4 reasons to use mind42 for mind mapping

Today I’ve found a very nice mind mapping application that I’d like to share it with you.

I’m a big fan of mindmapping, I use it quite systematically when I’m brainstorming, thinking, …

Today I’ve given a new try to mind42, and I have to say that I’m very happy of what I saw.

The team did a great work and the application is now very good.

What I prefer is :

it’s simple

In a simple browser, the application is very intuitive, no need to read long tutorial, …

it’s bug free

I did not try it extensively, but for basic usage, in a chrome browser, I did not meet any bug !

it allows me to collaborate with others !

This is for me a must have for mindmap application. Mindmapping is for brainstorming, puting your ideas on paper to sutrcure them but also to share them.

The best is to be able to collaborate on the same piece.

Today, I still miss the wonderful mindmap plugin in google wave !

It seems that mind42 is very good for collaboration : 2 or more people can collaborate real-time on the same document. That’s great !

it’s free !

photo : blmiers2 via Compfight

Workflowy : a simple tool to organize your brain

Workflowy is (another) tool to manage your lists.

“lists” are not just your action lists, it’s all kind of lists : a list of ideas when you brainstrom, a list of posts you plan to write, …

Workflowy does not have any fancy features (like projects, due dates, …), it’s very simple and easy to use.

Workflowy is a web-based application, registration is very easy.

To start, workflowy is just a simple white page where you can enter all your lists. No need to enter “edit” mode or to “save”, all your changes are immediately recorded.

What makes workflowy special and very good to use is the very simple and intuitive way to browse your lists.
You can build lists with thousands of items without being lost. Everything is easily structured and organized.

I love it and use it daily.

The video will show you in detail the concept.

If ou try it, let me know if you like it !

The rise and fall of personal computing

Changes are occuring faster and faster in tech world.

I love this chart from asymco.com, because it shows in 1 page this acceleration.

The Y scale is a logarithmic scale and even like this we can see that Android and iPad growth is just crasy compare to the whole history.

It shows also very well ho ;obile devices are boo;ing and are now more important than traditionnal personnal computing devices (PC, Mac).

Where will it stop ?

Hey Google, where is the offline mode?

2 years ago I wrote a post about the need of offline mode for google services (google documents and gmail).
Offline mode is really a missing feature especially  for people who travel.

Image via CrunchBase

2 years ago, google used to use a plugin “google gear” to implement a minimal offline mode : mails were accessible and documents were in read-only mode.

Where are we 2 years later ?

Nowhere.

Google gears has disappeared.

For gmail an application is available in the chrome webstore, but it’s not really good as it’s not consistent with the normal way to access gmail.

Google promised to implement offline using html5, but it’s still not available.

If anyone knows about the roadmap, let me know !

My best Chrome extensions : aviary

This post is part of a series on which I present the best chrome's extensions I use.

Aviary is an online image editor that proposes a full range of tools.

I use it when I have simple images to edit.

I like it because it’s easy, simple, free, and in the cloud, so I’ve access to all my creation whatever device I use.

The aviary chrome extension is very basic, with a simple click it capture the current page and opens aviary for further editing.

If you have to do such action, I highly recommend you to install it.

I use it a lot.

If you want to try it, just follow the link.

My best Chrome extensions : Evernote web clipper

I’m a big user of evernote.

I’ve it installed on my laptop, on my phone, on my iPad.

I like to use it to record interesting datas like infographies, graphs I find on Internet

The chrome extension “evernote web clipper” is just perfect : by a smple click I can add the page or image to my evernote collection.

I use it a lot.

If you want to try it, just follow the link.

timekiwi : create your public timeline from twitter, facebook and others

Do you know timekiwi ? I’ve just discovered it because it has been acquired by french company overblog.

timekiwi creates a public timeline from your posts on different services : twitter, instagram, Tumblr, facebook, flickr, foursquare.

It’s clean and nicely done.

I’ve activated mine here.

You can activate yours, it’s free and very quick.

Let me know what you think !

Lastpass security challenge : you should do it for your own security !

I’ve already posted about lastpass, the service I use to secure all my passwords in one single place.

A new tool is now available : the “security challenge“.
This tool will screen all your your login/passwords recorded in your lastpass vault and give you statistics

• number of duplicate passwords
•  weakness of the passwords
• average password length.

I did it.
The first result was obviously terrible : many duplicate passwords.. I basically use 4… and quite weak passwords.

Then you can imagine that changing all these passwords (I’ve 260 websites secured in lastpass) will be a big pain. This is where lastpass can help again.
Based on the list of all the web sites, it propose you to directly open a new window on this site, then you go to the “change password” option and change it. Of course you still need some time to do it, but it helps a lot !

I love when services like that really gives added value that you did not expect…

Thank you lastpass !

My best Chrome extensions : Lastpass (the ideal password manager)

LastPass is a password manager that promise you “The Last paswword you have to remember”.
The principle is to record all your passwords in a simple place and remember only one which is your lastpass password, like the key of your safe.

I use the service since few years now to secure all my passwords for all the services I use (I’ve more than 200 sites secured).
Lastpass proposes a chrome extension I use everyday when I’m connected : at home, at work.

The main reason I use it is because of the chrome extension : it makes the access to the service simple and easy.

This simple extension is the access point to the lastpass service and gives access to your “lastpass vault” where all your passwords are secured.

The extension is also screening the pages you’re browsing and if necessary proposes you to automatically fill login / password. It’s really very well done.

I hope you’ll enjoy it !

3 reasons NOT to have a Samsung Galaxy note

Yesterday I published a post to explain why you should have a Samsung Galaxy note.  
In this post I’ll give you the reasons not to have one (even if I think you should !)  
 

• It’s too expensive.  

The price of the device on amazon.com is $689.99. It’s really crasy to buy a so expensive device !  
 

• The pen provides no added value.  

There’s a very good ad where you can see a guy doing creative things using the pen.  
I’ve the galaxy note since 3 weeks, I’ve still not use the pen…  
 

• It’s made of basic plastic.  

The back cover is really very poor. Samsung did it to make the device light, but it’s really strange to buy a $700 device and to feel afraid to brake it when you need to open it !