3D Topicscape Pro 2.7 released

Topicscape Pro now accommodates two of the feature requests that have been asked for most often by users: To be able to control the sequence in which topics are shown; and to have more control over how many levels of children are seen under each topic (assuming it has children, of course), topic by topic, not at the global level only, as was the case in the past.

The new version (2.7) of 3D Topicscape Pro has these capabilities and is now ready for download.

Here is the "What’s New" page with all the details.

This introduces new flexibility to Topicscape and gives you more control over how you see the 3D information landscape or the 2D Map.

Roy

Topicscape Care Domain links in 3D - for the PC

Peter Jones has posted about the on-line 3D landscape of his links, based on the Hodges Health Career Model, rendered in Topicscape.

Amazingly, Peter managed to get the web version of Topicscape working in 3D on a 7-year old PC, albeit reeeaaally slowly.

He intends to do a post on the theoretical underpinnings of this model, he tells me.  I await that with interest.

Roy

The BBC's new bible on Visual Language

After 12 years, the BBC has reviewed the visual design of its very extensive and fast-moving web properties.

It is fascinating to have the opportunity to look deep into the heart of the past and new design thinking.

The standards themselves are available for all to download:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/futuremedia/desed/visual_language.shtml

Roy

Modeling the field of medicine in 3D

There's a lot of activity now in mind maps in the medical field. I've been gathering and organizing some of the prolific sites and making Topicscapes from them, then used TopicSight to put them on line in read-only form for anyone top explore.

This is what I've done so far:

University of Dundee

AllergyCases

More are on the way.

Click to see a Topicscape loaded into your browser. The first time you visit, please give the software time to download - subsequent visits will be much faster.

Another one, a really large one, is based on Peter Jones' collection of links organized according to the Hodges Health Career Model: http://www.topicscape.com/Hodges_-Health-Career-Model/Hodges_-Health-Career-Model.html

Roy

Version 2.0 of Free 3D Topicscape Student Edition released

With enhancements to make the Student Edition even easier to use, and bring in some benefits first offered in Topicscape Pro 2.0, Topicscape SE has now reached version 2.

-- A new demo shows how multi-parent topics work
-- There's dynamic help for the newly-introduced Halo menu
-- The 2D search results and history list now swings out from the left side when in use, and stows back when not
-- A panel swings out from the right side to help you make customization choices
-- Topic groups now have footprints to make grouping even more apparent
-- Menus can now be operated by hotkeys
-- There are more choices for Association line visibility
-- Choose neighborhood views with a click of a button
-- Adjust the Home view position to your preference
-- See the structure’s meaning with the click of a button

Here's the What’s New page:
http://www.topicscape.com/TopicscapeSE/whatsnew.php?page=1
and here's the main page of Topicscape SE information:
http://www.topicscape.com/student-edition.php
where you go to download it.

Topicscape SE is for students and gives tham an easy, engaging and motivating way to work on their revision notes and web research, and prepare homework and term papers. It does a two-way import/export from/to FreeMind.

It may not have the full power of Topicscape Pro 2.5 with 2D/3D switching, tagging, use of any file type for occurrences, and wide ranging options for import and export but it’s very useful for study . . . and also fun.

Someone has pointed out that we missed an update in the readme.txt file: This version can work with Windows Vista and XP as well as Windows 7. We'll fix the readme shortly.

Don't forget, it's completely free .....

Argey

We're up and running with Topicscape Pro 2.5 - Beta ended

Go to the main download to grab the 3D Topicscape Pro 2.5 live installer

The illustrated “What’s New” page has details of a couple of additional capabilities that weren’t mentioned in the Beta What’s new.

For Pro 2.0 users, this is a free upgrade. Pro 1.0 users can upgrade to all this goodness for a modest US$29.99. If you accidentally load a Pro 1 license into Pro 2, Topicscape will fail to load some components and won’t run.

