The Underlying Blog

Michael Scherotter interview with Ice Cube

Mindjet alumni and Microsoft maverick Michael Scherotter recently had the opportunity to interview my childhood friend (I wish) Ice Cube. On a serious note, I'm a HUGE fan of hip-hop, and Michael got a once in a lifetime chance here that I can't help but envy:

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=390405

I appreciate the depth of Cube's thinking on what technology means to the musical landscape. And I wonder if he'll use the Zune? If not, he can send it to me with a car adaptor.

Check it out now:

http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=390405

Technorati tags: Mindjet, Microsoft, Michael Scherotter, Ice Cube, Zune

Welcome to Blogging Mr. Wilcox

One of the sharpest MindManager users around, Andrew Wilcox, has recently launched his very own blog, 'Applications of MindManager' as covered recently by Chuck Frey and Brian Friedlander. Professionally, Andrew operates Cabre, a fixture in the UK for mind mapping training and consulting. He also contributes colossally well thought out responses to questions of all sorts people pose in the Yahoo! MindManager Group.

... I'm thinking maybe Andrew will be the guy who finally sells me on this whole mapping thing...

Andrew, welcome to the blogosphere: I never shut up about fried chicken and cheesy potatoes, so be WARNED.

Check out Andrew's blog here:

http://www.applications.cabre.co.uk/

Technorati tags: MindManager, Andrew Wilcox, Applications of MindManager, Chuck Frey, Brian Friedlander, Cabre, Yahoo! MindManger Group, Kyle McFarlin

Mind Mapping in Living Color

I'm going a million miles an hour this week folks. Send freeze dried coffee. Now.

Over the last few months, some great video tutorials have emerged for getting more out of your mind mapping, and I wanted to point you to them.

Brian Friedlander at Assistivetek recently posted a great video on using the format painter in MindManager. I'll even add to the tip: By holding down 'Control' with the format painter turned on, you can highlight as many topics as you like. Check it out here:

http://assistivetek.blogspot.com/2008/01/mindmanager-tip-using-paint-formatting.html

Gyronix has been on a spree in recent months as well, having recorded webinars on getting more out of ResultsManager and GyroQ:
http://www.gyronix.com/videos

And note the '10 Minute Extract from a Gyronix Training Session Video': That guy's name rhymes with style.

And yes, slowly and surely, I'm working toward the titanic (at least one of the escape boats!) release of my own video-based newsletter. Bling bling.

Technorati tags: Visual Strategist Newsletter, Brian Friedlander, Kyle McFarlin, Gyronix ResultsManager, Mindjet MindManager, GyroQ

YOU KNOW.... (I Don't!)

Recently I took some hard flak from Marc C who left a scathing comment on the interview I did for the Personal Productivity Show. And I'd be content to cry in my beer at the local pub, repeating 'you know' (and not knowing on repeat) until ESPN cuts to infomercials for the night, if it weren't for how right Marc C is.

I said 'You Know' just about every time I spoke in the interview! As I said in my reply comment, counting the times I said 'You know...' was like counting the number of times Tony Montana said the F-word in the inspirational, family-friendly classic Scarface (that was a joke if you're grabbing your keys to run to the video store to get junior something to watch).

I think it speaks to a larger issue however. We instinctively don't like criticism. I certainly felt like the jolly lord of jackass when I read Marc's comment. It's an interview I'm proud of, and here is someone pointing out a tick I trotted out after nearly every question. But damn, the guy is right, and I can either wither away and steam, or I can take his comment and be better for it, kind of the way Christina Aguilera used an ex-boyfriend to inspire 'Stronger' (full disclosure, I don't know if she actually wrote it).

So to Marc C, I thank you for making me better and to everyone else who cares to rip me a new one now and in the coming years. You have my pledge that I'll try to keep the 'You Know's to a reasonable amount the next I complete an interview: I'll be better and you'll be less annoyed. If anyone has the 'You Know' count from my interview, I'd love to hear it.

Go Kyle!

And lastly, how can you benefit from the free advice your critics are giving you? Doesn't matter whether or not you like them: The thing is, do they have a point?.... If they do, you just got better for FREE.

Technorati tags: You Know, Personal Productivity Show, Kyle McFarlin, Gyronix ResultsManager, Mindjet MindManager, Tony Goodson, Scarface

The Stork is Bringing a Visual Strategist Newsletter: Let Me Know What YOU Want to Read/See

Hi Folks,

Slowly and steadily, I'm working on the Visual Strategist Newsletter. Now, I've been accused of putting out the most comprehensive set of MindManager templates EVER, the VSS Template Set, so I'm not going to let my ego reign and just send you a newsletter I think is important (whole damn sentence was an oxymoron). I want it to be what YOU want, so please, leave a comment and let me know.

Sign-up for the Visual Strategist Newsletter now.

You see, the VSS templates are the outgrowth of my decade+ experience in knowledge management and mind mapping. Simultaneously, when I put them out last year as a free download, I had no idea how many of you were going to download them. So, it's a shared experience at this point and I simply cannot in good conscience send out a VSS-based newsletter that is hurled outward via my own tunnel vision cannon. I need YOUR input so I can ensure each time you receive an e-mail from me it's chock full of content that benefits you. Again, please bombard me with comments about what you want to see.

