Zoho Projects

I caught the announcement of a new addition to the Zoho productivity suite on TechCrunch and have had a few minutes to play with it over the last 24 hours. Zoho Projects is an online project mangement tool that helps project managers and / or project teams to easily organize their work & track progress. The only issue of note in the blogosphere seems to be questioning the Zoho strategy of building a feature rich application.

I found the product to be intuitive, which is good as there doesn't seem to be any "how to" documentation so far, other than a product tour quicktime movie. Robin Good at MasterNewMedia has taken the quicktime movie and added a voice over, the resultant screencast is being hosted at YouTube.

In short order I was able to:

- customise my settings, set up a project and add users (project team members)
- add tasks and milestones
- schedule a project meeting (with the application handling notication of the participants)
- upload documents connected with the project and have the application handle version control
- submit a timesheet for the hours expended against a task
- look at an overview of my project on a calendar or dashboard

I'm most impressed. What a great collaboration tool for projects. I also found it very stable for a beta release.

Even better, the product is free for one project. Zoho intend to have plans ranging from free (for one project) up to an enterprise plan (unlimited projects, $80/month).

I definitely recommend it.

Tags: Zoho Projects

Magazine 2.0 Wars

Kent Newsome has written a very funny, tongue in cheek, post about the MySpace plan to launch a magazine.

Then he gone and done it, by launching Newsome.Org, the magazine. In true Web 2.0 tradition today I'm launching Newson.Net, the competition; with more features, more gossip , more naked pictures of Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, but absolutely no business model.

I'll certainly shift more copies than Kent's overpriced Newsome.Org, but will it get me any more publicity links?

Here's issue one...

Tags: Kent Newsome, Robert Scoble, Shel Israel, Dave Winer, Chris Pirillo, Hugh Macleod

Collaboration

I picked up on Boing Boing that Google has finally gotten around to re-launching Writely. I may be wrong but I have the feeling that the timing is not unconnected with the recent launch of Live Writer. So I get to write this post on Writely and test out it's ability to function as a blogging tool. Unlike Live Writer, blog posting is not the primary function of Writely so the first thing that becomes obvious is that it's not as WYSIWYG as Live Writer. The second thing I picked up is the absence of a tag generator for Technorati. Whilst I have this functionality in Live Writer as a result of a plugin at least I have the functionality.

On the plus side for Writely, it's internet based rather than desktop based, so I can get at documents anywhere. And then, like Google Spreadsheets, it comes with collaboration tools built in, although chat is missing. I seem to have been looking at a lot of collaborative tools recently including MindManager, Webex, GoToMeeting, Google Spreadsheets and now Writely. So I'm feeling in collaborative mood. Anyone want to write a book?

Update: When I posted to my blog from Writely, the document title didn't transfer as the post title and I can't immediately see why not.

Verdict: For now I'm going to stick with Live Writer as my blog authoring tool, but I suspect Google will not let the challenge of Live Writer go unanswered for long. I will, however, check out Writely in a bit more detail as a collaborative document authoring tool.

P.S. Techmeme and TechCrunch seem to be a bit behind on the story of the re-launch. Maybe it's because it's Sunday or is everyone TechCrunched?

Tags: Writely, Live Writer

Curiosita

Regular readers of this blog will know that I'm a fan of MindManager. Mindjet (the makers of MindManager) recently hosted a Webinar delivered by Michael Gelb, author of "How to think like Leonardo da Vinci".

The resources from that webinar are now available online.

Michael theorises that there are seven principles to thinking like Leonardo. The first of these is "Curiosita", which roughly translates as an insatiably curious approach to life. One way that Leonardo manifested this principle was in his notebooks. Leonardo carried a notebook with him at all times, so that he could jot down ideas, impressions and observations as they occurred. The process of note taking was of great importance to Leonardo.

Eighteen sheets of Leonardo's notebooks were purchased by Bill Gates for 30.8 million dollars in November 1994.

If there is a connection between this post and my last one, perhaps blogging actually represents a desire to share our insatiable curiosity with each other. If Leonardo was alive today I believe he would certainly be a blogger and probably a mind mapper.

Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Michael Gelb, Leonardo da Vinci, blogs, blogging

Dry Spell

I haven't written to my blog recently and this afternoon I've been pondering on the reasons for that.

I have been busy at work, climbing a learning curve with a new project, but it's more than that. As I have been so busy I have fallen a little behind with my blog reading but not by much, and by the end of the weekend I'll have caught up even if with some feeds I will achieve inbox zero by judicious use of the delete key.

It's not that I haven't had anything to say, because like most people I tend to have an opinion on lots of things. I do feel that I haven't had anything particularly worthwhile to say and contributing to the echo chamber by regurgitating the efforts of others doesn't hold much appeal as a route to overcoming a dry spell. I've asked myself whether it's procrastination and that isn't what's going on. It does , however, feel like I've fallen off the bandwagon so this post is an attempt to dust myself down and get back in the saddle.

Being a bit of a geek it helped that I had a new toy to try out to write this post with. Yep, I wrote this post with Live Writer and I'm indebted to Kent Newsome for the pointers to Live Writer plugins. My preliminary take on Live Writer is that the setup and configuration is very smooth and it's great to finally blog using a WYSIWYG approach.

If you stop by, please leave me a comment, I could do with the encouragement. If you're feeling really generous, a link would be nice too!

Tags: blogs, blogging, procrastination, inbox zero, echo chamber

Memories of my youth...

I recently set up a Technorati watchlist to keep an eye out for any mention of my hometown of Wallsend. Wallsend is so named as it's the town at the end of Hadrian's Wall.

Over the weekend the watchlist turned up this nugget from a fellow Geordie in exile, which included this fascinating photograph by Norman Dunn...















When this picture was taken in 1969 I would have been around 7 or 8 years old. I have a vague recollection from about that age of seeing a vessel launched at the Swan Hunter yard and an overwhelming memory of the sound of chains dragging over the ground and a colossal storm of dust being generated, but to be honest I don't know if the launch I recall was the Esso Northumbria or not.

In any case, it's a small world.

Tags: Wallsend

Creating web albums with Picasa

I finally got round to taking up the invitation from Google to create web albums using Picasa.

My public gallery can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/steve.newson

Tags: Picasa

Ten ways to become more proficient with MindManager

I received an email today from someone new to MindManger asking for "my opinion on the best method / resource to become proficient." I thought it would be worthwhile sharing the answer here on my blog.

(1) If you're new to mind mapping then I'd recommend reading some Tony Buzan material such as "Use Your Head".

(2) You can get a copy of my mind mapped book notes on "Use Your Head" here:

http://stevenewson.blogspot.com/2006/06/use-your-head.html

(3) The product itself comes with a pretty good learning center that contains some excellent built in animated tutorials.

(4) Mindjet have some additional animated tutorials online.

(5) I didn't go this route myself but the Mindjet site also has links to training resources including computer based training, open seminars and Mindjet certified trainers.

(5) I bought the MindManager for Dummies book [which was written for MindManager 5 and does not yet appear to have been updated for MindManager 6]

(6) I joined the MindManager group on Yahoo and downloaded the maps in the files area and looked at how others were using the product. [Andrew Wilcox, a frequent contributor to the group, offers MindManager training and online coaching.]

(7) I search the internet for MindManager maps, download them and look at how others are building maps

(8) I subscribe to the Mindjet newsletter and Mindjet blog to pick up hints and tips

(9) I use Technorati to find and subscribe to blogs about MindManager.

(10) I also use Technorati watchlists for "Mind Mapping" and "MindManager" so pick up on mentions of these terms in the blogosphere

Ok, so I lied about there being just ten ways, here's a bonus tip...

(11) Brett Bumeter, who I "met" through MindManager group on Yahoo writes intelligently about MindManager, as well as the latest trends in Knowledge Management, software and gadgets over at Maven Mapper's Information.

Please leave a comment if you have other suggestions to add to the list....

Tags: Mindjet, MindManager, Mind Mapping, information visualization

Making good stuff happen

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a long post called "Attitude is everything..." based on a parable about having a positive approach to life.