With the release of 2.5, we have decided to simplify the Help system. Topicscape Pro itself now contains a 20-page Help, but the main help is part-way through being uploaded to the Topicscape Wiki – a few more days and it'll be done. Now we can update the help without having to release a new installer. If you still want the Help on your PC for offline reference, you can download the PDF.

Finally, have a look at a great movie by one of our users, David Esko.

Argey

3D Topicscape: New Beta for download

If you're a Topicscape Pro Beta user, you can download a new installer with various fixes now. Please first login then download.

You can go here for more information.

Argey

The 2D - 3D switch for Topicscape mind maps : Now in Beta

After months of quietly beavering away, 3D-Scape has announced the availability of a Beta version of Topicscape Pro that adds a 2D option to Topicscape for users new to 3D or for organizing smaller, simpler bodies of information.

Now Topicscape is even further ahead of the pack of software for mastering information overload visually.

You can apply to be a Beta User to try out this new approach to organizing information. If you have no login information, please give us some information about your PC via the application for Beta User form (to help us support you better), and if your computer looks as if it will run Topicscape we will issue you a login account.

Fly as in Cooliris (2D) or Google Earth (3D). View the contents of topics and file previews from the Map or Landscape. More details on the Topicscape Wiki.

The new 3D Topicscape Pro 2 goes live

A major upgrade to Topicscape Pro, the 3D information organizer and mind map software, has just gone live.

Pro 2 lets you add tags to any item, filter according to your tags, grasp visually and even more quickly the way your information is organized, find controls more easily, and personalize each of your Topicscapes. There's a lot more. For all the details, see the “What’s new”.

1. Did you buy Topicscape Pro in the last six months?

If you bought Topicscape Pro after October 1st 2008, please email us from the address used for the purchase and we will send you a Topicscape Pro 2 license free.

2. Did you acquire a Topicscape Pro license more than six months ago?

Get all the benefits of Pro 2 at an upgrade price of just US$29.99. If you install Topicscape Pro 2, it won’t overwrite your Pro 1 installation. Convert your Topicscapes to Pro 2 with confidence, you will still be able to use them with Pro 1.

Buy Topicscape Pro 2

3. Did you trial Topicscape Pro sometime in the past?

Topicscape Pro 2 will work in trial mode for 30 days, even if a previous trial has expired.

Download Topicscape Pro 2 and the new skins installer.


Argey

Topicscape update and soon-to-be upgrade

1. Topicscape Pro - a new release 1.64 - is on line,
      and
2. The 'final beta' of Topicscape Pro 2.0 is also waiting for Beta testers to grab.

We're hoping to have the upgrade to 3D Topicscape Pro go live very soon.

The Topicscape Pro 2.0 final Beta now lets you choose a skin for each Topicscape, so you can see which Topicscape you’re working on immediately. There are 21 skins, each of which can be adjusted to taste. Oh, and there's a new skin, to make it 21 now.

A few other things too. Check out the pdf file that has been updated since the previous beta release: http://www.topicscape.com/download/Topicscape-Beta-2.0-whats-new-for-you.pdf

Roy

A new Beta of 3D Topicscape has just come out, and there's an opportunity for keen mind mappers to sign up as Beta testers. In case you don't know, Topicscape is an information organizer that uses a mind mapping approach to let you build a 3D information landscape.

If you're interested in giving it a try, Please go to the Beta application form and choose a user name and password … http://www.topicscape.com/applybeta.php

Full details of Beta 2.0 are in a picture-rich document here:-
http://www.topicscape.com/download/Topicscape-Beta-2.0-what's-new-for-you.pdf

Argey

A wiki, all about mind mapping

A new wiki about mind mapping, concept mapping and associated topics has just been launched. Although it has been built up with very extensive content before launch, you can add to it yourself. All contributions that follow its policies of being written in a way that is clear, factual and without hype are welcome.

Its writers bring decades of experience of mind and concept mapping to this wiki, and are continually adding to it. Use it to learn from, or use it to bring your own experience to this comprehensive resource for the benefit of others.

