ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Demo 2008 is a unique conference that hosts the latest and greatest technology companies. This year 77 companies from all different markets were invited to demonstrate their latest technology offerrings. At Demo 2008 Ceo Jim Marggraff demonstrated the Livescribe Pulse Pen. I for one am really excited with its potential and thought that you would like to see the live demo.

First I would like to thank Nick Dufill from Gyronix for providing me with a copy of GyroQ to review. GyroQ is a simple and elegant application that compliments MindManager and makes it easy for you to stay on task. I for one always have my MindManager maps open so that if I get a thought or an idea I can enter it into the map. With GyroQ I can continue to do work on my tasks and if an idea or an action items comes into my mind I can quickly open GyroQ and add the idea to the queue without breaking my stride. GyroQ has a number of built in tags that lets you categorize your entry as you quickly type it in. Some of the tags included are: Idea, Information with Clipboard, Action Item, I Owe, and I'm Waiting for. When using GyroQ you simply press the Control-Q to bring up the GyroQ window, select your tag and then press enter. Now you can return to your work and not be distracted by looking for just the right MindManager map to place the information into. At the end of the day you simply open up your GyroQ Daily Capture Map and click on Send Queue and all of your ideas, actions and entries are automatically consolidated and added to your mind map. GyroQ is a wonderful addition to MindManager and its power is in the simplicity of the application. You can download a trial version of GyroQ at the Gyronix website.

For those of you that read Jonathan Sapir's Blog, MindMapping 2.0 today he announced in a post that he has been working closely with BOSSdev in bringing Spinscape, a mindmapping 2.0 product to market. This is a description that I found on the Spinscape Blog about the product.

Spinscape™ is a collaboration tool that introduces a completely new way of gathering and managing information. This tool provides a compelling solution to the problem of finding, visualizing, organizing, and sharing information by enabling individuals to collaborate and navigate over the web.

With an easy-to-use interface, users have the ability to auto-discover information from multiple digital sources, create meaningful relationships between nodes of information, and then securely share and collaborate over those nodes with selected users.

Spinscape is in private beta at this time but if you are interested in an invitation to the beta, please send an email at jasapir@gmail.com.

A couple of months ago I reported on the development of the Livescribe pen and its unique features. I just learned that the LiveScribe Pulse Smartpen will begin shipping in March and there will be two different versions, a 1 Gigabyte version ($149 dollars) that can store up to 100 hours of audio and a 2 Gigabyte version ($199 dollar) that can store 200 hours of audio. This has the potential to be a great tool for students who have difficulty with note taking. The Pulse pen will include a Getting Started Guide, a Notebook, Docking unit, and Ear buds with built-in microphones. As part of the system students will be able to share their smart notebooks over the web as well as be able to search their notebooks for specific information. I for one am very excited with the platform they are building and the potential for this tool. Watch CEO Jim Marggraff talk about the Livescribe Pulse pen during an interview with a CNET reporter.

I received this email today from CS Odessa about some new features in ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.3 that I thought would be of interest to you. You can upgrade your copy of ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.X for free at the Odessa website.

CS Odessa’s ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.3 Creates Visual eBooks

Odessa, Ukraine, January 29, 2008 – CS Odessa today announces the release of ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.3, a new version of CS Odessa’s mind mapping business productivity software. The 5.3 update adds a new unique capability of creating visual eBooks based on mind maps and several other important additions.

Visual eBook is an electronic book where all the information is presented as a mind map rather than text paragraphs. Each page of a Visual eBook is a mind map that is grouped by chapters and paragraphs like in a text book. Visual eBook is a great solution for preparing learning materials within academic and business environments.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.3 has everything that users need to create Visual eBooks. The software features a comprehensive visual mapping toolset that gives customers the ability to create multi-page maps with hyperlinks to other mind maps as well as a PDF export that creates multi-page documents and preserves all of the links between maps and topics. Visual eBook creation guide can be found at
http://www.conceptdraw.com/pg?id=mm_5.3_press-ebook

Yury Varbanets, Product Manager of ConceptDraw MINDMAP notes, “The ability to easily make multi-page PDF documents from the mind maps with all the hyperlinks and interrelationships preserved is essential for many coaches and educators. We’ve developed ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.3 to help to convey information in a format that is easy to learn from by creating a visual book.”

