BUIK.TV

The EU English Style Guide - my one-page aide-memoire

2011-07-27T14:24:00.011+02:00

Some points to check when preparing English documents for EU-related projects. I keep this mind map in front of me as an at-a-glance reference guide. The PDF version also includes a direct link to the latest edition of the (regularly updated) official style guide online.

To download the clickable (and A4-printable) PDF file, just click on the button at the right (the blue arrow) on the toolbar immediately below:

The PDF is also available at Docstoc.

For anyone who would like to access the original iMindMap file, it is available at Biggerplate for viewing and downloading.

Did you hear the one about the tax lawyer who told a joke?

2010-06-22T09:40:00.005+02:00

Funny, that. Most of the tax lawyers I know have a robust and highly developed sense of humour. Some of them have even been known to suddenly burst out laughing with no discernible external provocation.

Prima facie, my experience conflicts with the published opinion (vide supra)* of cartoonist-at-law** David Mills that “tax lawyers” are not “funny”.

After extensive research, however, I can exclusively reveal that tax lawyers actually have the last laugh. Why? Because the other lawyers don’t understand the joke!

__________________

* Source: http://www.courtoons.net/2009/01/12/monday-january-12-2009/

** [and U.S. federal appellate attorney]

Mind mapping – all on one page!

2010-04-01T20:56:00.003+02:00

One of the big advantages of using a mind map to present information is that everything is on one page. So the idea of a one-page introduction to mind mapping seems particularly appropriate. A single web page that you could bookmark and refer people to if they want to read a succinct and accurate introduction to the technique.

That’s what Marelisa Fábrega has managed to come up with. She has written a very helpful article entitled Mind Maps: Everything You Need to Know. It’s the clearest self-contained “one-page” introduction to mind mapping I have ever seen. The article includes several useful links, so it’s also an excellent starting point for anyone who wants to go on to explore the subject in more detail.

Great job, Marelisa!

Doc shock

2010-03-13T17:52:00.003+01:00

A couple of “random” numbers caught my attention this week:

The examiner’s report on Lehman Brothers takes up 2,292 pages from start to finish (add to that another 1,813 pages if you include the 34 appendices).

Meanwhile, as confirmed by a letter in The Economist this week, the documents amassed as evidence in AMD’s antitrust case against Intel (settled in the US last year) accounted for a staggering 200 million pages.

Wow!

Making peace with negative numbers

2010-03-13T09:23:00.006+01:00

The eminent linguistic philosopher J. L. Austin of Oxford once gave a lecture in which he asserted that there are many languages in which a double negative makes a positive, but none in which a double positive makes a negative – to which the Columbia philosopher Sidney Morgenbesser, sitting in the audience, sarcastically replied, “Yeah, yeah.”

From a fascinating article entitled “The Enemy of My Enemy” by Steven Strogatz, professor of applied mathematics at Cornell University, in The New York Times.

Hat tip: The Computational Legal Studies Blog

Buzan’s iMindMap for iPhone – FREE!

2010-02-18T11:58:00.002+01:00

Already available in Windows, Mac and Linux versions, Tony Buzan’s brilliant iMindMap software has now been launched as an iPhone app. And it’s free!

Download it from iTunes here.

Introducing Infraboy!

2009-08-30T01:00:00.008+02:00

Another gem from Courtoons.

Back-Up Your Brain!

2009-03-30T00:01:00.008+02:00

(Click on the image to view the full-size version.)

Computer memory is increasingly being used as a virtual extension of human memory (although we are still a long way from achieving a world where nothing is forgotten, as envisaged by Microsoft researcher Gordon Bell).

This mind map is about three computer-based tools that help me organise, store and retrieve things I want to remember: Evernote (my “external brain” on the Web), iMindMap (which is also the tool I used to create the mind map itself) and Personal Brain (a powerful application I’ve been using for some time now and whose potential I am still discovering and exploring). I find them all “mind-expanding” in different (and complementary) ways.

The image I used as an illustration for the “iMindMap” branch in this iMindMap mind map is actually an image of the mind map itself. And if you look closely, you’ll see that that image, in turn, also contains an image of the mind map! The Screen Capture tool and Insert Floating Image option in iMindMap version 3 make effects like this very easy to achieve.

For fun with legal language, see infra

2009-02-13T00:10:00.004+01:00

Click on the image to see the original cartoon, or click here to see the latest addition to the gallery: Courtoons. The site is updated five times a week. Bookmark it now!

Mind Mapping Software, 1977-style!

2009-02-03T18:15:00.009+01:00

Mind mapping software is getting more and more attention these days, and Chuck Frey does a great job of keeping us all up-to-date with the latest ideas and developments on his Mind Mapping Software Blog.

But back in the days when I started studying computer science, if I’d heard the words “mind mapping software”, I might have interpreted them a little differently. Just for fun, I thought I’d show you how I was “mind mapping Software” back in 1977 (together with Hardware and Applications). This is a mind map I drew in June 1977 to summarise my first-year Computer Science course at Aston University.

My First iMindMap Mind Map

2009-01-09T17:58:00.006+01:00

Not my first-ever mind map, of course (I’ve been using the technique since 1974), but here is the first mind map I produced when I started playing around with iMindMap software in March 2008:

It seemed a natural way to record my spontaneous reactions on using the software for the first time. (“Mr Pattern Man” is a reference to a cartoon character who appeared – together with Mr Linear Man – in the original BBC television series Use Your Head.)

