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Presentation Facts is an on-going series of posts exploring what is known for sure about presentations and presentation visuals. The series is moderated by Robert Befus.
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Toshiba threw in the towel a few days ago. I expect to see some nice sales on HD-DVD players. I’ve already seen the entry level Toshiba player way under $200 with 7 free movies for a couple of months now. That was the sign of the impending doom for sure. Check out the Reuters release in a PC Mag article here.
Posted by Todd Dunn, CTS at 10:32 PM .
I’ve been impressed by an online video editing and archiving tool that lets you create a
“private label YouTube” - check it out.
http://members2.viditalk.com/view/?id=9DGHQ6GWTSYT34RF6B7S1
Posted by Tom Bunzel at 4:45 PM .
One of the websites I poke around in is Dave Paradi’s “Think Outside The Slide.”
In addition to many excellent articles he has a very cool personalized assessment for PowerPoint based presenters. Take the assessment here.
……………TD
Posted by Todd Dunn, CTS at 2:48 PM .
From ZDNet:
Excerpt:
Microsoft officials confirmed first thing on November 6 that Office 2007 has gone gold. (The Softies aren’t saying exactly when the product was released to manufacturing, but word is it happened on November 3.)
Posted by Todd Dunn, CTS at 5:15 PM .
Serious Magic, creators of Ovation, the popular PowerPoint enhancement software, has been acquired by Adobe. Adobe seems to be primarily interested in their video-related products. In the press release, Ovation isn’t even mentioned until the boilerplate verbiage at the end. They also say they will continue to sell the Serious Magic product line. However, as we’ve all seen in the past with acquisitions of this sort, there’s a big difference between selling and supporting/developing.
Posted by Lee Potts at 8:11 AM .
See more info here:
Congrats to Ernie Bailey, CTS, for getting Arkansas to be the first state to recognize AV Week.
California and others to follow.
Arkansas recognizes AV Week Oct. 22-28, 2006
…………….TD
Posted by Todd Dunn, CTS at 9:58 PM .
I’ve been using my Boom Bag for almost a year now with no problems. It’s a 21″ short trip suitcase like many others except for one thing. It’s also a portable sound system. The sound is decent and the volume will fill most small to medium sized hotel and meeting rooms. Forget lugging around sound dock solutions for your portable players. Just plug them into the Boom Bag and you’re set. It also has USB ports for charging anything able to charge via USB connection. I recently got the new rolling back pack version and was able to get almost everything out of my trusty Wenger bag and into the back pack. The new bag fit better in the smaller regional jet overhead compartments. All of these bags, or pieces of luggage, are great for the road warrior presenter with moderate presentation audio needs. Plug in your computer and you will have enough sound for a room of at least 50 people. There is a line out available to connect multiple bags for even more sound reinforcement. So far, I think it’s a great product. The luggage has a limited lifetime warranty and the sound system comes with a one year warranty. After the one year Boom Bags will replace a failed sound system for $50 for the lifetime of the bag. Is there anyone else making something like this?………….TD
Posted by Todd Dunn, CTS at 2:24 PM .
If you want to pick up some tips about using PowerPoint with real bullets, read Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, by Thomas E. Ricks, and/or visit Arms and Influence where the editors highlight the role played in the Iraq conflict by Microsoft’s infamous software. Bloggers at Crooked Timber add to the discussion with a long, lively and fascinating series of posts that are well worth reading. Of course, the core of the issue is more about flawed visual communication styles and techniques than about the warmongering tendencies of presentation software, but it is soberingly apparent from the citations and discussion that visual illiteracy is as rampant in the military as it is in business. The main difference being that in business when a project bombs no one dies (usually).
Posted by Robert L. Lindstrom at 2:06 PM .
I’ve struggled with the dual-screen (multiple) monitor feature in Windows for the past year. After a coworker showed me this feature on a job I was working, I was anxious to learn how to do it because it looked so cool! Well I found out that it wasn’t such an easy task… Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Mary Waldera at 9:40 AM .
From “Top Ten Truths About the Digital Ecosystem“, a recent post on the Dealing with Darwin blog:
“10. Images are king. Verbal content, by virtue of its sheer volume, is increasingly perceived as noise. We are entering a new era of collage, where the mind of the viewer is the assembling artist. Verbalization happens post facto, the residue of headline skimming and subconscious synthesis. The esthetics of digitally enhanced images will become increasingly powerful as a vehicle for cutting through the clutter. Manipulating semantics or semiotics via images will become increasingly sophisticated, both in the private and public sectors. High-definition displays and portable form factors will be popular mass markets. Indexing and searching images, on the other hand, while technologically interesting, will be of peripheral impact.”
Posted by Lee Potts at 8:00 AM .
NewTek’s improvements on their original TriCaster put the TriCaster Pro high on my wish list and captures another NAB award.
Posted by Todd Dunn, CTS at 11:55 PM .
“Instead of going over all the options here, I’m going to highlight the tools and some of the methods we use to create Rocketboom because, consequently, I have amassed what I would call not just a killer app, but a killer briefcase filled with lots of killer apps that all together allow us to see all video, hear all video and speak all video, not to mention create, tweak and seek. I haven’t been stopped by a file yet (knock on wood).
“This is what we use to make Rocketboom: “
Posted by Lee Potts at 9:51 PM .
A few months ago D’San released The Laptop SoundPort. 
If you need to get PC audio to a sound system this is the way to go. I’ve been using it for a while and I have replaced my Whirlwind PCDI with the SoundPort as my primary unit. It’s a fraction of the size and weight of most direct boxes I’ve seen and it works perfectly. The ground lift feature is the main reason I use direct boxes and the SoundPort adds a volume control. And audio techs like it when all they have to do is run a regular balanced mic (XLR) cable for computer audio . Retail price on D’San’s website is $75 USD. I think The Laptop SoundPort is a worthy investment for presenters and show technicians.
Posted by Todd Dunn, CTS at 5:14 PM .