brainstorming
Latest
App Camp for Girls would introduce girls to coding
The App Camp for Girls is a recently unveiled Indiegogo project that's designed to provide support for young girls interested in putting together iPhone and mobile apps. The camp itself is planned for a run in Portland later this year, and will allow girls to go through all of the steps of putting an app together, including brainstorming ideas, building out storyboards and putting the app together in Xcode, and then even pitching their finals apps to a panel of investors. The project is seeking about US$50,000, which isn't cheap, but will provide for all of the hardware, software and (wo)manpower needed to keep the App Camp rolling. TUAW's very own Kelly Guimont is serving as a volunteer organizer on the project, and we're proud, as a site, to serve as a media sponsor. Despite all of the improvements made over the last few years, there is still a major gender imbalance when it comes to app and game development. Projects like this can help young women and girls realize that they can enjoy building apps and code skills, too, and in the end, that will mean more and better options for all of us who enjoy using great software. If you're interested in helping the cause, please do head over to Indiegogo and support the App Camp for Girls.
Everything cool about Curio just got better
Curio, one of my long-time favorite brainstorming and project management applications, has received a massive update with version 8. If you've never seen Curio, it's a highly visual environment for collecting information, lists, mind maps, websites, PDFs, emails and much more into organized projects and "spaces." You can collect, present, share and manage all kinds of information using an organization method that works for you. Whether you prefer a spatial, visual layout or a more rigid view of your data, Curio provides an amazing set of tools. The release notes for version 8 are rather immense, but definitely worth looking through. Here are a few highlights: All-new interface (fewer visible buttons, but more power) Improved mind-mapping tools Improved sharing options for projects, spaces and figures Repository-based group access to resources Split view for working in multiple spaces in a project Mountain Lion Reminders/iCal integration Bookmarks More robust audio/video recording Improved Evernote integration The list goes on. It's honestly more than I could cover in this post. There are even features which aren't specifically called out in the release notes, but which make me a bit giddy. For example, drag an OPML file (from a mind map or outliner application) onto a project space, and Curio will ask you what to turn it into: mind map, index card, outline, etc. Brilliant. You can purchase Curio 8 for US$99, and current users of either the Mac App Store version or a version purchased from Zengobi directly can upgrade for $49.99. There is a free 25-day trial available at Zengobi's site, and I highly recommend checking it out.
Mindjet 9 for Mac due June 23, iPad/iPhone versions mid-June
If you're a mind mapping maven, you'll be happy to know that one of the premiere apps in the market (more than 1.8 million paying customers), Mindjet, is moving forward to a new Mac version of MindManager. Version 9 of MindManager is scheduled to ship on June 23, and will cost US$129 for upgrades or $249 for new licenses. It will add several new features, including a presentation mode, "quick entry" option, WYSIWIG printing, offline import/export for Office and iWork, dynamic content (schedules and Internet links), plus a project management mode adequate to light PM tasks. We'll take a detailed look at MindManager Mac 9 when it gets closer to shipping, but there's another piece of the puzzle: mobile. Mindjet will be releasing separate iPad and iPhone apps ($8.99 and $6.99, respectively) right around mid-month. Both apps promise a best-in-class mind mapping tool on iOS, with Dropbox integration and MindManager desktop compatibility for round-tripping your maps. If you're curious about mind mapping, check out Brett's previous coverage. The MindManager 9 Mac press release is below. Show full PR text Mindjet Announces MindManager Version 9 for Mac New Features Help Mac Users Envision Their Best Ideas San Francisco – June 1, 2011 - Mindjet®, the leading provider of business productivity software and SaaS applications that visually connect ideas, information and people, announced today the release of MindManager® Version 9 for Mac®. New and improved features help users move seamlessly from initial brainstorm