I often have to present training material and other collateral material that is in PowerPoint. There is a corporate template, however people will use different templates and formats for different usages. During a tradeshow or a product launch there might be a different background and color scheme; there are also could be a different aspect ratio. Now one could simply use the presentation as it is formatted, however it can cause it to look like a garage sale as I call it. Each thing is different and random.

During a recent trip I presented a four hour seminar that covered the following:

• Networking 101
  (Aspect Ratio 16:9 – Light background black serif text)
• Deconstructing an Arena
  (Aspect Ratio 16:9 or 4:3 – Light background black serif text)
• System Architect 2.0
  (Aspect Ratio 16:9 or 4:3 – Dark gradient background white san serif text)
• Ethernet AVB
  (Aspect Ratio 16:9 – Dark gradient background white san serif text)
• Band Manager 1.0
  (Aspect Ratio 4:3 – Light background black serif text)
• New Products
  (Aspect Ratio 16:9 – Light gradient background black san serif text)
• US Stadiums and Arenas Overview
  (Aspect Ration 16:9 – Full size images so no text or background)

So as you can see the look is not consistent. This does not include the items of how people capitalize and punctuate. Or the images that are being used, some is black and white line art of the product, some is color renderings, and some are color photos. So it gets inconsistent.

I can deal with some of these issues quickly and easily; through the use of proper formatting and application of templates. I had created the Networking 101 and Deconstructing an Arena using the template features of PowerPoint. As a result even though I created the presentation in 4:3 it was very easy and quick to move over to 16:9 – simply select the other ratio. However the fact that the other presentations were not created using a template, there was no easy way to address the issue. I could either go in and adjust each slide individually of each presentation or show the presentations as they were.

This situation is not just happening on presentations, it also happens on documents, webpages, spreadsheets, and other electronic forms. Rather than use some of the tools that are included in the software, styles, templates, macros, charts, transitions, themes… etc. people will create their own. What happens is that people don’t like the look of what is existing; that is understandable. So rather than redefine the styles, templates … etc. they simply go in and make the adjustments themselves; often by brute force. By brute force I mean that the images as backgrounds are actually pasted onto the background. Rather than using the two column layout the person actually adds a second text box.

Now when I say that this issue is systemic I mean that one is not using some of the features built into the word processing applications as well. If one wants to place extra spaces between paragraphs, I understand the speed of using the return key twice rather than using spacing before and after paragraph. However when one is writing a letter on the corporate template that has the styles predefined, so that the font is consistent, the margins are the same… etc from user to user people still go in and once again use brute force. Change the font, change the margins etc. So if one gets a letter from me, it might not look the same as the letter from my boss.

Now while this all seems like small issues, the amalgamated result of this issue can add up. Here are the ones I came up with off the top of my head:

• Inconsistent message
• Looks hurried together when there is not a consistent look
• Surprises in the way a presentation will look on a different computer
• Time wasted reformatting, reformatting, and reformatting

Just to give an idea of how powerful these tools can be and why I try to use them; I can tell stories about how quickly I was able to resize a presentation to fit a new screen and put it on a new background but that is talk. Check out the idea in action at the website css Zen Garden: The Beauty in CSS Design. This website is an example how simply changing the CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) can dramatically change the look of a page. Without a change to anything other than the style sheet, which can be attached and updated easily, the look and feel vary greatly.

So now with how easily that can be done, why do I need to spend hours reformatting things?

So I figure I should also mention another article that I just got some additional copies of this week. System Contractor News did an article about Lucas Oil Stadium.

I am also wondering if I should put Twitter updates on the Blog/Website. Any comments? If you want to follow me, you can probably figure out who I am pretty easily.

A little eye candy:

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I travel with key programs on a thumb drive, these are the programs that I need to have to be productive with a machine that is not my work machine. Just in case. (It used to be a CD, then a DVD, then USB Flashdrives became easier.) Some of the installers I carry are:

• System Architect
• Firefox
• Netscan
• Wireshark
• Acrobat Reader
• BandManager
• London Architect
• TightVNC
• WhereIsIt and its catalogs
• Open Office

To name a few. Some are in the portable format so that I can run them right off the memory stick, but most are installers. Notice what is not on the list, the VPN software. So I was out of luck. I called the help desks.

