TheBrain Technologies Message Board - PersonalBrain Uses

TheBrain Technologies Message Board - PersonalBrain Uses http://forums.thebrain.com TheBrain Technologies Message Board - PersonalBrain Uses 60 Thur, 09 Sep 2010 07:55:02 GMT Using PB with a flashdrive http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4878757 Doing a search turned up <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=3332776&highlight=flashdrive" target="_blank">a helpful bit of info</a> in the forum that I wanted to re-confirm before getting myself in trouble.  <div><br><div>I will be using PB on both my XP desktop and laptop and wanted to simplify the whole files process by keeping my files on my 8gig flashdrive (with regular backups to the hard-drives, just for safety's sake).  Naturally, I would like my chosen options and settings to also be consistent.  </div></div><div><br></div><div>Guess my question is simple:  Can I do this with PB?   </div><div><br></div><div>Thanks in advance!<br>John</div> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4878757 Wed, 08 Sep 2010 18:34:25 GMT johnwn Mapping Contacts in PB http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4872605 <p>I have a question I would like to ask here because up to now I haven't found a clear solution for this.</p><p>I want to see my contacts in Personal Brain but I don't see how one has to insert them, for example my school contacts are under my school thought, however if a friend of mine has a sister is she a child or jump thought? this kind of relationship is not very clear.</p><p>I would appreciate your ideas and how you handle this.</p> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4872605 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:02:14 GMT george Installing a new PC: What I have to think about for PB? http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4871050 If I want or must installed all my programms new on my PC, what do I have to think about, so that I can use PB again with all the linked informations?<br><br>What about Windows Explorer? I must have the same file structure than before, or?<br><br>What about Outlook-links? If I installed a new Office (2007 --> 2010), I think there are no longer working links. What happens if I reinstalled the old Outlook and then make the update.Is there a way to keep these links?<br> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4871050 Thur, 02 Sep 2010 15:18:15 GMT GerSch Like to use it for a PM type role? & How can I share the Brain with others? http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4853267 Hi Everyone,<br><br>I figure this may have been covered in some other posts and may have just missed some of the threads.<br><br>Personally, how can I use the brain for a PM role.  I don't want to get too complex with it, but I would like to just capture the following structure:<br><br>Project Name<br>     =>Goal/Master Work Item<br>         ==>Task 1<br>               ==> Details/Attachments<br>         ==>Task 2<br>               ==> Details/Attachments<br><br>Would there be a way to color code certain children to show they are completed?  What about a way to document a due date in this structure? or a way to assign a person to a task.  Not sure how to organize and make this functional.<br><br>In addition, is there a way to share the brain with another person so they can access and update it as part of a team collaboration?   Is there a master brain file that can be kept on a server that we all can point to?<br><br>Thanks for any insight with this.<br><br> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4853267 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:57:42 GMT stevenmac2 slow display under windows 7 http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4851604 Hello,<br>I have a new computer under windows 7 and was looking forward to have a much quicker PB response than on my old laptop!... As a matter of fact, after un few minutes use, the display of PB becomes <u>very</u> slow (over 1 minute to activate a thought!...). PB looks like frozen (active thought ancre does not spin, hover on thoughts has no effect, ...) Task manager shows that we are far from ressources limits which makes me say it is more of a display pb . After a while PB's behaviour can come back to normal, ... or not!<br><br>Has anyone experience that kind of problem or has any clue about which direction I should explore for a solution ?<br><br>Thanks in advance for any help<br><br>V<br><br> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4851604 Thur, 19 Aug 2010 15:36:20 GMT V2Belleville PB versus Excel http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4820953 OK, so here's a topic that has been bugging me for quite some time and maybe there's a thread already out there but I'm not sure. I've been using PB for close to a year now and it is excellent for my file management. However, I keep playing around off and on with trying to make it work as an infrastructure & network inventory tool with very little success (and no the network brain sample doesn't quite fit the bill).  Here's the deal:  I have an excel workbook w/ about 8 tabs of information that takes awhile to look through but its not impossible.  I want to be able to display that content in a brain to share (I'm not concerned w/ how to import, as I know those techniques already) so it will be more usable than the workbook.  Some of the parameters from the worksheets include: monitoring tool, hostname, target app, vendor, line of business,etc.  Now, some of these may have multiple entries like one monitoring tool could be used to monitor 5 applications for 4 lines of business, etc.  <br>So if you've made it all the way to here my bottom line question is: can data be viewed better in PB than in everyday excel?? <br><br> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4820953 Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:17:46 GMT Minduke Check! http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4785047 Thought I'd jot down a quick note about the new checkbox feature in notes implemented in a recent 6.x beta release.<br /><br>Is anyone else using this yet?<br /><br>I originally thought "meh, whatever", I'd much rather have checkboxes on the thoughts themselves (yes, I do think this would still be nice). However, after playing with it a bit, I've found them rather useful.<br /><br><br /><br>My usage of PB is such that GTD actions are set up as thoughts with a thought type of Action. I then tag them as @today, or @currently, or @upcoming etc. For projects I've found that I can have Action thoughts listed, and my @currently tag list can get a bit overwhelming (I've found that viewing the plex in Outline view definitely helps).<br /><br>Having checkboxes in notes allows me to set one thought as an action thought, and then list all the required actions in the notes, with checkboxes. Thus instead of 2 or more thoughts under @currently, I can reduce it to one.<br /><br><br /><br>Another usage Iv'e found (albeit closely related) is for recurring procedures. I have the procedures noted down as check boxes and can go through and mark them as I progress through the stages required. Then at the end of the month I can go into HTML view in the notes, ctrl+F, find <B><input type="checkbox" checked="checked" /></B> and replace it with <B><input type="checkbox" /></B> to quickly uncheck everything, ready for the next time. <br /><br><br /><br>Hope this helps, or sparks some other ideas for usage. <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4785047 Fri, 02 Jul 2010 18:34:52 GMT zenrain Online Glossary http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4754080 <P>One of the uses to which I put The Brain is to gather definitions of words and phrases into a glossary, as in my area of expertise (data quality) people are always coining new buzz words and defining existing terms in ways to suit their own needs, which can cause confusion. I tag each word with the topic area(s) for which a definition has been provided (data quality, database management, data warehousing and so on), and link related terms.</P><P>I put this glossary to my own use but also post an update of it online every week (at <A href="http://www.dqglossary.com/" target="_blank"><a href="http://www.dqglossary.com/" target="_blank">http://www.dqglossary.com/</a></A>) as a service to others. As sites with the "brain" interface are not spidered by search engines, I post a simple html version too.</P><P>It's a work in progress, but it might provide ideas for some users.</P> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4754080 Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:22:48 GMT grahamrhind Links to Outlook broken after installation on a new PC? http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4704421 <P>I just have to install all my programs on a new PC. Personal Brain and Outlook 2007, too. What happens with the linked Outlook-elements afterwords? Are they broken? Or what do I have to do, that there is no information lost?</P> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4704421 Wed, 05 May 2010 18:29:52 GMT GerSch New to the brain usage question http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4688012 Hi<BR><BR>I have a project on which  I'd like to consider using the Brain and would appreciate any thoughts on its suitability. I've used the personal edition for while and reasonably familiar with the basic functionality.<BR><BR>I manage about 300 or so specialist software applications over all offices on our WAN. We have an SQL  / Access asset database which functions but is relatively old and is not being updated by others as it should.<BR><BR>These apps have various agreements, some are networked across all sites, some are specific to certain sites and will specific numbers of licenses per site. etc etc<BR><BR>what i want is a quick and visual method of selecting an application to see which sites are covered, which server it uses if relevant and what licence type it uses. this is needed for reporting but more usually to fulfill a request for an app via our service desk. we have looked at SAM apps but this isn't viable in the short to medium term and also many of them struggle with the complexity of our Lucie's models. As side issue we have full auditing on our 5000 pc's and laptops via sccm so could link to reports from it in the brain. <BR><BR>I'm thinking if i create thoughts for the apps, the sites, the servers , etc etc and link them I'll have a very easy method of finding what i want. <BR><BR>is this realistic, If i can get this to work at the desktop level i'd like in the medium term to expand out across co workers <BR><BR>Regards<BR><BR>Rob<BR> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4688012 Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:20:18 GMT griffithr Using "Power of 3" to organize thoughts? http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4658156 Interesting <a target="_blank" href="http://www.hypershifters.com/blog/2010-04-03/the-power-of-3.html">article</a> "The Power of 3" that reviews about Crystal Mapping approach to mind mapping.  Here is another <a target="_blank" href="http://visualmapper.blogspot.com/2010/03/crystal-mapping-clear-thinking.html">article</a>.<br><br>Maybe some of the thinking behind it can be applied to PB use?<br><br>-- Josef<br><br><br> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4658156 Sat, 03 Apr 2010 18:32:15 GMT JosefBetancourt Dual monitor Exanded view with Save http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4654648 Love it!  <img src="http://forums.thebrain.com/images/boards/smilies/love.