For a while I have been toying around with how to create my ideal PIM (Personal Information Manager). I want something that goes beyond what people do with Outlook. I really want something where I can write up notes about my projects, and have those hyperlinked (in a searchable way) with my calendar, e-mail, documents, various Web pages, etc.
So I was quite interested to read that James Tauber has been thinking similar things, and I followed up his mention of TiddlyWiki.
Now, I've used Wiki's before, and it's cool that you can edit the Web pages using just your browser. They offer some of what I want, but a Wiki needs a Web server to run off, and that's a bit overweight for a personal solution for me, something which runs off my laptop and does not need to be published to the world. However, TiddlyWiki is a revelation. There is no server application at all - just a single HTML file. Brilliant! You can edit and hyperlink your thoughts, as with any Wiki, and in fact you have more visual options that some of the full fat Wikis that I've used.
Think about it. A single HTML file. Carry it on a floppy or (more likely) on a USB key. It's so small and easy, I'm just creating a new TiddlyWiki now for each project, and using it to track my thoughts and progress during the day. Given that I've only known about it for a week, it's amazing how quickly it has become one of the tools I use each day.
TiddlyWiki runs in Firefox and Internet Explorer (although on some PCs but not others, don't know what the issue is there), and apparently in Safari on the Mac. Sadly for me, it doesn't run in Opera. You can read and edit a TiddlyWiki in Opera, but you can't save it. I'm sure there is a security reason for that, but it's such a great tool that it would be a pity if Opera couldn't support it. I've reported it to Opera; in the meantime, I find myself using Firefox (which is otherwise unusual).
Anyway, I can't recommend TiddlyWiki enough to you. Do yourself a favour. There is a good tutorial, as well. Talk about good things coming in small packages!