Argey

Do you edit Wikipedia?

If you'd like a summary of the useful things to know when editing Wikipedia, and you'd like it in a useful quick reference mindmap format, just click this image:



This will take you to the InformationTamers' site. There are mindmaps in various active formats there, as well as a full detail, passive image.

Argey

Information systems, technology and the human factor

Here's a piece, with a detailed mind map, on some new thinking on information systems
http://www.informationtamers.com/VPECT/VPECT-and-business-information-systems.html

Argey

Hand-drawn mind mappers

There's a fun survey over at the topicscape blog: Pick your favorite out of five hand-drawn mind-mappers - or nominate others.

http://www.topicscape.com/blog/2008/09/22/the-great-hand-drawn-mind-mappers-face-off/

Argey

The free 3D mind mapping software - it's been updated

There's a new version of 3D Topicscape Student Edition (the free one) out now.

It plays nicely with Vista Aero theme, runs faster and more smoothly, and has some user interface improvements.

Download this free mind mapping software from the link.

Argey

Made to Stick

I'm all of a buzz with a book I just finished: Made to Stick.

There's a review and a full mind map of it over at InformationTamers:
http://www.informationtamers.com/How-to-present-information-so-that-people-remember-and-act-on-it.html

This is a book full of insight that cannot fail to convince.

Argey

Organizing information graphically for faster comprehension

The story of a search for a better way to organize information has now been told at the InformationTamers site.


http://www.informationtamers.com/Personal-journey-in-information-mangement.html










Read the full story now!

Roy

3D Topicscape Pro update

3D Topicscape Pro version 1.59 is out now. For details of what it does that's new, please visit the What's New page, but in summary:

1. Four, five or six columns of children of the Current Topic - a wider landscape scene in other words;
   

   



2. Extended import from PersonalBrain;


3. Auto-minimize option;


4. Faster Make Current operation for really large Topicscapes.

Argey

New information organizers site

There's a new site on information organizers and it approaches from a new angle - in 3D.

Argey

3D Topicscape Lite new version

We have just uploaded a new version of 3D Topicscape Lite. It is available from the usual place: http://www.topicscape.com/download5.php

and is free to all who have a license. If you are using 3D Topicscape Lite in the 30-day trial period, you can switch to this version now, as well.

This version has a significantly-improved start-up speed and some bugs have been fixed. Enjoy!

Argey

Mindmaps Directory update

Topicscape.com has long had a remarkable mindmaps directory and it has just been updated. There are now more than 700 mind maps from all over the Web.

This is the only library of mind maps that allows you to browse freely, filter according to the type of map (there are concept maps, pure mind maps, bubble diagrams, spidergrams, and others), select by subject in the tag cloud or search by keyword.

Each map thumbnail has a link to its original Web page.

This is an outstanding resource for the business mapper, the student and the creative person looking for fresh ideas and a new approach.

Argey

Free mindmapping software and concept mapping software for students

3D Topicscape Student Edition is design to help students with their homework, essays and acquiring the skills of using an information organizer. Thinking & organizing indeed.

It presents information with the usual Topicscape approach - a 3D landscape - but has a colorful, playful feel with stars in the sky, making it even more fun to use than the other Topicscape editions.

And it is free now, and will remain free.

I'm looking for comments on how well it works for you, so get stuck in and try it. Download 3D Topicscape Student Edition from this page.

Argey

New 3D Topicscape version

Last night a new version of 3D Topicscape Pro went live - it's version 1.55 and has some small bug fixes from the major release of last month.

Click here for the description of new features and here to download.

Argey

Mindmapping styles

Here's a view of styles of "mind maps across the ages".

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

TechnoBabble likes 3D Topicscape

There's a very extensive review of Topicscape's 3D mindmapping capabilities at TechnoBabble. They've even gone to the trouble of making some videos.