to creation of presentations and project plans. Enhancements include new quick entry mode for brainstorming, powerful filtering capabilities to aid prioritization, and new interactive slide show capabilities that let users organize ideas, deliver dynamic presentations, and instantly incorporate feedback, all within the same visual environment. MindManager Version 9 for Mac can immediately be ordered for the upgrade price of $129 USD, or $249 USD for a new license, at https://secure.mindjet.com/WebApp/catalog/catalog.aspx. MindManager Version 9 for Mac will be generally available on June 23, 2011 in English, German, French, and Japanese language versions. Mindjet's latest Mac release, along with recently announced iPad and iPhone apps (see separate release at: http://www.mindjet.com/press/releases/832), provide a complete suite of information mapping products for Apple product enthusiasts. Supporting information: MindManager information maps let users quickly capture ideas and assemble them in visual maps that combine the ease of a whiteboard with the flexibility of drag-and-drop editing. Built-in tools for organizing, prioritizing, and scheduling, along with Apple iWork® and Microsoft Office® integration, let Mac users quickly turn ideas, requirements, and raw research into polished presentations and detailed project plans. With over 1.8 million users, MindManager is the world's leading information mapping solution for both businesses and individuals. Unlike documents, presentations, and e-mail, which constrain you to working on one page at a time, MindManager's visual information mapping lets business professionals easily capture, organize, and communicate ideas and information, so you can organize input from multiple sources, clarify thinking, develop meaningful project plans, structure coherent strategies, and deliver compelling communications, all within a single environment. With MindManager Version 9 for Mac, users will be more organized, communicate more effectively, and ensure project success. o MindManager maps can be used as virtual whiteboards to easily capture ideas and visually organize projects, presentations, and strategies. ï· Facilitate brainstorming and collaborative problem solving. ï· See the big picture and all the relevant details in a single dynamic view. o MindManager is a single solution to both organize and present content in a visual format that increases understanding and retention. ï· Conduct engaging meetings and ensure participation by easily incorporating feedback on the fly. ï· Use interactive maps to selectively present the right level of detail for each audience. o MindManager enables users to successfully document all aspects of any project and gain alignment from key stakeholders. ï· Lay the foundation for successful project implementation by mapping out tasks, resource assignments, and schedules. ï· Enable efficient decision making by aggregating information into a central map for easy review of all relevant details. New Features of MindManager Version 9 for Mac For current MindManager customers, MindManager Version 9 for Mac delivers new capabilities to support brainstorming, via a quick text entry mode and presentations with an interactive slide format. A new user experience is established through more intuitive menu options, powerful filtering capabilities, and new iconography, as well as noticeable performance improvements. MindManager Version 9 for Mac introduces local integrations, enabling users to easily export map content into Microsoft Office and Apple iWork applications without connecting to the Internet. Interactive Slide Presentations o Present work in easy-to-follow slides. Pick and choose topics to present, adjust their order, and control exactly how you want each branch to appear. Present different levels of information to various audiences, without the inconvenience of creating multiple versions. Ensure participation and alignment by incorporating feedback as you present. Quick Entry Mode o Facilitate collaborative problem solving, capture stakeholder requirements, and improve meeting management via "quick-entry" capture of ideas and information. The ability to quickly enter input ensures that valuable ideas generated in brainstorming sessions and other meetings gets documented and retained for later organization, prioritization, and analysis. Advanced Importing/Exporting o Conveniently import and export content to and from existing MindManager maps. Provides in-product compatibility with Microsoft Office Mac 2011 and iWork applications, even when offline, thanks to