Software/Add-Ins

Vista Display Driver Updated!

So I have been tempted to reformat my primary computer, which is running Vista Ultimate, and go back to XP (on many occasions). What keeps me from this drastic action? Really it is a lack of time – if I am in front of a computer I am busy working on a project (which almost 24/7 lately) and the thought of taking time to deal with the nusances of Vista just does not make my priority list right now.

One of the major issues has been this fantastic 512MB graphics card having the features of a 10 year old model. In other words, it had no advanced features – Such as Flat Panel Scaling.

Well NVidia has finely come through provided a robust update to its control panel and now I can actually use this computer to run a show if needed (which I generally don’t do – this is my production computer, I have a small fleet of ‘show’ computers for that task). Of course my thought has been that by next year all of the Vista issues I am experiences will be resolved as software catchs up. But for now – one annoyance resolved!

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:21:48-08:00August 20th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Where’s My .PCB File in Vista?

So your PowerPoint toolbars have exploded and you need to reset them with your backup .pcb file (file that contains your customized toolbar settings). But you have just upgraded to Vista and it is no where to be found!

Here is where you need to go:
C: >> Users >> (Your Name/Account) >> App Data (will need to be able to view hidden folders) >> Roaming >> Microsoft >> PowerPoint

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:20:48-08:00August 13th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

PPTXtreme MoreEdit Released

I have been happily using a beta version of this add-in for quite awhile. Now it is available to all (approx. $40 US). Here is their official press release:

pptXTREME releases moreEdit for Microsoft PowerPoint

pptXTREME has released moreEdit for Microsoft PowerPoint 2000, XP, 2003 and 2007. moreEdit consists of eight tools: SaveSelected, MakeHeader, MakeBody, Edit Word Art, MatchWidth, MatchHeight, Hide/Unhide and Notes.

With moreEdit’s MakeHeader and MakeBody, shapes that are created in PowerPoint without using the slide master can be formatted to the master. The process also removes “fake” bullets and extra lines and spaces left by the author to give the appearance of PowerPoint bullets.

The SaveSelected tool saves slides selected by the user into a file from within PowerPoint’s own sorter view.

Multiple elements on a slide can be aligned and formatted with the same width or height using the MatchWidth or MatchHeight tools. moreEdit’s Edit Word Art maintains the Word Art’s font size and formatting when you edit the Art’s text.

moreEdit’s HideSlide and UnhideSlides adds to PowerPoint’s default “hide” capabilities by making the hidden slides more visible in sorter view.

The Notes tool inserts text boxes for notes to the author that are formatted to be seen but can be hidden.

Get the full-function trial, click here.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:17:23-08:00July 23rd, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

German PPT Blog

Ute Simon, a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP, sent me a link to their
PowerPoint-User-Team blog. The great thing is that an entire group of power users take turns with the posts.

Note: Ute and the entire PowerPoint-User-Team are in Germany, so the blog is also in German. Now if I could only understand it all…

Look at it here.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:16:37-08:00July 20th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Connection Speeds ARE Different

In developing webcasts for companies I continuously explain many of the factors that affect people’s ability to view, fast-forward, zoom, etc. “The internet is the internet and I have a fast connection – right?”

The simple answer is no. There are factors of your connection speed, your computers power, the server connection, the amount of traffic and geography. Yes, geography can have an impact on the connection speed. To illustrate, let’s look at a quick example.

I live in San Diego, CA (the red star in the lower left of the country). But if I connect to servers in different parts of the country I have different connection speeds; from 14.5MB down to 7MB.

Connection 1: San Diego to Los Angeles

Connection 2: San Diego to Seattle

Connection 3: San Diego to Chicago

Connection 4: San Diego to Atlanta

Note: For viewing a streaming movie, or webcast, the Download speed is the important number.
Note 2: Just noticed my ‘Atlanta’ circle is not over Atlanta…

All of these connection tests were done within 5 minutes. I used the connection test at Speakeasy.net (see 12/14/06 post for more info). Last, I am on a Fiber Optic connection, so your results may not reflect these numbers.

By |2016-11-17T16:11:03-08:00July 4th, 2007|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Whose Idea Was This? (Vista Recycle Bin)

So I have been working with Windows Vista on my primary machine for a while now and I still keep finding things that make me pause.

Now when you right-click the recycle bin to empty (delete) your files there is a new option – Delete. But this is not the delete your files delete, it is the delete the recycle bin delete!

Hmmm, maybe not the best place for a command named this…

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:10:35-08:00July 2nd, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Caution: Quicktime Pro and Vista’s Ready Boost

Last week while developing an OFX based awards presentation (OfficeFX is a 3D****) I needed to convert provided Quicktime movies to a supported format. No problem, open each movie in Quicktime Pro and Export to an .avi. WRONG – export errored out. I then spent the next several hours troubleshooting by installing, uninstalling, hacking option settings and registry entries – nothing worked.

A few days later I figured out the problem. I have been taking advantage of Vista’s ReadyBoost technology (using a USB memory stick as an extended memory cache). Turns out Quicktime’s export feature is not compatible with ReadyBoost. Remove the USB memory stick – export movies from Quicktime Pro. Now you know too.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:08:28-08:00June 22nd, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

PPT and Vista’s Active Thumbnails

I often run PowerPoint with an extended desktop setup with PowerPoint in the design or slide sorter view on the local monitor and presentation/slideshow on the external monitor. One of the downsides of this setup is that if I cannot see the external monitor/projector I do have an indicator of what slide I am actually on.

Windows Vista has some neat features, and some frustrations. Everyone has seen how Vista provides live thumbnails of all open applications and windows. Here is one example:

I can also use these active thumbnails to show me exactly what slide is active on an external monitor! By rolling over the ‘Slide Show’ tab it pops up a live thumbnail of the current slide. What’s even more hip is that the thumbnail will also show the animations in real time.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:08:05-08:00June 20th, 2007|Resource/Misc, Software/Add-Ins|

Google and PowerPoint

This week Google made an integrated PowerPoint viewer option to its online tools. Basically if you receive a PowerPoint presentation in a gmail account, there are a few options for the attachment; view as HTML, view as Slideshow, and download. Of course the key new option is VIEW AS SLIDESHOW.

Clicking View as Slideshow opens a new window and the presentation is displayed in a Flash based application. It does not handle everything perfect (I tested with an animation heavy presentation) and it is only a viewer. So there are no editing capabilities – yet. In reading others news feeds I noted that Google said edit & create slideshow tools would come by this summer…

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:06:10-08:00June 14th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|

Mosaic Images

This is a nifty online (and free) application. I recently used it for an awards show image where the first photo of the recipient was a mosaic and then the ‘real’ photo faded in to reveal who won the award. I did this sample of my daughter for the blog.

Here is a close-up that shows how the original image is converted to 1,000s of images that recreate the photo as a mosaic.

Give it a try at the “Image Mosaic Generator” here.

– Troy @ TLC

By |2016-11-17T16:03:57-08:00June 4th, 2007|Software/Add-Ins|
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