Linux with Firefox only: Free Firefox extension Tomfox does exactly what a fan of the Tomboy note system might think. Adding a "Create Tomboy note" option to Firefox's right-click menu, it creates a new note from selected text. Even better, it puts the title of the web page at the top, and a link to the page at the bottom of your new note, helping you remember just where you grabbed that text from. Tomfox is a free download, works with Linux/Firefox and the Tomboy note program.

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Mac OS X only: You already know you can select text in any application on your Mac and drag it to the Desktop to create an instant file with its contents in it. The MacTipper Blog takes saving text snippets to the next level with the Clipper service, which sends text to a file saved in a "Notes" folder in your home directory. Download Clipper and save it to ~/Library/Services/ (you may need to create that directory, I did), and log out and back into your Mac. Then, from any Cocoa application, you can select Clipper from the Services menu to save selected text to Spotlight-friendly, dated plain text file. This method is slightly better than the drag-and-drop approach because you can assign a keyboard shortcut to it; but it does not work with Firefox (Clipper is grayed out), which is a huge bummer. Clipper is a free download for Mac only.

Google Notebook already offers quick-clipping tools for Firefox and Internet Explorer users (although the IE7 version requires adding the Google Toolbar), but the recent addition of a "Note This" bookmarklet closes the gap for anyone on Safari or another non-standard browser, or those who like their browsers lean and clean. Select text on a page and hit the bookmarklet to take a quick note, or hit it with nothing selected to create a link to the page. Opera users (insert sigh here) can only view notebooks, unfortunately, so this won't help them add notes. Other than that, Notebook fans will want to make room on their toolbar for it.

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Free markup sharing site A.nnotate offers a simple tool for letting co-workers or friends comment and review a document or web page without installing specialty software or hosting a web conference. Upload a Word document, PDF, or other file, or just pass A.nnotate a web page address, and you can start highlighting text or choosing areas to leave notes, either in the margins or as floating boxes. Once a page is started, the creator can email links to as many people as they want to comment. A free account at the site gives one person about 25 pages per month to offer for markup with unlimited annotators, but advanced offerings are available starting at $10 per month.

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Linux only: Free multimedia note organizer BasKet takes a page from Microsoft's OneNote, along with a good portion of Getting Things Done-style organisation, to offer an all-in-one spot to drop your thoughts and next actions. You can quickly paste in text and images, sure, but you can also set up launchers to open files with particular programs, grab a section of your screen to paste up, and grab text from files. BasKet also runs as a desktop widget, and offers a pre-built GTD package for help in getting yourself oriented. BasKet is a free download for Linux systems, and requires a number of KDE libraries to run. Thanks, Mark!

iPhone/iPod touch only: The lamest omission in the whole of iPhone development is the lack of sync for Notes. Let's be honest—the iPhone keyboard is nice, but you don't want to have to use it for all your notes. That's where RemoteNote comes in, a donationware iPhone application available through Installer.app. Whenever you run it, you can view, edit, create, delete, back up, and even print your notes through your web browser. Similar shareware tools have been available, but RemoteNote is the first no-cost option I've seen. RemoteNote works with both the iPhone and iPod touch, requires installation of the Jiggy Runtime (also from Installer) and a jailbroken iPhone. Thanks Lee!

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Google adds yet another social-ish function, "Notes," to its Reader feed-browsing tool. The practical use comes from a new bookmarklet that posts whatever page you're looking at to your shared Reader items, with your own notes attached. You can also post notes with no link at all to be shared with your "friends," making it a kind of Twitter clone for, well, avid feed readers. As one blogger points out, savvy note-sharers can also alter the basic text of anything they share, so it might pay to double-check permalinks on shared items. Are "Notes" and the sharing aspects of Reader something you're enjoying, or needless biting from the Web 2.0 aesthetic? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments.

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Web marketer and migraine sufferer Scott Clark is tracking all the daily variables—food, environment, activity, and the like—that surround his attacks with a migraine diary, and he's found text-to-speech services like Jott (original post) are the best hassle-free tool... Read More »

The only thing worse than constantly reaching for your phone to Twitter at social occasions is a constant need for a nicotine fix, and health organisation Tobacco Free Florida must sense their linked nature. Every so often, post an update with the number ("X") of cigarettes you've recently smoked to their Qwitter applet like so:@iquit X. You can also send diary-style entries to chronicle your progress, and see a graph of your cigarette intake at the Qwitter site. For those whose mobile extroversion is a lot stronger than their willpower, it's an elegant craving substitution.

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