THE MINDMAP BLOG HAS A NEW WEBSITE ADDRESS!

The Mindmap Blog has moved to a new URL: http://mindmapblog.com

As you can see the new URL is shorter (more convenient to type and say).  The new site will have the same “look and feel” though I’ll be adding a variety of new features over the coming months.

I’ve had a tremendous response to the blog with many of you telling me how much you’ve enjoyed the content.  I appreciate all the great feedback.

At the new site I’ll continue to highlight ways to leverage the power of mindmapping for business, education, and your personal life.

Please update your browser bookmarks or favorites.  Also, If you’ve been tracking the posts on this blog using an RSS feed reader, you must update to the new URL, because this blog will no longer be updated.

Thank you and I look forward to hearing from you at the new site: http://mindmapblog.com

Let’s Expand the Use of Mindmapping!

Vic Gee, author of the Mind-Mapping.org Blog, has put forth a very interesting proposition to those interested in mindmapping: Give him your thoughts on how to expand the use of mindmapping and if you’re creative enough you could win a free license of Buzan’s iMindMap software.

All you have to do is write a post or provide a mindmap on his blog no later than October 3, 2008.

As he puts it, the objective is to put forth an idea that helps “…achieve exponential growth in the numbers of people doing mind mapping.  This needs an idea that will motivate committed visual information mappers and at the same time can leverage the whole mind mapping community to get the word out, explain, demonstrate, tell stories, show all different styles of maps, all uses.”

I’ll be entering a mindmap into Vic’s contest.  I hope you plan to do the same.  Click here to enter your post.

Top 12 Uses of PersonalBrain 4.5 – Dynamic Mindmapping Software

TheBrain Technologies, makers of PersonalBrain 4.5, the dynamic mindmapping/information management software, have identified the Top 12 Uses for their software.

As they put it, “You’ve just downloaded PersonalBrain. You’re probably thinking, “I love the interface but what’s the best use of it? How can I get started?” There are a million and one uses and applications for PersonalBrain. We were hard pressed to narrow things down to 12, but here they are…”

1. Visual Bookmark Manager

You’re navigating the Web discovering great content. Why bury it in your favorites list and folders? You can think of PersonalBrain as a creative bookmark manager on steroids.

2. File and Everything in Your Life Manager

OK, now let’s take all your bookmarks and integrate them with your files and ideas in your head. Simply drag and drop any file or folder into PersonalBrain’s visual interface and new Thoughts are automatically created.

3. Capturing Expertise and Special Interests

Now, let’s get specific. What do you love? What do you browse the Web for or talk about over lunch? You need to create a Brain for your special interests.

4. Competitive Intelligence and Product Development

Creating charts in documents and spreadsheets won’t provide you with the same insight as a Brain on your competitors. Create categories for key markets and product dimensions and link to their Web sites. You can also add any files you have about the products to each Thought.

5. Research and Analysis

Staying up to date on all the latest trends and developments can mean the difference between developing cutting edge products and letting your competition pass you by.  

6. Event Planning

PersonalBrain is an ideal tool for organizing business and life events that involve many different information sets and possibilities. For example, organizing your vacation or creating a travel section within your Brain is very popular.

7. Brainstorming and Mindmapping

Everyone knows how to brainstorm and many people are familiar with the concept of mind mapping where you branch out your ideas in a visual diagram. PersonalBrain takes brainstorming and mind mapping to the next level.

8. Innovation and Strategic Planning

Creating a new strategy or product line can be both complex and rewarding. Building your business plan using PersonalBrain gives you a head start by letting you easily analyze all aspects of your new venture.

9. Presenting and Capturing Your Vision

PersonalBrain’s flexible linkages and connections can capture your vision and imagination. Use your Brain to reflect on your own ideas and share your vision with others!

10. Visualizing and Tracking People Networks

Use the Brain to organize all your contacts and the organizations you interact with. PersonalBrain’s flexible display lets you organize your contacts by any number of dimensions…location, deal size, business type, project involvement…Whatever is important to you.

11. Network and IT Management

Map out all your servers, software, hardware and the interdependencies.

12. Web Site Planning and Site Navigation

The Web is one of the most interconnected spaces we use each day. Creating a Web site and maintaining all the page relationships can be a challenge. By using TheBrain to map out all your Web pages, you can see how everything connects and add notes on revisions or things you would like to add.

Click here for more information on the Top 12 Uses of PersonalBrain.

