mindmap software?

[Ted Shoemaker]

Hello,

I'm looking for a software that's somewhere between a thesaurus and a
mindmap (No, I'm not talking about the company with that name).

This hypothetical software would return words and terms that are
conceptually related to the input term. For example, if I type in
"stapler", I want responses such as:
paper, office, desk, etc.

Is there such a thing? Seems like there would be.

Thank you.

Ted Shoemaker

 

[Helen]

http://wordweb.info/free/

I've used it for years.
HTH
Helen

 

[Little Girl]

Hey there,

I'm looking for a software that's somewhere between a thesaurus and a
mindmap (No, I'm not talking about the company with that name).

I'm not sure if this is the sort of thing you're looking for, but it
claims to be able to do mind mapping and then some:

http://www.circle-of-excellence.com/

BrainBox Pro Version 4.0

<quote from page>
A suite of tools to facilitate accelerated learning, focussed thinking
and clear communication. The most popular facilities of the suite
being: (i) an ability to author mind maps, concept maps and flow
diagrams; (ii) easy access to advice and templates related to creative
thinking; (iii) extensive templates related to research and report
writing; and (iv) information and suggested exercises designed to help
you use NLP models of language (Meta and Milton) to better effect.
<end quote from page>

I've never tried the program, but it sounded interesting, so I
downloaded the older version a long time ago. The older version is
still available on the site, and is much smaller. The current one is
almost 15 megs, so depending on your internet connection, you might
not want to spend time downloading it without talking to someone who's
tried it. I hope this helps, anyway.

 

[Michael Laplante]

http://www.circle-of-excellence.com/

BrainBox Pro Version 4.0

I've never tried the program, but it sounded interesting, so I
downloaded the older version a long time ago. The older version is
still available on the site, and is much smaller. The current one is
almost 15 megs, so depending on your internet connection, you might
not want to spend time downloading it without talking to someone who's
tried it. I hope this helps, anyway.

I tried it a couple of years ago. In the end I didn't stick with it, since I
could do everything with MS Word that this program does. But, if you don't
have Word, then it might be the thing for you. It's pretty comprehensive.

The biggest issue I had with it -- as with Word -- is that it takes just too
long to do a mind map. I could sketch one in the fraction of the time it
would take me to do one with BB although the one by BB would be much
prettier.

Someone here recently pointed out that the latest version requires some sort
of registration too.

M

 

[Little Girl]

Hey there,

I tried it a couple of years ago. In the end I didn't stick with it, since I
could do everything with MS Word that this program does. But, if you don't
have Word, then it might be the thing for you. It's pretty comprehensive.

The biggest issue I had with it -- as with Word -- is that it takes just too
long to do a mind map. I could sketch one in the fraction of the time it
would take me to do one with BB although the one by BB would be much
prettier.

Thanks for the. It's always nice to hear from someone who's tried a
program.

Someone here recently pointed out that the latest version requires some sort
of registration too.

I guess that would make this one registerware. Sorry about that.

How about The Literary Machine? I've got an old beta version of it on
my HD, and the link to the site is still good. Of the two listed
there, I'd think LM2000 would be the freeware version. But this, also,
I haven't tried, so it could very well be a nasty. If you try it, let
us know.

LM 2000 v1.1
http://www.sommestad.com/lm.htm

<quotes from the page>
What The Literary Machine can do for you
Creativity is not "connecting the dots" with a graphic program that
weaves a web among them all over your computer screen. Creativity is
seeing which dots are connected. In groundbreaking, ingenious ways, LM
helps you do that. What makes LM different from other idea-generators?
It doesn't pass off rote as thinking. Instead of showing you a generic
list of logical formulas to wade through in hopes that one
accidentally manipulates your ideas in some meaningful way, it works
with your mind, illuminating connections and stimulating insight.

The Literary Machine is a dynamic archive and an idea management tool
aimed at creative thinking - built especially with the writer in mind.
It is packed with indexing and display techniques so general and
potent that you will use it as an intelligence center. In a class by
itself, it is virtually an extension of your brain. So, write in it.
Collect and sort information and ideas in it. Make it your treasure
chest of random notes and ideas for analysis and future reference.
For, it will serve you well as the substance, catalyst, and processor
for relating or reusing them in creative combinations.

LM is designed to fulfill needs, not fancy. So it does not fool around
with features that your conventional word processor and email client
already do well and more efficiently than a database could. Instead,
LM teams with your other programs to accomplish what, till now, was
possible only in your dreams.

In short, The Literary Machine invites you to put your creativity to
work seriously and fruitfully in ways that no other computer programs
do.

For this role LM incorporates a unique and powerful blend of
idea-generation, information-analysis, information-management, and
composition tools you find nowhere else.
<end quotes from the page>

There's a whole lot more on that page, but it's too long to quote
here. At any rate, I hope this helps.

 

[Michael Laplante]

How about The Literary Machine? I've got an old beta version of it on
my HD, and the link to the site is still good. Of the two listed
there, I'd think LM2000 would be the freeware version. But this, also,
I haven't tried, so it could very well be a nasty. If you try it, let
us know.

