Intentional loss of functionality (arrogance of Atlassian, Mozilla, Microsoft)

It appears that every modern tech company feels that it is a home of bunch of visionaries, of technical prodigies that are entitled to keep changing user experience (of their products) all the time. Adding new features would be fine. Providing alternate (frequently better) ways of doing something (that was already doable within product) is also fine. Removing long present features is not fine. Doing so is akin to an invitation to an religions war. It insults users by implying that developer knows better that all users what is better for them. Is every developer under impression that he has to do bold arrogant moves like Steve Jobs use to do or Microsoft does all the time?

Few recent examples follow.

1) Atlassian Confluence wiki removal of wiki markup

Confluence used to be one of the best wiki engines. Rich in features, suitable for corporate deployment. Its downsides are that it is written in Java, hard to install and properly configure – but if you have someone else take these administrative jobs from your hand, it used to be very powerful knowledge management platform.

In version 4 of Confluence, the Atlassian removed the wiki markup editor.

• “Why We Removed the Wiki Markup Editor in Confluence 4.0” by Matt Hodges (Product Marketing Manager – Confluence; 2011.11.09) – http://blogs.atlassian.com/2011/11/why-we-removed-wiki-markup-editor-in-confluence-4/
• “Confluence 4 — wiki markup is *dead*, _long live_ wiki markup” by David Simpson (2011.09.20) – http://davidsimpson.me/2011/09/20/confluence-4-wiki-markup-is-dead-long-live-wiki-markup/

2) Firefox removing users’ ability to switch off JavaScript

• “Firefox 23 Makes JavaScript Obligatory” by Ian Elliot (at his bloh “I Programmer”; 2013.07.01) – http://www.i-programmer.info/news/86-browsers/6049-firefox-23-makes-javascript-obligatory.html
  • Why has Mozilla decided that this is the right thing to do?The simple answer is that there is a growing movement to reduce user options that can break applications. The idea is that if you provide lots of user options then users will click them in ways that aren’t particularly logical. The result is that users break the browser and then complain that it is broken. For example, there are websites that not only don’t work without JavaScript, but they fail in complex ways – ways that worry the end user. Hence, once you remove the disable JavaScript option Firefox suddenly works on a lot of websites.

    This seems very reasonable, but removing options from dumb users also removes them from the expert user – and that’s us. Reducing freedom, even freedom to crash the application, can be seen as a bad thing. And if reducing that freedom exposes the browser user to all manner of nasties, then it is even more a bad thing.

• “Firefox 23 Makes JavaScript Obligatory” (SlashDot; 2013.07.16) – http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/07/01/1547212/firefox-23-makes-javascript-obligatory
• Bugzilla@Mozilla – Bug 873709: “Firefox v23 – “Disable JavaScript ” Check Box Removed from Options/Preference… ” – https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=873709
  • User can still go to about:config and change its javascript.enabled parameter manualy.
  • Change is set in stone, as the lead developers have set their mind. Here is the justification for change by one of them: “Checkboxes that kill your product” by Alex Limi – http://limi.net/checkboxes-that-kill/.

Come again? What is the next, removing the navigation/URL window so users can go only to predefined links on their home portals?

Comment added later:

3) FireFox removed right-click option to send a page link

 

Since version 16 of Mozilla’s FireFox browser, that options is removed. Now it can be found under the File > Send Link location.

This is a minor annoyance. One can either reprogram his mind and start using the new location, or install extension “Send Link in context menu” (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/send-link-in-context-menu/).

Productivity

Distraction-Free Tools

• “Improve Your Focus With Distraction-Free Writing Tools” by Robert Strohmeyer (PCWorld; 2011.03.09) – http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/221735/improve_your_focus_with_distractionfree_writing_tools.html
• “Write Space Turns Word 2007 Into a Distraction-Free Editor” by Robert Strohmeyer (PCWorld; 2011.05.30) – http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/228982/write_space_turns_word_2007_into_a_distractionfree_editor.html
• “Writer for IPad Wants to Focus on Your Writing” by David Chartier (Macworld; 2010.09.22) – http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/206001/writer_for_ipad_wants_to_focus_on_your_writing.html
• “Defeat Tech Distractions” by Christopher Null (PCWorld; 2010.05.05) – http://www.pcworld.com/article/195672/defeat_tech_distractions.html – We are the Distracted Generation: Our gizmos and gadgets clamor for our attention, leaving us dazed and confused. Here are the worst offenders, and what you can do to reclaim your focus.