In the parable the answer to the question "how are you doing?" was always "if I was any better I'd be twins".

At the moment I'm re-reading Scott Berkun's "The Art of Project Management" and I found the answer to the question "what are you doing?"; which is "I'm making good stuff happen".

I find the first mantra "if I was any better I'd be twins" doesn't seem to fit my personality so I think I need to come up with a variation, but I do like "I'm making good stuff happen".

I'll try it out.

Tags: Project Management, Scott Berkun, Lifehack

More on the SnagIt to Flickr extension...

I originally blogged about the SnagIt to Flickr extension back in May and followed up about possible problems the extension might cause your Flickr account in June.

That makes it appropriate to link to an clarification on the issue from Betsy Weber, Chief Evangelist at Techsmith.

Flickr has a policy stating any account (free or paid) that has more than half of their images as non-photographic content (screenshots, etc.) will be turned from public to private.

Basically this means that once a user has over half of his images as non-photographic content, his images on Flickr will no longer be made searchable by the greater Flickr community or viewable in the public area. If Flickr finds your account having more than half of your content as non-photographic content, they may mark you as NIPSA - 'Not in Public Site Areas'. Users that reach this state will still be able to upload and share images on Flickr.

Thanks for clearing that up Betsy.

Tags: SnagIt, Techsmith, Flickr

Close encounter with an owl

Linda had an up close and personal encounter with an owl at the Hollowell Steam & Heavy Horse Show today.



I'm enjoying the new camera.

Steam Engine

1917 Fowler engine named 'Prince of Wales' owned by Mr. D Woodward of Buglawton.



A classic from times gone by.

Tags: Steam Engine

Bernese Mountain Dog

We went to the the Hollowell Steam and Heavy Horse Show today, and I took this picture of a Bernese Mountain Dog. In their native Switzerland they were used extensivley to pull small carts containing farm produce between mountain farms, dairies and markets.



Interacting with them for a few minutes we found them to be very sweet natured creatures.

Tags: Bernese Mountain Dog

Happy Slapping gone mad...

I caught a bit of local news on TV after the football game this evening. I was appalled by the lead story about a group of young thugs who threw a cat off a fifth floor balcony.

Not once.

Not twice.

Not thrice.

Four times!

And they filmed the incident using their mobile phones.

According to the news report the cat managed to limp away after being dropped the fourth time, screaming in agony. The cat's owner who eventually found the wounded animal took it to a local vet and the cat was put to sleep.

The incident is thought to be first happy slapping incident involving an animal. Happy Slapping is defined by Wikipedia as a fad in which an unsuspecting victim is attacked while an accomplice records the assault (commonly with a camera phone). The name can refer to any type of violent assault, not just slapping.

The RSPCA managed to track down the thugs who today pleaded guilty to animal cruelty charges.

I'm afraid that the severity of the sentences handed out will not match the brutality of the crime.

Tags: Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights

Just because we can't hear them scream doesn't make this right...

The New Zealand Department of Conservation writes:

Despite a moratorium on commercial whaling since 1986, and two ocean sanctuaries to further protect whales, only a few whale populations are increasing. Slow reproductive rates and new environmental threats affect the ability of whales to recover, even in the absence of any whaling activities.

The BBC in a report on the recent International Whaling Commission's annual meeting notes that:

Currently, Japan and Iceland kill whales under an IWC ruling which allows nations to catch whales for "scientific research".

Norway, which formally objected to the 1986 ban, openly conducts commercial whaling.

The Sun gets to the heart of the matter from my point of view...

And The Sun has obtained harrowing undercover footage which proves that whales suffer a torturous and lingering death when they have been harpooned.

The images, filmed by the World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Environmental Investigation Agency, show a Norwegian ship firing a grenade-tipped harpoon into a minke whale.

The whale takes two-and-a-half agonising minutes to die. Others can take more than AN HOUR.

Even the Norwegians admit that around 20 per cent of whales fail to be killed straight away. Japan has reported that almost 60 per cent are not killed outright.

I'm realistic enough to believe that we probably can't stop all whaling but the barbarity with which it is undertaken is stomach turning.

