Subject: [TS] Invitation: personalbrain@egroups.com
From: Andrius Kulikauskas (ms@ms.lt)
Date: Fri Aug 18 2000 - 12:16:46 EDT
Hello,
I've been following with interest, not understanding everything, but
mostly impressed at the support coming together for Thoughtstream.
At the Minciu Sodas laboratory, devoted to caring about thinking, we
are developing an import/export standard for tools for organizing
thoughts. Ben Darnell and TheBrain are both members of our laboratory.
I want to encourage our various communities to help each other
succeed. Certainly our various tools for thinking influence each
other. For example, the way that Thoughtstream organizes thoughts was
inspired by TheBrain. I expect there is or will be influence the other
way around, for example, in the development of products for the PalmOS.
There is also a healthy pursuit of differentiation, which again is
evident in Thoughtstream. I demonstrated (on my Handspring Visor) both
Thoughtstream and the prototype for TheBrain at the April meeting of the
Infrared Data Association. The two programs, though conceptual similar,
appear radically different. TheBrain prototype looks actually very much
like the PC version, just very minimalistic. I was surprised that they
took this approach, and even more surprised that they were able to get
it all to fit on the screen. Visually it is very impressive, certainly
the engineers (from Ericsson, Motorola, etc.) thought it was cool.
In principle, I can relate more with the Thoughtstream approach,
where instead of visualizing the network on the screen, we just "think"
it abstractly. The problem I have had is that I have never figured out
how it works, partly because when I monkey around with it, try to create
data so I could walk through it and figure it out, it crashes - a lot.
Whereas the "alpha" prototype of TheBrain did not crash at all.
What I am trying to say is that different tools (and their
supporters) have different resources and are solving different
problems. I think of Thoughtstream as on the cutting edge of
technology, but therefore can't expect it not to crash. I think of
TheBrain as on the cutting edge of great business plans, finding market
need. Both movements have a lot to offer and share conceptually. Both
have, or should have, common concerns - especially, figuring out what
makes these tools be actually useful, not just toys. Our laboratory
provides a forum for cooperation where we can leverage our various
resources.
With that in mind, the Minciu Sodas laboratory has started up a
discussion group (where Ben Darnell, Stephen Danic, Steve Franklin and
others have contributed) regarding TheBrain: personalbrain@egroups.com
If you're interested, I invite you to sign up by sending a blank message
to personalbrain-subscribe@egroups.com
Raimundas Vaitkevicius has created a converter, in the public
domain, with permission from TheBrain, from TheBrain to CSV, which we
are starting to test and improve.
http://www.egroups.com/files/personalbrain/BraintoCSV.zip
He will also create a converter in
the reverse direction. We could use your help. This will make it
possible to transfer files between TheBrain and Thoughtstream. Such
files will help, for example, test the usability of Thoughtstream, at
least for somebody like me. I think, also, personalbrain@egroups.com
may be a good forum for finding more support for open source projects
and demonstrating their value.
If you become interested in our work, I invite you to become a
member of our laboratory, which you can do by helping with our work, or
by paying a membership fee. Our goal is that our endeavors succeed:
that TheBrain succeed, that Thoughtstream succeed, that they be usable,
and that they be mainstream tools for organizing thoughts.
Ben, congratulations on your work, may it keep building. Keep us
informed on how we can help.
Yours!
Andrius Kulikauskas
Minciu Sodas
http://www.ms.lt/importexport.html
ms@ms.lt
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Old school buds here:
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