Tools:

• WriteMonkey – http://writemonkey.com/
• Dark Room – http://they.misled.us/dark-room [Windows]
• WriteRoom – http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/writeroom [MAC]
• OmniWriter – http://www.ommwriter.com/ [MAC]
• Writespace – http://writespace.codeplex.com/ – a fullscreen writing environment for Word.

Microsoft office foolies

• “Five Microsoft Word Nightmares–and How You Can Fix Them” by Lincoln Spector (PCWorld; 2011.05.10) – http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/227558/five_microsoft_word_nightmaresand_how_you_can_fix_them.html

Tiddly wiki syntax

Inserting images

For remote images use syntax: [img[URL]], e.g. for http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/3.0/88×31.png ():

[img[http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/3.0/88x31.png]]

For local images that you want to accompany your copy of local TiddlyWiki, e.g. wiki called VARIOUS.html, make a directory VARIOUS_files next to the html file, place the copy of the image in it (VARIOUS_files/CCLogo.png) and reffer it as:

[img[VARIOUS_files/CCLogo.png]]

The genral syntax is

[img[alternate text|URL of image][tiddler or URL]]

Source: “Inserting Pictures” – http://tiddlywiki.org/wiki/Inserting_Pictures.

Pre-formated text

Source: Eric Shulman – http://groups.google.com/group/tiddlywikidev/browse_thread/thread/5bbf6ace10e15f65

> For some reason, when I try to include preformatted text, using the > triple curly braces, TiddlyWiki isn't preserving line breaks or > spaces. There are two different uses of the tripled curly braces... placing them on lines by themselves, with no leading or trailing content of any kind, e.g.: {{{ stuff }}} produce a PRE block that bypasses wiki-syntax processing, uses a monospaced font, and retains whitespace and newlines. In addition, the default CSS TiddlyWiki styles for PRE blocks applies a yellow-ish background with a 1px border. However, if *any* content precedes or follows the tripled curly braces on the same line, e.g.: {{{stuff}}} they produce a CODE block that bypasses wiki-syntax processing, and uses a monospaced font, but does *not* retain whitespace a newlines. So, perhaps you have used the 2nd (CODE) syntax, but were expecting the 1st (PRE) results... and also check to make sure there isn't any trailing whitespace following the tripled curly braces, as this woud force the CODE syntax to be applied even though it would *look* like the PRE syntax.

Example:

Syntax: {{{chage –-list username (or) chage -l username}}} {{{ $ chage --list dhinesh Last password change : Apr 01, 2009 Password expires : never Password inactive : never Account expires : never Minimum number of days between password change : 0 Maximum number of days between password change : 99999 Number of days of warning before password expires : 7 }}}

gives following:

Online cooperation tools

• Google Docs – https://docs.google.com/
• EtherPad (killed by Google) –> sons of EtherPad: http://etherpad.com/:
  • PiratePad – http://piratepad.net/
  • TypeWith.me – http://typewith.me/
  • Sync.in – http://sync.in/
  • EtherPad Foundation – http://etherpad.org/
  • iEtherPad.com – http://ietherpad.com/
  • EtherPad project on Google Code – http://code.google.com/p/etherpad/

Issue mapping, Dialog mapping

• Dialogue mapping – http://blueoxen.net/wiki/Dialogue_Mapping
• “Rearchitecting a Software Platform – A Beginner’s Case Study with Dialog Mapping” by Eugene Eric Kim (2002.07.11) – http://www.eekim.com/papers/2002/acmht/index.html
• CogNexus Institute – http://www.cognexus.org/
  “… Dialogue Mapping™ is a proven method for building shared understanding and shared commitment. If you deal with wicked problems, that’s a capability you are going to need….”
  
