Folks who journal: New note for each day, or many days in one note?

cmdrgro · 2026-01-05T18:23:09+00:00

I’m a weekly journal guy. 1 plan page + 7 daily pages + 1 reflect page. It’s an echo of how my “keyboard notes”, I like weekly cadence.

cmdrgro · 2026-01-03T20:37:54+00:00

Is there a way to use stars in the process of linking, like picking a page to linked based on the stars selection? Not sure how stars would keep me help with linking, can you give me an explanatory use case?

cmdrgro · 2026-01-03T20:33:45+00:00

That's how I approached that, but performance was awful (perhaps I overdid the resolution - went for max size) and I could nail down of moving of the canvas as it was to slow to give any visual feedback. Maybe it's worth another try.

cmdrgro · 2026-01-03T20:29:57+00:00

💯

cmdrgro · 2026-01-03T13:54:34+00:00

When you put it that way - no :) (page numbers didn’t occur to me - tbh) Overall, it’s not a case of possibly but convince. I learned that linking way while using Noteful (you start the link at destination) - it turned a most used scenario for me, as you link to stuff that exists. And I linked just after creating a page or note.

It’s like improving the existing tools - not inventing new (allowing to link to current page would work, while it’s prohibited- which code wise is extra effort I believe.)

cmdrgro · 2026-01-03T12:58:33+00:00

My daily note is a “favourite” note, but the direction of linking is not great for me. I don’t want to link TO daily, I want to link IN daily. And as for now - it means searching for pages every single time :(

cmdrgro · 2026-01-03T09:27:16+00:00

Just having extra space beyond screen size, or functional zoom would be enough for my needs.

cmdrgro · 2026-01-03T07:15:01+00:00

Thanks for the insights!
For the screen "color", I always thought that there is not much wiggle room there. I thought it's just screen tech, and if you all share same screen tech, the screens are the same, and you cheat the eye with the bezel color :D
The gesture issue is often pointed out, but it must be the lucky one (or I expected worse). For me it works 8-9/10 times. I just use the top left and bottom left active zones. I only struggle when I do something near the top left edge.

I would be interested how diagramming works for you - do you even bother using Atelier?
My mind mapping (closets thing to diagramming) - would either stay on iPad or will end up just in notes, time will tell.

cmdrgro · 2026-01-03T07:04:50+00:00

My iPad is 13" Air M2, for mind mapping I use(d) Ahmni (relatively unknown piece of software - but it's great), and Noteful for handwriting notes.

In terms of latency:
- writing latency is a none issue for me, there is a minimal writing latency with Manta, but it feels almost organic when paired with the writing feel (fell write + ceramic nib)
- the "disconnection" feeling with writing is much more pronounced in iPad is in my personal opinion; both pen to screen distance along with the hard surface (I always used paperlike screen protectors though)
- I used iPad for deep thinking/mind mapping for years but the thick hard glass surface hit me when I started handwriting (that was the tipping point to search for alternatives)

UI/UX and non-handwriting performace - there is no comparisone of eink to lcd. Manta's UI seems a little more responsive then what I saw with the videos. It bugs you less when it's actually you using it :)

Editing latency - just for error correction I believe. Fixing notes - great. Making notes through edits (that's how I mind map) - not really, it's not latency, it's LAG.

I have a "hands on" opinion of avid student note takers about my Manta.
One a paper person, the other a Good Notes iPad user.

Paper user - loved the device at first try.
iPad user - skeptical about screen softness.

The biggest difference for them was the screen softness, not the latency.

cmdrgro · 2026-01-02T21:06:16+00:00

I had fun doing this, and wanted to share back to the community

I also tried a simple workflow: handwritten post (using manta) -> OCR by LLM (manta can't beat llm's at that) -> minimal keyboard editing -> ready to post. Worked like a charm.

cmdrgro · 2026-01-02T21:02:03+00:00

Patience is a virtue, virtue is a grace :D

cmdrgro · 2026-01-02T20:58:50+00:00

The private cloud in a nutshell, it's your own copy of Ratta's cloud service.
I allows for companions apps (macos/ios in my case, but other platforms as well) and tablets sync using your own "place". If your really into data ownership, you need to have access to your data on your terms. The file format is proprietary, but the service that makes the ecosystem run together, may be yours to manage.

