PiqueroBlog

Family First

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:24:00 +0000

It’s the Christmas Season, and we have commitments to relatives that are going to take a lot of time. Probably won’t get to the next podcast until January.

It also looks like I’ll need to break the project management discussion into two podcasts. It appears there is additional functionality in Ver 8. So I’ll need to address that as a second podcast.

Podcast 10 Is Now Available

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 23:45:00 +0000

The tenth of our podcast series is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #10. The student maps, a syllabus, and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

The series assumes you have access to a computer that has Version 7 or Version 8 of Mind Manager installed, either the product or the trial version.

In this tenth episode we look at Presentation Mode.

Presentation Mode lets you use the map itself as your presentation vehicle. We also look at Exporting the map into a Microsoft Power Point deck.

I am interested in your opinions. I am also interested in what future topics would be of interest. We are nearing the end of the series, give or take an episode. Write a comment to this blog post or drop us a note at Podcast =(at)= piqueroinc.com .

Podcast #9 Is Now Available

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:02:00 +0000

The ninth of our podcast series is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #9. The student maps, a syllabus, and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

The series assumes you have access to a computer that has Version 7 or Version 8 of Mind Manager installed, either the product or the trial version.

In this ninth episode we look at structured Brainstorming.

We use maps for creativity techiques, such as Fishbone Diagram, SWOT Analysis, and a Morphological Box as examples.

I am interested in your opinions. I am also interested in what future topics would be of interest. We are at the half-way point of the series, give or take an episode. Write a comment to this blog post or drop us a note at Podcast =(at)= piqueroinc.com .

On Track, Sort Of

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:14:00 +0000

In the back of my mind I was aiming at having Brainstorming done by Thanksgiving. Not that it's a Turkey Episode or anything. Just a convenient target.

Podcast 9 is written and partially recorded. Should have the Podcast and post production done by Thursday.

I always do the student maps and then the script. Had some difficulty deciding if I wanted 3 or 4 examples. I went with 3. The episode should time out to 20-21 minutes.

Podcast #8 Is Now Available

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:25:00 +0000

The eighth of our podcast series is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #8. The student maps, a syllabus, and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

The series assumes you have access to a computer that has Version 7 or Version 8 of Mind Manager installed, either the product or the trial version.

In this eighth episode we start the discussion about Brainstorming.

We use the built in Brainstorming Mode function to show how a typical free form Brainstorming Session would be captured usuing Mind Manager. And, we talk about adding relationships between topics.

Progress On Next Episode

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Got Podcast #8 written and the student maps built.

Only started recording tonight. I’ll probably finish on Thursday. Web work still needed but should have it up sometime on Friday.

The topic of the podcast is Brainstorming. It’s a topic I enjoy talking about. The trick will be to keep the podcasts short. At the moment I’m only thinking two episodes needed. We will see.

Podcast 7 Is Now Available

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:42:00 +0000

The seventh of our podcast series is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #7. The student maps, a syllabus, and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

The series assumes you have access to a computer that has Version 7 or Version 8 of Mind Manager installed, either the product or the trial version.

In this seventh episode we wrap up the meeting minutes discussion and example.

Icon Markers, Text Markers, and using the Filter capability are discussed.

Promoting The Podcast

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 17:20:00 +0000

I'm learning a bit about feeds and interpretations. While Juice only showed the six MP3 files, when I tried to add the feed to PodcastAlley I got a lot of warnings. It was clear that it was trying to read each post as a separate podcast.

My brute force solution is to create another blog, PiqueroPod in Blogger. Then limit the entries to podcast announcements.

This seems to work. The new feed is here .

I will continue to post announcements of new podcasts both here and at PiqueroPod.

Podcasts and Feedburner

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:45:00 +0000

This is kind of neat. I'd found an article on How To Podcast. As part of the steps they mentioned setting up a feed at Feedburner.

Feedburner appears to be under Google now, so my Google account is adequate. And it integrates easily with Blogger.

