ZuluPad
is a notepad on crack. It's a place to jot down class notes,
appointments, to-do lists, favorite websites, pretty much
anything you can think of. The great thing about ZuluPad
is that it combines the best parts of a notepad with the
best parts of a wiki, a concept made popular by
Wikipedia .
The basic idea has been called a personal wiki or a desktop
wiki. Say for instance, you're a music major, and you're
studying Bach. You've taken notes on Bach in ZuluPad, and
after a long 16 weeks have finally completed the semester.
Sometime after the summer break, you're taking notes on
Beethoven, and your teacher mentions a way in which Beethoven
was influenced by Bach. As soon as you type "Bach" into
your notes, it's underlined as a hyperlink. You think to
yourself, "oh yeah, I know a few things about Bach". So
you click the link, and you can read all of your Bach notes.
While you're reading your Bach notes, you happen to notice
a link to a page about Henry Purcell, and you can refresh
your memory about him, too.
Or, for instance, imagine that you're a salesman with
100+ clients. You recognize them all when you see them,
but it's hard to keep their names straight. You've jotted
down an appointment to meet with John Smith in ZuluPad,
and "John Smith" is immediately highlighted. You click
the link, and you're reminded that John hates fish, loves
golf, tends to annoy you, but always orders a lot.
Why ZuluPad?
For one, it's the only cross-platform personal Wiki.
It's also Opensource under the GPL. Downloads are currently
available for Windows and OS X, and a Linux port is in
the works. All of the really important features are in
place, but ZuluPad is still being developed, so you can
make suggestions about how to make it better in the ZuluPad
Forum . If there's a feature missing that you'd really
love to have, just drop a note in the forum. Also, it's
completely free. It's hard to beat that, right? All I
ask is that you let me know what you think of ZuluPad,
and if you encounter any bugs. If you'd like more about
which features are still in development, please visit
the forum.
So, give ZuluPad a try!