So here is my list of cobwebby digital corners that, despite my 'best' efforts, nearly always seem to be in a deep state of disarray. They seem to remain on the back burner, in the back of my mind as something I know I should tidy up some day, but that day never seems to come.
The list started out as my top 9 disaster zones, but as is so often the case, upon painful reflection, this list grew larger. And, in fact, grew into a series of defined projects that intersect along some important organizational lines.
So without further ado, here is my list of top 15 hard-to-clean spots on any hard drive:

So, I have decided to stop whining about how the tools 'just are not there' or 'just have so many shortcomings'.

From now onward, I am building a system - a dependable (ok, ill settle for pretty reliable and mostly stable) environment within which tailored workflows can be semi-automated to the best of my ability, and to the furthest extent possible with the available tools...

In my PKM hajj, I am reviewing some of the buzz on PKM. Its mostly bloggers like Llia Elfimova.

Incidentally, I found I myself intrigued not only by her blogging her PhD process (with significant gaps of late for child rearing) but in the etymology of her namesake...

The idea: 'mathemagenics' as activity from which learning emerges.

References

PKM, or Personal Knowledge Management, is more than a buzzword. Oh, its DEFINITELY a buzzword. No question. And there are some who question how it is ANY different than PIM, or Personal Information Management.

The simple answer is that proactive learning is not my Windows Address Book.

I weigh in on this in my Masters thesis...The gist of my lets-not-just-go-with-KM-'as-is' argument is this:

Had a great after-class discussion with Steve. He gave us the lowdown on some of SIAT organizational history. Highlights included the hiring 'waves,' institutional memory, and the politics of place in the Academy. This last is very important to me personally; since those politics impinge on the domain of my studies. Given that CS and EnG are withdrawing from FAS, that leaves Contemporary Arts, Communications and us. The name of the new faculty is the issue under contention. I don't want to end up in faculty of Contemporary Arts! Euch.