Upgrading to Firefox 3.0

I've recently run an update of my web browser to Firefox 3.0 and I must say, superficially I can't see too many differences. Some of the interface elements have increased in size. Although I suspect many of the improvements are under the hood in terms of rendering and new standards support.

One thing I did notice though is that during the upgrade, all of my previously installed add-ons like Firebug disappeared. I didn't expect this and I'm pretty sure that there was no advice on this in the upgrade process. Still, it wasn't too painful to find and install them again ...

However I have experienced numerous severe crashes, particularly on some sites and incompatibility issues with some rich text editors which has seen me go back to Internet Explorer. Currently Firefox appears unstable, and I'm not sure why they released and promoted such a buggy browser ...

Alternative to MS Project - OpenProj

I've begun trying a few freeware alternatives to Microsoft Project.

After trying several tools including Open Workbench 1.16 by Computer Associates, I've settled on OpenProj 1.3.1 by Projity.

OpenProj seems to offer almost everything that Project does. It is a Java application, but I've found it to run pretty fast, at least as fast as MS Project 2007 does, which is very suprising for a cross-platform application.

The interface is intuitive and familiar and it contains many of the same features offered by other project management suites.

The only current difficulty I'm having is working out how to assign multiple predecessors to a task.

But I can't complain, it is completely free.

Delivering a PowerPoint Presentation for Coaching

Another set of tips:
1. Introducing Yourself
2. Outline the lesson plan
3. State your objectives, why you are here
4. Explain the benefits for your audience
5. Outline the session structure
6. Follow the lesson structure – create section slides
7. Start with the basics
8. Reinforce each section with “What you have learned” slide
9. Use callouts, circles and arrows to highlight features
10. Provide useful tips and techniques
11. Stick to format and minimise distractions
12. Ask for feedback
13. Organise Follow-up training

I've also found some other delivery methods useful:

1. Screencast
2. Webcast
3. Web Conferencing

Some Dos and Don'ts of using PowerPoint for coaching

I had to prepare something recently and I thought I'd share some of it, these work for me:

Do:

• Understand your audience
• Have a lesson plan
• Keep it simple
• Be confident, maintain eye contact
• Make it interesting, entertaining
• Make it interactive, engage the audience
• Use screenshots and visual aids
• Encourage Practical Demonstrations

Don’t

• Simply read slides
• Rely on it

Trying to save PDFs from Excel 2007 ?

My old PDF printer driver wasn't reproducing the document properly and I spent ages trying to find a good free one because that was the old way to do things.

Until that is, I discovered that Microsoft have a free add-in. Of course you need a valid licence to download it.

Select All in Word and Excel 2007

There are a number of little user interface quirks to get used to when moving to Word and Excel 2007.

One is the old "select all" function which seems to have been overlooked by Microsoft.

The easiest way, I've found is to use shortcut keys - specifically "CTRL+A".

Then copy and paste using CTRL+V and CTRL+C.

The only other way is to use the ribbon. Unfortunately this useful function is now hidden on the far right of the "Home" ribbon (which is a bit of a catch all and not really well thought through). If you click "Find & Select", there is the option to "Select Objects" (which doesn't mean much to me). Unfortunately it can be a bit tricky to select everything this way.

A freeware screencasting alternative to Camtasia Studio

I do a lot of screencasting and in the past, I've used trials of Camtasia Studio to create demonstration videos for software.

Problem is that Camtasia is very expensive. I've also found it to crash on some computers.

Well I've been using CamStudio recently and I can say that it is very good, in combination that is with other programs such as Windows Movie Maker.

There are a few limitations in CamStudio that I have found that you should be aware of. One is that I like to use digital zoom and pan. You won't find that in free screencasting software yet, however. Camtasia in comparison has a lot of built in movie producing stuff, which personally I find to be a bit of overkill. Windows Movie Maker is pretty good for that sort of thing. The concept of CamStudio is simple - just do one thing and do it well. And that thing is recording what is happening on screen.