iDeas FAQ

Q: The pens are too big! The lined notebooks are obviously not intended for designers! Why should I use this system?

A: We agree with you regarding the notebooks and pens -- the lines and form areas are terrible for a design notebook, and the pens can be a bit too clunky for heavy design use. However, we are currently limited by the pens and notebooks that manufacturers choose to produce: apparently there's no market for unlined Anoto notebooks, because no one makes any. Keep in mind that the notebooks and pens are just research prototypes for the "digital notebook of the future." We'll keep looking for better pens and notebooks; until then, we apologize for any creative barriers current technologies present to you.

Q: My computer won't recognize the (Nokia/Logitech) digital pen. Help?

A: If you have problems getting your computer to recognize the pen, please contact the iDeas support team (see below) ASAP. Usually this is a problem with the pen device driver installation; solutions can be tricky and vary from machine to machine.

Q: I'm in one of the iDeas class deployments. When I first uploaded my data to ButterflyNet, I discovered some notebook data that isn't mine. It seems to be from a previous user of the pen. Help!

A: If you see data from a previous user of the pen, don't worry; that's easily fixable. Send the iDeas support team (see below) an email and we will delete the extraneous data.

Q: I'm in one of the iDeas class deployments. I forgot my password, so I can't log into ButterflyNet. Help!

A: We can reset your password. Send the iDeas support team (see below) an email to get it changed.

Q: I've been using ButterflyNet for a while. Recently, however, synchronization seem to have stopped working; I get synchronization errors, even when I know I'm properly connected to the Internet.

A: If you get repeated synchronization errors, it may be a problem with ButterflyNet's file sync mechanism. Try this:

  • Close ButterflyNet
  • Go to your ButterflyNet Data dir (usually My Documents\ButterflyNet Data)
  • Rename the Users directory to Users-backup (just a temporary name)
  • Start up ButterflyNet again. ButterflyNet should re-download all of your notebook data. If you notice data missing, don't worry, it's not lost; send me an email. If it looks like everything's there, you can safely delete Users-backup.

If this doesn't help, please contact the iDeas support team (see below) an email, which will try to help you resolve the problem.

Q: This FAQ didn't solve my current problem. How can I get additional help?

A: If none of these questions address your concerns, feel free to email the iDeas support team. Currently, the one-man team consists of the primary researcher, Brian Lee (balee at cs dot stanford dot edu).