Friday 30 May 2014

Boston Globe sees 85-page Harvard report into Hauser's misconduct

You can read the Boston Globe's report into this here. They got hold of the report under the Freedom of Information Act. One interesting tidbit from the Globe article: "The committee said it carefully considered Hauser’s allegation that people in his laboratory conspired against him, due to academic rivalry and disgruntlement, but did not find evidence to support the idea." So he dumped on his colleagues (presumably junior colleagues as otherwise they would have their own labs and wouldn't be in his). It doesn't get any worse than that.

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Guerilla marketing at the Apple Store


All 4 iMacs are pointing at www.tagnotate.com. Sales have actually increased since I started doing this! (Am not convinced these guerrilla tactics are the cause, though!) If only I could change that poster at the back...

And here is an actual representative review:

Most innovative PDF annotation tool on the market, its unprecedented ! ★★★★★
by Jozsef - Version 1.2 - Apr 28, 2014
Having tags for annotations offers a way to organize your annotations and to connect the dots between bits of informations in a way that is not possible to do by any other PDF annotation app. I've been using GoodReader for all my PDF annotations but having tags for annotations in TagNotate convinced me to switch to TagNotate as my main PDF reader and annotation tool, its just so much more powerful way to organize and process information. TagNotate is a must have app for any serious learner / note taker. Enjoy the power of tags!

We're still hoping someone will write a review of TagNotate on one of the big review sites. Please spread the word!

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Giveaway: Tag your annotations for free!

TagNotate – the ONLY app that allows you to tag annotations across your PDFs, and the ONLY app that I have ever developed – got several (5-star!) reviews across the UK, US, and German app stores, but when you go find the app on the app store, the stars are dimmed out, and you get this:

We have not received enough ratings to display an average for the current version of this application.

Apple require a critical mass of ratings before it displays an average rating. No one seems to know what that critical mass is. So... we need reviews. Honest reviews. Though to be as honest as those reviews, I'd be happy even with dishonest reviews! Actually, we don't even need reviews. Just ratings.

So here are some promo codes that will allow you to download the app for free (it's just like paying for the app - you get updates when they come out, etc. Just paste the code into where it says Redeem on the App Store. You'll save yourself $2.99). We don't get to see which promo codes have been used, just that some number have been used. So I'll post more if it looks like they get used up. Or, if you find that none of the codes work, just email info@tagnotate.com and say you saw this on my blog. There is some legal stuff that I have to post, from Apple, but I'll put it in very tiny print...


EP4TJYEKYEHF
4TJ3R69KPHLJ
JLKM334KLK3E
XRJEKH3XRF7P
HEX674M9XFT3

Thank you! And do please write a review or click the stars to rate it! Not that I'm begging... but let's face it: Flappy Birds was rubbish as a PDF reader, and you certainly couldn't tag your annotations with it... but if necessary, I will rename the app Flappy Tags...

Codes expire on 22nd April 2014 and is redeemable only on the iTunes Store. Requires an iTunes account, subject to prior acceptance of license and usage terms. To open an account you must be above the age of 13. Compatible software and hardware, and internet access (fees may apply) required. Not for resale. Full terms apply; see www.apple.com/legal/itunes/ww/. For more information, see www.apple.com/support/. This app is provided to you by Tim and Gerry Inc.

Wednesday 19 March 2014

TagNotate 1.2 waiting for approval!

It's been a hectic time:

On the domestic front, my father and I are each moving house (the two overlap to the extent that I've been helping sort through the layers of family possessions which, rather like geological structures across time, get put down gradually over an extended period, with each new layer of things covering up the previous layer). While planning my own move, I'm also planning the house into which I shall move - it's being built right this minute... er... well... no... not unless they're working through the night out there in the sub-zero temperatures of Connecticut. I had no idea that choosing appliances for the kitchen is so painful, or that 15% of refrigerators break, or that the phrases "contemporary staircase" and "made in Connecticut" do not co-occur on Google. Or anywhere else.

As exciting as all this is, I find it hard not to extol the virtues of that other big 'thing' in my life just now: TagNotate. Version 1.2 is with Apple waiting for approval before it can go live on the App Store. It's hugely improved. And we have a new marketing tagline:


Among the changes - iOS 7 look-and-feel, and importing of files and folders in zip archives. I used it recently for a grant panel that I had to prepare for, and it took me less than half the usual time it takes me to read, annotate, summarise, and review each grant. It's such a shame that I can't review it myself on the app store! So if anyone's reading this... please download and review it! Better still, tweet about it, or post about it on your own blog! And once you've done that, you could even consider using it...

Other major changes in my life: Cognition has an Editor-in-Chief-Elect who will replace me from Jan 1st 2015. I daren't look at how many manuscripts I've made decisions on during my time on the journal. I think that by the time I leave it could be around 4,500. Which reminds me: I'd best get back to working on #4269...

Subliminal advertisement:

Buy it. Download it. Review it. 
Annotate your PDFs. Tag your annot... nah... just buy it, and review it.


Saturday 1 February 2014

TagNotate: almost a review, on Gizmodo

The excitement continues. People are actually using the app, even though it was released less then a couple of weeks ago. Gizmodo said:
If you read a lot of articles, whether as eBooks or research articles, then this app is essential
TagNotate was selected as one of the best 5 apps for iPad released the week ending January 20th. Over one 4-month period towards the end of last year, 100,000 native iPad apps were released; that's around 4,000 per week. So Top 5 isn't so bad! Hopefully we'll get a few more reviews. Otherwise TagNotate will be in danger of blending into the darkness caused by the collective shadow of 500,000+ other apps on the iPad App Store. Ugh.

So... if YOU would like to evaluate the app with a view to writing a review, let me know (it shouldn't take much effort to find my email address) and I'll send you a promo code that will allow you to download the app and evaluate it for free. But at only £1.99 ($2.99) it won't break the bank.


Friday 17 January 2014

Tagnotate: Annotate your PDFs and tag your annotations

Four years since inception...two years in development. Today's the day that TagNotate goes live. It's for annotating PDF documents on the iPad and it does something no other app does: it allows the user to assign tags to individual user-added annotations (notes, highlights, sketches, etc.). These user-definable tags can then be used to collect together annotations containing the same (one or more) tags, across single or multiple documents. No other application allows tagging of annotations, or the use of such tags to filter and aggregate notes and highlights across those files (and yes, the patent's pending and the trademarks also). You can even use the tags to filter your files so that only files containing annotations with the selected tags are shown in the file browser. And when you've aggregated the annotations you care about, you can copy them onto the clipboard, or email them directly. It sounds like an obvious thing to do, but surprisingly, no one else has done this before.

Buy it on the App Store...

Phew... that's just too much excitement for one day.