I use PersonalBrain on a daily basis to manage my documents, websites and contacts.  I can tell you from personal experience it is very robust and dynamic tool.

iBlueSky: Mindmapping on the iPhone Just Gets Better & Better

In a previous post I featured a mindmapping product for the iPhone called MindMaker.  Recently, I learned of a new mindmapping program for the iPhone called iBlueSky.  

iBlueSky has functionality that surpasses that of MindMaker.  That is probably why it costs a little more coming in at $7.99 instead of $4.99 for MindMaker.

But I must say that the extra $3 is worth it.  One criticism I had of MindMaker is that it did not take advantage of iPhone’s accelerometer which allows you create mindmaps in landscape mode.  Another criticism was not being able to e-mail your mindmaps.  Well, iBlueSky does both.  

Here’s a mindmap I created on my iPhone with iBlueSky and then e-mailed it to myself as a PDF:

(Click mindmap to enlarge)

The folks over at Tenero, creators of iBlueSky, have even created a YouTube video for the product.  Check it out:

If you are an experienced mindmapper or new to mindmapping and just want a creative way to capture your thoughts and ideas, this is a good buy.

US Constitution Mindmap: Creating a “More Perfect Union”

As the US Congress finalizes the details on a $700 billion dollar bailout for the US financial system and as we, American citizens, make up our mind about who will be the next President of the United States, I thought it appropriate that we all reflect on our rights as US citizens.

The foundation of these rights (and structure and purpose of our government) is found in the US Constitution, a document signed by America’s forefathers on Sept. 17, 1787.  

This document was by no means perfect when it was signed.  After all, at the time of its signing there was still slavery and women could not vote.  But there was something “perfect “ about the document found in its Preamble.

In the Preamble are the words,  “We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union…” 

What makes these words perfect is that the American forefathers knew they themselves were not perfect.  They knew that future generations of Americans would have to make America better than it was when they signed the Constitution.

In fact, it was those words that made it possible for future generations to add 17 additional amendments, after the Bill of Rights, to the Constitution.  Amendments 13 and 19 among them, which ended Slavery and gave women the right to vote.  Those words also made it possible for the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

The American forefathers understood that this would be a journey.  And the journey continues…

Today, we face more tough choices as we “make our union more perfect”. 

As we face these challenges, I thought it would be helpful for all of us to have a clear understanding of the document that forms the foundation of American society. 

To help you quickly and efficiently understand the components of the US Constitution, I’ve created a US Constitution mindmap.  In addition to a brief overview of the Articles and Amendments, I’ve also included full descriptions under the Notes Icon for each Article and Amendment.  In order to use the Notes functionality and see the full descriptions you will need to: 1) Download the free MindManager Viewer and 2) Download the US Constitution mindmap from Biggerplate.com. 

Click on mindmap image below to enlarge:

 

Mindmapping Comes to the iPhone!

In a previous post I wrote about the iPhone being a game-changer.  I also created an iPhone mindmap to illustrate the new features of the iPhone.

Well, I’m glad to announce that mindmapping has come to the iPhone!  A new application called MindMaker can be downloaded directly to your iPhone from the App Store at a price of $4.99.

As an avid iPhone user and mindmapper, I think this application is pretty good.  It is simple and efficient and allows you to mindmap on your iPhone.

Here’s how it works:

Launching MindMaker on the iPhone

• Tap the MindMaker Application Button on your iPhone.  The application opens with a list of mindmaps.  
• By tapping the name of a mindmap in the list it launches the mindmap.  A default mindmap called “Mindmapping” comes preloaded with the application and appears at the top of the list. 
• This default mindmap has four sub-topics: History, Tools, People, and Uses.  Those topics then have a few more subtopics.
• Getting back to the mindmap list is standard iPhone navigation with the menu arrow in top left of the screen (Same navigation used in Address Book or iPod app).

Moving around a Mindmap on the iPhone

• You simply slide your finger around the iPhone screen to see any area of the mindmap.
• You can also tap on arrow buttons in the bottom menu to quickly move through topics and subtopics in the mindmap.

Creating, Editing, and Deleting Topics within a Mindmap on the iPhone

• There is a plus (“+”) button in the bottom menu that allows you to create new topics. 
• Each subtopic you create from the main topic is shown in a different color.  All subtopics from a given color remain in that color.  This makes it easy to distinguish parts of the mindmap.
• You can double tap on any topic (which highlights the topic) and press the plus (“+”) button to create a subtopic for that topic.
• To edit a topic, double tap on any topic and then press the writing tablet icon in the bottom menu.  This launches the iPhone QWERTY keyboard and isolates that topic for you to edit.
• To delete a topic, double tap any topic and press the trash icon.