• Recent Dialog Mapping Lessons – http://eekim.com/blog/2006/04/recent-dialog-mapping-lessons/
• Eight to Late blog has several detailed postings on IBIS and issue&dialogue mapping:
  • Visualising arguments using issue maps – an example and some general comments – http://eight2late.wordpress.com/2009/06/25/visualising-arguments-using-issue-maps-an-example-and-some-general-comments/
  • The what and whence of issue-based information systems – http://eight2late.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/the-what-and-whence-of-issue-based-information-systems/
  • Issues, Ideas and Arguments: A communication-centric approach to tackling project complexity – http://eight2late.wordpress.com/2009/04/07/issues-ideas-and-arguments-a-communication-centric-approach-to-tackling-project-complexity/
  • Beyond words: visualising arguments using issue maps – http://eight2late.wordpress.com/2009/05/01/beyond-words-visualising-arguments-using-issue-maps/
  • Capturing project knowledge using issue maps – http://eight2late.wordpress.com/2009/04/15/capturing-project-knowledge-using-issue-maps/
  • What should I do now? A bedtime story about dialogue mapping – http://eight2late.wordpress.com/2010/10/07/what-should-i-do-now-a-bedtime-story-about-dialogue-mapping/
• “New Tools For Resolving Wicked Problems (Mess Mapping and Resolution Mapping Processes)” by Rober E. Horn and Rober P. Weber – http://www.strategykinetics.com/files/New_Tools_For_Resolving_Wicked_Problems.pdf
• related blogrolls at WordPress.com: Dialogue mapping – http://en.wordpress.com/tag/dialogue-mapping/ | Issue mapping – http://en.wordpress.com/tag/issue-mapping/ | Wicked problems – http://en.wordpress.com/tag/wicked-problem/.

Tools

• Compendium – http://compendium.open.ac.uk/institute/about.htm [FREE, requires registration]
  • “Why I Love Compendium And You Should Too” – http://eekim.com/blog/2005/11/why-i-love-compendium-and-you-should-too/: … a conversation mapping (or Dialogue Mapping) tool that, simply put, makes meetings better…. (HUH?)
• perlIBIS – http://eekim.com/software/perlIBIS/ – a suite of Perl modules for processing IBIS dialog maps.
  “… Issue-Based Information System (IBIS) is a methodology for discussing and exploring “wicked problems,” problems that are not well understood and that have no straightforward answers. Invented by Horst Rittel and colleagues in the 1970s, IBIS provides a simple grammar for mapping conversations. The grammar consists of questions (issues), possible solutions (ideas), and arguments (pros and cons) for and against an idea.
  
  In the 1980s, Jeff Conklin and others developed software for graphically mapping and representing IBIS conversations. This software eventually evolved into a Windows program called QuestMap….”
  

Definitions and other blurbs

• Collective Memory = Also known as group memory. (Source: [1])
• Deep Structure – http://www.cognexus.org/deep_structure.htm
• Dialog mapping
• Knowledge is information that has been internalized. (Source: [2])
• Information is a knowledge artifact (Source: [2])
• IBIS = Issue Based Information System(s)
• Issue mapping: … the process of crafting an issue map, a way of making critical thinking visible. An issue map is a graphical network that integrates many problems, solutions, and points of view and shows the deep structure of an issue… (Source: [4])
  • Video introduction – http://cognexus.org/videos/ConversationVsIssueStructure_V4/ConversationVsIssueStructure%20V4.html
• Issue Mapping and Dialogue Mapping: … Issue Mapping is Dialogue Mapping minus group facilitation. (Source: [4])
• Knowledge vs. Information: People often confuse “knowledge” with “information,” but there is an importance distinction between the two. Knowledge is information that has been internalized. If you have a physics textbook on your shelf, then you have information (or a knowledge artifact). If you are capable of doing the problems in the textbook, then you have knowledge. (Source: [2])
• Dynamic Knowledge Repository [DKR] = (Source: [2])
• Shared Understanding = An important pattern where the group has achieved a unity … of goal/mission/vision such that the question “what are we trying to do” doesn’t really come up. (Source: [3])
• Wicked problem – … describe a problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Moreover, because of complex interdependencies, the effort to solve one aspect of a wicked problem may reveal or create other problems…. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicked_problem)