Kyle is a Dancing Bear

Need a Youtube video of me doing inverted cartwheels? Leave a comment. Need to know more about using the VSS Template Set icons to give you database-like functionality in MindManager? Leave a comment. Want video or written text? Leave a comment. Need a recipe for killer cheesy potatoes? Leave a comment and I'll tell someone who knows what they hell they're doing.

Sign-up now and be sure to download the free VSS templates while you're at it. It's all here.

And if you're feeling truly grateful for the hard work I do, you should pickup a t-shirt to support the Free T.I.! campaign, as my creative juices couldn't flow without the hits like 'Top Back' and 'What You Know'.

Sign-up for the Visual Strategist Newsletter now.

Technorati tags: Humor, VSS Template Set, Visual Strategist Newsletter, Mindjet MindManager, T. I., Kyle McFarlin, Cheesy Potatoes

Out of E-mail Hell

My buddy Craig Huggart of Techrest recently did an interview with Lisa Haneberg of Management Craft. For those of you not familiar, Craig is fighting the good fight, trying to get us all some more rest via skillful management of the technology apparatus in our lives.

You know, Craig's wraps his messages in hellaciously entertaining packages, yet I encourage you not to let the entertainment factor get in the way of just how serious Craig's points are. Personally, I've seen 4 to a table at a restaurant, each person on their own device, checking e-mail or texting or some other digital distraction from the flesh-and-blood sitting there in front of them. Scares the hell out of me to this day.

If you're drowning in e-mail and/or obsessed with it, this is 23 minutes well-spent:

Management Craft: Fireside Chat with Craig Huggart

Technorati tags: Craig Huggart, Tech Rest, Escape From E-mail Hell, Kyle McFarlin, Lisa Haneberg, Management Craft

MindManager Users, Live By the Following List

My buddy Chuck Frey just put out a list of massively useful tips on improving your visual maps in MindManager. These tips will change the way you map, even for advanced users.

Especially for any of you who are making a mapping project out of your holiday break:

1. Print the list out
2. Download the free resource at the end
3. Refer back to the list frequently

Here it is:

The Mind Mapping Software Weblog: The 8 best ways to improve your mind maps

Technorati tags: Chuck Frey, Visual Strategist Solution, VSS Template Set, Kyle McFarlin, Mind Mapping Best Practices, Mindjet MindManager

Look Mom, I'm on the Radio (and Now in Hiding for What I Said)...

It had to happen, it really did, didn't it:

I'm a Star! (FOLKS THE EGO HAS TRULY LANDED, PLEASE STAND BACK FROM THE CRASH SITE). Tony Goodson of the Productivity Show interviewed me recently... the same show David Allen, the founder of GTD, was once featured on!

Highlights include:

• Kyle's GTD: He's a heretic yet is mostly keeping his own dogfood down
• Mindjet MindManager: Pimp-out the interface 
• The World's most offensive rap album!
• Second Life: The new warzone
• GyroQ and ResultsManager: Pimp your productivity
• Top Tips for having Meaningful Relationships and Pursuits
• Get a Life

THE REAL QUESTION: How does a mind mapping guru end up talking about 'flying penises' and 'burping'?...

Listen now to the most exceedingly delightful, productivity-tip-laced, controversial Interview the mind mapping world has ever experienced:

TPN :: The Productivity Show » Blog Archive » The Productivity Show #34 - Kyle McFarlin (Visual Strategist)

Technorati tags: The Productivity Show, Kyle McFarlin, Tony Goodson, MindManager, Mindjet, Gyronix Training, Mindjet Training, GyroQ, ResultsManager, mind mapping, The Podcast Network

Marc Orchant: Rest in Peace My Friend

I found out today we have lost Marc Orchant. A few thoughts:

When I first started getting into technology for Productivity, I used to download the Tablet PC Show onto my Ipaq and listen to it while walking the rural roads of Ohio. The show was hosted by James Kendrick and Marc Orchant, and was highly formulative to my current activities. You had to get them credit for making an Internet radio show about technology so damn entertaining! Without Marc's musings on productivity, I'd never have gotten into Tablet PC's, discovered programs such as ActiveWords, and wouldn't have made a great friend.

Over time I got to know him, and Marc was always there for me, providing invaluable advice when I began blogging and going forward. Also, on selecting and using a Tablet PC. And folks, countless others would say the exact same thing, that they are in a much better place today because of Marc Orchant's influence in their lives. And he's been the Johnny Appleseed of spreading GTD online, a philosophy that has benefited many yearning souls.

Marc has immortalized his thoughts, wisdom and and wit on the Internet forever, and we are all better for it. You are and will be severely missed my friend.

NOTE: James Kendrick has posted funeral information, and Larry Dignan at ZDNet has posted a nice writetup on Marc.

Technorati tags: Marc Orchant, James Kendrick, Kyle McFarlin, Larry Dignan, ZDNet

Microsoft Research vs. Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup

My buddy Ron Robison sent along the above clip, which is worth checking out if you enjoy advanced visualization techniques. For every family-friendly image created by the technology, there's going to a few more you wouldn't want in the family reunion slide show.

And all this technology and no cure for the common cold? Well, except for this...

(Click in the blank space above if you can't see a bunch of gray cans)

Technorati tags: Kyle McFarlin, Microsoft Research, Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup, Visualization