While geeking out about tools and ways to structure information on the internet, I might as well mention the tippy top of the list.
I’ve been using Personal Brain since 2007.
Sure - there has recently been a wave of “second brain” tools, as in;
- Roam Research - Roam Research – A note taking tool for networked thought.
- Athens Research - Collaborative Knowledge Graph for Startups Teams
- Obsidian - Obsidian
- Notion - Notion – Your wiki, docs & projects. Together.
- (Todoist, Jira, Keep, Evernote and so on)
- Logseq - Logseq: A privacy-first, open-source knowledge base <3 open-source, privacy first, flat file-strucure
But Personal Brain has been the foundation and the most consistent way of organizing information for me.
Sure, I’d probably structure it somewhat differently if I could start again - with the experience / knowledge I have today (10 000 thoughts, 40 000 attachments) - but Personal Brain has been like an extended part of my brain for many years, both as a student and professionally.
It provides - if used correctly - an almost savant level of recollection/extended memory and searchability. Very very large amounts of information available at your fingertips. And possibility to “browse” back in your memory (where the human brain normally forgets things).
Today, I mostly use it (every day) as a file and information organizer.
Basic idea is that it works based on association instead of hierarchy, giving you the power of creating connections between things - according to the way your own brain works.
They have made many new versions and updates throughout the years, but the core functionality has been there since the early versions. In my appreciation, they were way ahead of their time.
Second mention is Techsmith Snagit (for screenshots / capturing).
Life would not be the same without it.
The library keeps track of when, where, what website or application you took the screenshot from.
This information can lates be combined or cross-referenced.
You know the date you had that meeting? 16th August 2022?
No issue going back to the screenshots you took.
There is functionality to do tags as well, but I’ve never had the discipline.
These tools keep you in the inner race of the track.
If you haven’t heard of them, worth checking out.