobileorg from iphone to android: https://github.com/matburt/mobileorg-android
Luckily, Pinboard (pinboard.in) has this capability, including full text search, with an archival account ($25/yr). As does Evernote, but I find Evernote a bit heavy weight for solely bookmarks. (Note: Pinboard is not Pinterest.)
I save hundreds of bookmarks per month - basically everything interesting that I read and might want to reference later. I reference my bookmarks less than I had expected, but I'm still happy and getting definite value from it.
To be honest, my ideal bookmarking system would record and index literally /every/ website I ever visit. Then I don't need to take any action and can't accidentally fail to find something I viewed before. I've considered implementing this scheme for myself but have not yet followed through, since Pinboard works pretty well, and is easy to activate using a bookmark.
My one complaint about Pinboard is that I found it difficult to obtain support. I contacted them through their advertised support channel about a problem I initially encountered during the signup process, and never heard back.
Its an ongoing project - feedback is super welcome!
My roadmap, if you will, is to keep building out core functionality, particularly around unique ways to create value in the bookmarking space - like the embryonic "Subscriptions" feature you'll notice in the black menu bar. I'd also like to build out "table-stake" options like full-content archiving. Once I've got some unique value to market, and a baseline level of functionality to match the competition, I would consider charging for it.
Open sourcing it: honestly, I don't think I know enough about the process to do so successfully - i.e.: I don't want to just create another dead github project, but I don't know enough about the community side of it to create something "living," so to speak. Would welcome your thoughts on it though.
In regards to getting your data out- you can dump it at any time to a CSV file under your username menu in the upper right-hand corner. Its not a rich export, but its simple and parseable, so your data is never trapped, per se.
One question: do you intend to make browser extensions? I understand that bookmarklets are simple and fairly universal, however the bookmarks bar is inconvenient for me, as opposed to a button to the right of the address bar.
Extensions are definitely in scope for the future though - not just to bookmark things, but sync your browser bookmarks/folders with your LinkThing content etc. Any thoughts or suggestions you have would be appreciated!
It seemed this thing was headed for acquisition from the start.
I'm done using these sorts of services. If it doesn't run within my Emacs / Vim / Unix workflow then I won't bother, or I will build it myself.
Is anybody building a company for the long-haul these days, or has the home flipping bubble just moved over to the startup world?
We need to start a trend / honor system for startups to sign so users know they won't be shafted down the road.
I'm going to start a startup that has some standard legal docs that says you won't shut the company/product down even if acquired (disregarding business failure). You get a quality-mark type badge for your site.
If this is "flipping" anything, it's flipping the team. I doubt there was much of a pay out for this.
Is there much evidence people are really starting shops just to prove their team is worth hiring?
Another note: a reasonable sign that you're at risk of getting 'shafted' as a user is that the company is relatively new, definitely not profitable, and you're not paying for the product.
Pinterest did pinning with just images, these guys did for grabbing any web content! Amazing. A great blogger tool. But once you start grabbing web content it starts to look like a bookmarking service. That's were they headed to.
I would have paid them an yearly subscription. And I don't like to bookmark URL's, rather save interesting tit-bits of web-content to my Board. ( grab those useful HN comments and add to my Clipboard)
Clipboard could have emerged as content-grabbing, content-management with collaboration, had they rolled out some paid-service model. They never even tried to speak to their users!
Founders need to be accountable for such drastic shutdowns. And if such shutdown's happen often, don't users lose trust? Users kinda lose confidence to invest their energy and time on early-starup products. Right?
what's it to do with salesforce?
Seriously, I think I will go back to the old school word document for storing stuff, you can't trust services like this to last. Does anyone have a recommendation of a paid alternative that won't close?
"Pinboard also offers a personal web archive, at a cost of $25/year. Users who choose archiving get a permanent, cached copy of every bookmark they save, and can search the full text of their saved links. (The one-time signup fee counts towards the first year's subscription.)"
Not sure how much more of a guarantee of permanence you get from them, but the fellow behind Pinboard has a great track record of business model innovation.
I understand a lot of people are frustrated, but at the end of the day, you're using a free service and to be honest not many start-ups are in it for the long-haul. Clipboard never quite got the traction it deserved.
I'm really glad they're giving users complete control to acquire their data and, even better, that they're encouraging developers to use their data and import it into other tools.
If SalesForce has some "forces" in it, they shall simply let a small team of 1 or 2 people to just maintain it.
Or at least, opensource it.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/25/salesforce-acquires-techsta...
If you offered the employees more money they would work for you. Why payoff the VCs?
>Why payoff the VCs?
Because they're probably interested in the executive/founding team, and they can't leave without placating their investors. Wouldn't be surprised if the employees got shafted/walked away with a mild bonus.
As far as I can tell, this sort of thing basically acts as a shareholder wealth redistribution scheme to people who have demonstrated social proof.