Note paper with QR codes for backing up

For taking notes, paper and pen beats any computer. But taking backups of paper notes is a task. Not a difficult task or a task that takes long time but still a task taking long enough to never be done.

So let’s give some incitament.

First let the cellular take care of backing up. Everyone nowadays, at least anyone that should be interested in this idea, has a cellular with a camera good enough for taking a recognisable photo of a sheet of paper.

Ordinary photo copier paper is quite good for writing so let’s use that. It is cheap and the copying machine is already stuffed with it.

Print a paper with a QR code in two corners. Let this QR code have some info in it that is identifiable by an app (or system). Say it contains a consecutive Number for Your id. Print 30 of them the first of the month and stick in your binder. If you are on a note taking spree, print some more. The app just makes up new, recognisable, QR codes. The QR codes also makes it easier for the app to recognise the corners of the paper sheet so you don’t have to be so thorough when photographing the paper.

Take a photograph of it with you cellular and the app and wham bam it gets backuped. The time line is known. If you go back and edit an older paper, take a photo and it is backup’ed in complement to the older backup.

Put in some OCR and maybe maybe your handwriting can be recognised.

Put in some simple boxes to tick the date or some icons to mark for different meanings. “Backup secretly, I will destroy this original paper.”, “Send as email attachment to myself”, “Send as email link to Ms Moneypenny.”, “Store in personal stack”, “Store in office stack.”

While we’re at it. Print your name and number on every sheet. Print some light grey markings so you can draw right angles. Print heavier black lines on the backside. These will shine through when writing but not when photo copying or backing up with the cellular camera.