I found the Mindmapping 2.0 blog a few days ago, and liked the initiative.  Jonathan Sapir was asking for guest bloggers to comment and fill out the discussion that he has already provided a useful framework for, so I stepped up to the plate.

My first post is there now - it’s about trends from web-based to desktop mindmapping software.

I hope to be contributing more thoughts in the coming days.

Roy

Do you interview for posts where finding out a candidate’s knowledge in technical areas is important?   This looks like a useful idea for structuring that type of interview.

http://www.hackerdude.com/2007/08/10/the-mind-map-approach-to-interviewing/

Hackerdude’s post has some thoughtful ideas about handling candidates who may be more comfortable writing code than talking to people.

I shall be trying this.  Hat-tip to Hackerdude!

Pity I’ve just finished a slew of interviews and two hires.

Roy

There’s a search engine dedicated to mind mapping that only looks at sites with useful mind mapping content.  I’m happy to say that http://www.topicscape.com has been picked as one of those sites.  

As the site says:

Use this to do a focused Google search of valued mind-mapping websites. This search box ignores the mindmapping bandwagon all-adverts sites, the trivial three-line posts about someone’s new mind-map, and pages for old software on software download sites.

I’ve tried some searches and it really does seem as focused, with few irrelevant results.

Here’s the link: http://www.mind-mapping.org/article_main.php.  On that page, there’s a concept mapping search engine as well.

Roy

I like this (well, I would, wouldn’t I!)

http://www.cogmios.nl:80/3d-mindmapping-with-3d-topicscape-has-advantages-over-2d-mindmapping-20070618.html

I can’t wait to see what this guy writes next.

Roy

This is fun.  wikimindmap will produce a mind map of any subject in Wikipedia.

 Go to http://www.wikimindmap.org/, select en.wikipedia.org from “Select a Wiki” and enter “Napoleon I of France” as your topic.  After a few seconds you will see this (but a better image):

Click a green arrow and it makes a fresh mind map of the subject in that node.  Some nodes take you to the Wikipedia section, some to external sites (clearly marked). Some nodes expand on the spot - it all depends on the Wikipedia article’s structure.  The tool is obviously parsing and analyzing the Wikipedia syntax.

I think this is a wonderful and appealing resource.  How about you?

Roy

We have just released a new live version of Topicscape Pro (1.3), a new Pro Beta (1.52) and new Skins installers that will work with Pro and Beta.Here’s an outline of what these installers will give our users.

Topicscape Pro Beta 1.52

The release of Topicscape Pro Beta 1.52 is a stability release that’s closing in on Release Candidate 1.

1. The duplicate-file checking user interface has been extended and, we believe, is much improved.
2. Other user interface improvements suggested by users have been implemented.
3. Data Repair has been extended to check new data.
4. The default skins for Pro Beta have been changed. New skins are available - see below.
5. And some bug fixes have been applied

Topicscape Pro 1.3 (Live) This is a partial release to Live of some of the items previously released and tested in our current Beta 1.5.

1. FreeMind export and import: This is a major new feature. It allows for complete interchangeability between 2D mindmaps in FreeMind and 3D mindmaps in Topicscape, including round trips (e.g. export to FreeMind, make some changes, import back to Topicscape).
2. We have changed the default skin
3. The F6 key will hide all non-flagged topics in the ‘Scape, allowing you to quickly home in on the ones that you have marked as important.
4. The Caps Lock key now acts like a toggle for Quickzoom. You can press Caps lock, then click around on topic cones to zoom into several areas without having to hold down the shift key. When you have found where you want to be, keep the mouse button down, and press CapsLock again.
5. Thumb drives (memory sticks) can now be used with Topicscape.
6. When you’re in the Topic Center, you can now double-left-click on the wall of the cone or on the floor to return to the ‘Scape.
7. There is now an option to check for updates. Go to Tools | Options | User Preferences and near the foot of the panel you will see a checkbox “Auto-check for updates every day”. If you check this box, then on the first run of any 24-hour period, Topicscape will check at our web site to see if a new update is available. If one is, it will open a browser at the page for downloads. You will need to give Topicscape permission to access the web for this to work, but it will need that for MHT-file making anyway. This option is off at installation, but on the first run after installation (only), Topicscape will ask if you want to turn it on.
8. The default skins for Pro are now Crystal and Smoky Plastic. “Classic” has been moved to the skins installer.

The new Live version of Topicscape Pro is available here:
http://www.topicscape.com/tnc.php?productID=14&downloadID=14

Topicscape Pro Skins

There is a new installer that replaces the previous Skins installer.Just download it and install – no other steps needed.This contains all the previous skins, plus two new ones: Lite and Graph paper.

1. “Lite” is included for users who have upgraded from Topicscape Lite to Pro, but who don’t want to change the appearance of Topicscape.
2. “Graph paper” is based on a user suggestion and provides an interesting contrast to the shiny metal surfaces of some other skins.The Graph paper ‘ground’ goes well with some existing models and textures, and being light and neutral in color offers many possibilities for you to tailor Topicscape’s appearance to your taste.
3. Classic has been moved.

