Touch & Write Table: Collaborative Knowledge Tool

Social knowledge management, in general, and collaborative knowledge representation, in particular, need the right tools for assisting in these tasks. The touch and write table, developed at the knowledge management research department provides just that. Just watch the short video on YouTube.

Yes, you can think like a designer!

In my research on explanation-awareness I am looking very often into what designers do or don’t do (see elsewhere on my blog). If one already has a complex software tool that one wants to enhance with explanation capabilities it surely does not help to overwhelm the user with additional explanatory information, one needs to carefully design the explanation capabilities and the explanations. Garr Reynolds compiled a nice list of tips that I’d like to promote here:

Most people do not really think about design and designers, let alone think of themselves as designers. But what, if anything, can regular people — teachers, students, business people of all types — learn from designers and from thinking like a designer? And what of more specialized professions? Can medical doctors, scientists, researchers, and engineers, and other specialists in technical fields benefit in anyway by learning how a graphic designer or interaction designer thinks? Is there something designers, either through their training or experience, know that we don’t? I believe there is.

[From Presentation Zen: 10 Tips on how to think like a designer]

[composed and posted with ecto]

Getting Things Done and OmniFocus

For some time now I am aware of David Allen’s “Getting Things Done” (GTD) method of organising one’s tasks. I read bits and pieces here and there on the web, especially on Tim Gaden’s blog Hawk Wings, a website full of tips and add-ons to make Apple Mail even better. But I did not pay too much attention to GTD cause I was too busy with my tasks — duh.

Just when I had decided that I needed to do something about my being stressed out my colleague Marko Brunzel — and just on a side note — pointed me to a clever new tool he just had heard about, a tool called OmniFous. He could not try it out himself because it is only available on Mac OS X, but told me that OmniFocus implements GTD. I ordered the book at amazon.com and downloaded the current version of OmniFocus, which is currently in late alpha state but scheduled to be released on January 8, 2008. The program is already quite stable and fun to use (as all of Omni Group’s software). Try it out!

Now I go back to reading and learning more about GTD. This task was actionable, next on my list, and is now done.

Beautiful diagrams with OmniGraffle

Another great tool, which I am growing fond of more each day, is OmniGraffle, “the premier diagramming application for Mac OS X”. This tool was part of the bundle when I got my PowerBook G4. But only when I saw it in action (Thanks again, Cédric!) I figured what a cool tool I already had for quite some time. Well, better late than never, I s’pose. (Look at an example on Cédric’s blog. This is not the only example there, mind you.)

And when you are at it, don’t miss to look at Omni Group’s blog The Omni Mouth and at GraffleTopia where you will find a lot of stencils. When I switched back from a Windows machine–yeah, I was stuck with Windows for a few years of my professional career–I missed especially one application, Visio, with which I had drawn all figures of my dissertation. Well, this hole is filled. Finally.

Improving one’s English

The Nepomuk workshop last week in Galway, Ireland, triggered many activities and thoughts as you may notice on my Blog. When I talked with Cédric Mesnage about improving one’s English writing skills I told him about a helpful little book, which he already seemed to know: “The elements of style” by William Strunk, Jr., and E.B. White. This small volume dates back to 1918, but is still up to date. As the Boston Globe states on the back cover of the fourth edition: “No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume.” Check it out!

Journler for the Mac

Just to quote its developer, Philip Dow, should suffice: “Journler is the premier notebook and entry based information manager for the Macintosh.” He is right about that. I just learned about this nice tool (Thanks, Cedric!) and would like to recommend it to any Macintosh user. Check it out: http://journler.phildow.net http://www.journler.com.