David Attenborough is quoted as saying:

“And there is hard, scientific, dispassionate evidence that there is no humane way to kill a whale at sea. Dr Harry Lillie, who worked as a ship’s physician on a whaling trip in the Antarctic half a century ago, wrote this:

“ ‘If we can imagine a horse having two or three explosive spears stuck in its stomach and being made to pull a butcher’s truck through the streets of London while it pours blood into the gutter, we shall have an idea of the method of killing. The gunners themselves admit that if whales could scream the industry would stop, for nobody would be able to stand it.’

“Harpoons with explosive grenade heads are still the main technique used to kill whales today.”

Shane Rattenbury, of Greenpeace’s ocean’s campaign, goes on to describe the cruelty he witnessed at first hand:

“We saw how long it took for the whales to die.

“The worst example I saw was when a whale was struck three times. The time between being struck with the harpoon and ceasing to struggle to fight was 35 minutes.

“We also saw the whales being asphyxiated. This hasn’t been documented before.

“When they have harpooned the whale, they tie it to the side of the catcher ship and take it to the factory ship.

“They were being hung up by their tails with their heads under water so they couldn’t breath. That’s how they were dying. The whale normally breathes from the top of the head.

“You could see the whale tail flapping as it was being carried along — which is not the promised quick death from a harpoon.

“The Japanese claim these are scientific hunts. But no scientist could support such unsophisticated deaths. It is appalling. None of us had prepared ourselves for something like that.”

Call me a liberal, tea-smoking, hippy if you like but this isn't about the killing. It's about cruelty and a lack of respect for life.

Tags: Whaling, Greenpeace, Animal Cruelty, Animal Rights

Up close and personal with an Eagle Owl

We spent a wonderful day on Saturday at the Althorp Country Show. Althorp is the ancestral home of the Spencer family, including Diana, The Princess of Wales.

One of the demonstrations was given by the Hawkeye Falconry Display Team, professional falconers with many years experience of showing birds of prey. As an opener they have an eagle owl fly over a line of children lying on the ground. They invite photographers to get in close and take pictures. I managed to capture this shot using my wife's new Canon EOS 350D in sports mode.


At this point the bird is just a second away from flying over my head to land on the trainer's glove.

Tags: Falconry, Canon EOS 350D

Attitude is everything...

Like most people I get copied in on viral emails making the rounds. I recently received this one:

Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If I were any better, I would be twins!"

He was a unique manager because he had several waiters who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each morning I wake up and say to myself, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood.' I choose to be in a good mood. Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life."

"Yeah, right, it's not that easy," I protested.

"Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."

I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to do in a restaurant business: he left the back door open one morning and was held up at gunpoint by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma center. After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he replied, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?"

I declined to see his wounds, but did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose to die. I chose to live.

"Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked.

Jerry continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man. " I knew I needed to take action."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply... I took a deep breath and yelled, 'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, 'I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead."

Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude. I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.

Attitude, after all, is everything.

"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

I found support for this parable from an improbable source. I'm currently reading "The ultimate book of mind maps" by Tony Buzan. Buzan describes the human brain as a synergetic system, a system where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Thus a thought does not exist in isolation, it fits into a network of other thoughts and associations that exist only in your own brain. This network is a kind of internal super-mind map of your growing thoughts, ideas and memories. As you think, new connections between thoughts are forged and your internal mind map becomes more sophisticated, complex and powerful. In other words, more than just the sum of the individual thoughts.

The more you use your brain to think about something, through repetition, the more you strengthen the links between thoughts, making the mind map of these thoughts and ideas stronger. Everything you do or say or think or feel increases the probability that you will do, say, think, or feel in the same way again. If you do things well, speak and think positively, and generally feel good about yourself, others, the world and the universe, the probability continually increases that you will do better, talk and think better, and feel and be better. This is sometimes referred to as a virtuous circle.

The flip side of this is that if you do poorly, think and act negatively, practice inadequately, and regularly feel bad about yourself, others, the world, and the universe, then with every such thought and act you increase the probablity of a continuing and deepening downwards spiral.