The skins installer has now been changed to install into Topicscape Pro Live and Topicscape Pro Beta.  Whichever you have installed (one or both) you can choose to update and make the skins available.

The Skins installer is here:
http://www.topicscape.com/downloadFile.php?productID=13&appID=7

A note about Intel drivers

We identified an issue in a recent Intel graphics driver that affects Topicscape operation.Intel have acknowledged this as a problem but have not yet given a date for release of a fixed driver. Fortunately there is an earlier version that works with Topicscape (see http://www.topicscape.com/faq.php#Q48).  Intel have said that they will advise us when a correct version is on line.  A new version was made available in early May but we wish to emphasize that this does not solve the problem – we have tested it.  If you are using the earlier Intel driver recommended in our FAQs, please stick with it.

As if Bubbl.us, MindMeister, Kayuda, Mindomo and Web of Web were not enough, we now have Comapping as well.  This is a new subscription-based entry (US$12 for 6-months) from Denmark.  At first sight the mindmaps look suprisingly rigid in layout and even more hierarchical than those from other 2D mindmapping products.

As with other web-based mindmappers, collaborative mindmapping is the target market.

 Find it at http://www.comapping.com/

There were some problems with the version of Beta 1.51 that we put up on Monday.  They appeared irregularly and only on some PCs.

We think we’ve fixed them now, so there’s a new installer on line for you to download from the usual place: Topicscape 3D mindmaps
Pro Beta version

Roy

Fixes:

• On some computers, Topicscape would occasionally not start - actually it loaded and could be seen in task manager, but did not show up in the screen.
• In such cases, when switching the PC off, a panel (with an “End now” button) showed up saying that it couldn’t close Windows.
• Association types (for 3D concept maps) have been tidied up: customization controls and panel appearance.

A new Topicscape Pro Beta (1.51) was put up online on the 30th April (and a first revision is up today). It is ready for download by all full license holders and Beta Users. This Beta expires on 29th June, and well before that time we hope to release the live version of Topicscape Pro 1.5.

This is how the new Topicscape Beta can now help you manage your information in its 3D mindmaps:

Duplicate checking
Now you can drag in one or more files to Topicscape, drop it on the new ?=? panel and see which files are already in the current Topicscape. Shows size in bytes, colors different size or date in red, points out if the duplicate in that Topicscape is actually a missing occurrence file, and shows which topic it is in. Then it allows you to control what to do next, one by one (replace, delete the external one or bring it in anyway). This is really useful if you are tidying up multiple copies of different versions of documents that should already be in a Topicscape.

Quickopen introduced
In any topic, you can now “promote” one occurrence. This will show the icon for that occurrence above the cone in the ‘Scape, allowing you to click once on that icon to open the document in the application of the occurrence. Naturally a ‘fileless occurrence’ may not be promoted in this way, nor may an occurrence that has no application associated with it on your PC. Occurrences with no associated application show the default Microsoft ‘unknown file’ icon.

Association type visibility
When association types were introduced in the previous Beta, to see them, you would click and hold on an association line. That would show the Association Details Panel and allow you to read and edit the association text (and the topic names). [Reminder - association types are the verb phrases you can now add between topics. For example, “is the capital of” may be an association type between topics France and Paris.]

We have continued our planned implementation of Association types and now this new beta provides other ways of viewing them that you will want to use when you are just viewing them, not editing. Hover over and association line and you will see a blue hint expressing the full association phrases. If you have not edited these, they will just say, for example, France is a parent of Paris, and Paris is a child of France. If you have edited them, they might say France has its seat of government in Paris, and Paris is the capital of France.

You can also opt to see Association types as strong blue panels in the ‘Scape when you click on a topic. You will see the association type for the connection between the selected topic and its parent(s). You will only see this if a) you have edited the standard association types (the default “is parent of” and “is child of”) and if b) the new checkbox in Tools | Options | User Preferences | Miscellaneous operations | Suppress standard association types is checked (ticked).

There’s an option to see all associations at one time: press Shift+F7 once. This will toggle on all association lines and their descriptions, subject to b) just mentioned above. Press Shift+F7 again to toggle this off.

Association-types search
There is now a checkbox on the Advanced Search panel to make the search look in association types. The example just mentioned would be found if you search for “capital” and checked the “association types” checkbox.

Association-types to FreeMind and back
Our implementation of FreeMind round trips has been further enhanced to include association-type texts. These won’t be immediately visible in FreeMind, they are stored as attributes, because FreeMind makes mind maps, not concept maps, so does not have association types. But storing them in the attributes means that re-importing an exported FreeMind back into Topicscape will preserve any association types you have added.

Coming up!
Soon we shall be releasing a Beta that supports tagging topics and occurrences and filtering the visible topics by tags.

Please give us your feedback about the new Beta!

Thanks

Roy

I’ve just done a review of some of the different styles of mindmaps and put down a little of my experience about how people who like mindmaps develop their use of them over time.   If you liked mindmaps, or concept maps, when you encountered them at in college, chances are you went on to use them in adult life - but in a different way.  Maybe to plan projects, manage your tasks or get control of your information. 

 Which style do you use?

http://www.topicscape.com/mindmapping/mindmapping-styles.html