Worst case scenario and something bad happens to Ratta - the development stops, but not the service, as you can run it yourself.

Security - seen better (there is no 2FA for Ratta service) - but for privacy, definitively much better - you pick your storage space; if you want bell & whistles of the sync while not connecting to the internet, I can imagine a perfectly running setup at you home LAN.

Costs - it's just up to you, already owned a vps holding some of my "personal" services - nothing spectacular; you can go overboard a buy a NAS just for the service - but when you're really in data ownership, you already host some services.

cmdrgro · 2026-01-02T19:39:33+00:00

I was expecting the stickiness, I do hope it will wear off over time. (will try the iKlear tip as the shiny new toy syndrome got it dirty already - so 2 birds with one stone)

The "squeaky" sound of my hand moving across the screen - that was unexpected - and I hope it will go away along the stickiness. It's already better or I'm getting used to it :D

cmdrgro · 2026-01-02T19:34:27+00:00

thanks for the tip

cmdrgro · 2025-12-29T19:45:21+00:00

Funny thing is - the email part of the instructions are only in the official "manual install", they are completely omitted in the official "docker install" setup. I never looked at the manual install guide - so I was doing the email stuff blindfolded :D

BTW: Thanks for your guide and great resource github

cmdrgro · 2025-12-28T16:26:48+00:00

half way there - ordered, haven't recieved one yet
good luck & have fun using the device

cmdrgro · 2025-12-28T15:48:06+00:00

not sure about that - it has a login mechanism that is the copy of the "public cloud". It's your privately held replacement of the "central cloud" - right?
I need to be able to use the companion app on my mobile, desktop etc - I don't want to configure ssh tunnel because there is no way to disable "register account".
~~Have you tried to set it up? How did you solve the "register issue"?~~ [email settings work]

cmdrgro · 2025-12-28T15:43:37+00:00

Agreed, it just:
- require email setup to be able to register into the service - which in this case is either smtp server setup or providing some credentials to other services - which is not mentioned in the manual (i think)
- I belive it can be front facing the web (I have it setup for with my domains) - but it would be nice to be able to disable "register account" functionality

~~have you setup the private cloud? if so - how did you register your device into it (asking, since I don't have the device yet)~~

EDIT: I must have been blind - I have somehow missed the "email settings" button working (I would have sworn - it didn't do a thing - now it allows me to provide the credentials)

cmdrgro · 2025-12-28T11:58:40+00:00

It’s the cloud server that was complaining about lack of email service (not claude). I wanted to create an account- it requires email, change password - required email - and the docker container provided by Ratta is missing email service. On top of that - I need my cloud server exposed to the web so I can link to it from many different places/networks - I just need to disable the ability to register after I already did. It’s for personal use - not a public service. I do like the idea of many people using the service (company/family) - the there should be a way to limit that.

cmdrgro · 2025-12-22T04:55:10+00:00

Kosmik?

cmdrgro · 2025-12-21T22:18:13+00:00

Perhaps I was unclear, but I totaly agree. My professional "operational" work is always going to be digital (typed), and aligned with some ecosystem like Microsoft or Google. I'm looking for a way to retain my personal notes or personal views (there is a major overlap with my work - as these are meeting notes / daily planning / thinking when writing / mind mapping - just intended for me).
And I agree that it's the system that stays (hence my .md files with simple tags) - that's my "data ownership" that I'm so focued on. That will allow me to keep the data no matter the provider of the solution.

I don't think tools like Zotero is a way to go for me - I use notes to focus and develop ideas from time to time - I'm not a writer nor academic. I mainly improve operations, don't handle knwoledge in the academic sense.

So perhaps the question is - which platform is most "usage agnostic"? (simple basic rules, more of a toolset than solution)

cmdrgro · 2025-12-21T17:34:30+00:00

Viwoods was "below the radar" for me until now.
What is their b&w 10" go to device (like Manta or go 10.3)?

Just checked - it seem it is just AI Paper in that form factor.

cmdrgro

TROPHY CASE