Net book ahoy!

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

UPDATE:

I'm making my self at home in the computer. So far we get along pretty well...

I can warmly recommend the http://www.techspot.com/guides/264-change-wallpaper-on-windows-7-starter/ workaround, very easy to use with a very nice result.

I is considerably cheaper (free) and eats much less processor power than a upgrade to Home Premium...

I found that I can use a external DVD player and pretty much everything else I might need...
I'm not able to run two screens which might be a problem if I use it at work displaying powerpoint presentations but that's a minor problem.

Not having 2 screens?  There's a simple fix:  set your device to output mode, disabling it's built-in screen.  Then direct the output to the projector.  Then, on a 3rd (borrowed) screen, take the pass-through port from the projector into this, 3rd screen.  (You'll need 2 video cables, instead of the usual one, and a 2nd monitor).

Viola!

You have your cake, and may eat it as you like:  windows only "sees" the single screen, as output from your device.

If you cannot get the 2nd monitor?  You can work it from just the projector's screen image, but it's a tad more difficult; you'll have to have your back to your audience, and so, you'll need to project your voice a bit more..

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<sub>I used to give annual presentations back in DOS days, and towards the end, we switched to modern projectors.  What I used initially, were LCD screens with no backs, and an overhead projector... no, really!

An overhead projector is a gizmo (in case you're too young) that lets you project transparencies onto a movie screen behind you (or in front, if your back's to your audience).  These are old, old school, and have been around since the 50's.  (The nineteen-fifties... I'm not that old.)

Sometime in the late 80's, some clever person invented this screen thingy, that sits on top of the venerable projector.  It's an LCD screen configured to the CGA screens of that day, only without a back on it-- you can see through the screen part.   Aka, transparent...</sub>

[Aggie]

Gotta know - is even Q too young for overheads?  These were still in use when I was in post-secondary...

[Darlica]

I's not a major issue anyway but I would be *ahem* rather angry if I had indeed bought a laptop with this set-up.


Sometimes I miss the overheads especially when I have to sit through a powerpoint presentation choke full of unmotivated animations. 

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

I's not a major issue anyway but I would be *ahem* rather angry if I had indeed bought a laptop with this set-up.


Sometimes I miss the overheads especially when I have to sit through a powerpoint presentation choke full of unmotivated animations. 

I think what's worse:  is a powerpoint, where the font changes with each and every slide...

... you soon loose track of what's being shown, and start anticipating, 'which font will be next?' ...

Very unprofessional, yet I've seen this mistake on slides produced by people who truly should know better.

Another is the 'change the background with each slide to something cute'... again, it becomes a guessing game, and the content is ignored.

But the worst of all?

Miss-matched or clashing colors for the text... or *shudder* a rainbow effect within single words....

[The Meromorph]

We used to call that the 'ransom note' style of desktop publishing.

[Swatopluk]

I tend to be rather minimalist with powerpoint (this also means to use it as little as possible )
Animations? Anathema!
Colours? Anathema!
Backgrounds? Anathema!
If I have to use it, I try to turn it into just the equivalent of an overhead.
I also expect it not to work on the computer I will have to use for the presentation or that projector and computer will refuse to cooperate, if I use my own.

[Bob in a quantum-state-of-faith]

We used to call that the 'ransom note' style of desktop publishing.

Beautiful!  Very apt description.

I tend to be rather minimalist with powerpoint (this also means to use it as little as possible )
Animations? Anathema!
Colours? Anathema!
Backgrounds? Anathema!
If I have to use it, I try to turn it into just the equivalent of an overhead.
I also expect it not to work on the computer I will have to use for the presentation or that projector and computer will refuse to cooperate, if I use my own.

You and me agree-- I pick a pleasing font/color/solid backdrop and stick with that.

No pictures unless they actually do add informational content. 

As for the last?  I always took two computers, one as backup.... it was rare when I couldn't get at least one of them working right.   In fact, I don't think that happened-- I always managed to get one or the other working with recalcitrant (rented) equipment the presentation facility provided.

But you did remind me of this:  I never could fine-tune the timing of music with Microsuck's power-point crapware.  So I wrote my own, for a sing-along slide show. 

Once, back in the days before MP3's, sing-along-slides were all the rage with kids, and initially, we all used actual slide projectors, with hand-crafted slides that contained the lyrics for the kids to sing along to.

Naturally, I was always tapped to operate the infernal slide projector, with someone else's notions of when and how to break up the song's rhythm.   I was able, so I complied, but I hated the miss-matched technologies.

So I wrote my own software-- I piggy-backed onto power-point, first I created within powerpoint, the lyrics and photos (to add flair-- this was fun, not informational) in the exact sequence I wanted.  Then, painfully, one at a time, I saved the resultant images to a folder.  Next I would start my software in "training mode", and go through, playing the song, and clicking when I wished the next photo to advance.  This usually took several tries to fine-tune the timing, but my software recorded the exact time a photo should be displayed in relation to the start of the song, ignoring the status of the previous photo. 

Contrast with power-point, which does allow timed display, but it's always relative timing-- so if you have a slow computer, the timing is seriously off by the end.  Sometimes as many as 3 or 4 slides off.   With my software, only concerned with the start of a slide's presentation relative to the beginning of the song, no matter how slow a pc is, the slides were always rock-solid in sinc with the music.

I never did do anything with that software, except using it in seminars I used to be a part of... I wonder if I still have it somewhere or other?

Aaaaah nostalgia....

[Darlica]

As for now I don't run the presentations from my own computer as only accredited computers are allowed on the work "core" Intranet and my private net book, of cause, isn't such a beast.

I can access the "outer" work Intranet, even editing some stuff from any computer, I do it more or less daily form home. But the core one, where I have a catalogue in my name is only accessible from the company computers.

That said when I'm holding a course I keep copies of updated material on at least three different places, the classroom computer, a USB memory stick and in a folder on the Intranet.
I'm a sucker for multiple redundancy.

A non functioning classroom computer or projector would cause some trouble but by now I know where to go or who to call if I need a back up one. On the other hand, if the network or our back-end server for the PDA system goes down I'm smoked, as I need live connections to both of these during the course to show the functions of the system.