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

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