It was not easy to say goodbye to Remember the Milk. I've shelled out $25 for a Pro account (& I'm cheap when it comes to these things).

I also got a ton of tasks already up & running in RTM. Since they conveniently didn't put an export feature, this has increased my reluctance to transfer to another task management system.

Another reason for my hesitation is that Toodledo, my best alternative, has an ugly website. I love my websites pretty. And RTM is pretty.

Unfortunately, it seems like pretty is all they have going.

So I remained a blind follower. Much like Apple fan boys are to Steve Jobs ("He said I don't need MMS, so I don't!")

When the developers of RTM said that I don't need all the features I was aching to have, I decided to believe them: So what if they don't have subtasks? I can use tags for all my subprojects. I can live with it. Even if I accidentally create duplicate tasks because my tags get buried. Maybe I could just clean my list ever so often.

And so what if they haven't updated RTM in ages? So what if they don't publish their roadmap so we have an idea of what's in store in the future? RTM said Apple doesn't publish their roadmap either. And, er, they're like Apple. Right?

But months later, I noticed I spend more time fixing my task list & removing duplicates than actually working with them.

A visit in the forums confirmed my deepest fears. A post from RTM said they will not implement subtasks. Ever.

As we've now provided several ways to organize tasks (tags, lists, and Smart Lists), we have no plans to introduce subtasks.

A workaround for subtasks might be to use lists and tags -- for example, I have a list named 'Shopping', and within that list I've tagged tasks with 'supermarket', 'mall', etc. I can then view tasks tagged with 'supermarket' in my 'Shopping' list, which helps to break down the list.

Hope this helps!

Fortunately, it did help -- in making me decide to jump ship.

Pretty is thrown out the window, and I skipped happily to Toodledo, ordered the Plus account, & worked on my tasks from scratch.

It was wonderful. From the first few entries, until I've successfully migrated 100% (& more) of my tasks from Remember the Milk. My only regret is not doing it from the beginning, before I got suckered in by RTM.

Toodledo is very straightforward. The best thing about it is how I can configure it the way I want. Don't want to work with Tags? Hide it. Don't like Contexts? Hide it. Want to see tasks ordered by Due Date? Here ya go. How about by Folder? And there it is.

It still aint pretty. I still wish they would finally get the service of a fantastic UI designer to help them out.

But pretty isn't everything. Even if I say so myself.

They say that once you start using a Mac, you will never go back to Windows again. And I was a big enough of an idiot to believe it. So I prepared myself in the eventuality that I would become a fan boy, and converted all my data to work seamlessly with Apple's OS X.

A Big Mistake

But then it hit me that there are a lot of things that Apple just can't or wouldn't do, and I had to start using Windows once again -- at least for almost half of my computing tasks. Vmware Fusion or dual-booting just won't cut it. I need these two platforms on their own separate machines for my productivity's sake.

I also realized that the only things which makes me hang on to my Mac is its hardware, iWork Keynote, and how it renders fonts on the screen. The lack of keyboard shortcuts in the Mac is already becoming a big source of frustration, and I crave to once again be able to hit Alt-F to access the File menu.

These practically scream that I am on the brink of another big shift, especially with the looming launch of Windows 7.

I also discovered that I am not, and probably never will be, loyal to a single operating system ... and that I would continuously make the change as I see fit.

Shake the fervents

There are probably other users like me who has gone past the Mac is the Greatest brouhaha.

There will probably be more, as we get additional information about Steve Job's health, and we are reminded of the eventuality of life, and that it's time to embrace technology & its changes without being hindered by fanaticism.

There are already applications & services who have started to make that shift: Dropbox, Evernote, Live Sync, Plaxo, and Remember the Milk, to name a few.

Others, such as Things, who had been more preoccupied with releasing their iPhone app than fixing the bugs that their users have submitted, and have not included in their roadmap a version for Windows, or even a web-based service to store data, would probably be left being used by their Mac zealots. Or whatever will be left of them in the next 10 years.

The road to cross platform computing is surprisingly not as long as it is perceived it to be. It is right here, right now.

Wufoo's design is fun, creative, & original. The choice of bright colors goes very well with theme.

Wufoo would probably benefit by standardizing its link colors and employing a more striking style for its headlines.

From Nice Websites

Despite being one of the first users of the application, I still don't know if Evernote is an app that I could ever fall in love with.

Evernote has everything I know I should be enthused about - it is cross platform, maximizes cloud technology, features automated syncing of notes across computers, etc.

However, even after numerous user interface revamps, there is still something I find horribly wrong & ugly with Evernote. True, there there have been improvements over the years, such as the removal of that horrible ribbon scrollbar. But still, Evernote has a long way to go in this new era of interface & usability design. Mock me if you will, but I need certain apps to be real pretty.

I'm also not comfortable with its roadmap for the premier version. $45/year seems like a steep price for a single feature which I found attractive, and which Google Docs gives for free: sending notes via email from my iPhone.

Sadly, however, this is the best we could get as of the moment.

The year 2008 was the year of gadgets & productivity. How about yours?

1. Jailbroken iPhone. Out of the box, the iPhone was merely an Internet device, & I had to fight the urge to dip this overpriced brick in my Coke.After a month of agony, I got the courage to jailbreak it myself, and turned out to be the best decision I ever made. Look ma! I can upgrade the firmware! I can even forward text messages!
2. Nokia N96. I have yet to see a phone which can beat the camera of this baby (check out my Flickr photo stream for sample pics). Digital TV is a big plus too, which allowed my brother to watch the Pacquiao fight for free (Smart subscribers only). I'm also known to sneak a peek in CNN during meetings. But that's just between you and me.
3. Sailor fountain pen. Has the smoothest nib on the planet. I need ten more of these.
4. Magic eraser. The original kind. Heaven sent for MacBook users, especially those who own the black version. Cleans the smudges, and makes it look brand new. Seriously.
5. BluePhoneElite 2. My friends always wonder how I can reply to their messages in such amazing speed. No, my hands didn't sprout additional fingeres. I really just use BluePhoneElite. This little app allows you to send & receive SMS messages on your Mac. Simply connect your cellphone to your Mac via Bluetooth. (Doesn't work with the iPhone, as usual, but seems to connect seamlessly with everything else.)
6. Remember the Milk. I was smart enough to dump Things & Omnifocus, but dumb enough only to do it after I bought their desktop & iPhone apps. But it's all worth it. RTM is web-basd, which allows me to view my tasks from any computer. Their iPhone app is also way cool.
7. Launchy. An app launcher for Windows. Press the hotkey, type the first few letters of the app's name, & tada! It's my "Spotlight equivalent" for Windows. Executor is a contender, but I'd like to keep things simple.
8. Shozu. For sending photos to Flickr, Picasa, Twitter, etc. from your mobile phones. Works for both my Nokia & my iPhone. But why anyone would use the iPhone's pathetic camera is beyond me.
9. Skitch. A doodling application for the Mac. Takes screenshots too. The pencil tool is not as sensitive as Tablet Draw's, but the rest of the features are great & very easy to use.
10. Vmware Fusion. Seamless virtualization. Because whether you want to admit it or not, we still need Microsoft Windows.
11. Wacom. I couldn't move my fingers for two weeks, and someone suggested I try using a pen mouse instead. After a few days, I can bend my fingers again into unnatural angles.
12. Lindsay Lohan. Because she made big bags look cool.

We live in a world where it is not very fashionable to love a Microsoft product ... but I need to give credit where due: Microsoft Live Sync kicks ass, and wins over Dropbox by a landslide.

Live Sync and Drop Box are free file sharing & syncing applications. You do this by creating a folder within your computer, putting files in it, and then inviting people would like to have a copy of that folder in their own computers. And it gets better: Any changes made in that folder (by you or by those people you have invited) are automatically replicated on all computers.

But wait -- there's more!

Imagine if you're using multiple computers with different platforms (Windows, OSX, etc.) in different locations. You can actually sync your files, bookmarks, and emails. In all your machines. In real time.

Dropbox is a newbie on the block, but quickly gained fanfare from those who've never heard of an older but silent contender, FolderShare (the precursor of Live Sync). Or maybe FolderShare/Live Sync was consciously ignored. After all, we live in a world where Steve Jobs can do no wrong, where Linux is uber cool, and everything else in Microsoft.

When Microsoft re-christened FolderShare as Live Sync last December 2008, it defied all expectations and launched an even superior product: It increased syncing of up to 20 main folders, with each folder having a maximum limit of 20,000 files. There are no file size limit on an account. However, a single file cannot be greater than 2GB, so forget using it to back up your DVDs.

Dropbox, on the other hand, only allows 2GB of space per account. And in my book, that sucks. Big time.

I finally solved the incessant hanging & mysterious rebooting of my Nokia N96 -- by updating the firmware. I knew it was something I should have done the moment I got this phone. Goes to show what my real priorities are (i.e., finding a theme).

To update the firmware:

1. 1. Go to Menu > Tools > Utilities > Device Manager
2. 2. Go to Options > Check for updates
3. 3. Install update

It goes without saying that you need to backup your phone before you do any firmware upgrades. Mine worked without a hitch. But then again, you'll never know.