The mindmapping software weblog picks up review

The mindmapping software weblog echoed RevolutionCalling's review (below), though Chuck Frey says "It's a powerful tool for visualizing information, but I wouldn't classify it as a mind mapping application."

My view is that anyone who is used to mindmapping will find the way of building a topicscape very familiar. The key point is that when a 2D mindmap, built in many popular tools, gets too big to handle effectively, you can port it to Topicscape and see all the relationships and names preserved and carry right on extending it.

In fact in the latest Beta, you can import a FreeMind mindmap to Topicscape and export it back to FreeMind - a full round trip is possible.

Revolution Came Calling

Review of 3D Topicscape on the RevolutionCalling blog.
It's an "extremely effective mind mapper".

Mindmaps Directory

There's a Mindmaps Directory now at www.topicscape.com/mindmaps/

This has thumbnails and pointers to mindmaps all over the Web - hundreds of mindmaps, spidergrams, bubble diagrams, concept maps and the like. You can filter to see just one map type.

Each map has multiple tags so you can also choose to see all the maps relating to a tag (from the tag cloud).

3D Topicscape 1.11

With a great extension of the import and export functions, Topicscape went into a new Beta phase a few weeks ago as 1.1. We have since added a demonstration function that takes a new user through flying and then the steps to make a new Topicscape and search it, so now it's at Beta 1.11. We've had some bug reports and have mostly sorted those out. We had some feedback on how to 'speak' to the user better - that's working its way into the Beta now. (Beta 1.111??)

We are hoping to take this version live in about a month's time (where have I heard that before?)

At that time we shall be removing some, but not all, of the early-adopter discount, so be warned!

Some interesting skins are taking shape - glass, metal - and the Students' Edition is looking Wow, with its colors and shading. Very helpful when you're using Topicscape as a learning tool.

What's happened to 3D mindmapping?

3D Topicscape was launched in its full version on May 19 2006.

It was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal on June 26 2006, and on the BBC World Service on August 3rd 2006.

A new Beta went on line 29 August 2006 - it has extended import and export functions (including round-trip capabilities).

In development now are
- 3D Topicscape Personal Edition 1.5 (many new features - more detail later). This will be released for Beta testing in October / November 2006.
- 3D Topicscape Student Edition (soon to go into Beta - let me know if you are interested, via http://www.topicscape.com/contactus.php).
- 3D Topicscape Project Team Edition (networked Topicscapes for small business information management and project management).
- A product to build Topicscapes from web sites
- Web-enabled Edition (thin client, not all the functions of the thick-client version)
- New skins - one glass, one colorful, and others on the way.

Much more information is available at http://www.topicscape.com

Thinking in 3D landscapes -- seeking Beta users

I'm in the beta team of a very small group of developers that's been building a 3D concept-mapping tool for a couple of years. (If you're familiar with Mind Mapping®, concept mapping has many similarities.) This tool is called Topicscape and we're looking for people interested in trying it out. It is at the Beta 2 stage and has been through a few months of testing by a small group of outside users.
Interested?
It uses a concept mapping approach because we believe that's a great way to think and plan but it's really a tool for organizing all sorts of information as well as getting your thoughts straight. Each node can have files, URLs, emails and parts of files dropped on it. You can have many files on a node if you want.
We chose to make it work in 3D, because sometimes concept maps (and Mind Maps®) can get too big if you use them on big projects or as a place to organize a lot of reference information. We've found that using 3D on a computer screen allows us to take in and understand much more at a time. It's written mainly in Java because we want it to be multi-platform, but so far it's only working on Windows - Linux and Mac versions will be along when we've converted the drag-and-drop logic that uses features that Java doesn't support (equivalents of OLE and stuff).
It's a personal edition (one PC). If you'd like to try it, the web site is http://www.topicscape.com/. There are screen shots and stories from users showing how they organize their work, personal information and hobbies.
Argey

Mind Maps® and Mind Mapping® are registered trademarks of the Buzan organisation.
Topicscape® is a registered trademark of 3D-Scape Limited

Screenshot: