I used to use Powerpoint all the time. As a trainer who had to do my own developing I would spend hours and hours playing with it. Two tools that are really good for people who use Powerpoint a lot are 280 Slides and iSpring.
280 Slides is like having access to Powerpoint anywhere you have an internet connection. It is missing a few tools that Powerpoint has, but you won't miss them. It is a great way of sharing presentations with others. You can either develop the presentation right there online, or you can upload your presentation and share it from there. Awesome tool.
iSpring converts your PowerPoint presentation to an interactive Flash video with the click of a button. Not only is iSpring a great way to make your PowerPoint presentation more portable (not everyone has PowerPoint, after all), but as Digital Inspiration points out, an exported movie even preserves all of your slide transitions, animations, and hyperlinks. iSpring is freeware, Windows only, works with PowerPoint 2000 through 2007. Alternately, you can upload any presentation directly to the SlideBoom web site (which appears to convert and host Flash movies made with iSpring) if you don't want to host the presentation yourself.
You have to love technology!!!
Well now you can! There are acutally several systems that allow you to do it, but I have found a really good one that is free and reliable. It is called TubeMaster and I think you will like it.
Frome LifeHacker.com:
Windows only: Free streaming media capture tool TubeMaster is a great all-in-one solution for grabbing and converting audio and video from nearly any web site that can stream it to you. The no-install app launches as its own application with a built-in, tabbed browser—simply launch it, head to Last.fm, YouTube, a site with proprietary Flash video, or nearly any other streaming media, and hit "Start Media Capture." The files you grab are lined up in a queue for you to decide how to convert and save, and TubeMaster's built-in media search tool covers nearly 100 video and audio-sharing sites. There are browser plug-ins and apps that do some of the same things, but none quite as comprehensively as TubeMaster Plus. TubeMaster Plus is a free download for Windows systems only; upgrading to a paid version unlocks downloads from adult sites.
What a fun tool!
Remember the post about that fantastic Tesla electric car awhile back? I think it was like one of my first posts. Anyway, I find it interesting that they are back in the news again. It would appear that six figure electric sports cars just aren't selling like they hoped they would in this economy. Go figure... Tesla has had to do some pretty major reorganization because of it.
Tesla is creating a pretty interesting and more practical application for their high tech cars. It is sort of Dodge Magnum-esque, but if it will put down the power and speed of an internal combustion engine, then I'm sure it will sell. Right now all we know is that it is said to go 225 miles on a single charge and will cost upwards of $60,000.
One of the holdups in getting this car on the road is the fact that Tesla is waiting on a federal loan guarantee for their plant in San Diego. In fact, one of the reasons they have been mentioned again recently is because they just closed their Detroit location and told all their employees to move to San Jose if they want to continue working for Tesla. We're hearing that approximately 90% of the office was simply let go, and the remaining employees have to make their way to the San Jose headquarters with no moving costs covered, no increase in salary and no help getting rid of their old homes. Fortunately, the real estate market in Detroit is red-hot, and the cost of living is about the same in San Jose.... right?
The relevant section from the Tesla pink slip blog-post-of-death below:
"There will also be some headcount reduction due to consolidation of operations. In anticipation of moving vehicle engineering to our new HQ in San Jose, we are ramping down and will close our Rochester Hills office near Detroit. Good communication, tightly knit engineering and a common company culture are of paramount importance as Tesla grows."
That's right folks, "good communication" is key.
And do you want to know the real reason for the lcoation in California? Click here if you really want to read the whole press release, but the bottom line is that the Governator is giving a significant tax credit to anybody investing in zero emission vehicle technology in California. So since Tesla is creating entirely electric cars, this makes plenty of sense for them. Sure they would love to have their entire organization in one place, but that isn't the real reason they pulled out of Detroit. They left Detroit so they could get the tax credit for the work they were doing out there by doing it in California. Yes, that was a great way to stimulate the economy in California, but what about all of the jobs that are going to be lost in other places because those states aren't giving the tax credit. Wouldn't it make sense for all states to offer the same thing? Why wouldn't Michigan offer a tax credits for auto manufactuers investing in ZEVs? Crazy...
I will be performing live today at the largest arena in town! Bring your family and print this free ticket for each of them. See you there!
Again, another reason why nothing you see online should be taken at face value. ;) Visit this site to make your own tickets and funny stuff!