There were other additions introduced in ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.3. These are the ability to send a map via email from inside the application and the option to turn off the background from printing. Map style presets were also redesigned and now they look more professional. All the enhancements can be found in both the Macintosh and the Windows versions of the software.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 is an easy-to-use tool that supports mind mapping and brainstorming techniques, as well as many other personal productivity methodologies. It is supposed to provide businesses and individuals with creative way to increase the efficiency and productivity when organizing ideas and projects, or when communicating with people.

More information about the ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 can be found at:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/pg?id=mm_5.3_press-about

The update to ConceptDraw MIDNMAP 5.3 is free for all registered users of ConceptDraw MIDNMAP 5.x. ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 is available at the price of $199 USD for the Professional edition and of $119 USD for Personal edition at:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/pg?id=mm_5.3_press-buy

For those of us who are moving toward more collaborative tools on the Internet then you should take a look at Buzzword, a collaborative word processor from Adobe. I had a post earlier last year about the features and my first impressions but now it looks like with the support of Adobe that it is really becoming a unique product to take a look at. Once you are in the Buzzword environment you will find that the application is both fast and very visually attractive. I just received and email today about some feature enhancements which I thought you would be interested in knowing about.

Google quietly added two new features to Google Presentation recently which I wanted to share with you. Now it became easier to share your presentations by allowing you to export your presentations to PDF. This is a good stop gap measure until we get the ability to export our Google Presentations to PowerPoint format (ppt). Google Presentation has also added the ability to add vector based shapes to your presentation. You can now add speech balloons and arrows to your presentations to bring attention to your points. Take a look at the presentation below.

It came as a real surprise to me, when I read one of the comments posted today on my blog; to find one of my former students from Pendleton, OR write a post about me in his blog. About 3 years ago, I taught an Introduction to Assistive Technology class for Lesley University and had a chance to speak with Lon over some lunch. We chatted about what he was presently doing and I remarked that once the district learned that he had knowledge of assistive technology and that he was working toward his Master's degree that they would put him into a leadership position. Sure enough this is what happened and Lon is overseeing a large region providing assistive technology services to students. Lon is passionate about the work that he is doing and is blogging about it at No Limits To Learning. It is always exciting to hear from your students that they are doing great things! If you have the chance you can read his post by clicking here.

Today Inspiration, Inc. announced that Kidspiration 3 will be released on February 6th. Kidspiration 3 adds lot of new features which really make this a very substantial upgrade. Kidspiration 3 will now allow students to use the expanded Symbol Library with over 3000 pictures as well as searching the symbol library for pictures when connected to the web. Kidspiration 3 now included Word Guide which is an online dictionary and thesaurus which is great for language development. Kidspiration 3 now includes an extensive visual math tools which makes it an ideal tool for interactive white boards. Teachers will have access to color tiles, pattern blocks, base ten blocks, fraction tiles and fraction boxes. Once I have had a chance to use Kidspiration 3, I will give my thoughts

I read today's Mindjet MindManager's blog post about using the Paint Formatting Tool and decided to create a screencast using Camtasia Studio 5.1 to show you how it is done. This tip was shared by Roger Parker noted author and mind mapping expert-who has done a great deal of work with MindManager in the course of writing and consulting. Click on this link to view the screencast.