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br><br>Thanks Brain Developers! <br><br>(Just wanted to take a moment to remind you that we appreciate your work!)<br><br> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4654648 Thur, 01 Apr 2010 04:55:28 GMT Shiiko Microsoft Outlook integration with Brain best practices http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4636290 I have decided to integrate my life back into Microsoft Outlook, so I can use the Brain/Outlook integration.<BR><BR>I hope this thread can become a best practices resource for those of us attempting to integrate the brain and outlook. I bet that some of these practices/questions might be more Outlook oriented than brain oriented - but HEY! If that's what it takes, that's what it takes...<BR><BR>My current practices. feedback and suggested desired.<BR><BR>- When I get an Outlook email that requires a new task, or is a new person I will be working with through time, I drag that email onto my Outlook calendar, bringing the email content into the notes for that task.<BR>- I then drag the outlook appointment into the appropriate part of my brain, creating a thought that is linked to the appointment.<BR>- I then <BR>a) drag and drop important information from that person/task from Outlook email into the notes for that outlook calendar appointment, <BR>b) take notes of actions/conversations/agreements in the outlook appointment - using the date/time stamp to track progress/history<BR>c) if I use "tasks" or "notes" I drag and drop them to the thought, so it is all connected somewhere.<BR><BR>I use PBrain to do my overall planning, including using brain "calendar" to set up meta-reminders that bring up the thought with the Outlook items (appt, note, task, email). I use Outlook for my actual scheduling. This works better than other systems I have created.<BR><BR>challenges:<BR>1) I don't know how to connect an outlook contact file with an appointment with a task or with notes. It seems I could do this in Outlook, but I can't figure it out, so I add all the links to the thought in the brain - this is cumbersome.<BR><BR>2) is there a way to move from the outlook appointment to the thought in the brain? I love that I can go from the Brain/thought to the appointment, but it would be great to be able to go from the appointment to the Brain/thought?  This is especially important because I use different brains for different projects, so I have to sometimes guess which brain the Outlook item is in, then search each brain till I find it.<BR><BR>3) WHEN I have created a thought by dragging an outlook item into the brain, is there a way to have the name of the brain/thought change when I change the subject of the appointment? Often, a relationship/event changes through time, and I give it a new subject. Then there is a disconnect between the subject of the appointment and the name of the thought in the brain, which makes it harder to work back from the outlook item to the brain item.<BR><BR>More to come I'm sure!<BR> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4636290 Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:18:00 GMT asexymind Only one image in a note http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4595289 Hallo,<br /><br><br /><br>I find that when I insert two images into a note, when I call up the note again both images are the same - sometimes Brain uses one of the images, at other times the other.<br /><br><br /><br>Is this normal? Or am I doing something wrong?<br /><br><br /><br>(I'm presently using version 5.5.2.2).<br /><br><br /><br>Ekkehard <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4595289 Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:04:40 GMT Ekkehard Actions - Type, Tag, Naming Convention? http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4590992 My brain and my plex is getting too cluttered and cumbersome. Once reason is actions.<BR><BR>I am trying to manage my actions, without spending a lot of time on them each time they change. I've tried an action type, an action tag, and a naming convention. I am finding action tag most useful - allows me to display them in the plex, easy to set and unset. I also like the naming convention - once I am done, I can untag it but still retain it as an action for history. But I am still ending up with a lot of actions displayed at once and difficult to manage. Thoughts?<BR><BR>Note I also link actions to the relevant/contextual parent thought (a project or meeting etc., always a person/assignee). <BR><BR>I also use tags to assign actions to a week, and then at the beginning of that week, tag a day of the week to work it. But this is cumbersome if actions don't get done and I have to move them (either because of mis-planning or something urgent comes up (I know, don't let the urgent overcome the important)). Other suggestions? <BR>I don't have a general action thought to link to because it becomes too many to read, even if I break it down into an "action" thought per project. <BR>Re: a day Thought - seems a thought is something persistent, long term. An assignment to a day is very short term, and a day has no meaning itself other than a specific time. From a usage perspective, it's much easier to tag/untag than to link/unlink. <BR><BR>Lastly, is there a better way to handle history/journal. In general and with actions in particular. I want to keep what the resolution of the action was and be able to go back and find it. But my brain is filling fast with completed actions - I want them out of view, until I want to find history. I decided to Forget them, but won't that make it hard to Remember in context of what it was a child of? <BR><BR>nal<BR> <p>Forum: <a href="http://forums.thebrain.com/?forum=77544">PersonalBrain Uses</a> http://forums.thebrain.com/post?id=4590992 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:14:57 GMT nal