I just found this cool site http://www.mindmeister.com

Effectively a web version of free mind - does anyone have any invitations for it??? - would love to get in there and test it out.

Steve

email steve at dalts dot com 

What's free mind?

Like Tony Buzan's mind maps??

Or Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats?

I don't know....

Like TOny Buzan's  --  myself I use Minjet's package that can make use of the pen capabilities of my tablet... but I will check this one out.

I subscribed to their newsletter (yes I know sigh!)... and got an immediate invite to the beta...

Oh look!! I'm on the map!

Bric thought of me! woo hoo!!

What a strange thing...

Me thinking of you.... or the concept of the mind map? 

Mind Maps are actually a very powerful tool for both getting a grip on information and for planning... you can give structure to just about anything using it.... and the combination of pictures with short words helps you to learn the concepts explored not just feed them into short term memory.

One of the most interesting "powerpoint" presentations I've ever been at was a result of the speaker shedding the powerpoint after the obligatory Splash welcome screen in favour of an embedded mindmap...

he used the node controls (+ or - icons at each branch) to expand or contract the tree so we could see exactly where the point he was discussin fit into the big picture... very effective! 

i'm giving this a go right away.....so many things in my head and they are all over the place!

Me thinking of you.... or the concept of the mind map?

The mind map.... 

gah!!! i need an invitation to start?????

Woman, sign up tot he newsletter

I might give it a go too.... at some stage

yes....i just abt realised that....

see!!! that's how cluttered my mind is right now...

hahaha

A 5 min video by Tony Buzan on the correct use of Mind Maps...

Shows some of the difficulty of using a comparatively rigid system such as Mindmeister to get the full benefits... my tablet version is a bit better but still not the same as good old paper and coloured pencils... (but then the computer versions are all better than stone tablets and chisels...)

It's only when you mentioned pencils and paper that I realised that I've been doing something like it all along.... except seeing that ss above confused me

And I didn't know what I did had a name

As Buzan says in the video clip (which is a tiny bit of an ad for his product... I didn't realize that he's now got one; previously he made his money from books & lectures) virtually all genius types through time have used this kind of thinking tool and process... his aim has been to bring it to the masses... and to let the rest of us know it is ok to doodle creatively  .. a long way from when I'd be scolded in school for doodling rather than keeping neat notes  -- this despite the fact that there  was obviously an inverse relationship -- the neater the notes (with the exception of the cute girl three rows over and two seats down) the worse the marks on exams!

hahahahaah I see....

I think we had a 'how to take notes' session sometime in school, but I obviously wasn't paying much attention 

And they probably tought EVERYTHING wrong ... so those that paid attention were doomed to failure by the education system!

they almost certainly didn't teach Buzan's methods and probably had never heard of De Bono's thinking tools either....

Neither have I.... what are those?

De Bono (edward) is the author of 50 or more books on thinking.... he invented the term 'lateral thinking" and suggested it and dozens of other techniques (povocation -or PO-; Plus-minus-interesting, six thinking hats, and dozens of others)... one of his books is a Five Day course on thinking we he pretty well demolishes many of the traditional ideas of education.... the course never caught on much in Canada as far as I know , but I thought it was picked up in some enlightened school districts in Aus.

His books (especially the early ones) are are a great investigation into the process of not just thinking but more importantly creative thinking. 

Interesting....

Will have to look that up 

Several years ago I ran into one of his books at my favorite Sydney store - Dymock's Technical on Georges St. --  titled "If I were King Of Australia" -  I never picked it up and have always regretted it -- I have no idea how or even if it tied into his other works!

If I ever read it, I'll let you know

I've got a similiar program on Linux : Labyrinth. Freemind was too complicated to install

Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats used to help me with decision-making, or how to overcome a challenge, get into a task etc... Very effective. I haven't done it for a while actually. This topic made me remember...

I got FreeMind to work on Linux!!!

HAd to build the RPM, compile the code and install it. phew. 

Holy cow

took a while

still a n00b with linux

Kasta: Less popular but worth a look is De Bono's "Six Action Shoes"  -- although as a procrastinator I had a hard time getting started on it...

Ha ha. I am a bit of a procrastinator too but will write that down and take a look.

The video clip above (Tony Buzan) prompted me to give a trial to their software.... definately first release stuff (they are saying if you buy now they will give three years of free product upgrades in return for being an early adopter)... so I guess they have found a way to monetize a beta ....

But amazingly for a version 1.0 (build 17) it shows amazing promise... enough of a WoW eeeee on my tablet that I will probably be plunking my money down on it (even in the face of me having a competitive product that has much more functionality in many areas right now!) and the availability of the early (and farily nice version) of the web app  Mindmeister  discussed here.

Thanks for the tips Bricoleur. I'm off to eat dinner. Have a nice Easter!

Found this: A Beginner's Guide to Mind Mapping Meetings

We now have a Mind Mapping group for those interested!