Yeah, tried that one too. (I'm semi-retired with lots o' time on my hands. .
.. ) My criteria for a well-designed, intuitive program is that it should
work right out of the box with little or no need to refer to the help file.
By that criteria, LM failed for me. I just couldn't figure it out --
entering info was easy but trying to recall it in a meaningful way was a
problem as the program seemed to have a half-dozen ways of regurgitating
date and insisted on using ALL of them at once. Made for a very "busy" and
confusing interface. My pair of pennies. . .

One thought for your consideration. I mentioned that MS Word could
essentially do everything BrainBox could via hyperlinks, images, text boxes,
flow chart symbols, etc. I don't have a lot of experience with Open Office,
but people here say it is an Office clone. Maybe, it can do this mind map
stuff if you think creatively.

M

 

[Little Girl]

Hey there,

Yeah, tried that one too. (I'm semi-retired with lots o' time on my hands. .
. ) My criteria for a well-designed, intuitive program is that it should
work right out of the box with little or no need to refer to the help file.
By that criteria, LM failed for me. I just couldn't figure it out --
entering info was easy but trying to recall it in a meaningful way was a
problem as the program seemed to have a half-dozen ways of regurgitating
date and insisted on using ALL of them at once. Made for a very "busy" and
confusing interface. My pair of pennies. . .

I appreciate the pennies, and will put your comments inside the text
file I keep inside its zip in case I ever give it a whirl.

One thought for your consideration. I mentioned that MS Word could
essentially do everything BrainBox could via hyperlinks, images, text boxes,
flow chart symbols, etc. I don't have a lot of experience with Open Office,
but people here say it is an Office clone. Maybe, it can do this mind map
stuff if you think creatively.

No idea. I use pay software for all my office needs, but really should
consider switching to the many recommended freeware ones, since the
pay software I still use is mighty old and dusty, and probably
severely behind the times. You know, with all that time on your hands,
maybe you could become a programmer and design a freeware mindmapping
tool.......?

 

[Little Girl]

Hey there,

Well, I might have finally found the mindmap tool you're looking for.
Have you tried Mollip Draw?

Homepage: http://www.molips.com/

<quotes from Mollip Draw's About page>
Molip Draw is a totally free tool for drawing 2D graphics.
It is simple, light, and respond quickly.
It's especially useful to create graphs,
for example Flow Chart, Organization Chart, PC Network, etc.

Functions

* You can draw many kind of figures, ex. line, rectangle, bezier,
arrow, text, or the like.
* You can pour rich text into a figure, regardless of the form of it.
* You can move, resize, and rotate the figures.
* You can join two figures with an arrow. The arrow follows the
figures when they are moved.
* You can attach the text to the arrow. The text follows the arrow
even if the arrrow is moved.
* You can register and reuse the figure that is constructed from the
figures.
* You can undo until the beginning of editing.
* You can paste an OLE document in Molip Draw and you can paste a
Molip Draw document in other applications as an OLE document.
* It responds quickly even if the system is Pentium 166MHz and 32
MByte.
* You can extend the sheet widely.
* You can recover the last document even if Molip Draw is aborted.
* File format is publicly opened.

Concept

The concept is "Drawing with thinking".
The human interface is designed to realize the concept.
So, the drawing and editing is fast, unconscious.
<end quotes>

 

[B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson]

I'm looking for a software that's somewhere between a thesaurus and a

mindmap (No, I'm not talking about the company with that name).

This hypothetical software would return words and terms that are
conceptually related to the input term. For example, if I type in
"stapler", I want responses such as:
paper, office, desk, etc.

You seem to need a thesaurus able to be customized. Or a thesaurus
using a specialized word list suitable to your needs. The usual
thesaurus programs like WordWeb:

http://wordweb.info/free

and The Thinking Man's Thesaurus:

http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/#thes

will not help much in this case, though...

But I'd like to point you to some other program categories which *might*
help you. You mentioned mind mapping programs yourself. I use FreeMind,
myself. It requires Java, but has a straightforward interface and uses
formatted plain text files as database. So one can change the database
using a text editor and global replace tools. This comes handy for large
lists of entries... ;-) You find it here:

http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page

Another approach involves concordance programs. If you create word
lists of related words assembled on lines you can browse the list
files with these programs. A good one is ConcApp:

http://www.edict.com.hk/pub/concapp/concapp.HTM

Not bad, either, is WConcord. It isn't in development, any more.
Thats's why only few downloads are left on the Net. One is here:

http://german.ff.cuni.cz/1/materialy/programy/main.php

A third free program of this category is AntConc by Laurence Anthony:

http://www.antlab.sci.waseda.ac.jp/antconc_index.html

A very different kind of programs could be helpful, too. There are
some free expert system shells out there. Maybe one can be used to
display word dependencies the way you need them. Unfortunately, I
can't point you to one. I haven't dealt with these for a couple of
years...

HTH.
BeAr