Sources

• [1] http://blueoxen.net/wiki/Collective_Memory
• [2] http://blueoxen.net/wiki/Dynamic_Knowledge_Repository
• [3] http://blueoxen.net/wiki/Shared_Understanding
• [4] Issue Mapping (CogNexus) – http://www.cognexus.org/issue_mapping.htm

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Related here: Knowledge management – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/knowledge-management/

GTD

General information

• David Alen’s web site – http://www.davidco.com/
• GTD description at Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Getting_Things_Done
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity (at WikiSummaries) – wikisummaries.org/Getting_Things_Done:_The_Art_of_Stress-Free_Productivity
• Time Management, GTD and Life Hacking – http://www.isaacbowman.com/time-management-gtd-and-life-hacking
• GTD collections on WordPress blogs: http://en.wordpress.com/tag/getting-things-done/, http://en.wordpress.com/tag/gtd/
• “Why An Empty Inbox is Fresh Air” by Sunny Lam (August 3, 2010.08.03) – http://sunnylam.ca/2010/08/03/why-an-empty-inbox-is-fresh-air/
• “Why I gave up on Remember The Milk” (technology-zero blog) – http://technologyzero.wordpress.com/2010/08/03/why-i-gave-up-on-remember-the-milk/
• “Did you try making a list first?” (2010.08.04) – http://veraciousarts.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/did-you-try-making-a-list-first/
• Having a to-do list (even if you hate it) – http://gregmeyer.wordpress.com/2010/08/04/having-a-to-do-list-even-if-you-hate-it/
• Neat is not a Four Letter Word – http://jonhildebrand.wordpress.com/2010/07/28/neat-is-not-a-four-letter-word/
• GTD section at LifeHacker – http://lifehacker.com/tag/gtd/
• What Is Wrong with GTD? – whakate.com/lead-articles/what-is-wrong-with-gtd/
• Implementing Getting Things Done with your Blackberry – blackberryinsight.com/2006/05/13/implementing-getting-things-done-with-your-blackberry/
  
• GTD Dictionary: organizeit.co.uk/category/gtd-dictionary
• A Primer on Getting Things Done – 7pproductions.com/blog/2008/02/18/a-primer-on-getting-things-done
• How David Allen mastered getting things done – money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/07/01/100117066

GTD Blogs

• gtdtimes.com
• davidco.com/blogs
• DidIGetThingsDone.com
• Gearfire – the-getting-things-done.blogspot.com
• How to be an Original – blog.lodewijkvdb.com/category/productivity-gtd/
• The Ultimate GTD Blogs Index: gtd.marvelz.com/blog/gtd-index

GTD tools

• TiddlyWikies: MonkeyGTD | GTDTiddlyWiki Plus | d-cubed
• GTD-Free – gtd-free.sourceforge.net – personal TODO/action manager inspired by GTD

GTD for BlackBerry

• GTD with your Blackberry – “World’s Easiest & Free Blackberry GTD Solution” – http://www.isaacbowman.com/gtd-blackberry-productivity
• GTD & BlackBerry – http://www.gtdtimes.com/2009/05/29/gtd-blackberry/
• http://blackberrygtd.com/
• Viira GTD application – http://www.kartamobile.com/ – not free

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Related at this blog: Skills – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/skils/.

Personal Wiki’s

• Personal Wiki discussion at mother of all wikies: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?PersonalWiki
• http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/WxWikiServer
• Original Eddi’e WikiServer – http://www.tinyted.net/eddie/wiki/

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Related here: Knowledge management – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/05/15/knowledge-management/

Knowledge management

Knowledge bases: Wikies, etc.

• WikiPatterns – http://www.wikipatterns.com/display/wikipatterns/Wikipatterns

Tools:

• wxWikiServer = WikiServer – http://sourceforge.net/projects/wikiserver/ – win32-based; unzip it and run it – it is that easy. Great portable application. Limited in features, but ease of installation makes it my current favorite.:
  • Point you browser to the URL http://localhost:80/ and start working.
  • to customize/change the port number, edit the wikiserver.ini file
  • to change the pages layout edit the PageTemplate.html file in the Pages subdirectory.
  • to change the default icon, place the desired image in the images/ directory, and change the PageTemplate.html file to include following:

    <img style="border:0;" src="images/FILENAME.png" alt="WIKINAME">...