Buzan concludes that the brain principles of synergy and repetition mean that our brains can be both infinitely creative and infinitely destructive, but the power to use you brain positively and to the greatest effect lies in your own hands.

It's your choice.

Key learning points summary:

(1) the synergy created by the ability to connect thoughts and ideas is a fundamental benefit of mind mapping tools such as MindManager

(2) that repetition is important to strengthen retention (mapping + repetition = better retention)

(3) mind mapping provides a powerful way to harness the potential of the brain


Tags: Mind Mapping, Mindjet, MindManager, Tony Buzan, LifeHack, Personal Productivity

It doesn't sound like risk management as I understand it...

A BBC report suggests that the shuttle has been cleared to fly despite objections from both NASA's top safety official AND lead engineer.

NASA administrator Michael Griffin told a news conference:

"I can't possibly accept every recommendation given to me by every member of my staff, especially when they all don't agree."

Adminsitrator Griffin describes the Flight Readiness Review as spirited. After the Columbia disaster and the following investigation I would have thought the top safety official would have a "golden vote", but apparently not.

Tags: NASA, Shuttle

Connecting to the bottom line...

Nick Duffill writes the always interesting Beyond Crayons blog. I wish he wrote more often. His recent post on how mapping software creates value inside organisations provides some good pointers for anyone who has ever tried to evangelise the introduction or use of mind mapping software in an organisation.

To understand the potential value of software mapping in your organisation, ask yourself: "What core processes are not working very well today because we struggle to describe and communicate fundamental concepts in a consistent and engaging way?" If the answer to this is "none", then it is probable that software mapping will remain a novelty at the fringes of your organisation. However, if you can produce a strong answer, then you have every chance of completing the value chain between the technology and the bottom line.

I think you can extend the point to lots of software tools. If you can't connect the tool to the bottom line you can demonstrate exquisite functionality till you're blue in the face, but you won't get much traction.

Tags: Mind Mapping, Mindjet, MindManager, Nick Duffill, Beyond Crayons

We're a long way from the Bill Gates obituary...

Matthew Ingram has written a thoughtful analysis about what the Bill Gates announcement really means and comes to the conclusion: not very much! I can see his point; nothing is going to really change for the next two years, the announcement has had zero effect on the share price and the one really interesting signal was the strengthening of the positions of Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie. The implication is that this lessens the grip of Steve Ballmer.

The story even made Newsnight here in the UK and you catch still catch the transmission over the weekend at the Newsnight website, click the "watch the latest programme" graphic. The BBC introduction took a few swipes at Gates (monopolist and Netscape murderer) and sums up the challenges that Microsoft faces today as; mobile computing, new devices that don't run Windows (i.e. Linux) and the free software movement.

In the discussion Microsoft were represented by my favourite geek blogger, Robert Scoble, which must have given the Microsft PR department heartburn, given that Robert recently announced he was moving on. Robert, in a comment on his own blog, suggests that he was chosen because 1) he was available, 2) the BBC don’t trust anyone that PR shoves in front of them and 3) they figured he'd tell the truth cause he's leaving anyway. Newsnight also fielded the economist Irwin Stelzer from the Hudson Institute to provide an "independant" viewpoint.

The discussion opened with the point that Gates used monopoly power to stifle innovation and competition. Robert countered that the rise of Google and Apple didn't suggest that Bill gets it all his own way. Stelzer made the point that Gates did stop some innovation and you can't escape the fact that the courts had upheld this view.

There was general agreement that Gates is a better man than some of the great capitalists of the past, that he did change the world, and that he is undoubtedly a very smart man.

Joel Spolsky remarks on meeting with Bill Gates some fourteen years ago:

Bill Gates was amazingly technical. He understood Variants, and COM objects, and IDispatch and why Automation is different than vtables and why this might lead to dual interfaces. He worried about date functions. He didn't meddle in software if he trusted the people who were working on it, but you couldn't bullshit him for a minute because he was a programmer. A real, actual, programmer.

Joel does go on to critique why he thinks things have gone wrong since those early days but he gives a sense of why Gates did succeed in the first place.


Tags: Bill Gates, Robert Scoble, Newsnight, Joel Spolsky