Matchware Releases Service Pack 1 for MindView 3

FYI

I just found out that Matchware has released Service Pack 1 for Mindview 3 which can be downloaded from their website. I have upgrade my version of MindView 3 BE to the latest version without a hitch. MindView 3 feels faster when changing from the various views. Going from a Mind map to a Gantt Chart is much faster than in previous versions. Give it a try and let me know what you think. You can download the Service Pack 1 by clicking on this link. According to the Matchware website here are some of the features of the Service Pack 1.

This Service Pack contains the following changes:

Service Pack 1:

• Panels now include scroll bars when screen resolution is low or when space is limited.
• Converting between views has been slightly optimized.
• Branch text editor: Several usability issues and other problems have been corrected.
• Icons: The Icons gallery now closes upon selection of an icon.
• Outline view: The font settings can now be changed as expected.
• Spellchecker: The problem whereby correct text was sometimes underlined in red has been resolved.
• Word export:
  • PDF files are now handled correctly.
  • Links to embedded files are now handled correctly.
  • Pictures located in text notes on the Mind Map are now shown in the exported Word document.
• PowerPoint export: The problem whereby comments were not exported to PowerPoint when using a non-English version of MindView has now been fixed.
• SharePoint: Now fully compatible with SharePoint 2003. With SharePoint 2007 it may be necessary to check out the file before being able to save it from within MindView.
• Many other usability and internal issues have been corrected.
• Resources:
  • Adding resources from the Address Book now works as expected.
  • Resources assigned to tasks are now preserved when copying to another document.
• Dragging a link from the web browser onto a branch now creates a hyperlink.
• The Calculation Defaults and Formats dialog now supports localized decimal separators.
• Excel export: You can now export to Excel even when Excel is not installed, but you will only be able to save the file in the XML 2003 Spreadsheet format.
• HTML export: New export templates have been included.
• Microsoft Project import: Files containing unsupported characters can now be imported.
• It is now possible to export to the older OpenMind/MindView 2 XML format.

MindMap Navigator Released for MindManager 8

One of the features that is often asked for in MindManager 8 is a Map Explorer. For anyone who has used MindManager 8 with large maps you know that it can get rather unwieldy to navigate the map once it gets to large proportions. There was time when Mindjet Labs had put together an exploratory add-in that added a Map Explorer to MindManager 6 but development stopped and it was never upgraded for the current version of MindManager. This week I was excited to see that the Mind2Chart Team had just released a new add-in called MindMap Navigator that adds a full featured Map Explorer Pane to MindManager 8.

MindMap Navigator 8 add-in adds a fully functional Map Explorer to MindManager 8 that allows you to view your map in a Tree structure. Once MindMap Navigator is installed you will find a new pane called MindMap Navigator that you can open and close. Once the pane is opened you will be able to view all of your recent mind maps and open them from the MindMap Navigator pane. MindMap Navigator lets you quickly move from one branch in your map to another via the Tree structure. By double clicking on a branch in the MindMap Navigator pane you can jump to the branch in your map. View a video demonstration of MindMap Navigator by clicking on this link. Additionally, you can click on the Show Branch Alone button to isolate your branch in the map. You can also select branches and set a Relationship which you can format in your map. You also have the ability to Expand and Collapse Branches to help you quickly navigator through your mind maps. MindMap Navigator is a welcome addition and a must have for anyone who creates large maps. Having a Tree structure to navigate through your large mind maps makes it an ideal tool and one that you will say "how did I ever do without it." For more information and to download a trial version of MindMap Navigator click here.

Google Voice-Trying it Out

I have been hearing a lot about Google Voice for the past couple of months and a just today I received an email that I could sign up for a Google Phone Number. I quickly validated my account and set up a Google Voice Gadget that now appears on my blog. I am hoping that some of you might be interested in asking me a question or just drop me a line and say, hello. Google Voice is a free service, should you decide to give me a call within the United States. You can call me and leave me a message by clicking on the Google Voice gadget and entering the following number: (908) 955-3450. For the time being, I have directed all of my phone calls to the web where Google will transcribe my message for me-that I can access and listen to. Google Voice will also allow me to forward calls to my office or mobile phone, which at this time I have decided not to do. So feel free to give me a call and I will let you know how it goes!

Google Announces Google Chrome OS

FYI-Google announces that they are developing a new light weight operating system for netbooks.

Introducing the Google Chrome OS

7/07/2009 09:37:00 PM

It's been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching for information, checking email, catching up on the news, shopping or just staying in touch with friends. However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we're announcing a new project that's a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It's our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we're already talking to partners about the project, and we'll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

We have a lot of work to do, and we're definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision. We're excited for what's to come and we hope you are too. Stay tuned for more updates in the fall and have a great summer.

Gantt Charts vs Timelines-You Decide

In the early 1900's Henry Gantt introduced us to what is commonly referred to as the Gantt Chart, a way of visually communicating tasks and the timeline for each. In his 1919 book "Organizing for Work" ^[6] Gantt gives two principles for his charts:

• one, measure activities by the amount of time needed to complete them;
• two, the space on the chart can be used the represent the amount of the activity that should have been done in that time.

A lot has changed since 1919, and with the advent of computer technology we have seen a number of business project management software applications that take Gantt Charts to a whole new dimension. With the power of the personal computer we can now show not only task completion but the inter-dependencies of the tasks as they relate to the project completion. As more and more information gets added to the Gantt Chart and the visual complexity increases it certainly adds a real cognitive load for many, to make sense of the data. Recently, Wallace Tait and I had a conversation about Gantt Charts and their utility-which lead us to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of the visual display when presenting information in a Gantt Chart. One of the real advantages of using Gantt Charts is the fact that it can pack a lot of rich information into a small area. But this can be its downfall as well-and it does take a certain knack to be able to decipher the information and the dependencies that are often displayed in a Gantt Chart.