One of the areas which Windows based computers really excelled was in speech recognition- but that could all be changing with the soon to be released Mac product called Dictate. MacSpeech and Nuance Communications, the developers of Dragon Naturally Speaking have teamed up to bring Dictate to the Mac with a whole new rewrite of the underlying speech engine. Dictate requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or higher, and requires Intel-based Macintosh hardware. Coming with your choice of headsets, Dictate will be priced starting at $199 and is expected to ship by February 15, 2008.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., January 15, 2008 - Macworld Conference and Expo 2008, Booth #607 – MacSpeech, Inc., the leading provider of speech recognition solutions for the Mac, and Nuance Communications (Nasdaq: NUAN), developers of Dragon® NaturallySpeaking®, today announced an agreement to bring the world's best speech recognition solution to Mac users worldwide.

MacSpeech, Inc. has licensed underlying dictation technology from Nuance Communications, Inc. for its new MacSpeech Dictate™ product (see today's related announcement).

"MacSpeech, Inc. is the authority on speech recognition for the Macintosh," explained Andrew Taylor, president and CEO of MacSpeech, Inc. "Nuance provides an exceptional dictation technology engine that lets us focus on what we do best, which is to provide the user experience Macintosh users expect. Nuance is a class organization with a best of breed technology, and frankly we're thrilled to work with them to bring great speech recognition software to the Mac."

"We are pleased to help MacSpeech provide a dictation solution, powered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking technology, to users that require a native Macintosh dictation application," explained Peter Mahoney, vice president and general manager of the desktop dictation business unit for Nuance Communications. "MacSpeech has intimate knowledge of the Macintosh platform and deep understanding of Macintosh users. This collaboration brings an unparalleled opportunity to provide the world's best dictation technology in a solution that is 100 percent Mac."

For the first time, MacSpeech, Inc. today began conducting live demonstrations of its upcoming MacSpeech Dictate product, powered by dictation technology from Nuance Communications, in Booth #607 on the Macworld Conference and Expo 2008 show floor.

One of the products that was featured at CES 2008 was the Zink (Zero Ink) Enabled Printer that will become available in the Fall 2008. The first Zink Pocket printer which should be available Fall 2008 is joint collaboration of Zink, Inc and Polaroid. The Zink Mobile printer uses crystal technology which is overlayed on the paper that then gets exposed to heat with a thermal head within the printer. The Zink Pocket printer produces borderless full color 2"x3" peel-and-stick ZINK photos from digital cameras and camera phones. The Zink Pocket printer has built in Bluetooth and will support PictBridge This means that you will be able to print pictures from your cell phone using Bluetooth technology as well as print from your digital camera using the PictBridge USB cable. I suspect that this will be a hot product and one product that you will want to keep your eyes on. See it in action at CES 2008.

I wanted to share with you an email that I just received from Roberta today which inspires me to continue the work that I do on the blog. Roberta lives in Italy and has been an avid mindmapper in all realms of her life. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into how she is using mind maps and take the time to visit her blog. It is exciting to know that mind mappers all over the world are enjoying my blog. Enjoy Brian

PS; If anyone else is interested in sharing their mind mapping experiences and how they are using it in their personal, business or professional life just shoot me an email.

hi brian s. friedlander

my name is roberta
and i live in rome, italy

i love mindmaps !

i don't speak english very well
but i try to read your fantastic blog

this is my life map n.0
and this is my story

One day i got on a special train and started a research trip. During this trip i have discovered that my thoughts must not necessarily run straight like a train, but they can simply follow their natural course according to a radial structure similar to the one of the brain neurons. Now, thanks to the mind maps, i look at what happens around me from different points of view: not only the logic, rational one, but also the emotional and creative one i can think and write in a different way, effective and amusing:i can turn the sheet of paper from vertical to horizontal, pass from the linear to the radial writing, use all the colours i want free my creativity. Since 2004 i have been using the mind maps daily to organize my work: plan new processes with my colleagues, synthesize books and above all take notes during the meetings, lectures, brainstorming sessions. Thanks to the technique of the mind maps i have begun to slow down the train of my thoughts: looking at the landscape outside my window discovering myself like this!