• TiddlyWiki – http://www.tiddlywiki.com/ – all-in-one-HTML file Javascript-based wiki engine. Wonder in itself. Great portable application.:
  • http://tiddlywiki.com/ | http://tiddlywiki.org/ | http://tiddlywiki.org/wiki/Main_Page
  • TiddlyWiki Guides – http://tiddlywikiguides.org/
  • @WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TiddlyWiki
  • @WikiBooks – http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/TiddlyWiki
  • Forum(s) – https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/TiddlyWiki
  • GTDtiddlywiki – http://shared.snapgrid.com/gtd_tiddlywiki.htm
  • LaTeX (-enabled) Tiddly Wiki – http://bob.mcelrath.org/tiddlyjsmath-2.0.3.html
• Kwiki – http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/dist/Kwiki
  • free Perl based. Requires Apache and Perl. Pain to set up (although nothing compared to various PHP-based or Java-based monsters like MediaWiki or Confluence). I do not use it anymore.
• WikiTaxi – http://www.yunqa.de/delphi/doku.php/products/wikitaxi/index; [win32; Delphi] – an offline wiki engine to be used as the mirror of WikiPedia.
  • WikiPedia dumps – http://dumps.wikimedia.org/simplewiki/latest/
  • WikiPedia backups – ,a href=”http://dumps.wikimedia.org/backup-index.html”>http://dumps.wikimedia.org/backup-index.html
• Loss of functionality of Confluence: since version 4.x.x Confluence does not support wiki markup editing. partial workarounds are Wiki Plugin for Confluence (https://bobswift.atlassian.net/wiki/display/CWP/Wiki+Plugin+for+Confluence) and Confluence Source Editor (https://marketplace.atlassian.com/plugins/com.atlassian.confluence.plugins.editor.confluence-source-editor).
• XWiki – http://www.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome – a Confluence-like, free, supports original Confluence Markup.
• NoteStudio, by DogMelon Studio – http://www.dogmelon.com.au/ns/index.shtm – a personal wiki. Has templates for GtD. Encryption, network sharing, XML for input/export, and free upgrades. $50US.

Mind maps, Concept maps, Concept networks

General:

• at WikiPedai:
  • Mind Maps – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_maps
  • “List of concept mapping and mind mapping software” (WikiPedia) – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_concept_mapping_and_mind_mapping_software | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mind_mapping_software
  • Ishikawa diagram – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishikawa_diagrams
  • Tree diagram – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_diagram
  • Organizational chart – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organization_chart
• a website dedicated to mindmapping and information organisation – http://www.mind-mapping.org/
• MichaelOnMindMapping – http://www.michaelonmindmapping.com/
• The Mindmap Blog – http://mindmapblog.com/
• The BiggerPlate mind map library – http://www.biggerplate.com/mindmap-library
• The MidMapSoftwareBlog – http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/
• Mindmapping everywhere (blog) – http://mindmappingeverywhere.blogspot.com/

Mind-mapping tools:

• FreeMind – http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page – free, Java-based concept-mapping desktop tool [FREE, OSS]
  • at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeMind
• Freeplane – an fork of Freemind – http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/ [FREE]
  • SourceForge – http://sourceforge.net/projects/freeplane/>/li>
  • Home page – http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
  • Relation to Freemind – http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Relationship_to_FreeMind
  • “Freeplane pushing for visibility” – http://www.mind-mapping.org/blog/2009/06/freeplane-pushing-for-visibility/
  • “New open-source mind mapping program Freeplane off to a promising start” by Chuck Frey (The MindMappingSoftwareBlog; 2009.09.04) – http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/freeplane/
  • “New Mind Mapping App Freeplane Promises Great Features, Rapid Release Cycle” by Lisa Hoover (OSTATIC; 2009.09.04) – http://ostatic.com/blog/new-mind-mapping-app-freeplane-promises-great-features-rapid-release-cycle
  • at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freeplane
  • Add-ons – http://freeplane.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Add-ons
  • Freeplane|GTD (Freeplane GTD add-on) – http://sourceforge.net/projects/freeplanegtd/
• XMind – http://www.xmind.net/ – another free mind maps tool [FREE]
  • Project pages at SourceForge – http://sourceforge.net/projects/xmind3/
  • Project pages at Google source – http://code.google.com/p/xmind3/
  • WikiPedia page – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XMIND
  • XMind User Forum – http://groups.google.com/group/xmind
  • XMind blog – http://blog.xmind.net/en/
• BooguNote – A Treeview Notebook – http://www.boogu.me/ – Organize your info in new concept tree view
  • Google group – https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!forum/boogunote_en
• semAuth – http://semauth.sourceforge.net/ | http://sourceforge.net/projects/semauth/ – semAuth is an xslt script which translates a freemind mindmap into a website (i.e. set of xhtml pages).
• iMindMap – http://www.thinkbuzan.com/us/ [COMMERCIAL]
  • iMindMap Basic – a free basic version –
  • iMindMap Online –
  • “iMindMap Version 4 – Why I Insulted The Buzan Online CEO?” (MichaelOnMindMapping.com) – http://www.michaelonmindmapping.com/blog/mind-maps/imindmap-version-4-is-it-any-good-and-should-you-bother/
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzan%27s_iMindMap
  • “iMindmap 5 Takes It to the Next Level” (The Mindmap Blog; 2011.02.04) – http://mindmapblog.com/?tag=imindmap-5
  • “iMindMap 5, new online collaboration tool announced by ThinkBuzan” by Chuck Frey (2011.01.14) – http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/imindmap-5/
  • iMindMap 5 (Mindmapping everywhere) – http://mindmappingeverywhere.blogspot.com/2011/03/imindmap-5.html
  • “iMindMap 5 launches with a goal of taking care of business” by Chuck Frey (The MindMappingSoftwareBlog.com; 2011.04.15) – http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/imindmap-5-launched/
• WiseMapping – http://www.wisemapping.com/ – online service holding your mind maps [FREE]
• VUE (Visual Understanding Environment) – http://vue.tufts.edu/index.cfm
• Gallery of VUE maps – http://vue.tufts.edu/gallery/index.cfm
• Mind Mapping With VUE – http://poelcat.wordpress.com/2010/06/16/mind-mapping-with-vue/
• VUE: mind mapping software that combines data visualization, semantic analysis, and a full-fledged Powerpoint-style presentation engine in one – http://www.freewaregenius.com/2010/01/11/vue-mind-mapping-software-that-combines-data-visualization-semantic-analysis-and-a-full-fledged-powerpoint-style-presentation-engine-in-one/
• SciPlore – http://www.sciplore.org/software/sciplore_mindmapping/ – a fork of FreeMind;
  • “How to write a thesis (Bachelor, Master, or PhD) and which software tools to use” – http://sciplore.org/blog/2010/03/02/how-to-write-a-phd-thesis/
  • at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SciPlore_MindMapping
• MindManager – http://www.mindjet.com/us/; [COMMERCIAL] – (expensive) concept-mapping desktop tool
• MindMeister – http://www.mindmeister.com/ – online concept-mapper. Has a basic/free offer.
• MindOmo – http://www.mindomo.com/ – online concept-mapper. Has a basic/free offer.
• Bubbl.Us – http://bubbl.us/ – online concept-mapper. Free.

The only concept networking tool that I know about is:

• Brain – http://www.thebrain.com/ – commercial concept-networking desktop tool. Has “personal” (free), “core”, “pro” and “enterprise” editions. | blog: http://blog.thebrain.com/ | http://sociate.thebrain.com/brainekp/
  • at WikiPedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PersonalBrain

Brainstorming

• BrainStorm – http://www.brainstormsw.com/ – commercial (£20)

Misc:

• Article “Do’s and don’ts for managing IT projects with wikis” by Ephraim Schwartz (InfoWorld; 2008.09.03) – http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/09/03/36NF-wiki-enterprise-tips_1.html

Process management

• GTD (Getting Things Done) – http://www.davidco.com/ – a very popular (probably more popular that it deserves) time management system:
  • Wikipedia article – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GTD
  • GTD Times blog – http://www.gtdtimes.com/

