Alternatives to Notes.app that will sync WITHOUT a cloud service

I am looking for viable alternatives to Apple's Notes.app to keep and sync notes between my iPhone 4s and my Macbook Pro but THAT DO NOT REQUIRE ANY CLOUD SERVICES.

Prior to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion this was possible. However, Mountain Lion removed the ability to use iTunes to sync Notes between devices (with or without cable) and now requires "cloud-type" connectivity/services. While I like the new Notes interface in Mountain Lion Notes.app I bemoan the loss of syncing by cable/iTunes and forcing the use of cloud servcies upon us.

For me personally I want to sync these devices by cable and not via iCloud, IMAP or any service that resides outside of these physical devices. That's my personal preference, so let's not use this discussion to debate the pros and cons of the "cloud" way of doing things (and hopefully we will not divert into a cloud vs. no-cloud cat fight).

What I really want to find is some kind of Note application to replace the functionality of Notes on the iPhone 4S (and maybe other iOS devices) and the Macbook Pro that will allow syncing between devices by cable and that does not require cloud services to sync between devices.

I have read a little about Chronos "SOHO Notes" for the Mac, which apparently requires it's companion "NoteLife" for the iPhone. But there seems to be few other offerings, or I cannot find them.

Does anyone have hands-on experience with these or other products?

Does anyone have pointers to specfic product recommendations?

It might be nice to find some open source applications rather than commercial.

Thanks very much.