if you want read all my story
Story of a thought which from linear became radial again
http://www.complexlab.com/Members/rbuzz/articoli/pensiero%20radiale

this is my blog
http://mappementaliblog.blogspot.com

today I have written this post
http://mappementaliblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/mind-map-library.html

i hope that you want to dedicate a post to my story

thank you
ciao
roberta

If you are looking for a fast way to grab an image on the web so that you can embed it in your blog then you should take a look at Kwout. Using their bookmarklet feature you simply enter the URL and and select the area to cut out to view. Once this is done Kwout creates the embedded code for you that you can paste into your blog or if you want you can upload the screenshot to Flickr or Tumblr. It was easy to use and a quick way to capture the screen. Here is an example below. If you click on the presentation below you will see that Kwout will maintain the links for the image map.

Without much fanfare Google has updated the Google Presentation application. They have made it a lot easier to add graphics and to publish your presentations to a website or a blog. With your browser open you can drag pictures from within your browser and drop them onto your presentation-making it a lot easier to bring them in. You can also more easily change the background color of the slide or use your own image as the background. One of the most important features that was recently added was the ability to publish your presentation to the web or your blog. By clicking on the Publish tab you will see that Google will generate some code that you can use to embed your presentation on your blog or website.

Once you embed the code you will be able to view the presentation in a mini-viewer on the web as you see below. Check out the features and let me know what you think.

Chuck Frey of the Mind Mapping Software Blog has a wonderful interview with Kyle McFarlin, the "Visual Strategist." Learn some great tips and approaches to using MindManager from the experts. It is a great read!

I had the opportunity to interview Alexander Uslontsev the developer of Mappio.com, a unique web site where you can to upload and share your FreeMind and MindManager mind maps for free. Mappio.com is a great resource for mind mappers who are interested in learning how others are using mind maps in their work and personal life.




Brian Friedlander: Can you share with us a little bit about your background and how you got started using mind mapping?

Alexander Uslontsev: I work for a software company in Seattle and I needed to manage tons of information on a daily basis. I got really addicted to information management tools, Wikis, issue tracking, mind mapping applications – you name it. I tried anything that could increase my productivity. That's how I got hooked on mind mapping.

BF: Can you share with us what Mappio.com is and how you envision it being used?

AU: I am still looking for the perfect slogan that could describe Mappio in few words. How about "YouTube for Mind Maps" :) ? Seriously, Mappio is a mind map library. It's free and open for everyone. Just like in any other electronic library you can browse existing mind maps, you can download them to your computer or you can share your own mind maps with the public.

BF: What need to you feel you are serving with your Mappio.com website?

AU: Mappio serves few different but very important needs. First, if you are a FreeMind or MindManager user, you get interactive web access to all you maps. Its read-only, but it is enough in most cases. Second, if you are a mind mapping beginner, you can use Mappio to browse mind maps for new ideas and layout samples. Third, it's a great way to convert text notes into mind map (this is how I use it :). And last, if you are a mind mapping professional, you can use Mappio to promote your maps, templates or services.

BF: In the short time that Mappio.com has been up and running how many mind maps have been uploaded to the site?

AU: Right at this moment we have 993 maps. I feel like I need to upload few more just to make it to the even number. After the initial launch I see 10-20 uploads daily. About half of all uploads are marked as "public" and visible to everyone.

BF: What kind of comments are you getting about the site?

AU: I get a healthy mix of positive comments about functionality and negative comments about banners taking up valuable space. People like the site but do not want to see advertising.


BF: Are users asking for other features when they upload their mind maps and if so what are they?

AU: Yes, of course they ask for new functionality. Actually two recent features - private maps and support for mind maps in JPG format – were implemented because several users asked for it.


BF: In summary- what are the key points and features of Mappio.com and where do you see it going in the future?

AU: My message to your readers – just try it. If it works for you – its great, and if it does not – drop me a note at alexander@mappio.com and I will see what I can do.

