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How to grow as a presenter: examples

mark — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 16:29:58 +0000

I know there are a lot of sites, books, DVDs and courses out there that can help you be a better presenter. Personally I have learned a lot more from watching some great presenters in action than I ever picked up from any book. And the plus side is that you’re learning some stuff and picking up useful information at the same time as well.

My favorite two places for watching presenters at work are TED and Ignite.

TED is a non-profit organisation dedicated to spread “ideas worth spreading”, which is very, very broad but their conferences host some of the best and most original minds (and speakers) on the planet. Their basic format is a talk of no more than 18 minutes, sometimes shorter, on original ideas and experiences that help and inspire others. Some deep, some awe-inspiring and some funny, the site has a shedload of different presentations available unde a CC license, so share and enjoy.

Ignite‘s formula is somewhat different: Ignite organises geek events in over 100 cities worldwide, where speakers get 5 minutes to talk on their professions or passions and show 20 slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds, which makes for very concise and quite lively presentations (their tagline: “Enlighten us, but make it quick”).

Granted, not all the speakers on TED or Ignite are brilliant or well-versed in the Art of Gab (or public speaking to you and me), but there are some great gems in there.

Sam Spratt – great artist

mark — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 23:56:08 +0000

I just love this guy’s work. I actually bumped into his site through an illustration of his I saw on Gizmodo. Really great work, go check it out.

Cius is Cisco’s entry into the tablet storm

mark — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 19:14:46 +0000

You have to hand it to Apple. The iPad has really pushed the tablet market into overdrive. So much so that by next year the iPad may likely be the tablet not to be seen with anymore. There’s a first wave of Asian cheap tablets already available, some of which are quite interesting, and of course HP is cooking up some very interesting stuff. And now Cisco is also stepping into the ring with the Cius.

Cisco is aiming at business users with the Cius, but the specs are pretty impressive for lots of other things as well:

802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, 3G data (4G to follow soon) and Bluetooth 3.0
HD video: 720p at 30 FPS (with Cisco TelePresence interoperability)
5-megapixel rear facing camera and dual noise-cancelling microphones
On-board accelerometer
Virtual desktop client
Android operating system, with access to Android marketplace applications
Collaboration applications including Cisco Quad, Cisco Show and Share, WebEx, Presence, and IM
7” hi-res color screen with contact-based touch targets
HD media station supports Bluetooth and USB peripherals, 10/100/1000 wired connectivity and a handset option
8-hour (detachable and serviceable) battery
Cisco AnyConnect Security VPN Client
HD audio with wideband support

Shawing, baby! Sweet! Weighing in at just over a pound (520 grammes / 1.15 lbs) this bad boy will be available Q1, 2011.

I want one. Badly.

You gotta be kidding me: Zuckerberg is unblockable on Facebook

mark — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:58:48 +0000

Gizmodo is reporting on a finding by blockzuck.com that Mark Zuckerberg is unblockable on Facebook. Whu? Did I hear that right? You can block anyone you want except Mr. Mark “my users are dumb f*cks” Zuckerberg? This is too rich…is he so convinced of his own personal importance that he had his undoubtedly very capable techs make him unblockable? How big is your ego, you 26 year-old lucky SOB billionaire? Try some humility, and maybe people will actually like you and not try to block you at all.

The Web is quite well, thank you

mark — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:30:20 +0000

An article on Wired.com recently claimed that Web is dying, largely based on traffic data from Cisco, and illustrated with this graph:

If you believe this graph you might actually agree with the impending death of the Web. But Rob Beschizza at BoingBoing drew a new graph based on the actual total traffic numbers, which paints a completely different picture:

Rob quickly figured out that the original graph only showed a proportion of total traffic, not the actual total traffic which has undergone major growth (duh!). As Rob puts it:

In fact, between 1995 and 2006, the total amount of web traffic went from about 10 terabytes a month to 1,000,000 terabytes (or 1 exabyte). According to Cisco, the same source Wired used for its projections, total internet traffic rose then from about 1 exabyte to 7 exabytes between 2005 and 2010.

Read the full article on BoingBoing.

Brilliant idea: Journalism Warning Labels

mark — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 10:25:04 +0000

British comedian Tom Scott has come up with a brilliant idea: he has created warning labels for sloppy journalism and has been pasting them on the free newspapers he finds in the London Undergound. Not only is this very funny, but also the labels are mostly true (and as such a very effective social commentary).

You can find the labels to print for yourself on Tom’s site. (via TechDirt).

The KickMap – stunning and brilliant

mark — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:04:59 +0000

Having been to New York City once and remembering being at first completely baffled by the subway system and its official maps, and then, when comprehension dawned, wondering why the maps are so much more complicated than others I’ve seen (I love the complete clarity of the London Undergound map), I think the KickMap by brand strategy and design firm Kick Design (of NYC, of course) is such a massive improvement on the official MTA map; clear, concise, immediately understandable and way less confusing.

This is really an amazing piece of work in both graphical and system design. Go check it out.

Vacation, yay!

mark — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:58:38 +0000

I’m off for 11 days of this:

and some of this:

and, of course, some of this as well:

See you in August!

My provider and IPv6

mark — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:12:39 +0000

It’s a pretty simple question (if you’re an IT geek, anyway): “Hello [insert Internet provider's name here], I was just wondering when you will start supporting IPv6, or if there’s a plan to do that at all.”

Call up your ISP’s help line and (unless it’s a really good one) watch the total chaos and confusion ensue. I did this today and got a plethora of (sometimes conflicting) answers, such as:

“We will not support IPv6 for the foreseeable future.”
“We already support it, just not for your type of connection.”
“If you’re not seeing it your own equipment must not support it.”
“IPvWhat?”

Actually the answers do not really matter, just the total confusion and bewilderment in the voices of the people you’re transferred to, coupled with the game of hot potato as people try to pass you through to another victim to get rid of you is quite possibly the reason I’ll be making this my new hobby. Forget drunk dialing or prank calls, this is fun!

Maybe one day they’ll even give me a real answer. But how could I tell?

Dear Mr. Jobs, please stop lying.

mark — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:51:14 +0000

Just sayin’. You’re starting to look like the douche you always said everyone else was. I’m not surprised, but the fanboys are crying in their mom’s basements.

(in case you’re wondering what I’m on about, think Flash, iPhone 4 antennas, Android…I don’t really need to continue, do I?)