I followed the Feedburner "How Tos" and created a feed for Piqueroblog. But more important, the RSS feed works in my "Juice" aggregator. The Aggregator is smart enough to pull out the MP3 links. The title is the blog post title, but the URL is the Internet Archive address for the file.

I've added the RSS subscription widget at the bottom of the right hand column.

You still need to get to the Supplementary Materials, however. They are also listed in the right hand column or you can bookmark the listing page for ready reference. I usually have that updated before I update the blog.

Podcast #6 Is Finally Uploaded

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:55:00 +0000

Had a few technical problems trying to get Podcast 6 up to the host. Found an alternate route (IE instead of Firefox).

So, the sixth of our podcast series is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #6. The student maps, a syllabus, and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

The series assumes you have access to a computer that has Version 7 or Version 8 of Mind Manager installed, either the product or the trial version.

In this sixth episode I continue working with my meeting minutes and post processing.

In addition to building the next week’s agenda from the previous week’s meeting notes, we examine the “Outline View” for map editing.

I’m interested in your opinions. I’m also interested in what future topics would be of interest. We’re at the half-way point of the series, give or take an episode. Write a comment to this blog post or drop us a note at Podcast =(at)= piqueroinc.com .

Back From Wisconsin

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 21:52:00 +0000

Had some free time during the vacation to work on the scripts for the podcasts. I finished the script for Pod#6 and got most of Pod#7 written. Finished the script for Pod#7 last night.

That’s the good news. I also picked up a cold while I was in Wisconsin. I can type and cough but not record and cough. I’m hoping to be unclogged enough to get Pod#6 done this week-end. Then have Pod#7 up before Halloween.

I decided to break Pod#6 into two parts. Both deal with Meeting Minutes. Pod#6 is map reuse and Outline View. Pod#7 addresses Markers and the Filter functions. Together, a single podcast would have been too long.

Progress (or lack there of)

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 01:04:00 +0000

I probably won’t get Pod#6 created before going out of town for a week. So Pod#6 will be toward the end of the month.

I would remind visitors that I have links to all 5 podcasts and the supplemental material for each podcast in the right hand column of this blog.

So, if you’re here because of a tweet or an email, that’s the place to look. Or you might want to bookmark this page which is a list of the Podcasts and their materials.

Podcast 5 Has Been Published

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:54:00 +0000

The hits just keep on coming. The fifth of the series of podcasts is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast 5. The student maps and syllabus and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

The series assumes you have access to a computer that has Version 7 or Version 8 installed, either the product or the trial version. The trial is only good for 30 days.

In this fifth episode I continue the example of Igor’s Balloon Factory. The business context is meeting minutes and distribution. The example is a weekly sales meeting. This will be the first of two parts, as the example is useful for more note taking discussions.

We work some more with topic formatting. But the main emphasis is on Export to other formats. This allows distribution to non-mapping users.

If you are a Version 8 user, make sure that your Adobe Reader is Version 8 or higher. Otherwise, Mindjet Player won’t work.

I’m interested in your opinions. Write a comment to this blog post or drop us a note at Podcast =(at)= piqueroinc.com .

Recording Done

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Got Pod#5 recorded. Still have to do post production on all the data and files. And I need to update the web pages. Run time is about 29 minutes. A bit longer than I like, but a lot of it is waiting for Export to run.

But, most important, I need to test it with a Ver 8 installation. I don’t want another surprise. I also want to test the pauses.

Exporting takes some processing time. I want to make the dead air seem reasonable in length. I don’t want the listener constantly stopping and starting.

Need to test things more often

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 01:55:00 +0000

Well, one lucky break and one not so lucky find. I was testing the Export to Mindjet Player function in Version 8. First time I’ve checked the podcast maps in Version 8. Oopps. The hyperlinks that had a file name like Pod#3 in the title didn’t work. Something about that "#" character.

