Published May 11, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT Nolen began their writing career in 2019, with three years dedicated to editing the Creative section at MakeUseOf . Their expertise lies at the crossroads of technology and creativity, covering areas like photography, video editing, and graphic design. Outside of work, you'll often find Nolen diving into a good book, writing their own stories, or playing video games. Notion and Obsidian are probably the two most recommended tools any time someone asks how to build a proper personal knowledge base. And for good reason - both have massive communities, both are highly capable, and both have been around long enough that there's no shortage of guides, YouTube setups, and plugin lists telling you how to use them. I've long now moved away from Notion in pursuit of open, local, and just simpler options. Obsidian is still in my stack , but it's not always the smoothest user experience either.…