PowerPoint and Presenting Blog: October 2004
Thoughts and impressions of whatever is happening in the world of PowerPoint.
See Also:
PowerPoint and Presenting Notes
PowerPoint and Presenting Glossary
One of PowerPoint's most powerful yet least unexplored features is the option to recolor vector clip art inside the program. Learn more and download a sample presentation...
Interlink Electronics has announced the release of GoSpeak!,an ultra-portable amplification system consisting of flat-panel speakers capable of reaching an audience of up to 200 with high quality omni-directional stereo sound. More info on the GoSpeak! site...
I'm a business geek, I guess, in that my first reaction to the iPod Photo wasn't, "Cool, I can transport photographs!" Rather, "Hey, I can do PowerPoint/Keynote presentations without a laptop." More by Glenn Fleishman on ExtraBITS...
Google Inc. announced it acquired Keyhole Corp., a Mountain View, Calif.-based digital mapping company. "With Keyhole, you can fly like a superhero from your computer at home to a street corner somewhere else in the world - or find a local hospital, map a road trip or measure the distance between two points," said Jonathan Rosenberg, vice president, Product Management. "This acquisition gives Google users a powerful new search tool, enabling users to view 3D images of any place on earth as well as tap a rich database of roads, businesses and many other points of interest. Keyhole is a valuable addition to Google's efforts to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." More info on the Google site...
Two dimensional imagery and design is part of PowerPoint - all sorts of tools and options enable you to create stunning presentations. Look beyond to the third dimension and the lack of similar options becomes obvious. That's where Perspector, a PowerPoint add-in that facilitates three-dimensional design within PowerPoint comes into the picture. Read the full review...
SmartDraw creates some of the best organizational charts I have seen. The new version 7 provides even more possibilities. In fact, SmartDraw now has a special Org Chart edition that you can download and use free for 30 days. Organizational charts are also known as organization charts or org charts. They are essentially tree or hierarchical layouts that help understand the relationships between higher and lower levels. Such charts are normally used to present the divisions between personnel, departments, or even as family trees and mind maps. Read more...
Echo Swinford says: We occasionally see questions in the newsgroup about how to set default colors for Microsoft Graph. There's no easy answer for this, so I recommend that you read through this information carefully. Learn more with Echo in Color Schemes III...
This article was excerpted from Kathy Jacobs on PowerPoint, by Kathy Jacobs, Microsoft MVP and webmistress of www.PowerPointAnswers.com. This article offers guidelines and instructions for how to get and keep your links working correctly across multiple slides and multiple presentations. More on the Microsoft Office Assistance site...
Musician and artist David Byrne tweaks corporate culture with PowerPoint exhibit at Eastman House. No one ever accused David Byrne of being a corporate yes man. As lead singer of the Talking Heads, this Scottish-born gadfly invented a high-intellectual punk style that blended rock and roll, social commentary and avant-garde art. There wasn't a sacred cow he couldn't barbeque, an exotic beat he couldn't make his own. More on the Democrat & Chronicle site...
While mega-churches have led the postmodern charge for PowerPoint preaching, smaller and more traditional churches are now finding they also can make worship services and sermons more effective with graphic images. And technology is only half the battle. More on the Church Central site...
The newest member of the iPod family, iPod Photo comes in two sizes: a 40GB model, available for $499, and a capacious 60GB model that sells for $599. Both feature a razor sharp LCD display that lets you see your photos in vivid color — 65,536 colors, to be exact. And with its built-in backlighting, you’ll be able to admire those photos indoors or out. More on the Apple site...
Articulate announced the launch of Articulate Knowledge Portal 4.0 (an upgrade to Articulate Server 3.0), a breakthrough for organizations that need to manage and deliver knowledge rapidly and with high impact. "Articulate Knowledge Portal provides a comprehensive, easy-to-build and easy-to-manage platform for managing and delivering knowledge in a highly customized way," says Articulate President Adam Schwartz. "A key feature provides real-time tracking and detailed reports on individual and group learning results to help organizations monitor learning and compliance." More info on the Articulate site...
A Wacom tablet has long been an essential tool for graphic artists. Now the most important business applications are being designed to also benefit from the power of pen input. To get you started enjoying these great new capabilities, we have put together some fundamental information on using your Wacom tablet with Microsoft Office, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Acrobat. More on the Wacom site...
Conduits Technologies has released Pocket Slides 2.0, software that allows users to make presentations on their handhelds. It is the only application on the market that permits the creation and editing of presentations on a Pocket PC. More on the Brighthand site...
Presenting is about a lot more than displaying slides on a screen. You have a message to deliver and the presentation is a means of getting that message across. You'll need some presentation skills to engage your audience and persuade them to listen to what you're saying, but the way you set up and use your PowerPoint slides can also help a lot. More on VNUnet.com...
Advanced Micro Devices plans to unfurl next week a blueprint for building a low-price computer aimed at providing Internet access to people in so-called emerging markets. Dubbed the Personal Internet Communicator, the machine is geared toward families who make the equivalent of between $1,000 and $6,000 annually. Three companies in India and Latin America will be among the first to market versions of the machine, an AMD representative said. More on the CNET News.com site...
Ulead CD & DVD PictureShow 3 Deluxe turns your photos into entertaining slideshows you can watch on TV - complete with transitions, music, motion menus and sweeping pan & zoom effects. More info on the Ulead site...
Corel Corporation has announced the acquisition of Jasc, the award-winning developer of the Paint Shop family of digital photography and image editing software. More info on the Corel site...
One of the coolest things you can do on your system is to perform a video capture of on-screen activity. This is a great way to create videos of presentations, browsing or any other desktop activity. One of the best tools to do any type of video capture is Camtasia from TechSmith. Read more...
Total Training, Inc. a pioneer in fun and innovative video-based training for popular software programs, today announced Total Training Presents: Microsoft Office in a Day -- broadening its line of creative design, digital video, and document management titles. Presented by Microsoft Office guru and best selling author, Laurie Ulrich Fuller, Total Training Presents: Microsoft Office in a Day is a necessity for anyone looking to become more efficient in the use of one of the world's most widely applied productivity software applications. More on the PR Newswire site...
Creating a quiz in PowerPoint can be fun. You can use your quiz after a business presentation as an excuse to give away gifts to those who provide the right answers. Or you can use it to create a basic quiz for a child in elementary school. Whatever your aim, creating a quiz in any recent version of PowerPoint (PowerPoint 97 or newer) is fairly easy and intuitive. More on the Computor Companion site...
Microsoft and the Office logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.