Video

In a nutshell: MOV files do not work. They appear to work on a Mac, but take that file to a PC…FAIL. And a PC is what this presentation will ultimately be viewed on, so it has to function properly. My solution has been to export the movie as an AVI file and insert it into the PPT on a PC, not a Mac.

Audio

If there is audio in a PPT and you export it to QuickTime, chances are the audio is gone on the export. Not so…again…with Keynote. You have the option to include both embedded sound files and movie audio. And it works.

Slideshows

Today was my eureka moment on this problem. I have 2 slides with multiple slideshows on each, but each time I exported the file in Powerpoint, I only got the initial state of the slide, not the transitions and the additional images. I searched around on the web for tips and found some software, which used Java, and worked, but I didn’t think this was a solution I actually needed to pay for. One of the search pages mentioned Keynote, which I don’t use normally, and I thought, “Hmm. Wonder if I could import this PPT into Keynote and see if Keynote could export it properly?” It did. And perfectly. I was able to get a successful result with exporting both to QuickTime and to Flash. The Flash file was smaller, but the quality was less, too, so, since server space wasn’t an issue, I decided to use the QuickTime format.

Transitions

See Slideshows above.

Conclusion

I think it’s time for me to give Keynote another look. Just like any Apple product, it tricks you with its superficial simplicity, thinking that it couldn’t possibly do the kinds of things you need it to do. And again, just like my discovery of the power of iMovie, I’m proven wrong. Score yet another point in your quest for world domination, Apple. And even though I’m a converted PC user, this just reinforces my decision to go Mac and never go back.

Driving home from lunch today with 3 of my co-workers, I ended up behind a Saturn Outlook. I remarked that cars shouldn’t be named after Microsoft products. Someone said they though it would be cool. This led to remarks like:

• Pontiac Word. If you drive it too long, it crashes.
• The Pontiac Word has a Convert to Bus feature.
• Chevy Powerpoint. We decided it would be sporty, like a Mustang.
• We all agreed we’d buy a car called the Dreamweaver.
• And isn’t there already a car called Excel and Entourage?

Maybe we were on to something…

Music gets me through times like this, so let’s hear a couple of songs about daughters and growing up.

“Daughter” – Loudon Wainwright III (from Knocked Up…oh God I hope not!) [lyrics]

“Daughters” – John Mayer

Download audio file (MCReunion.mp3)
Mother and Child Reunion – Paul Simon

And before I start to cry, one of my favorite songs, but with a Step Brothers spin.
“Sweet Child of Mine” – Derek and family

Have a look at its maiden voyage.

Manderino Library

Sammi out in the yard

Macro of red azalea

River rocks

Overall, I have to say that I am incredibly pleased with the pictures from this camera. It’s a bit heavier than I would have thought, but it adds to the substantial feeling of the camera, and doesn’t bother me since I’ll be using the neck strap anyway. Actually, I was glad I got to physically look at both the SX10 and the G10 before I made my final decision (Best Buy had both). Both cameras were smaller than I had envisioned, with the G10 being surprisingly smaller than I thought. It was only a bit bigger than my Canon SD630, but definitely more sturdy-it looks like you could run it over with a car and not damage it!

I was worried about the noise that’s been widely reported, but I have to say, for my purposes (printing 4×6s, online use) the pictures are crisp and clear. What? No buyer’s remorse? Check back in a week.

Piers then figured out how many shots I’d need to be 99% certain of getting a good one. He found that photographing thirty people in bad light would need about thirty shots. Once there’s around fifty people, even in good light, you can kiss your hopes of an unspoilt photo goodbye.

Piers also came up with a rule of thumb for calculating the number of photos to take for groups of less than 20: divide the number of people by three if there’s good light and two if the light’s bad.”

Presented in no particular order:

1. MGMT
2. Santogold
3. Mates of State
4. Kanye
5. The Verve
6. Oasis
7. The Raconteurs
8. Coldplay
9. Conor Oberst
10. The New Odds – Cheerleader
11. Okkervil River
12. Kings of Leon
13. Mother Mother – Oh My Heart
14. Beck – Modern Guilt
15. Socratic – Spread the Rumors
16. Guns N’ Roses – Chinese Democracy
17. Kaiser Chiefs
18. The Weepies
19. The Black Keys
20. Lightspeed Champion
21. Black Keys
22. Black Mountain
23. The Kooks
24. Nine Inch Nails internet release of Ghosts
25. Lodger – Honeymoon is Over
26. JJ Grey & Mofro – Orange Blossoms
27. Cloud Cult – Feel Good Ghosts
28. TV on the Radio – Dear Science
29. Heath Ledger dies
30. God Is An Astronaut – God Is An Astronaut
31. Hey Rosetta! – Into Your Lungs
32. The Raveonettes – Lust Lust Lust
33. Quiet Village – Silent Movie
34. Vampire Weekend –
35. Wolf Parade – At Mount Zoomer
36. Britney Spears – from train wreck to comeback
37. Jim Boggia – Misadventures in Stereo
38. Tokyo Police Club – A Lesson in Crime
39. Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs
40. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
41. Beyonce – Sasha Fierce
42. Lil Wayne – Tha Carter III
43. Barack Obama elected President
44. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
45. The Subways – All or Nothing
46. JT on SNL (Single Ladies video spoof)
47. Vampire Fever! Twilight, True Blood
48. Tina Fey as Sarah Palin (SNL)

http://radio3.cbc.ca/

I took out the embedded player because I couldn’t keep it from auto-playing when the page loaded. You want to go and check out CBC Radio 3’s website anyway. Lots of cool stuff there.

6 eggs
2 one pound cans pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1 1/3 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream

Pour into two 12 inch pie crusts, bake at 350 for 75 minutes.

*Note: I never made this. I found this text clipping on my hard drive and figured I might want to try it someday. So here it is.