North Coast Connections

Everyone in the tech world keeps looking for the biggest development of the year. Some of these phenomena don't emerge right away but build up a groundswell over time. I consider instant messaging, text messaging, Facebook and MySpace in this category. The latest buzz is about Twitter, a sort of a cross between a blog and an instant message.

My favorite tech news source, TechRepublic.com had a recent piece on Twitter that extols its virtue. I'm more skeptical.

When instant messaging first came out, I used it sparingly. I was working in Hong Kong at the time and my project team was scattered in three separate apartments in two adjacent high rise buildings on Lantau Island. We all used AOL in our work and play, so it was convenient to see which of the team members was online when you were and to pass IM notes back and forth about project work or where to go for dinner. However, when I returned home it soon turned into a distraction and I came to resent people intruding into my desktop while I was working on something important. I turned it off and never went back.

I use text messaging, but only sparingly. Since I travel a lot and often have to meet with colleagues or clients who are in transit themselves, it's easy to drop a text message about airplane delays or other logistics to keep others informed. I don't use it much beyond this, and I find it amusing to watch others hunch over their cellphones thumb-typing long messages.

Obviously, I'm a blogger, but readers may choose to read a posting or ignore it. They may subscribe, or not. Blogs are not intrusive by nature, while Twitters are barging into your attention to let you know every mind-numbing thought someone may have or reference they wish to pass along.

I choose not to Twit, but I'll reserve judgment as to whether I ever will. Perhaps not so slowly I am turning into a technology curmudgeon.

Chris Crawford

Photo credit = Twitter

Posted by Chris Crawford at 01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is still shocking to me that a lot of people do not use virus protection software on their computers. Some, like Mac and Linux users, believe that their operating system choices preclude them from attack in the first place. Others , like Microsoft co-president Jim Allchin, believe that built-in security features in Microsoft Vista operating system and advances in Internet Explorer render anti-virus software unnecessary. The rest of us purchase virus protection software and services out of an abundance of caution or because we've been bit too many times to go without it.

Like too many thing in life, once we decide to purchase something (a car, a vacuum cleaner, anti-virus protection, etc), we tend to stick with it out of laziness, familiarity or neglect. Stepping out of character, when my McAfee anti-virus subscription expired recently, I let it lapse and decided to try something else this time.

Part of my decision to drop McAfee on my desktop computer was based upon my dropping them from my laptop after I picked up a cool Yoggie masking device that protects me from sniffers trying to hack in through a public wireless Internet connection. This nifty device has its own built-in anti-virus protection and since it runs on a separate microcomputer, my laptop runs much faster without all the extra protection software.

The other reason I decided to drop McAfee is that I believe it's a good idea to switch protection choices once in awhile just to see what spyware, adware and other problems may exist on your computer that didn't get caught by a particular provider.

Accordingly, I'm on a 90 day trial subscription to Microsoft Live OneCare ... OK, now is the time to boo, hiss and otherwise diss the Redmond WA bad boy Microsoft. If they perform well, I'm not above using the evil empire to suit my own needs.

So far it's working OK. My only complaint is that it has an anti-phishing feature that I choose not to use and it keeps reminding me that I am not yet fully protected. I think I'm savvy enough to spot a phishing scam and don't want this extra nuisance so until the reminders get on my nerves, I'll stick with it (at least for the 90 day trial).

Y'all be safe out there, ya hear?

Chris Crawford

Photo credit = Microsoft clip art

Posted by Chris Crawford at 03:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

By now, we have all been subjected to Powerpoint presentations, and a hapless few of us have actually had to put these presentations together and deliver them in front of an audience. Neither of these are particularly pleasant experiences and I suspect that all of us have some Powerpoint horror stories to relate. Our posting today covers poor use of Powerpoint, as illustrated by an entertaining YouTube video by comedian Don McMillan entitled How NOT to use Powerpoint.

Here are Mr. McMillan's pet peeves, augmented by me ...

TOO WORDY
Save us from those who copy and paste entire sentences and even paragraphs of text into a slide, expecting us to read or (worse) reading it to us.

NOT USING SPELL-CHECK
Including spelling errors in a Powerpoint presentation is much worse than in a letter or report. And it is laziness, as the software highlights spelling errors the same way that MS Word does.

BULLET POINTS
Sure, distill your key thoughts into a few well chose bullet points, but stop at 3-7 points. Otherwise, you lose the "point."

BAD COLOR SCHEMES / BAD FONTS
AACK !! The movie Speed Racer is getting bad raps for its nauseating color schemes, but this pales compared to some Powerpoint presentations I've seen. Even good colors can't make up for bad fonts. Here's a clue ... don't use serif fonts in Powerpoint ... ever.

NUMBER OF SLIDES
The amount of slides are inversely related to effectiveness of your presentation. Less is more.

POINTLESS MOTION
The only thing worse than a neophyte using Powerpoint is someone who thinks they know enough to add animation. Flying and dissolving text, and animated clipart will not salvage a bad presentation.

GIVE IT A REST
OK, this one's all mine ... a presentation is not multimedia unless you turn off the Powerpoint file and do something else during your presentation (otherwise, it's uni-media). Here's a useful trick - when you are in the middle of a Powerpoint presentation, press the B key (nothing else, just the B key) and this will blank out the screen. It's amazing how the participants will immediately start to relax and focus on you instead of the screen.

I routinely turn off Powerpoint during my presentations and I even won a training contract recently when I promised I would not use Powerpoint at all. The group was a gathering of judges and they overwhelmingly chose my proposal over my competitors chiefly because of this feature (OK, and my scintillating teaching skills).

For a glaring example of how a powerful presentation can be trivialized by poor use of Powerpoint, check out this link that shows how the Gettysburg Address would have been just another boring speech if it had been reduced to a set of bulleted talking points.

So here's the takeaway - Powerpoint is a tool. Use it selectively and properly. If you don't know how, learn it. There are tons of in-person and online courses to give you pointers on color scheme, fonts and organizing your material. However, if they don't include the advice to turn it off regularly, write this down anyway. You and those who hear your presentation will be glad you did.

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Microsoft clipart

Posted by Chris Crawford at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This week I found myself cooling my heels at the Eureka/Arcata Airport while air traffic problems in San Francisco delayed yet another flight. The choices were to fume, fuss, get into Zen mode and hope all worked out, or ... go into manager mode and correct the problem. I chose the latter.

My first act was to make a mental note not to get lazy and book flights with short layovers in San Francisco. I now try for around 2 hours instead of one hour of less between connections. My next act was to saunter up to the counter and make back-up plans in case I missed my connection to Newark NJ. Luckily, I'm fairly well known here and the staff is terrific. They booked me a back-up route through Denver and even kept my upgrades in tact. Sweet.

So why use a technology blog to rant about my air travel woes? Simple ... it's tech that usually saves my sorry butt when things go awry.

I sign up to United auto notices that send messages to my cell phone whenever there are flight changes. Sometimes the news is good (you've been upgraded) and sometimes bad (your upcoming flight is delayed). Increasingly, delayed connections send the United auto-bot into correction mode and it books me on alternative flights.

My return flight from Newark (which I am still in the midst of) had similar hiccups with similar automated re-bookings. I am now in the Chicago airport on a free WiFi connection awaiting my flight to Sacramento, and eventually to Eureka.

It certainly helps to be civil and enlist human assistance when things go wrong. But I am also grateful for the technical solutions and tools that help me stay on the right path to a project or home.

All aboard !!!

Chris Crawford
www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Microsoft clipart

Posted by Chris Crawford at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)