New iPad2

I got an iPad2 a couple of weeks ago and have been using it pretty heavily both at home and at work, looking for any limitations. So far, they are pretty few and far between.

The iPad is an excellent communicator. Safari is a fine browser, though the lack of flash is something of a nuisance (can’t apple’s tech wizards figure out how to make flash play in a sandbox?). Bookmarking works, albeit differently than on my MacBook.

Mail hooks up nicely to my work exchange server and displays most MS Office stuff flawlessly. One exception was a PowerPoint presentation that had excel spreadsheets embedded as objects (not pictures). The slide displayed with a big blank in the middle where the spreadsheet was. Apple’s own presentation app, keynote, had no problem displaying the file and added editing capabilities.

What is truly wondrous about the iPad is it’s ability to share files and information, keeping them synced with all my other computers. I use Evernote, a great note-taking repository, on all my computers and the iPad supports it well. Dropbox syncs and shares files across them all. Goodreader reads pdfs, whether on the web or in dropbox. Instapaper lets you bookmark pages for later reading in a clean, uncluttered environment. 1Password keeps track of all my passwords and syncs them across all my computers.

Writing is pretty easy on the iPad. I am writing this article in iA Writer, a pure text writing app. I don’t find the keyboard to be particularly limiting, but I guess it could wear on a long article.

My first impressions are uniformly favorable. I think the display is beautiful and the interface is terrific. I am sure my impressions will become more nuanced as time passes, so I will update this blog regularly.

Keys to a good slide presentation

I had occasion to put together a lengthy powerpoint presentation highlighting plants for the Frelinghuysen Arboretum’s annual plant sale (you’re coming, aren’t you? It’s Friday afternoon and evening May 6th for members and all day Saturday May 7th). Following the presentation, a number of people complimented us on the quality of the slides, contrasting it with other shows they have attended. I thought it might be helpful to list a few pointers on how to put on a quality slide show:

1. The absolute key is to start with the highest quality images. This means they have to be well-composed, well-focused and well-lit. Cropping can help immeasurably. They also have to be large file sizes — small files stretched to fit end up looking grainy, washed out or downright pixelated.
2. On the other hand, don’t drag outsized images into powerpoint. Although the program will allow you to shrink the image to fit, it doesn’t compress the file size proportionately. The result can be a slide presentation that is tens or hundreds of megabytes in size: too big to email and so large it may overwhelm your computer. Cut the pictures’ sizes to something matching the resolution of your projector using photoshop or the like.
3. Organize the material according to some theme that will fit well with your talk. The two should complement each other.
4. Don’t get distracted by all of powerpoint’s fancy transitions — one or two simple transition types (fades or wipes) are all you need. Remember, the pictures and the talk carry the show, not the transitions.
5. The same goes for the theme of the powerpoint. Use colors and structures that don’t get in front of the images.
6. Make sure your projector is up to the task. Old, VGA-resolution projectors are well below HDTV resolution and the images will look it. Similarly, a low-brightness projector won’t handle a large screen in an auditorium. There is no substitute for a high-resolution, super-bright projector for a medium to large audience.
7. Just as the way to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice, so too your presentation will only be professional if it flows smoothly and effortlessly from your tongue. Notes are fine, but as reminders, not a text for reading. Run through the presentation several times until it becomes second nature.

Resize Images for Digital Slideshows

In my earlier article, Slideshows in a Digital Age. I talk about the need to resize images down to something that resembles the projectors inherent resolution. The idea is that since a good projector can only handle 1024 x 768 pixels, embedding a picture bigger than that only strains powerpoint and your hard drive — the projector still only puts 1024 x 768 pixels onto the screen.

So here’s a quick and easy approach for Mac users if you don’t want to fire up either Lightroom, Aperture or Photoshop:

1. Copy the pictures you have chosen for your presentation into a folder on your desktop called “Resize.” Note that I said “Copy” — this is important since this process changes the files themselves and you don’t want to mess up your originals.
2. In Finder, select all the images in “Resize” (you know about Ctrl-a, right?).
3. Double click on one of the selected images — this will open them all in Preview.
4. Select all the images in Preview (Again, Ctrl-a).
5. In the Tools menu, click on “Adjust size.”
6. Change to “pixels” in the dropdown to the right of “Width” and “Height.”
7. Change “Width” to 1024 and make sure “Scale proportionally” is checked.
8. After you click OK, you will see shrunk images.
9. Do a File | Save ALL and you will now have a nice folder full of resized images.
10. Use these images for your powerpoint.

This is a really quick and simple approach to making your powerpoints more efficient, faster loading and less likely to crash.

Stratfor on U.S.-Russian Summit

Stratfor (www.stratfor.com) does regular analyses of geopolitical events. Their July 7th report (reprinted below) was an interesting review of the recent US-Russian summit: what did and didn’t happen.

The U.S.-Russian Summit Turns Routine

By George Friedman

The Moscow summit between U. S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ended. As is almost always the case, the atmospherics were good, with the proper things said on all sides and statements and gestures of deep sincerity made. And as with all summits, those atmospherics are like the air: insubstantial and ultimately invisible. While there were indications of substantial movement, you would have needed a microscope to see them. Read the rest of this entry »

Zion Canyon

Despite our best intentions, it took a while to get under way from Las Vegas. Nevertheless, the trip to Springdale, UT (the town at the south end of Zion Park) was easy and we checked into the Bumbleberry Inn. This motel is the same one we stayed in a couple of years ago for an earlier Zion trip. It is reasonably priced, is located in a busy part of town and offers great views of the surrounding canyon. Read the rest of this entry »

First Day in Las Vegas

We got up at 8:30 local (11:30 EDT), an indication of how tired we were. Our west-facing window featured sun-lit hills and the shadow of the great pyramid, our hotel, on the parking lot below.

Following showers, we headed downstairs to reclaim our car. Today would feature a trip to Hoover Dam and, if we didn’t get lost, a tourboat ride on Lake Mead. First, though, breakfast. Luckily we happened on an iHop just a little bit south of the hotel on Las Vegas Blvd. Happy place! They have free internet. The hotel charges $15/day, something of a rip-off. Read the rest of this entry »

First Stop – Las Vegas

We are flying into Las Vegas and renting a car there for our canyon tour. As long as we are there, we’ll stay a few nights and see the sights in Las Vegas.

We are staying in the huge pyramid called the Luxor Hotel. The prices during the week (and maybe this year especially) are pretty reasonable. Gillian should get a real kick out of the Egyptian theme.

Wednesday morning we plan to drive to Hoover Dam and take the tour of the dam and power plant. Maybe we will take the paddle boat that leaves on the Arizona side as well.

Wednesday evening we have tickets for a magic show: Penn & Teller at the Rio Casino Hotel.

Thursday we plan to sightsee along the Strip and use the pool — Las Vegas has sun and heat, something NJ hasn’t seen this year.

Going West

Sue, Gillian (g’daughter) and I are heading West on vacation in a couple of days. We first fly to Las Vegas, where we’ll spend a couple of days sightseeing and maybe even going to a magic show.Thursday evening, Gillian, our daughter, will join us for the remainder of the trip.

From Las Vegas, we will drive north to Zion Canyon, then on to Bryce Canyon. From there we will drive south to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, west to Mesa Verde and finally south to Albuquerque from which we fly back home.

We will be gone for 12 days, so we expect to have lots of sightseeing adventures to report. Once we are out of Las Vegas, though, our internet connections may be pretty scarce, so these reports may be sporadic at best

Parrot asks, “What’d the frozen turkey want?”

Roger Ebert’s April 12th journal (that’s his title up above) examines the fine art of joke telling. He notes:

A joke should have the perfection of a haiku. Not one extra word. No wrong words. It should seem to have been discovered in its absolute form rather than created. The weight of the meaning should be at the end. The earlier words should prepare for the shift of the meaning. The ending must have absolute finality. It should present a world view only revealed at the last moment. Like knife-throwing, joke-telling should never be practiced except by experts.

Many fine examples follow. Well worth reading, and be prepared to laugh out loud. Ebert’s writing is a pleasure on all levels.

Obama on American Exceptionalism

President Obama held a news conference on Saturday in Strasbourg following the NATO conference at which he was asked about whether he held to a view of American exceptionalism. The following segment is quoted from the transcript released by the White House and may be found on CQ Politics:

Ed Luce, from the Financial Times. Where’s Ed — there he is.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. In the context of all the multilateral activity that’s been going on this week — the G20, here at NATO — and your evident enthusiasm for multilateral frameworks, to work through multilateral frameworks, could I ask you whether you subscribe, as many of your predecessors have, to the school of American exceptionalism that sees America as uniquely qualified to lead the world, or do you have a slightly different philosophy? And if so, would you be able to elaborate on it?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I’m enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. If you think about the site of this summit and what it means, I don’t think America should be embarrassed to see evidence of the sacrifices of our troops, the enormous amount of resources that were put into Europe postwar, and our leadership in crafting an Alliance that ultimately led to the unification of Europe. We should take great pride in that.

And if you think of our current situation, the United States remains the largest economy in the world. We have unmatched military capability. And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality, that, though imperfect, are exceptional.

Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we’ve got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we’re not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise and that includes us.

And so I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity and recognizing that that leadership is incumbent, depends on, our ability to create partnerships because we create partnerships because we can’t solve these problems alone.

Not only is this a fine definition of American Exceptionalism, but it is yet another example of the ringing oratory this president brings to all his communications, whether pre-prepared or off-the-cuff.

Where are the critics who claim he can speak only with a teleprompter?