The site is still very new and it is hard to predict how it is going to look in a year. Just in last 4 months the site as morphed from a tool to convert text notes into mind map into full featured online library that supports two most popular mind mapping formats.

I can see that the site's popularity is growing – and that's what important to me. I will do my best to keep it up with user expectations.

mappio.com

I had the opportunity to interview Alberto Martinez who I met through my blog who is a long time mind mapping user and thought it would be interesting to find out how he uses MindManger Pro 7 in the work that he does. Alberto recently started his own blog, MindMapping EveryWhere and has some interesting posts which you should check out.

Brian Friedlander: Can you share with us a little bit about your background and how you gotstarted using mind mapping?

Alberto Martinez: I began using mind mapping during high school. I had a teacher, who was an active Tony Buzan reader and follower who taught me the techniques. For me the combination of drawings and text stimulates both my brain hemispheres, and increases my creativity. To this day I still use papers and notebooks in a horizontal format while using colored markers, to create mind maps on the fly

I have worked during my career for three leading companies Accenture, Ericsson and Siemens. I have evolved from R&D positions as an engineer and currently hold a management position. During my R&D period I was an author or co-author of 3 different patents. When working on the patents I used mind mapping techniques to help streamline the patent documentation process.

BF: Why did you decide to start your blog?

AM: I have used different mind mapping tools continuously in my personal and professional life. In the work that I do, my colleagues have seen me taking notes, preparing meetings or gathering information using mind mapping strategies. Over the years I have had the opportunity to share with colleagues how I use MindManager Pro 7 both in my personal and professional life. I decided to blog about my experiences using mind maps to share my experiences and how the technique can be beneficial to those in the business world.

BF: Can you share with us how you use MindManager 7 in the work that you do?

AM: Sure. I normally use mind maps for everything in my professional life. I typically use MindManager Pro 7 to prepare for business meetings, note-taking, preparing presentations and for organizing different types of information. This is the first tool that I choose when I need to perform the aforementioned tasks. I find that having access to my mind maps for my my daily to-dos list is essential. I would also say these tools are extraordinary good for strategic purposes, and they are extraordinary for playing out different business scenarios

BF: What are the benefits of using MindManager Pro 7 in the work that you do?

AM: Certainly creativity! I find that I can brainstorm and generate more ideas and thoughts using MindManager. Productivity- Specifically by using to-dos lists, you are continuously
dedicating time to important tasks.

BF: How do your co-workers feel about the use of MindManager? Are they currently using
it as well?

I must say that in my current company about 10 of my colleagues are using these techniques, and they themselves feel these tools are boosting their creativity as well.

BF: What do you co-workers say when you present them with mind maps?

AM: Firstly, they think I am a weird guy:-) Secondly, they usually ask me about how I created them. Thirdly, they want to learn more about these techniques. After presenting my mind maps some of my colleagues have begun to utilize these techniques which is really exciting for me to see.

BF: Can you share with us a specific case in how MindManager Pro 7 was helpful? How did it help you in the work that you do.

AM: On January 8th, I will lead a very important business meeting (See mind map). Preparing meetings in advance with MindManager Pro 7 has really helped me to pull the important facets of the meeting together. In preparation for the meeting I have put together a MindManager Pro 7 map with an outline of the different points to be considered on the day of the meeting, so I can remember to address and focus on each of the key points during the meeting. One of the really important features of using this approach with MindManager Pro 7 is being able to export my mind map into a Microsoft Word document for people who may not be able to understand the mind mapping metaphor.

BF: In summary- what are the key points and features of mind mapping for you and what topics do you hope to discuss on your blog?

AM: I would say that one of the clear benefits of using MindManager Pro 7 is being able to see the idea communicated clearly on one page. Being able to integrate text, icons, color and images really enhances the mind map and people’s retention of the ideas.

On my blog I will try to show how mind mapping techniques can be used both in your professional career and in your personal life. I also welcome my readers comments and look forward to learning how others are using mind mapping techniques in the work that they do.