WEBVTT captioned by jai

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Can you recognize this building?

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Some of you may have recognized this.

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This building is called

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the John Hancock building.

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This is in Chicago.

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I recently bought this building.

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Isn't it nice?

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Heavens no!

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I am in my home in Pune in India.

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I am Bala Ramadurai,

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an author, professor, and an innovation coach.

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Hello and welcome to my talk on

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“How to incorporate handwritten notes

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into Emacs Org Mode”

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Now, why did I show you this building?

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The name is of interest for this talk.

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In the US, someone's signature is

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also referred to as their Hancock.

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Your handwriting is pretty much part of your identity.

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It is as fundamental as that.

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Of course, there is a movie by that name too, Hancock.

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I could have started with a clip from that movie,

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but in spite of Will Smith and Charlize Theron,

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both my favorite movie stars in the movie, I hated it.

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[Clip from Hancock (2008)]

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But I digress.

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Handwriting has been a fascinating topic for me.

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However, note-taking has always been on my computer,

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in particular, in the Emacs Org Mode system.

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It is so easy to note down anything,

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add a schedule, add a deadline,

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search anything you want, link anything you want,

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export it to any format, track what you've been doing,

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clock your tasks, and on and on and on.

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It's such a squeaky-clean system to

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track everything and link it to

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anything from the digital world.

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Sharing the original notes is still a pain in the rear,

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but for personal stuff, it's awesome.

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But then what about handwriting?

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Research seems to suggest that handwritten notes

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can enhance clarity of thought, retention,

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sometimes even getting rid of your worries.

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[Fried, C. B. (2008). In-class laptop use and
its effects on student learning]

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[Speaker displays articles on Note-taking]

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My experience seems to agree with that too.

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As a professor, my fear has always been

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this quote, “Lecturing is that mysterious process

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by means of which the contents of the notebook

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of the professor are transferred

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through the instrument of the fountain pen

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to the notebook of the student

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without passing through the mind of either.”

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Hmmm... So, question — How do we combine

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the efficient Org Mode system

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with the effective handwritten note-taking system?

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Merge the systems together. Absolutely.

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How do you do that?

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Step 1: Write the notes by hand

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on a notebook. Pen, pencil.

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Keep some convention for yourselves

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for tracking tasks like a star or an asterisk.

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Step 2: Scan them using

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your favourite mobile app.

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I recommend Adobe Scan or Dropbox.

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Step 3: store the document as a JPG file

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into a folder called Inbox.

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Make sure this syncs into a cloud storage folder

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and your Org Mode system

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has access to this folder.

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(Optional) Step 4: convert the notes into text

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using Google Keep or just type

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the damn thing one more time.

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Then you can process that

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in your Org Mode system

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as you always do in whatever

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is there in your inbox.

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But, three steps or four before I get access

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to my notes and into my Org Mode?

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What a precious waste of time.

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I'd rather be tinkering with my

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config file in that time, correct?

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Boy...

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Get or buy or gift or convince your partner,

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parent, or anybody else to gift yourself

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a touch-enabled large device.

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Then use an app like OneNote to write notes

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on the device and link the handwritten note

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directly into Org Mode by copying the link.

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You can use a shortcut like Ctrl-1

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to mark the todos, but that means it remains

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only on OneNote ecosystem, the todos.

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You can use the same app to also convert

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the handwritten note into text

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just by the click of a button.

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As a bonus, you can even include screenshots

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from your online meetings.

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I like both my options.

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Option 1: use a regular notebook,

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scan and process them into my inbox.

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Option 2: write the notes in a digital device

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and convert them into text.

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Or, third option, I appeal to thee,

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oh great community, can you please build a package

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inside Org Mode that recognises handwriting

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to export it into our Org Mode, Emacs Org Mode.

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Thank you so much for your attention. Bye.