First I called the VPN software provider help desk. All that they could do was tell me to download it off the website but they did not know the version I was to be using or the configuration.

So then I called my corporate help desk. We have retained an outside Support Supplier. Let’s just say it did not go well. There is a reason there are stories and angst about calling help desks. Although it was nice to be able to call at any time.

So for the rest of the week’s trip I was without VPN. I did have my Blackberry, but I could not read all the attachments on it. I did have access to a web portal for corporate mail, but that did not work for all formats of mail – such as HTML. However I know that the update for that is in process, and I am looking forward to that.

It was quite interesting the amount I was able to get done and also how I was hamstrung on occasion. I have since added to the list of things that I carry with me, the VPN software.

Also to give credit to my company’s IT oversight committee, they have already stepped up and said next time to call them directly. They have also have asked for more information from the Support Supplier.

You are probably wondering how this fact was discerned, the first way was the fuzz on the text, and the small stripe on the document. Then I looked at it using Adobe Bridge and got the information that it was created using “HP Digital Sending Device” and a size of 487 KB (498,727 bytes) for a two page document. So me being me and curious I opened it with Acrobat 8 Pro as it allows Optical Character Recognition or OCR and exported it out to an Rich Text Format or RTF file. I then opened that RTF and created a PDF using Acobrat 8 Pro. It was 24 KB (21,951 bytes) and searchable and had e-mail links that worked… etc. It was a document not a picture.

So I started just kind of wondering, why? I really could not come up with a reason. If they wanted to secure it, well it really did not do any good by how easily I ran the OCR on it. I could just as easily tweak it using PhotoShop or any other photo retouching software on it. Also if one use the real Adobe Acrobat software, one could actually set up security on it.

Then I thought a little more about it, perhaps the user did not have Adobe Acrobat. I previously did not have a copy of Adobe Acrobat but used an open source software package to create PDFs. Also Microsoft Office 2007 supports creating the PDF format directly. I also did a quick Google Search and found lots of applications that would create a PDF, a quick look in SourceForge.net and found over 900 from a very basic query of just “PDF” so there were lots of ways to create this PDF.

So it just makes me chuckle that the IT team would not use any of the tools just outlined. I can understand why not everyone knows about these, but it is the IT department they should know about this stuff.

I got an e-mail from a friend after reading my blog that had an answer to a Mac question I had from a previous blog entry. So that was pretty cool and I got an answer on how to use Image Capture to turn off the “automatic” launching of iPhoto when I attach a camera that it does not do the right stuff with anyway. Kind of cracks me up. All the “plug and play” of Mac and despite the fact that the webpages say that a Canon PowerShot S50 will work with iPhoto and in the RAW (.CRW) format, it does not.

It just goes to prove that any operating software or software application can fail to live up to the hype of the marketing material.

These little idiosyncrasies are coming up more and more as I use the MacBook Pro more and more. Such as writing this blog works better under Firefox than it does under Safari.

So we arrived there and I knew it was going to be something to remember when the release looks like this…

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Yes that is the word Death in there. Even the vending machine had its own disclaimer…

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So then it was time to line up and load up…

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Then getting into and seated in the bobsled was quite a tightfit. The picture does not do it justice, we were crammed in there…

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Then it was down the hill…. wheeeeee!!!!!!

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It was so intense, 8/10 of a mile in 53.77 seconds. 15 Turns, the maximum of about 80MPH and 5G’s in turn 6. It was more of a rush then a roller coaster as the whole experience was much more basic. Just the basic conveyance, you could hear the runners sliding and scraping. You could feel the wind and pretty much you were holding on, there was no seat per se.

So I am trying to figure out why I do not sleep. I can be tired and yawning, but just not sleep. I have tried reading, watching TV, listening to music, Soduku… etc. Still I can not fall asleep.

I am surprised I am still awake given how little sleep I got. I think I might have gotten four hours of sleep, maybe less.

Interesting times at work with the changes in Prez for Harman Pro and Crown, so now comes the trickle through effects. So VP of Marketing and Engineering is now the Prez of Crown… so now to find two new VPs. I am concerned as to who will become VP of Marketing as that will directly effect me. Wrong person becomes VP and I could be looking again.