H-m-m: Hackers mind map • Hacker News Board

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#31

Post by Terretta » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:24 PM UTC

There are no stupid questions, except maybe this one:

Q. Why is a wide horizontal tree superior way to work with a mind map that’s a pure outline (not a DAG) than a simple outline?

See the Data Format here, it’s an outline. Keystrokes are about moving nodes and descendants, that can work on an outline. And then why not have a portable outline format.

I do understand this is terminal/text. Yet there are plenty terminal/text outline editors, and being able to see a narrow outline instead of a wide tree feels more usuable.

That said, I use and really enjoy iThoughtsX which can import/export OPML and Markdown etc., and provides ability to control visual layout per ‘information geography’ or ‘cartography’. So not averse to visual graph depiction of a DAG, just asking why folks like this for pure outline format instead of outline editing?

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#32

Post by throwoutway » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:25 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #28

I keep trying mind maps and getting frustrated because my mind works differently. Anybody know of ones that let you start out non-hierarchical? For me, key nodes are often obvious long before relationships are. E.g., if I'm working with post-it notes, I might write a bunch of notes, cluster them, winnow, and only then want to start locking in relationships between items. Has anybody seen something that's pretty strai…

Usually the non-hierarchical is an option to toggle on/off in the tools I’ve used.

With hierarchy you can still achieve it though. If the topic is “alphabet” I might create major nodes A B C D without linking them. I then play with A B C and D and add more nodes in a brain dump and then re-arrange later and map the relationships

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#33

Post by Terretta » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:26 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #28

I keep trying mind maps and getting frustrated because my mind works differently. Anybody know of ones that let you start out non-hierarchical? For me, key nodes are often obvious long before relationships are. E.g., if I'm working with post-it notes, I might write a bunch of notes, cluster them, winnow, and only then want to start locking in relationships between items. Has anybody seen something that's pretty strai…

Perhaps iThoughtsX from https://www.toketaware.com/

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#34

Post by captaincaveman » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #28

I keep trying mind maps and getting frustrated because my mind works differently. Anybody know of ones that let you start out non-hierarchical? For me, key nodes are often obvious long before relationships are. E.g., if I'm working with post-it notes, I might write a bunch of notes, cluster them, winnow, and only then want to start locking in relationships between items. Has anybody seen something that's pretty strai…

Yeah this is a common problem that pops up all the time, typically a tree, or taxonomy etc aren't sufficient and you need an ontology. But they aren't so easy to grasp intuitionally so we try to dumb it down and then hit problems, imho.

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#35

Post by nyxtom » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:38 PM UTC

Vim keyboard mapping in the terminal. This is a great project. Now I can finally replace some of my web-based mind map tools

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#36

Post by birriel » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:42 PM UTC

I'm getting a 255 return code when I try to run it. php v.7.4.3. Permissions are all ok. Anybody else have this problem?

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#37

Post by jehna1 » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #28

I keep trying mind maps and getting frustrated because my mind works differently. Anybody know of ones that let you start out non-hierarchical? For me, key nodes are often obvious long before relationships are. E.g., if I'm working with post-it notes, I might write a bunch of notes, cluster them, winnow, and only then want to start locking in relationships between items. Has anybody seen something that's pretty strai…

miro.com works great for this kind of thing.

Edit: Or if you want an open source alternative, check out ourboard.io

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#38

Post by sachin_m » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:44 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #25

I showed up to a company wide strategy offsite with an iPad and whipped out a mind mapping tool. For the first ten minutes I could see my boss vibrating because he thought I was fucking around. By the end of the meeting he wanted a copy, and for me to CC his boss and a couple of his peers.

Which tool are you using on iPad?

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#39

Post by michaelwww » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:49 PM UTC

wpietri wrote: post #28

I keep trying mind maps and getting frustrated because my mind works differently. Anybody know of ones that let you start out non-hierarchical? For me, key nodes are often obvious long before relationships are. E.g., if I'm working with post-it notes, I might write a bunch of notes, cluster them, winnow, and only then want to start locking in relationships between items. Has anybody seen something that's pretty strai…

I want this too. I found some answers in HN comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32536780

Re: H-m-m: Hackers mind map

#40

Post by rhn_mk1 » Wed, Sep 14, 2022, 5:51 PM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #25

I showed up to a company wide strategy offsite with an iPad and whipped out a mind mapping tool. For the first ten minutes I could see my boss vibrating because he thought I was fucking around. By the end of the meeting he wanted a copy, and for me to CC his boss and a couple of his peers.

Why would a mind mapping tool cause such a reaction? Are diagrams considered not serious where you work? Was the tool heavily ornamental/stylized? Or was it seen as writing down things that are obvious?