Tools

• ThinkingRock – http://www.thinkingrock.com.au/ – free Java-based desktop tool implementing GTD
• AutoHotkey – http://www.autohotkey.com/ – an open-source utility can automate almost anything by sending keystrokes and mouse clicks. You can write macros by hand or use the macro recorder.:
  • Forums – http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/.
  • “Hack Attack: Knock down repetitive email with AutoHotKey” – http://lifehacker.com/software/keyboard-shortcuts/hack-attack-knock-down-repetitive-email-with-autohotkey-159785.php
  • “10 Ways to Use AutoHotKey to Rock Your Keyboard” – http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/10-ways-to-use-autohotkey-to-rock-your-keyboard.html
  • “Automating Windows with AutoHotkey” – http://www.nothickmanuals.info/doku.php/articles:autohotkey/ [GONE] –> http://web.archive.org/web/20080617142012/http://nothickmanuals.info/doku.php/articles:autohotkey
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autohotkey/
  • an online repository for AutoHotkey scripts – http://www.autohotkey.net/
• ClickWhen –
  • “Automate timed mouse clicks with ClickWhen” (LifeHacker)- http://lifehacker.com/software/exclusive-lifehacker-download/automate-timed-mouse-clicks-with-clickwhen-260445.php
• Rocker –
  • “Navigate backward and forward with Rocker” (LifeHacker)- http://lifehacker.com/software/exclusive-lifehacker-download-for-windows/navigate-backward-and-forward-with-rocker-257609.php – …Rocker is a mouse navigation tool that lets you perform common tasks, like moving forward and backward in your browser, by simply rocking your fingers across your left and right mouse buttons.…
• Texter –
  • “Lifehacker Code: Texter (Windows)” (LifeHacker) – http://lifehacker.com/238306/lifehacker-code-texter-windows – a text substitution tool [WIN32 only]
• ActiveWords – http://activewords.com/
  • “Save time with text substitution” (LifeHacker) – http://lifehacker.com/software/feature/save-time-with-text-substitution-162484.php
• KeyBreeze – http://www.keybreeze.com/ – personal use is free, commercial use requires purchasing
• TaksJuggler – http://taskjuggler.org/ – an open-source project management tool. Free. For *nix platforms only.
• Gantt project – http://www.ganttproject.biz/ – a cross-platform desktop tool for project scheduling and management. Allows work with Gantt charts, PERT charts, etc. [FREE, OSS]

Blogs

After years of trying various blog-like tools, in my opinion, the blogs are not a good tool for knowledge management. A blog-like interface may be useful as an additional “view” of the knowledge bases (e.g. wikies), for example to keep users informed on the changes to the knowledge base.

Tagging, Labeling, Categorizing, etc.

Nothing to see here ….

PIMs (Personal Information Managers)

• Zoot – http://www.zootsoftware.com/
• Evernote – https://evernote.com/ – an online PIM
  • Evernote Clearly – https://evernote.com/clearly/ | FireFox extension – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/clearly/ – makes blog posts, articles and webpages clean and easy to read. Save them to Evernote to read anywhere.
  • Evernote Web Clipper – https://evernote.com/webclipper/ | FireFox extension – https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/evernote-web-clipper/ – save things you see on the web into your Evernote account. It provides a toolbar button and context menu to add an article, selection, URL or an entire page.

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Related here at this blog: personall wikies – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/personal-wikis/ | Issue mapping, Dialog mapping – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/10/29/issue-mapping-dialog-mapping/ | Productivity – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/productivity/ | Skills – https://eikonal.wordpress.com/2010/09/09/skils/

LaTeX in WordPress

There are several links talking about embedding and use of LaTeX in WordPress:

• “Math for the Masses” by mdawaffe – http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2007/02/17/math-for-the-masses/
• LaTeX in WordPress FAQ – http://en.support.wordpress.com/latex/
• Converting LaTeX to WordPress – http://lucatrevisan.wordpress.com/2009/02/21/converting-latex-to-wordpress/
  • Download: http://lucatrevisan.wordpress.com/latex-to-wordpress/
• Easy LaTeX (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/easy-latex/), a WordPress plugin.
• WP LaTeX (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-latex/) is another WordPress plugin.
• Using LaTeX in WordPress – http://sixthform.info/steve/wordpress/

A math blog with implementation of LaTeX in JavaScript

http://psychedelic-geometry.blogspot.com/