integrated (local) import/export functions. o Import content from Microsoft® Word and Apple iWork Pages® to work with all relevant data in a single visual environment. o Create content and then export to Word, Pages, Keynote®, and various other formats. WYSIWYG Printing o WYSIWYG® printing easily controls how maps are presented. Print the entire map on a single page, including topic notes. Each slide that has been created can also be printed, so you can print out exactly what is needed. Enhanced Menus o Formatting Tool bar – Users can now format text similar to how text formatting is done in iWork Pages. o Improved Inspector – Inspectors have been modified for improved usability and users can also open multiple inspectors which improve overall efficiency. o Improved Notes – Topic notes can now be formatted in-context of the notes area rather than in the Inspector which should Other Key Features: Industry-Leading Information Visualization – Capture, organize, and work with ideas and information in a wide variety of interactive visual formats, including information maps, outlines, organization charts, tree diagrams, and more. Project Planning and Task Management – Streamline the project planning process and ensure visibility into all aspects of a project. Easily gather requirements and gain stakeholder buy-in on strategies, schedules, and more. Assign and track priorities, resources, and schedules to ensure project tasks stay on schedule. Capture Content and Add Context – Easily capture stakeholder input, draw connections, and reorder content. Use icons, tags, topic shapes, callouts, boundaries, colors, topic sorting, and numbering to provide additional context. Add hyperlinks, attachments, notes, and images to provide additional levels of detail. Information Map Presentations – Communicate effectively to multiple audiences with MindManager's interactive slide presentations. Easily tailor the level of details presented for each audience and capture critical feedback right in the presentation. Integration and Sharing – Save time with powerful integrations. Import from Microsoft Word, Apple iWork Pages, and Freemind®. Export to Word, Pages, or Keynote for your final output. Integrate with iChat® to send or receive maps during a chat session. Also, share your maps via email, as web pages, images, or dynamic Adobe® PDF files. Dynamic Content – Synchronize your relevant calendar items and contacts with MindManager via dynamic Microsoft Entourage and Apple iCal®, and Address Book dashboards. Bring the Internet into the map with a built-in web browser for in-context search and research results. Navigation, Viewing, and Printing Controls – Navigate and control the levels of details displayed with powerful features like topic focus, show or hide branch, collapse map, quick filter and select, and more. Automatically fit or balance your map within the screen. Use WSYISYG printing of entire maps or selected sections. Supporting Quotes: Stuart Zola, Neuroscience PhD, Research Center Director: "I'm a brain scientist and MindManager Version 9 for Mac works like your brain works. The product's new presentation capabilities take me away from one-dimensional PowerPoint®'s, and allow me to quickly shift focus between big-picture-thinking and detailed topic areas – a critical advantage whether you're presenting strategic plans or focused insights." Max Scheder-Bieschin, CFO, Berkeley Bionics®: "MindManager 9 for Mac bested my expectations. It is a complete solution with new capabilities that make mapping more intuitive, quicker, and more powerful than ever. With MindManager for Mac, I now have a business productivity engine." Howard Veit, President, Veit Consulting: "MindManager Version 9 for Mac makes ideas come alive for my healthcare clients, so that we can put our best thinking and strategies into immediate action. MindManager Version 9 for Mac, with new quick text entry, means that these working sessions are now more productive than ever." Chuck Frey, Mind Mapping Software Blog: "Mac users rejoice! Mindjet has heard your cries for a version of MindManager that equals or exceeds the capabilities of its Windows counterpart. MindManager 9 for Mac is a robust, feature-rich mapping solution that will delight Mac users." Blaine Mathieu, Chief Products Officer, Mindjet: "From architectural improvements that increase performance and speed to demanded-for features, like our new slideshow capabilities that let your better control the output of your content, MindManager Version 9 for Mac is a top-flight mapping application for the Mac users." Blaine