I needed to update all the file name for student maps. What was in my favor is that I made a knowledge management map that was linked to all the files for each episode. So I knew which ones needed a name change.

Also in my favor, I haven’t really advertised the podcasts yet. I can change the Supplemental.zip files now and once people start downloading them the problem won’t be there.

I was waiting until I had 5 podcasts up so that a person could download a 30 day trial and learn something. Otherwise they would be listening to one or two podcasts and then waiting for me to post more. All the while watching the trial period run out.

Changes made. Files Replaced at the server. And, blog entries for Pod One through Four with an UPDATE Notice.

Mind Manager Basics Podcast #4 Is Up

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:43:00 +0000

The fourth of the series of podcasts is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #4. The student maps and syllabus and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

The series assumes you have access to a computer that has Version 7 or Version 8 installed, either the product or the trial version. The trial is only good for 30 days.

In this fourth episode I continue the example of Igor’s Balloon Factory. The example discusses using Mind Manager to help organize your thoughts for a Paper or Report. I use writing a business plan as the target paper.

A key point is that there are two maps involved. One is audience analysis and paper objectives. The second is the paper content and organization.

We work some more with topic formatting, using boundaries and color. We explore Growth of Subtopics, which drastically alters the look of the map. And we work a bit with Callout topics.

I’m interested in your opinions. Write a comment to this blog post or drop us a note at Podcast =(at)= piqueroinc.com .

UPDATE (Oct 2009) Looks like my file names like Pod#1 cause problems with some applications, and in particular hyperlinks in Ver 8. All files have been changed to reflect this change (Pod#3NAICS.xls ==> Pod3NAICS.xls etc.). So when you “hear” Pod #2 in the podcast think Pod2 .

Productive Week-end

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:52:00 +0000

Got Pod#4 recorded. Still have a number of files to package and need to make updates to the web site. Should be up by Tuesday night.

This one is getting closer to what I envisioned. A little theory and a little instruction. Ran about 22 minutes. That’s about the length I’m aiming for.

Mind Manager Basics Podcast #3 Is Up

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 01:36:00 +0000

The third of the series of podcasts is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #3. The student maps and syllabus and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

The series assumes you have access to a computer that has Version 7 or Version 8 installed, either the product or the trial version. The trial is only good for 30 days. (So you may want to wait until additional podcasts are posted if you’re going the trial route.)

In this third episode I introduce Igor’s Balloon Factory. I need a business example to weave a story line through the other podcasts. The goal is to show how maps can be used in a business context, not just features of a software product.

This episode ran a little longer than I anticipated (about 31 minutes). I took a simple map built using the start-up defaults and then added more color and formatting. The episode also looks at hyperlinks and connecting to internet sites.

I’m interested in your opinions. Write a comment to this blog post or drop us a note at Podcast =(at)= piqueroinc.com .

Reuse Lessons

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:27:00 +0000

Starting to piece together Podcast #3. I’m not an audio engineer but I’m starting to hear distortion. Particularly when I combine music and voice.

What I think is happening is the sample rate for my MP3 components is too small for reuse. Storing it at 48 kbs sounds OK as an MP3, but then sweeping it in to reuse for the podcast gets a little fuzzy. I suspect it is like the echoes and ghosts you get on the four or fifth generation of a paper copy.

I re-recorded one of my voice overs and stored the whole works at 128 kbs, for the reuse MP3. Seems to have cleaned it up. But then I may have been hoarse when I recorded the original.

Weak Excuse

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 01:12:00 +0000

Has visitors over Labor Day, wife giving her "old" truck to her niece. Decided to get sick the next week-end. And now I've got a research proposal review due on Friday (9/18).

Picking away at it, but Episode 3 isn't ready yet. Hope springs eternal for this week-end.

Mind Manager Basics Podcast #2 is Up

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:56:00 +0000

The second of the series of podcasts is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #2. The student maps and syllabus and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

In this second episode I step back and look at the layout and structure of the user interface. Why are the functions arranged the way they are? What’s a Ribbon Interface? Where did my “File” commands go? And other mysteries of the universe.

