I’ve written about mind-mapping before – definitely a fan of the concept, I’ve used it for project tracking, organizing threads for blog topics, and even planning major multi-project initiatives. Here’s a quick catch-up on some links I’ve been seeing over the past few weeks …

• From Vinson, a link to Keldsen’s latest podcast on mind mapping tips from a “master”. Not the highest quality podcast I’ve ever heard, but some interesting insights. He also gave a decent explanation of why the curved lines; it’s all about providing visual variety; straight lines make different mind maps look the same. Sounds like part of the challenge for a mind mapper is to think of the presentation of the overall picture – it’s just as important as the flow of ideas you are mapping.
• Many links pointing to Mindmeister, a collaborative, web-based mind mapping tool. Like previously mentioned bubbl.us, it’s web based and facilitates collaborative brainstorming with others. A nice feature for the experienced mind mapper – it can import from MindManager (commercial)and FreeMind (FOSS). I like the idea of collaborative mapping, and I certainly like being able to reuse all the work I’ve done in MindManager, but I still like the “fat client” interface – handles navigation, zooming, etc. a bit better. Still, pretty impressive stuff – I may suggest converting to this tool for my international collaboration.
• Chuck Frey has conducted a pair of surveys on mind mapping and mind mapping software. Interesting to see how others have been introduced to this concept (found on web sites, referred by friend, replicating a pen and paper process). The older survey (from September 2006) talks about things like why the idea is being held back at work; interesting to note how internal IT continues to take the hit (at times) for stifling innovation.
• Also via Vinson (thanks, Jack!!), a nice list of keyboard shortcuts for MindManager. It never ceases to amaze me how much time can be wasted by reaching over for the mouse to do repetitive actions.
• From the download squad – news that market-leading MindManager is teeing up version 7.0 – I hope it’s more than just a user interface facelift, to match the Office 2007 look. Mindmanager does have an impressive connection with Office, but I’m curious about any other new features … I can’t find much info yet …