What really happened on September 15th 2008? Getting The Most from Your Personal Information with Memacs

Abstract

Combining and summarizing meta-data from various kinds of data sources is one possible solution to the data fragmentation we are suffering from. Multiple projects have addressed this issue already. This paper presents a new approach named Memacs. It automatically generates a detailed linked diary of our digital artifacts scattered across local files of multiple formats as well as data silos of the internet. Being elegantly simple and open, Memacs uses already existing visualization features of GNU Emacs and Org-mode to provide a promising platform for life-logging, Quantified Self movement, and people looking for advanced Personal Information Management (PIM) in general.