Take your notes on the Cloud

Working with 3 computers that run 5 operating systems, I often get bits of information found only on a single PC, a url that I bookmarked for a very useful site, or a TXT file used to take a quick note (the equivalent of a post-it on the monitor).

When I had to move information from one PC to another, I usually sent myself a note via email–not so comfortable, in fact. But while I was installing the new Ubuntu 10.04, something enlightened me: “Ubuntu One.“ Canonical started his project for a personal space on the clouds where you can store files, take notes, store your contacts or bookmarks, or just read. I thought, “Finally, I can solve my problem,” and so I discovered Tomboy.

Tomboy is desktop software (Linux, Win or Mac!) that allows you to take notes, is written in C (using mono), and uses GtkSpell for syntax checking.

This small software stays in your system tray and allows you to open the menu with a simple click and create a new note–or open one of those already created. And, if you have many notes and do not remember how they were written, you can use the integrated search.

The syntax within the notes is  ’wiki style,’ so you can write words LikeThis (camelcase) to automatically create links to existing Notes, or they can be created with just a click on the link.

There are also a number of plugins such as: Drag your email (Evolution and claws) onto Tomboy to copy them automatically, export notes to HTML or LaTeX, or other multiple functions.

All this is certainly useful and well-done, but we have not yet reached the real gem. Right click and go to preferences, click synchronization and in service put “tomboy web,” if you’re on an Ubuntu machine, you should have the server address automatically filled. In other systems, write https://one.ubuntu.com/notes and then connect. The browser will open a login screen to the site.

If this is your first visit to Ubuntu One, you will be asked to sign up with the usual information. After that, you can log in (browser), and you will be prompted to add the PC to your Cloud. Once done, you will see that this will result in tomboy being connected … all is done now. You can make a copy of your notes on the remote repository; if you like, decide to sync automatically every X minutes—and also having the option (with a right click) to force a sync manually.

Repeat the installation of Tomboy on your second or N-th system and configure each system to use the Ubuntu repository to save your notes. Congratulations, you now have 2 gigabytes of space for taking notes synchronized among all of your computers!

And if you’re on a PC of a friend in a different place of work–or just around with your smartphone–and you really need your note?

Do not worry, you can view all the notes with any browser from the website https://one.ubuntu.com. What more can we ask for?