I dedicated this mind map to Tony Buzan, who was quick to point out the key role of Chris Griffiths at Buzan Online Ltd in making the product a reality. So it’s “kudos” to Chris and his development team, too!

In fact, I like this product so much that I bought two licences and decided to join the affiliate programme...

Warning: Road Sign Out To Lunch!

2008-12-01T22:49:00.013+01:00

Last week in The Bulletin, I read that the European Union had formally recognised Welsh as a minority language. According to the article, about 21% of Welsh nationals can speak the language. And, according to a recent BBC report, all official road signs in Wales have to be bilingual. That makes sense. So I would not be surprised if I saw a sign like this in Wales…

…but that’s only because I don’t speak Welsh! According to the BBC report, what the Welsh text actually says is: “I am not in the office at the moment. Please send any work to be translated.”

Whoops! That reminds of my Urdu “conversation piece”.

Verification. Ignore it at your peril.

“Heating” the headlines

2008-10-08T22:28:00.008+02:00

An Israeli newspaper recently quoted France’s Foreign Minister, Bernard Kouchner, as saying that Israel might “eat” Iran! It transpired that the word Mr Kouchner, speaking in English, actually used was “hit”. But the letter “h” is often silent in French, and to the ears of at least one listener the sound corresponded phonetically to the word “eat”.

Fortunately, the error was quickly corrected. But there is another worrying aspect to this incident: According to a BBC report, the newspaper stated, when apologising for the misunderstanding, that the transcription had been cleared by the Foreign Minister’s office before it was published.

If you’ve got something important to communicate in writing, remember you can never be too careful. Don’t overlook the importance of proofreading and verification of even the “simplest” details.

Otherwise, you might find yourself having to eat your words.

“We’re trying to make an external brain”

2008-08-17T22:27:00.021+02:00

“Anytime anything happens that you want to be able to remember, ... throw it in your external brain ... and then you’ll always be able to find it.”

Phil Libin, CEO of Evernote, interviewed by Robert Scoble on FastCompany.TV.

And, as he goes on to demonstrate, “it” can include text captured in images! Impressive!

(Note: The interview lasts 28 minutes, and it may take a few moments to load. You can also find it here on the FastCompany.TV website.)

Brain Rules for Presenters

2008-06-09T20:43:00.009+02:00

| View | Upload your own

What biologists know – and what every presenter needs to know – about how the brain works. And what a brilliant way to review a book!

Hat tip to Philippe at Visual-Mapping for alerting me to this superb slide show by Garr Reynolds, whose own website Presentation Zen is also one of my favourites.

See inside your brain in real time

2008-04-02T22:05:00.026+02:00

At the TED2008 conference at Monterey, California in February, neuroscientist Christopher deCharms demonstrated how new Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) techniques currently being laboratory-tested will soon allow you to watch your own brain in action and, among other things, learn to control pain! And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Watch how he explains it superbly in less than four minutes. Amazing discoveries and a fascinating presentation.

The buck stops here

2008-03-01T21:17:00.014+01:00

(Or, as one manager insisted on putting it: “The buck ends here”. Oh dear! Let’s move on...)

Still musing on Seth Godin’s superb piece The posture of a communicator, I was reminded of the “parting shot” printed on the old Job Instruction Cards issued in the United States during the Second World War by the Training Within Industry Service (TWI):

Well, as everybody knows, we’ve “come a long way” since then. In some respects, industrial production and personnel management have changed almost beyond recognition – while other more subtle aspects are also ripe for reassessment in an age when the “wired” (but “wireless”?) hybrid consumer is not only your customer but also your valued employee. (Seth Godin also shares a helpful perspective along these lines in a recent post entitled Marketing HR.) But that little Job Instruction Card managed to encapsulate the essence of good instructional practice, and its timeless principles are still – literally – instructive much further afield.

If you’re interested in “learning” more about TWI (past and present), here is quite a good place to start.

And thanks again, Seth, for giving the discussion on this vital topic such a memorable kick-start!

Write on, Seth!

2008-02-22T00:35:00.004+01:00

“If you buy my product but don’t read the instructions, that’s not your fault, it’s mine.”

And if you’re serious about wanting to get your message across, Seth Godin has some excellent advice you can’t afford to ignore. Read on and adopt The posture of a communicator. You’ll be glad you did.

Posts on Post-it Notes

2008-02-20T23:10:00.007+01:00

Two of my favourite bloggers recently posted on – or maybe I should say about – Post-it Notes:

Dave Gray at Communication Nation demonstrates in a short video The amazing sticky-note trick

And on The Rapid E-Learning Blog, Tom Kuhlmann discusses What We Can Learn About Instructional Design from Post-it® Notes

Great stuff!

Tony Buzan – how it all began

2008-02-17T22:48:00.007+01:00

I still vividly remember the first time I saw Tony Buzan on BBC TV talking about an intriguing new way of taking notes using special diagrams called “brain patterns”. I immediately started using his revolutionary techniques at school, with excellent results. (There’s plenty more to add, but for now we’ll fast-forward thirty-something years...) Today, Tony Buzan is still going strong – and there are millions of “mind mappers” around the world. In this short video, Tony gives some fascinating insights into how it all began. The man’s a genius. And, as anybody who has met him will tell you, he’s on a mission to share his formula far and wide!