Computers are great for storing and sharing information but sometimes the easiest way to get the point across is the old physical medium of pen and paper.

The problem with taking notes that way makes it hard to share with a group, and if you write on a whiteboard it can be a challenge to get an accurate copy of those notes saved. Also with the whiteboard if you need to mark up an existing document it can be tough to see.

Papershow has an answer to the problem. It combines the flexibility and ease of use of pen and paper with your computer to let you utilize a natural input medium, mark up documents but share them with other users and even project the changes live in a meeting.

The technology in the pen is however not quite the same as a disposable sharpie!

Similar to how the Pulse pen works the supplied paper contains a nearly invisible pattern of dots which allows the infra-red camera in the pen body to identify where you are on the page and transmit that information back to the the PC.

The connection back to the PC is wire-free. The kit comes complete with a USB Key that doubles as both as a Bluetooth dongle and storage for the application (it runs right off the key, no need for an installation so you can use it on any Windows XP or Vista computer).

The dot pattern on the paper is unique so it knows when you switch to a new page, and because the pen positioning is very precise they are able to print a small menu on each page that allows you to select what color the pen "writes" in on-screen, how thick the line should be and even assist you draw perfect circles or rectangles or arrows to annotate your drawings.

You can even print on the paper so you can see the actual document you're marking up while you project it on-screen.

The pen is amazingly responsive and works in very varied lighting conditions. Though it's sold as a business tool to liven up meetings I've had a couple of artists say great things about it.

Once you've finished a session you can export it as a PDF or Powerpoint. There doesn't seem to be an option to export as GIF/PNG/JPG or automatically upload to a sharing site though these seem like things that would come with a simple software release.

One feature I'd love to see if the ability to pair multiple pens with a single machine so you can record who writes what in a session, and also have a shared whiteboard version of the app so people in different locations can see the notes and annotations as they are drawn (and know who wrote them) and also contribute remotely.

With any first release you expect some rough edges but this is pretty solid. Although it works fine with WinXP and Vista I did have some issues getting it to work on Win7 Beta - the trick is to set it to run as Administrator and in Vista SP2 Compatibility mode (in the applications settings).

There is no OSX version yet, though Mac users shouldn't despair as they say that there's a version coming.

The other hiccup I found was that you have to use the Bluetooth dongle. If you already have a laptop with built-in Bluetooth you need to be able to disable it (if all else fails Device Manager in Control Panel will let you disable the driver for your Bluetooth) - I hope they work out a solution to coexist automatically to save fiddling around.

I've been using the Lightscribe Pulse pen for a while now and while it's great for disconnected use when I'm away from the PC the lack of live capabilities has bugged me so I can see a real use for the Papershow system. The Papershow pen also seems to work better in uneven lighting conditions.

In an ideal world I'd love a system that combines both - offline note taking and storage with a cradle to re-charge and sync and an online mode where the pen connects via Bluetooth and can be used to drive a meeting (and use the same paper in both modes of course).

For now - the Pulse pen will live in my bag, and my Papershow pen will come with me to meetings where I know there will be a PC to project from.

Oh, and you can buy from www.shoppapershow.com or online from Staples A complete kit (pen, printer and flipchart paper, USB key, software, ring binder and pencil case) costs $199

Hubpages  is a cool collection of user wisdom. I've contributed a couple of posts there rather than just add them here.

Got a ping from them a couple of days ago announcing a re-design of the site.

It's kept all the best bits of the interface for creating content (a very good Ajax driven interface that's just improved over time) and polished the interface and usability.

It's a pretty reliable resource as other users can comment and thumb up/down articles.

Unlike reference sites such as Wikipedia the range of topics covered here is pretty eclectic but growing every day - check it out!

When it's more than 64 characters, less than 1024, is an original work, is published under a Creative Commons "Share Alike" licence and is hosted on a really interesting new AOL property called Ficlets.

What makes ficlets interesting, and more than just another exercise in creative writing is that although most of them can stand alone any other user can contribute a prequel or sequel - allowing the fragment of fiction to become a part of a much larger narrative.

Any registered member (you'll need either an AOL screenname or, better yet, an OpenID) can comment on the ficlet, rate it or integrate it into a stream. Any ficlet can have multiple prequals or sequels which expands the possibilities in a multitude of ways beyond what the original author could ever have imagined.

To help fire up the creative juices they link to a number of "inspiration" sources - flickr photostreams and sample story opening/endings and "this day in history" type facts.

The registration isn't onerous and IMO will help to ensure that the site doesn't become spammed. Like HubPages it's easy for users to report inappropriate content and the system to tidy up. Ficlets can be flagged as "mature" and only those who opt in to view the more salacious material will be troubled by racy material (AOL have made their reputation on "family friendly" and "ease of use" and it's good to see it put to good effect here)

One thing that's harder than it should be on the interweb (and especially when blogging) is citation (linking to a specific bit of text) in order to direct your reader to the source of the citation or the exact part of the product spec or simply the funny quote.

If the author has gone to the trouble of adding an anchor tag to the specific item you want to link to then the world is easy, you just link to http://some.url/page.html#the_anchor and the world is good and you can cite content from the site to your hearts content, but if it's a random extract that page author had no way of knowing that you'd care about then it's a lot harder (also if it's a site that for some reason doesn't think people will ever cite it can be difficult).