Mathieu, Chief Products Officer, Mindjet: "MindManager Version 9 for Mac is a significant upgrade for Mac users with added communication and sharing capabilities, quick information capture, new and improved templates. Faster and more robust performance mapping has come to the Mac." SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Supported Operating Systems: Mac OS® X 10.6 or later System Requirements: Mac computer with an Intel® processor 733 MHz or greater (1.67 GHz or greater recommended) 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended) 100 MB disk space 1024 x 768 or greater Additional Requirements for Certain Features: Internet Connectivity Adobe Acrobat ® Reader 9 Apple Keynote '08 and Pages '08 Microsoft Word '08 and PowerPoint '08 Pricing and Availability MindManager 9 for Mac is available in four languages: English, German, French, and Japanese and can be purchased through Mindjet.com for the upgrade price of $129 USD or as a new license for $249. Customers who purchase MindManager 9 for Mac before June 22, 2011 will receive Eltima™ Paintr™ for Mac bundled with their purchase. Supporting Resources: MindManager 9 for Mac: ï· Download the MindManager 9 for Mac datasheet: http://mindjet.com/mac ï· Watch a video of MindManager 9 for Mac in action: http://mindjet.com/mac ï· See images of MindManager 9 for Mac: http://mindjet.com/mac Mindjet: ï· Mindjet Blog: http://blog.mindjet.com/2011/05/mobile-strategy ï· Mindjet on Facebook®: http://www.facebook.com/mindjet ï· Mindjet on Twitter®: http://www.twitter.com/mindjet ï· Mindjet on YouTube®: http://www.youtube.com/mindjet ï· More Mindjet news: http://www.mindjet.com/press/reviews/overview About Mindjet: Mindjet provides business productivity software that helps business professionals visually organize and act upon ideas, information and resources to drive productivity, team effectiveness, and business innovation. Mindjet products include industry-leading visual information mapping software and online services, as well as applications that incorporate Mindjet's innovative visualization technology to improve the usability of leading business applications. Used by nearly 1.8 million users around the world and by business professionals in 45 of BusinessWeek's® 50 "World's Most Innovative Companies," Mindjet solutions clarify thinking, dramatically boost productivity, and increase team effectiveness for better informed decisions. Mindjet is headquartered in San Francisco, California and has offices throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Mindjet products are available for free trial or purchase at www.mindjet.com/products/overview and through an extensive partner network at www.mindjet.com/community/partners/overview. ### Mac, iPad, iPhone, Apple, iWork, Pages, Keynote, iChat, iCal, and Mac OS are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
New Core version of Curio in the Mac App Store
We've mentioned the brainstorming, mind mapping, project managing notebook application Curio a few times before. The full version, Curio Professional, runs US$169.99, and the Standard version is $119.99, and both are well worth it in this blogger's opinion. Today, however, Curio announced a new Core Edition in the Mac App Store, with a tasty price of $39.99. The Core version retains many of the essential tools from the full versions, including the freeform note-taking and brainstorming style of the original. You can place rich text figures, flowcharts, mind maps in various configurations, shapes with gradient fills and shadow effects, connection lines, tables and more right into your workspaces. You can also embed documents, images, movies and other media. You have lists, outlines, and even to-do lists available. Sort your ideas on index cards and rearrange them in the freeform space. Tagging, checkmarks, percent complete, priorities and ratings, as well as advanced search features make project management easy. There is also a wide array of import and export options, which keeps your data portable and makes presenting your ideas a simple task. At the new price of $39.99, it's worth a look for users who've been holding out, as well as for folks who've never heard of Curio before. While there's not a free trial of the Core version available (Mac App Store-style), Zengobi just informed me that there is, in fact, a 15-day trial version (extendable to 60 days) of Core available at www.zengobi.com/curio/core. Consult the comparison matrix to see what features are available in the Core version vs. full versions.
The Daily Grind: How would you design an expansion?