While Gantt Charts have a rich tradition some people may have difficulty understanding the complexities that are displayed on the screen and choose not to use them to communicate project information. In this regard, some users may want to opt to use a Timeline to convey project information which is a more sequential way at looking at a tasks over time. While you certainly lose out on the richness of the Gantt Chart you are quickly able to see the flow of the project and when things need to be done. One mind mapping application that bridges the gap between Gantt Charts and Timelines is MindView 3 BE. In MindView 3 BE, you have the choice of looking at your project in various modes: as a mind map, a Gantt Chart, or as a Timeline. You can check out my previous post on MindView 3 BE to learn about the features and the project management tools. MindView 3 BE even lets you display your project using a cross between a Timeline with Duration bars. So the question I leave you with is: What are your preferences when you are displaying project information? Please complete the survey that I put together about Gantt Charts. I will report the results once they come in.

MindGenius 2.5: An Overview

I had the opportunity several weeks ago to speak with Dustin Newport, Director of Business & Marketing for MindGenius about their flagship product MindGenius 2.5. I always find it interesting to learn just how these applications come about and their genesis. Dustin shared with me that MindGenius came about as the result of the work of the parent company Gael Quality Group, which is a large consulting company in the compliance and quality management field. In March 2008, MindGenius Ltd, spun out of the parent company into new quarters with a new vision of where they could take this exciting mindmapping application. For the past month I have been using MindGenius and find it to be a powerful, nimble, and straightforward mindmapping application that runs on Windows platform.

When you first start off using MindGenius you can select from a number of redesigned templates to start your mind map session. One of the features which is unique to MindGenius is the ability to use the Question Assistance when developing your mind map. With the Question Assistance turned on you will see a array of topics with questions to help jump start your creative thinking process. There are a number of different topics and associated questions for each of the topics in MindGenius. Once your select your template you are ready to start your brainstroming or planning session using MindGenius. MindGeniis sticks to the core of mind mapping application letting you quickly get your ideas out on the computer screen. As a user you simply start typing and a new entry box pops up to enter your idea. If you like you can format the entry within the dialog box and press enter to add an idea to your mind map. I found the means to enter and idea fast and fluid. To add a series of subtopics all you need to do is select the topic and start typing. MindGenius comes with a library of map markers that you can add to your mind map that can act as a means to create a new map based on the category of the marker. I found this to be a fast and efficient way to look at tasks in my mind map that are assigned to a particular category. Likewise, you can assign a resource to each topic or subtopic in MindGenius and then with a click of the mouse create a new map with all of the tasks sorted by Resource. When working on larger projects this is an invaluable tool to get the big perspective on who is responsible for each of the tasks in the project. MindGenuis does not have the capabilities at this time to visually display what percent of the task is complete. Another unique feature of MindGenius is the Map Explorer which is displayed on the left hand side in a pane that lets you quickly move about your map within an outline mode. As soon as you select a topic in the Map Explorer the topic comes into focus with all the associated subtopics. Having a Map Explorer makes it very easy to move through large maps and can be used to move through your maps when you want to use it for presentations. By simply using the down arrow keys you can move through your MindGenius map via the Map Explorer so that the focus is always on the specific topic or branch. Pairing up MindGenius with a data projector to present the information is a great way to communicate and share your ideas.

MindGenius is fairly typical of mind mapping applications and allows you to link to web sites, files, PDF's. I personally would prefer to be able to embed certain files in my mind maps or at least give me the option to choose between embedding or linking. MindGenius allows you to set boundaries as well as adding floating and call out text. You can also display relationships between ideas on your mind maps buy using the insert Relationship option. Likewise, it is easy to add a note to a topic or subtopic by typing into the Notes pane. If you choose you can also add a watermark to the background when printing your maps. When it is time to distribute your MindGenius maps you can use the free viewer or distribute it as an executable(.exe) file. You can also decide to export your map as HTML and upload it to your server so that others can view it on te web. Or better ye,t export it to the ubiquitous PDF format so that you can email it to your colleagues who can open it with the free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

MindGenius offers seamless integration of your mind maps into the Microsoft Office Suite of products. If you are interested in using MindGenius as part of your project management solution you will find outputting your mind map to Microsoft Project a snap. I found it very easy to move my MindGenius map right into Microsoft Project with all of the data completely intact. Once you start the export process to Microsoft Project you have an array of options as to what you would like to move over to Microsoft Project. You can click on this link to view an overview of MindGenius. You also have the option to export your maps to Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Visio.

MindGenius is an easy to use mind mapping application that you should be up and running in no time. MindGenius is a straightforward mind mapping application with some unique features that should make it a valuable tool in your arsenal for brainstorming, project planning, and business consulting. The Map Explorer feature along with the Questioning Assistance Pane add some unique functionality to this well thougth out application. My favorite feature which should be ideal for anyone using this tool for project planning is the ability to create a new map based on the resources or categories attached to a topic or subtopic. Overall you will find MindGenius an easy to use mind mapping application with a small footprint. I would hope that MindGenius will continue to build on their fine product and modernize the interface and refresh the graphics and the overall look of the program.

Click on this link to view an overview of MindGenius 2.5