As with other applications for the iPhone it will only get better with future updates (which are free). 

There are a few areas where this application could use some improvements, however:

1) The arrow navigation does not navigate through the entire mindmap.  Only down one path at a time and then back to the main topic.

2) You can only view the mindmaps in portrait mode.  It does not take advantage of the acceleromator and allow you to move through the mindmap in landscape mode.  This isn’t a showstopper, as you can move very quickly around the mindmap with your finger in portrait mode.  But it would be nice to have landscape.

3) It would also be nice to be able to e-mail mindmaps from the iPhone and import mindmaps into industry standard mindmapping software like MindManager and NovaMind.

Even with these suggested updates, if you are a mindmapper and you have an iPhone, I’d recommend purchasing it.  It’s pretty incredible to be able to mindmap on my iPhone.  I’m already getting some good use from the application.

(Click image to enlarge)

 

  

Dr. O’Driscoll’s Workshop on Web 2.0 and 3Di Technologies

On September 16, 2008, I had the great privilege of attending a workshop in Charlotte, NC. on Web 2.0 and 3Di Technologies delivered by Dr. Tony O’Driscoll, Professor of Practice of Business Administration at The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. 

It was a phenomenal presentation with an incredible amount of valuable information on Web 2.0 and 3Di.  It also highlighted how these technologies are working together to literally change the way we collaborate, learn, and innovate.  

I was so glad I had my laptop to mindmap his presentation.  With mindmapping, I was able to take notes AND create URL links to the valuable resources he highlighted throughout the session.  I think when you click through this mindmap you’ll not only get a sense of the wonderful presentation he gave, but you’ll also come away with an appreciation of what computer based mindmapping can do.

No matter how good a note taker you are, paper and pencil can’t compete with computer-based mindmapping.  Not to mention that I can now reuse and rearrange this information anyway that I like. As more people learn about mindmapping I am convinced it will change the way we capture and manage information.

Below is the mindmap I created during the workshop. You can click on the mindmap to enlarge, but to get the full benefit of the mindmap, I suggest you download the Free MindManager Viewer and then download the mindmap from Biggerplate.com.  Then you’ll get the full functionality of the mindmap – all the layers of detail, notes and active URLs.

You can also go to Dr. O’Driscoll’s Blog and see the entire PowerPoint presentation.  Click Here. 

Click Mindmap to Enlarge

So, How Do You Define a Great Mindmap? Mindmappers Speak Out

Chuck Frey, author and creator of The Mind Mapping Software Blog recently posted this question on his blog, “What are the defining characteristics of an excellent software-produced mind map?”

Mindmappers from all over the world are responding to the question.  Take a look and see what they have to say (and if you are so inclined, add your own perspective to the dialogue).  Click Here.

NovaMind Launches New Mindmap Library: NovaMind Connect

Like Biggerplate.com and Mappio.com, Novamind has recently launched their own Mindmap Library called NovaMind Connect.

NovaMind Connect, in the words of NovaMind Founder Gideon King, “is a completely new and unique system for you to share your Mind Maps online.”

He goes on to say, “NovaMind Connect allows you to almost instantly take the Mind Map document that you have created in NovaMind and upload it directly from NovaMind to NovaMind Connect, where it is turned into a full HTML version of the document, where you can click on each Mind Map to view the detail of that Mind Map. From there you see all the branches of the Mind Map in expandable outline form, and you can navigate to each branch either by clicking it on the Mind Map, or in the outline.”

Additionally, NovaMind Connect has full international support built in, so you can upload your mindmaps  in any language.

I had an opportunity to take a look at the site and it is quite impressive.  

NovaMind has created a 2-minute Introductory video on the new site.  Click Here.

Obama’s Plan For America: A Mindmap of His New Book

There has been criticism of Senator Barack Obama that he gives a good speech but doesn’t provide the details of what he will do if elected President.

With his new book, “Change We Can Believe In: Barack Obama’s Plan to Renew America’s Promise” he provides the detail.

I decided to create a mindmap so you can see at a glance what’s covered in the book.  In addition to providing the details of his Plan for America, he also includes 7 Key Speeches from the 2008 Campaign.

Click on mindmap to enlarge.