I’m interested in your opinions. Write a comment to this blog post or drop us a note at Podcast =(at)= piqueroinc.com .

Mind Manager Basics Podcast #1 is Up

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:46:00 +0000

The first of a series of podcasts is now up and available. The audio portion can be found here as Podcast #1. The student maps and syllabus and other materials have been stored here as Supplemental Material .

I’m trying to break the material up into 20 to 30 minute episodes. Sometimes less. I will also try to give the student an assignment, like finish the map we started. The actual time you spend on each episode will be more than the audio run time.

In the first episode we jump right in to build a simple business map. I walk you through step-by-step. Not a lot of tricky formatting (that comes later). I even tell you what the end result looks like (it’s in the supplemental material).

Why a podcast and not a video on YouTube? Well, the quick answer is I don’t have video capability. But whenever I watch video tutorials I’m watching and not doing. That means furious note taking and then going back and trying it myself. I’m hoping with a podcast that you can listen and perform the actions in the tool yourself. And as a result get a better learning experience.

I’m interested in your opinions. Write a comment to this blog post or drop us a note at Podcast =(at)= piqueroinc.com .

"Houston We Have Ignition"

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:21:00 +0000

The web site and the blog have been updated. The next two posts will be the individual episodes.

Notice I've put the Podcast and Supplemental Material links over on the right hand column of this blog.

The web page, with the same links, is stored under the E_Papers section of the Piqueroinc.com website.

I've set an informal target of doing a new episode every two weeks.

Progress Report

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:40:00 +0000

I’m about 90% of the way through Episode Two. Recorded the instructional portion last night. Thought I’d review my checklist.

Audio Capture and Editing Went with Audacity. Getting better with practice.
Find music for (a) Free and (b) Useable for (marginally) commercial purposes Located a music site that has Creative Commons music. SectionZ has some useable techno music. Found some that is reminiscent of disco music. Took some 15 and 30 second bumps.
Podcast Hosting (other than piqueroinc.com [bandwidth]) Using Ourmedia and the Internet Archive for the audio files. I think I’ve figured out how to link to the MP3.
Examples and Student Map hosting (maybe/maybe not piqueroinc.com) Going to store the supplemental files under the E_Papers section of the Piqueroinc web site.
Framework for a Series Syllabus ( segment topics/features covered) I’ve mapped out 10 episode. Slightly different sequence than the Fundamentals class outline.
Create a new company for series examples (Igor’s Balloon Factory(IBF)) Not much progress other than planning on IBF as the example.
Revise the Student Maps to reflect my objectives Ongoing as I develop each segment.
Build a Knowledge Management Map to keep track of components Ongoing but started with first two episodes.
Script the episodes using Mind Manager (and save as Show Notes) Ongoing. I’ve scripted the first two.
Record and edit the materials Pod#1 complete and Pod#2 is 90% complete.
Build a better references list of resources for follow-up information Ongoing. Updated my master bibliography, still more work to go.
Treat This As A FUN Thing to do, once I commit. (like now) It is fun to solve problems.

Hosting The Podcast

principal@piqueroinc.com (Bob Rowen) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 23:43:00 +0000

I’ve decided to go with Ourmedia as a hosting source. They are associated with the Internet Archive. There in lies my lesson learned today.

I figured out how I’ll modify my web pages to accommodate the podcasts. The one loose end was the hosting site for the much larger podcasts (around 9 to 12 MB).

Went to the library to take advantage of the WiFi connection. Uploaded Podcast#1 but it didn’t seem to store. Got an email that said it was given a name, but no result. Tried a smaller MP3 but had a similar result.

What I didn’t realise is that I need a password account for Internet Archive as well as Ourmedia.

Uploaded another test file from home after I established an account. Worked and appears on Ourmedia.

Next step is to sort out the Creative Commons license.

I also want to record a second podcast before posting the links.