Everyone differs on his opinion of what makes up a good expansion. For some it's the traditional raised level cap, additional zones, and a new race and/or class. Others clamor for radical additions to gameplay features that haven't been seen in the game before. Size matters, as does quality, but there are those who would sacrifice both to see a quicker expansion release schedule. Today we're going to engage in another one of my fits of community think-tanking. Sure, I could've said "brainstorming," but I like to give our Massively editors nervous eye twitches. In any case, I want you to imagine that you've been given the power and resources to make the dream expansion to your favorite MMO -- within reason, of course. What would this hypothetical expansion look like? How would you design it? Would you fix existing problems as you see them in the game or concentrate on new systems? Would you expand the game horizontally or vertically? Would you add a new class or race you've been dying to play? And most importantly: What would you call it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Notable iPad apps
The iPad is great for a lot of tasks, but one area of potential appeals to me more than any other: brainstorming and note taking. I'm not alone, judging from the outcropping of specialized apps for doing just this. I haven't had the time (or money) to hunt down and experiment with every note-taking app in the App Store jungle, but I wanted to highlight a few that have stuck out in my search for the quintessential app for idea capture and retrieval. I'm skipping over some of the apps that I consider to be obvious (albeit excellent) choices (e.g. Evernote), mostly because they've already been covered on TUAW, often repeatedly. This is not to belittle them, just to keep things fresh. Mind Mapping The first few on my list are mind mapping applications. Mind maps are the easiest and most intuitive way for me to take notes and brainstorm ideas, so that's what I look for first. It's hard to beat a pencil and paper, or even a screen with a full keyboard and keyboard navigation, but some touch-based apps do it just about right. One of the best I've found is iThoughtsHD (US$7.99). It makes it relatively easy to jot notes in a mind map format, with options for node color, icons and organization. It can expand and contract nodes, branches can inherit their parent's options, and you can manually or automatically organize and space out your map. You can add new child and sibling nodes by tapping and dragging, or use handy buttons at the top of the screen. It can import and export maps via WiFi transfer, Box.net and email attachment. When it comes to formats, it handles just about everything I can personally think of, including Novamind, MindManager (6 and 8), iMindMap, XMind, Freemind, and others, as well as multiple image formats. Read on for more mind mapping and note taking apps for you and your iPad.
Curio 6.1 gets even more creative and productive
I wrote about Curio last year, and the past few months have brought quite a few additions to this creative brainstorming and productivity powerhouse. We already saw Evernote integration, and between the last two releases (6.0 and 6.1) Curio has added support for tables, "figure stencils," better copy-as-text, and a lot more. The figure stencils are great, allowing you to create figures such as mind maps, tables, notes, lists, etc., and save them for re-use. For example, I have stencils for different styles of lists with skeleton headers already included, and "Approved" and "Rejected" labels to drag onto mockups. The tables and index cards allow for a lot of visual organization within a space, just in case you're not an entirely free-form kind of person. The full release notes for the latest version (6.1) are available here. Curio is available in 2 versions, both with free trials. The Professional Edition is $149US and the Standard version is $99US (comparison), academic discounts available. Version 6 is a paid upgrade for 5.x users, and upgrade prices start at $49US, depending on what you're upgrading from and to. If you want to see Curio in action, check out the "Tutorinis" at the bottom of the Curio homepage.
Friday Favorite: Curio
I've been looking for a project management solution for a long, long time. I've tried everything from homemade systems -- based on folders and Spotlight tagging -- to attempting to bend applications such as Bento to do what I really want: collect my notes, work-in-progress files, communications and brainstorms in one place with a fluid way to associate them, organize and rearrange them, and find them quickly ... without forcing me into a single mode of thinking. The first time I looked at Curio, I had what I've learned is a fairly common reaction to it: I balked at the apparent lack of structure. As every designer knows, a blank page is a scary thing. It was a few months later that I was reading an article about it which re-sparked my curiosity (no pun intended), and I dug back in. It was at that point that I realized that Curio was the project management, note-taking and brainstorming solution I'd been looking for, or at least as close as I've found so far. Read on for an in-depth look at Curio's possibilities ... and a 10% off coupon code!
