del.icio.us, furl, my linkblog etc.

I’ve been fooling around with how to post links to my linkblog and del.icio.us for a while now. I posted about this three times in July (14th, 23rd, 31st) while I was playing with the best setup for me.Since then, I have toyed with a few different tools for managing this. In September, I developed a solution that I liked. I wrote a toolbar button which, when clicked, would take the info from the page I was on and post to my linkblog using a combination of builtin WordPress code and my own code from 7/14 and then post to deli.icio.us and redirect me to deli.icio.us “done” message. Aside from the occassional unescaped character, it worked beautifully for a while, and I liked it.Recently, I noticed that the links were not posting to my blog (I know some of you don’t understand why I even want this – that’s okay). After messing with it for a few minutes I decided to just do things another way. I wrote another toolbar button that would post to my linkblog using builtin WordPress functionality and popup (in a tab, of course) the del.icio.us post form with the tags populated. I copy the tags, submit to del.icio.us, paste my tags into WordPress, and submit. Quick and easy enough for me.If you use FireFox and WordPress, you can drag this link — Post Link to your toolbar.Now, edit the code as follows – replace DELICIOUSUSERNAME with your del.ici.us username and replace WORDPRESSURL with your wordpress blog URL.

November 26, 2005 | Filed Under Fun | Comments 

Religion and Politics

Should churches discipline members because of their politics?Actually, I am inclined to agree with Albert Mohler on this. Churches probably should draw the lines in extreme cases like with Hitler.Of course, we all know Hitler was more like a republican than a democrat.Interesting.

November 13, 2005 | Filed Under Faith, Freedom | Comments 

Killer App

A few years ago, while on a plane to Seattle, my neighbor was reading an article in Wired magazine entitled “PowerPoint Is Evil.” I couldn’t help notice the title and once he finished with the magazine, I sttuck up a conversation with him about the article. It was an interesting discussion and my new friend let me walk away with the magazine. I am sure I sitll have it with the rest of my junk stuff somewhere which is very foolish considering I can read it anytime I’d like online.I was reminded of this recently when I heard about the role PowerPoint may have played in space shuttle disaster.

“It is easy to understand how a senior manager might read this PowerPoint slide and not realize that it addresses a life-threatening situation,” the Columbia Accident Investigation Board concluded, citing Tufte’s work. The board devoted a full page of its 2003 report to the issue, criticizing a space agency culture in which, it said, “the endemic use of PowerPoint” substituted for rigorous technical analysis.PowerPoint: The Killer App?

I am very sorry that people may have had to die to bring this to light, but I am glad that somebody is saying what needs to be said about this software.

Perhaps I’ve sat through too many PowerPoint presentations lately, but I think the trouble with these critics is that they don’t go far enough: The software may be as much of a mind-numbing menace to those of us who intend to remain earthbound as it is to astronauts.PowerPoint: The Killer App?

While checking for more info about this post, I learned that perhaps using slides to prepare a speech or presentation is not all bad. This article gives tips on good and bad use of PowerPoint for lawyers, and this one, while not about PowerPoint, explains how ‘picturing’ your speech can help give it focus. It’s an old piece, but still worth reading in my opinion. I also ran into a great story about a man who was upset because, though his presentation was a success, he didn’t get to show his slides.To make this whole episode even more rewarding, I found quite a bit of info about someideas about replacing PowerPoint. Keep in mind that these alternatives still present some of the same problems. According to Edward Tufte (the author of the Wired article), the problem is the culture of the sales pitch.

November 13, 2005 | Filed Under Fun | Comments