I'm copying the following post from James LaRue in the Freemind forum, as I think it represents an interesting example of a general purpose organising tool being adapted to play the role of a PIM.

alx


http://sourceforge.net/forum/forum.php?thread_id=1277092&forum_id=22102

I've been playing around with some templates to set up Freemind as a Personal Information Management system. It does NOT read in contacts, or sync to a Palm, but my wife is finding it remarkably clear and easy to use.

To take a gander, see:

http://www.jlarue.com/freemind_cloud.png

By the way, James' calendar seen within the PIM, could well have been created by Brainstorm Software's free Diary Generator which can produce either a Brainstorm model or an indented text outline for any year from 1753 to 2199. The latter can be imported to Freemind simply by opening it in a text editor and copy/pasting.

Get it here:
http://brainstormsw.typepad.com/thinkerlog/2005/05/free_diary_gene_1.html#trackback

alx

I'm copying the following post from James LaRue in the Freemind forum, as I think it represents an interesting example of a general purpose organising tool being adapted to play the role of a PIM.

I think what this reminds me of is the fact that almost any of the software tools at my fingertips (literally) can be used effectively to manage my information and organize my life. Yes, the software can make a big difference, but it has more to do with the operator... i.e. me. If I am methodical and disciplined in working with any tool--including paper and pen--then the system will be a effective. If I am sloppy and lazy (or distracted by the weight of work staring me in the face), then no tool, no matter how ingenious, will be effective. Does this mean that the holy grail of PIMs is in me and not out there? Hmmmmm. I think maybe so.

Sometimes I think I would be happier (and definitely more effective) if I were constrained to just one tool... Zoot or Brainstorm, maybe... and forbidden to use any others. But that wouldn't be any fun, would it?

Steve Z.