Any advice on organizing digital files?

[Goldmund]

Flatter structures are easier to find things in because you don't have to remember that folder X is a child of folder W.

Makes sense, I guess

Bit Literacy folder structure:
-- Parent folder (top level folder for files not handled by another tools like iPhoto, iTunes or e-mail program)
---- Project or category (reference) folder (this level must not contain any files - folders only)
------ Properly named files and optional subfolders (file naming scheme is: initials-date-topic.ext) (*)

Cool! Thanks. Some questions, though:

How many parent folders are there typically? Not only one?

What are the initials? Those of the author?

Why include the date/time in the file name when you have that info in a separate column you can sort by?