Here's a goofy idea (I'm famous for those):

There exists a commercial Windows program, called MyScript Notes (http://www.visionobjects.com/product...yscript-notes/), which aims to convert handwritten text into "computer-text" (you know, the kind you can paste into <shudder> Word). It's specifically not an OCR program, but rather one that takes in so-called e-ink files, like those from <more_shudder> OneNote, the Nokia e-Pen and whatnot (filetypes here: http://www.visionobjects.com/general...tes.html#MSN20).

I'm not proposing we nag them for an Internet Tablet version, because
a) I'm pretty certain the Internet Tablet doesn't pack the oomph needed for MyScript Notes and
b) they most certainly can't be bothered to produce a Linux version (ask me how I know. Come on, ask me. I dare you!).

But we now have several virtual notepads for the Internet Tablet, one of those being Xournal, which (unless I'm horribly wrong: my personal experience is with its cousin Jarnal) produces the same kind of e-ink files that MSNotes likes to read.

Obviously the filetypes MSNotes recognizes are closed source and quite different from Xournal's (which uses an XML wrapper around all the naughty bits), but perhaps it would not be totally impossible to produce files that it not only will recognize, but actually convert. I know from experience that MSNotes is a very capable program and in general does what it promises (as anyone with a tablet pc can verify, because they have a trial version).

What we would end up with is the Internet Tablet serving as a digital notepad (a bit like this: http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/08/g...0-digital-pad/, which costs half the price of an N800 anyway) upon which you can scribble to your heart's delight, and MyNotes Script on the <super-shudder> Windows pc (I almost typed "workstation" there) to convert them into your favourite wordprocessor-fodder.

MyScript Notes isn't free (in any meaning of the word), but at $59.95 it doesn't break the bank either. And let's face it, if money were an important factor, none of us would be on this forum. Eh?

What do you think? Too goofy?

I think I've got my answer...

Maybe not so goofy...

One of my peeves with any tablet device is internet addy's and the PITA it is to enter them correctly in the handheld device.
A work around I use is to cut and paste the addy's I find while using my desktop into the Notepad Widget installed on my personal Google home page. The web app renders well when this page is viewed from my N800 so I can simply click on the posted link then save the addy in my N800's favorites.

A stand alone Notepad app for the N800 that syncs with a web server when connected is not such a bad idea. Using Googles servers to host it is even better

Actually it's not so much "sideways" as, erm... twisted ? :-)

might work. xournal uses a ziped xml file, which contain each stroke you draw. i expect it is easier to convert into text than a bitmap.

Ah! a fan, I see.

The biggest hurdle will be to find a way to translate Xournal's e-ink files into an e-ink file Myscript Notes understands. It's a pretty short list, but Nokia's Digital Pen's *.pgd format is in there. Maybe a little synergy between Nokia and Xournal's people is in order here?

Faithfully, as always, Karel ! :-)

My bad:

I completely forgot that Xournal is one of the applications that don't work in ITOS 2007. At least, the version I found (Etrunko's port of 0.3.1) doesn't.

Or rather: It almost works. It loads fine and pretends to be a working application, only nothing happens if I draw on the screen, other than the dot-cursor moving around. Occasionally, Xournal will hang and require a kill.

The reason I wanted to run it was to see if there was an *.svg file inside that xml wrapper, svg being one of the filetypes MyScript Notes understands. Of course, if we can't get Xournal to run on all Internet Tablets, this entire post and the suggestion therein becomes somewhat moot.

Oh Etrunko, wherefor art thou, Etrunko?

Wow, people! this Alzheimer's got me good.

The patch for Xournal on ITOS2007 is here:

http://henryykt.googlepages.com/xournalforn800

Sorry, Henry...