VoodooPad 4.0 provides WebDAV sync
VoodooPad got a major upgrade today; after an intense beta period, version 4.0 is live. For those of you not familiar, VoodooPad is a personal wiki, a brainstorming and note-taking tool and the ultimate "geek's notebook" (my term, not theirs). With the ability to import a variety of files and link others, it also makes a great project management hub. I use it in combination with one of my other previously-mentioned favorites, Curio. It's had a fair number of mentions here in the past, and the 4.0 update is certainly something to talk about. Among the new features is the ability to sync using WebDAV. You can sync pages or entire documents in both directions, allowing for collaboration or just providing the ability to work on multiple machines. There are instructions available for setup on the Flying Meat wiki. I've been testing the sync feature for a while, and it works superbly. The web-publishing capabilities have been expanded, including iPhone-optimized output. There's also a new feature called "The Bucket" for gathering text -- via a system-wide hotkey -- from any application. PDF output, faster speeds, and a new layout for palette windows all add up to a great release. Organizing notes and files is simple, and linking together pertinent pages, snippets, Address Book contacts and more is a breeze. For those of a scripting persuasion, the reason I call it the "geek's notebook" is VoodooPad's ability to execute pages as scripts (Python ... Lua is being deprecated), and also the ability to extend via a plugin API. This can be used to work in HTML, Markdown and Textile support, set up GTD systems, even publish a blog. VoodooPad 4 is going for $29.95USD, and version 3 users can upgrade for $14.95USD. The Pro version is $49.95USD, upgrade for $19.95USD. There are free demos of each on their respective pages, and there's also a "Lite" version available for free, no strings attached. VoodooPad customers who purchased version 3 after August 1st, 2008 get a free upgrade. Check the full release notes for version 4 (and prior releases), as well as the features page for more information on VoodooPad and the 4.0 update.
Curio 5.3 is out
I'm currently working on a piece detailing exactly why Zengobi's Curio has become a favorite of mine, especially in the area of project management and brainstorming, but also in general as a truly enjoyable-to-use application. In the meantime, though, I thought I'd better get an announcement out for version 5.3, released today. For those unfamiliar, Curio is a note-taking, brainstorming, to-do managing, file-gathering application which works in a (surprisingly productive) free-form manner. It's similar in concept to Circus Ponies Notebook, but I find it to be even more flexible and powerful. Version 5.3 adds to an impressive feature list with customizable print headers and footers, the ability to convert lists to mind maps and vice versa, as well as an importer for AquaMinds NoteTaker. Detailed release notes are available here. Version 5.3 is a free upgrade for all Curio 5 users, and upgrade pricing is available at the Zengobi store. The regular version of Curio is $99USD, and a Pro version is available for $149USD (find out what the difference is here). Academic discounts are available, and a free 15-day trial can be downloaded on the Curio page.
Curio Back to School special
If you're looking for a creative application to collect and organize notes, ideas and more, check out Curio. Curio provides a free-form interface for collecting pages which can contain notes, images, links to files, mind maps, sketches -- just about anything you'd need to get ideas and notes out of your head and into your computer. Zengobi, the makers of Curio, are celebrating the "Back to School" season with TUAW and offering 20% off the academic price of the software. The Pro version retails at $149USD, but it's only $69USD in the academic store. With the discount, students can pick up a great app for about $55USD. Enter TUAWBTS at the academic store to take advantage of the offer, and hurry, it's only good for today (August 27th).
MindNode - Free mind mapping for Leopard
Mind mapping seems to be one of those things that you either get, or just don't. For those who do, there's a new player in town. MindNode is a free Leopard-only mind mapping application from Markus Müller, based in Austria. The application is by no means feature-rich; in fact, it's so simple as to be a bit disarming at first. But what it lacks in features, it makes up for in elegance. The interface is incredibly clean. To create a new node, simply double-click anywhere on the window, or press the Tab key when focused on a node to create a new child node. To create a node at the same level as the one that is currently in focus, press option-Tab. As new nodes are added at the same level, they surround the previous nodes. For example, the second new node appears below the original one. The third appears above. Below, above, below, above. While this is an easy way to keep everything grouped together, it's not particularly useful if you're using MindNode to create a list with any sort of ordering. Some would argue that mind maps should not worry about ordering since it should be all about capturing ideas. But given that mind maps are useful in large part because they allow for graphical organization, this behavior is a bit unfortunate. Other than that one small beef, MindNode is a nice, small, but useful tool that will be right at home in your Applications folder for the next time you find yourself needing to do some brainstorming.