Luckily CiteBite has the answer. Simply select the text you want to highlight on the page, the URL and give then to CiteBite (they have a bookmarklet and a Firefox extension to make that easier) and it generates a URL for you that you use instead of the direct link (similar to TinyURL and other services).

When a user follows the CiteBite URL they get taken to the destination page with the selected text highlighted so it's really easy to find. Apart from a discrete "shade" at the top of the page telling you that you were linked via CiteBite there's no interference with the result.

To see it in operation, follow this link....

I've noticed one or two pages suffer some slight CSS related interference when linked via CiteBite, but nothing really ugly so far (mostly positioning getting shifted by a couple of pixels) and clicking the "Turn CiteBite Shade Off" removes any interference.

I hope they don't need to go down the route of interstitial advertising, banner ads on the shade or anything naughty (like rewriting the destination page with their own ads) but I can't see how as this service becomes more popular they'll be able to sustain the service outside donations and/or a paid premium service

I've been watching the evolution of some of the aggregator / homepage services with interest and frustration.

Interested because some of the technology and interfaces (using WPF/E, Flash, Ajax and even plain old HTML) are really pushing the envelope in terms of the traditional boundaries both of what could be done on a web page and where the information can be sourced from and presented to the user in a way that's relevant to them

Frustrated because there were always caveats. Myspace doesn't host Windows Live Gadgets. Windows Live doesn't consume Google widgets and Konfabulatorthe Yahoo! Widget Engine doesn't use Vista gadgets (and so on) so it's hard to keep track of everything in one place.

Add in the challenge of keeping track of what your virtual friends are up to as well and it becomes a full time job!

Luckily Spokeo seems to be making great strides in that direction.

It's a personal aggregator - collecting your footprints from around the web and displaying them all in one place for you (and others) to review. It also allows you to nominate friends and with one click check in on their activities as well (individually or as a chronological river of activity) 

At the moment it doesn't let me subscribe to forum posts or blog comments that I've made (to see if there's any follow-up or activity) but it's early days and I can only ask (though how on earth they'd be able to do that without subscription/RSS models being added to forum s/w - CommunityServer for instance supports that now.... but it would be nice to make it totally automated and magic somehow)

Currently listening to: Prince - Satisfied

I'm a little pedantic about spelling. I spell-check my blog posts (thanks to Windows Live Writer built-in spell-check), and my emails and documents before I distribute them.... but when I'm using Messenger I hate that uncertainty when I hit "send" that I'm making a fool of myself thanks to a typo (or general poor spelling!)

Okay, maybe I worry too much - IMing is pretty much like texting these days and no-one really cares about the odd spelling mistake... but it's a slippery slope and one I don't want to go down if I can rope technology in to keep an eye on me.

In Office I've got a great spell checker watching my every keystroke, in IE I've got IESpell to help me out (and Firefox 2.0 includes an inline spell-checker) but sadly there's the issue of maintaining more than one dictionary.

When I'm using OSX I love the fact that there is a spell-checker available as a system service running automatically against every text box I type into to keep me on my toes.

Short term I'd love to see IESpell work with Messenger, or the Messenger team hook into the Office spell check engine. Long term it would be great to see Windows (probably not XP now, but Vista for sure) get a system-wide spelling service that accepts third party plug-ins or if you're an Office user lets you use the underlying spell-check everywhere

It seems I'm not alone in this wish (for Messenger at least)... so let's see what comes out in the next release.... 

I'm a little pedantic about spelling. I spell-check my blog posts (thanks to Windows Live Writer built-in spell-check), and my emails and documents before I distribute them.... but when I'm using Messenger I hate that uncertainty when I hit "send" that I'm making a fool of myself thanks to a typo (or general poor spelling!)

Okay, maybe I worry too much - IMing is pretty much like texting these days and no-one really cares about the odd spelling mistake... but it's a slippery slope and one I don't want to go down if I can rope technology in to keep an eye on me.

In Office I've got a great spell checker watching my every keystroke, in IE I've got IESpell to help me out (and Firefox 2.0 includes an inline spell-checker) but sadly there's the issue of maintaining more than one dictionary.

When I'm using OSX I love the fact that there is a spell-checker available as a system service running automatically against every text box I type into to keep me on my toes.

Short term I'd love to see IESpell work with Messenger, or the Messenger team hook into the Office spell check engine. Long term it would be great to see Windows (probably not XP now, but Vista for sure) get a system-wide spelling service that accepts third party plug-ins or if you're an Office user lets you use the underlying spell-check everywhere

It seems I'm not alone in this wish (for Messenger at least)... so let's see what comes out in the next release.... 

There's too much boring, run of the mill advertising out in the wild. Bland TVCs, un-engaging poster work and off-putting point of sale promotion.

So sometimes it's a real breath of fresh air to discover a site like this one which highlights some of the most creative static advertising out there at the moment.

There's too much boring, run of the mill advertising out in the wild. Bland TVCs, un-engaging poster work and off-putting point of sale promotion.

So sometimes it's a real breath of fresh air to discover a site like this one which highlights some of the most creative static advertising out there at the moment.