Getting Things Done and OmniFocus

For some time now I am aware of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” (GTD) method of organising one’s tasks. I read bits and pieces here and there on the web, especially on Tim Gaden’s blog Hawk Wings, a website full of tips and add-ons to make Apple Mail even better. But I did not pay too much attention to GTD cause I was too busy with my tasks — duh.

Just when I had decided that I needed to do something about my being stressed out my colleague Marko Brunzel — and just on a side note — pointed me to a clever new tool he just had heard about, a tool called OmniFous. He could not try it out himself because it is only available on Mac OS X, but told me that OmniFocus implements GTD. I ordered the book at amazon.com and downloaded the current version of OmniFocus, which is currently in late alpha state but scheduled to be released on January 8, 2008. The program is already quite stable and fun to use (as all of Omni Group’s software). Try it out!

Now I go back to reading and learning more about GTD. This task was actionable, next on my list, and is now done.

1st Sino-German Symposium on Knowledge Handling

[Update: Here is the link to the symposium website!]

Klaus Mainzer, philosophy professor at University of Augsburg, and Jiyou Jia, professor at the department of educational technology at Peking University, organised this interdisciplinary symposium at the Sino-German Center for Research Promotion (see also here). The event provided me with the opportunity to get in contact with quite a lot of interesting people, and I took this opportunity

Over the course of two and a half days 28 presentations where given, 14 by each delegation. The presentations ranged from natural language processing and e-learning over cognitive systems, knowledge theory, and embodiment to knowledge management, supply-chain management, and human computer interaction.

I gave a talk “On explanation: Supporting the Use of Complex Information Systems”, which got quite some response. One participant voiced definitive interest. We will have to work out how to collaborate.

One of the presented systems I liked immediately and which I like to promote here is GroupMe!:

It combines Semantic Web technologies and Web 2.0 technologies, and demonstrates a new kind of social tagging system.

There were a lot more interesting going on. A website with the presentations will be set up at Peking University and I will link the information here as soon as it is available. You can find pictures from symposium participants on my flickr account (here and here).

The symposium closed with a visit of the National Laboratory of Pattern Recognition and a walk through the beautiful Peking university campus (photos).

Travelling educates—once again

I travelled a lot over the years and I am, of course, aware of the famous saying that travelling educates. But you need some reminder now and then to really think about it, and let yourself being educated.

Visiting Beijing was such a major event in my life. This visit detailed my view of China quite a bit. It changed my view in a very positive way I might add. My expectations of the visit were very low, to be honest. I like watching documentaries and had a clear picture of Beijing. So I thought. But I was overwhelmed in the end when I was finally there.

It is still hard for me to describe what I experienced and how it changed my view on China. I try to give you some snippets: I had pictured a much more different people, a more exotic / strange look. But what I saw in the streets and at the different touristic places were people clothed just like me. No “Mao look”, but individualism. Globalisation has taken its place in China as well. Mobile phones were used everywhere. Politics seemed as far away for Chinese people as for many Western people in daily life. CNN is available on television and in public places. The famous censorship on the World Wide Web was not noticeable to me—not that I had too much time to surf there. A colleague told about not having access to Wikipedia if I remember correctly. The Communist Party has no effective way in the long run to keep the Chinese people away from what is going on outside in the world.

I took a lot of photos and some videos of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Summer Palace, Lao She Teahouse, and of some other places in between (flickr, youTube). I enjoyed my stay in Beijing very much and encourage you to visit this country if you can. It is worth a visit and being educated.

1st Sino German Symposium on Knowledge Handling in Beijing, China (PRC)

Today I start my trip to Beijing (I haven’t yet blogged about it as I just recognized. How lazy …). I have been invited to participate in the First Sino German Symposium on Knowledge Handling: Representation, Management, and Personalised Application, where I will give a talk on explanation. Here is more about the event:

The Chinese-German Center (CDZ) for science foundation which is a common institution of the DFG (German Science Foundation) and the National Science Foundation of China accepted the proposal of Prof. Dr. Klaus Mainzer for the „1st Sino-German Symposium on Knowledge Handling: Representation, Management and Personalized Application“ (4.-8. November 2007) in Beijing. The CDZ supports conferences concerning key topics of science which should be discussed by experts and leading scientists of China and Germany. The main issue of the conference is the development of personalized information and communication systems tailored to the individual profile of a user and his/her preferences. The topic is interdisciplinarily considered from technical, cognitive, social, and economic points of view. The conference is organized by Prof. Dr. Klaus Mainzer as Director of the Institute of Interdisciplinary Informatics and his former coworker and Ph.D. student in Augsburg Prof. Dr. Jiyou Jia (Beijing University). (see University of Augsburg)

As this is my first trip to China I am very excited. I am looking forward to this experience.

[composed and posted with ecto]