Capture Information in ShoveBox

Living online, we can get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of “stuff” that we need to keep track of — URLs, images, notes, quotes, snippets of information, the list goes on. With ShoveBox, you can easily capture all of that stuff into the application and keep it organized and easy to find when you need it. It’s designed to fit effortlessly into your workflow, making it ideal for users who aren’t productivity or organizational ninjas.

For example, you can quickly capture images from your Mac’s iSight Camera. Another capture option is QuickJot, which lets you speedily add your own notes into ShoveBox through a user-definable hotkey. While QuickJot notes don’t have the tagging and Source URL fields like Evernote, ShoveBox isn’t designed to be a full-blown note-taking application. QuickJot is for capturing notes on the fly.

ShoveBox also lets you capture data from the clipboard — it’s really easy to use and a great way to capture snippets of text you want to keep.

Organize Information in ShoveBox

ShoveBox doesn’t force you to use any organizational mantra or fad, so novice users can be organized and productive from the get-go. It has a simple set of organizational tools (folders, flags and labels) that you can set up and use as you wish.

You also have the option to export textual data to text, RTF, and Word files, and images to BMP, TIFF, JPG and PNG.

ShoveBox for iPhone

After checking out ShoveBox as part of the bounty from the MacHeist nanoBundle, I was happy to see there was an iPhone application — I was lucky enough to snag it while it was on sale. ShoveBox for iPhone lets you sync up with ShoveBox on your desktop via Wi-Fi and have full access to all your clippings while on the go.

If you missed the MacHeist nanoBundle, you can obtain ShoveBox directly from WonderWarp Software. It costs $24.95 for a full license with a 30-day trial available. The ShoveBox Mobile application is available from the iTunes App Store for $3.99.

How do you keep tabs on all the bits and bytes of your digital life?

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For the sake of all those involved, and to avoid scaring people in my area away from specific groups or events, the identities of all those involved will be kept a secret. The specific names of people doesn’t matter so much as the setting and organization of the event, anyway.

Tweetup the First — Small + Casual = Quality

Like a debutante at her first ball, I was nervous but excited about attending my very first tweetup. Two things drew me out of my shell: The organizer was someone with whom I’d had very positive dialogues on Twitter leading up to the event, and the guest list was small and handpicked by said organizer, whose judgment I trusted. It didn’t hurt the the venue was mere blocks from my house, in a neighborhood I was familiar with.

The format was very informal, without a guest speaker, and with socializing at the top of the agenda. Drinks (primarily sangria) and conversation flowed freely, and not once did I encounter a sales pitch or aggressive self-promotion, though I did walk away with a few business cards and a strong impression of who people were and what they did. That was key for me, since the hard sell inevitably sends me screaming for the hills.

End result: I had some laughs, made some worthwhile connections, and generally had a good time. I can be shy meeting people for the first time, but the small group size (10 to 12 people) made it impossible to stay in my shell for long.

Tweetup the Second — Large + Cliquey = Nothing Worth Tweeting Home About

I was so impressed with my first tweetup experience that when another hashtagged event came up a month or so later, involving some of the people from the first and a whole lot more, I was all for attending. This one was different in a few key ways: It was an ongoing monthly event with a larger, devoted following, and the setting was bigger and flashier, lending it a definite party vibe. At first, that was what appealed to me about the event, but I think it ultimately bears most of the responsibility for my eventual disappointment.

Maybe I should’ve looked more closely at the attendees list, but what I found out too late was that most of the people attending this particular event were already deeply entrenched in their own cliques, so that they basically pared off into tightly knit clusters of four or five at the beginning of the evening and talked (as groups of friends often do) about insider things that I wasn’t privy to. A few new attendees who were in the same boat as myself managed to group together and chat amongst ourselves, but it felt a little too much like being relegated to the kids’ table at a family reunion for my tastes.

Take-aways

This by no means covers all the bases when it comes to tweetups. I’ve yet to attend the kind that takes place in a convention hall and features a guest speaker(s), for instance. But it did teach me some valuable lessons about what to expect when your Twitter usage intersects with the real world. My advice to other novices: Try out more intimate events first, even if your natural inclination is to go to bigger happenings in order to blend in more easily with the crowd. For event organizers, I’d advise you to try to avoid clique formation as best as possible. I’d rather not spend my night feeling like I’m back in high school, whether or not I bring a built-in group of friends along for the ride.

Do you attend tweetups? If so, what do you/don’t you like about them? If not, what are your reasons for staying away, and what might convince you to go?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks