EverNote 2.0 Beta 2

Official product name: EverNote
Version # previewed: 2.0 Beta 2
Publisher: EverNote
Developer and URL: EverNote; www.evernote.com
ETA: Q2 2007
Why you should care: Perhaps the best way to store all those little bits of information.

There’s no shortage of note-taking applications for Windows, but most programs aren’t suitable for all users. For instance, some programs are very hierarchical, requiring the user to place every note in a folder, but some folks find this constraining. Others are totally free-form but offer virtually no useful searching, sorting, and categorizing functionality. Some are clearly intended for transient thoughts (like “Call Lisa”) and look like yellow sticky notes, while others look like miniature databases and make you fill out forms to manage long-term storage. EverNote, however, manages to straddle the fence of almost all these descriptions and even offers free and portable versions, potentially making it the best note keeper for all users.

EverNote organizes notes into a scrollable list called “tape.” Notes can contain text and graphics, and there are other note formats, as well, such as shopping list, phone message, and others. EverNote stamps each note with a date and category, and you can assign multiple categories to any note and even create your own.

The central pane contains your roll of notes you can scroll up and down until you see what you need. To find a note by date, click the Time Band button on the right side of the window and type in a date, or click any month or year in the Time Band to see the notes you’ve saved. Expand the Category pane to filter all notes in whatever categories you select. The beauty of categories vs. folders is that you can apply multiple categories to a note when appropriate.

EverNote also comes with Web Clipper, which makes capturing parts of Web pages and emails into a note a one-click task. You can password-protect note files and encrypt any text you select within a note with a unique password.

The latest beta works smoothly and looks totally gorgeous. What’s more, even the Help file is complete and, well, helpful, making EverNote well worth a look.

by Warren Ernst


JLC’s Internet TV 1.0 Beta 5b

Official product name: JLC’s Internet TV
Version # previewed: 1.0 Beta 5b
Publisher: Joakim L. Christiansen
Developer and URL: Joakim L. Christiansen; www.jlc-software.com
ETA: Q2 2007
Why you should care: If you’ve ever wanted to watch national and international TV online, this is the easiest way.


More and more TV stations around the world are streaming feeds via the Internet, but locating these feeds and playing them can be a chore for users. Now it’s easier to find numerous TV channels on the ’Net in one place with the help of JLC’s (Joakim L. Christiansen’s) Internet TV.

JLC’s Internet TV is fairly straightforward: All you have to do is install the latest version of Windows Media Player or RealPlayer and then run JLCIT. Once you download the program, hundreds of available TV feeds will appear on a list on the right side of the program’s window. You can sort these TV channels by name, country of origin, category (such as News, Education, General, and so forth), bit rate, and comments by clicking the column headers.

To play a TV channel’s Internet feed directly in the JLCIT window, just double-click the station in the list. The volume and playback controls will appear directly under video. If you want to change channels, just double-click a new channel from the list.

The latest beta essentially adds more features, including an improved Help file and a new way to update the station list that is more server-friendly. There are also a lot of improvements under the hood to help with future versions.

by Warren Ernst