Where’s Rob? December 2, 2009
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Where’s Rob?
Improv Everywhere, as their mission states, “causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places.” They’ve created some very funny moments, such as Frozen Grand Central and Food Court Musical, but Where’s Rob is one of their funniest — and most heartwarming — yet.
Bad Movie of the Week: Barbarella November 30, 2009
Posted by Vincent in Bad Movies.add a comment
Back when science fiction meant that anything and everything could happen, along came Barbarella. Starring Jane Fonda and Marcel Marceau, Barbarella is based on the French erotic comics of Jean-Claude Forest, and it’s precisely as amazing and ridiculous as you’d expect a 1968 French experimental science fiction film to be. Notably, the villian is known as “Mr. Durand-Durand”, the inspiration for the naming of rock group Duran Duran. Final score: 3 (6 is worst).
Off to New England November 20, 2009
Posted by Vincent in Explorations.add a comment
I’ll be in Boston and New Hampshire through next Thursday. Posting to this blog will not be significantly affected… because it’s been pretty lax anyway. Let me know if you’ll be in the cold wint’ry north as well.
New Orleans Bike Trip November 16, 2009
Posted by Vincent in Explorations.Tags: biking, new orleans
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Two days, 180 miles, Biloxi to New Orleans and back, with Jesse and two NCCC volunteers, Meredith and Liz. Perfect weather – high of 73°, sunny, light wind. Yes, you can get a (mild) sunburn in November in Mississippi, if you’re on the road for 8 hours a day. Pictures below and the full set here.
Biking to New Orleans November 13, 2009
Posted by Vincent in Explorations.Tags: biking
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I’ve been thinking about a bike trip to New Orleans for a while, and this weekend it happens. The weather is sunny with a high of 74°. The 90-mile ride follows US Highway 90 across the Mississippi coast, through Bay St. Louis and Pearlington, into the lakes and wetlands and finally through East New Orleans into the city.
It’s time I’m bikin’ to New Orleans
I’m bikin’ to New Orleans
I’m going to need two pair of shoes
When I get through bikin’ to you
When I get back to New Orleans–Fats Domino (Adapted)
Abita Brewery Tour November 12, 2009
Posted by Vincent in Explorations.add a comment
Abita is an excellent local brewery based in Abita Springs, Louisiana, just north of Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans. Last Saturday, Sam, Molly, James, and I drove up to Abita Springs to tour the Abita brewery and, more importantly, to sample their many delicious beers (all for free). They’re all pretty good, but the one I most highly recommend, if you can get it (it wasn’t available on the tour) is the Abbey Ale.
The core of the brewing operations: the Merlin Kettle, Lauter Tun, and Mash Tun.
No open-toed shoes allowed. It's blue booties for James and Sam.
Make your slideshow interactive with page links November 5, 2009
Posted by Vincent in Didactic.add a comment
A slideshow is typically a one-dimensional presentation tool — a series of images that the presenter advances while she talks. But what if a slideshow could be more like a website — an interactive, multi-dimensional tool for exploring complex or layered information? It turns out that it’s not hard to add page links and other interactive elements. I’ll show how to use Adobe InDesign CS3 to create an interactive PDF, although similar effects are possible in PowerPoint.
The background: here at the GCCDS, we wanted to create a slideshow that would display a ‘matrix’ of ideas: three aspects of our practice as they apply to five different groups involved in our work. We also wanted the presenter or another viewer to be able to explore the relationships within the matrix in a non-linear fashion. Our first thought was a web site, but that didn’t fit our requirements. We needed some way to link between pages in a PDF. You’ve seen presentations where the presenter could click on a URL and have a web page open in a separate window. But we found that the same tool can be used for more subtle effects: linking to another page in the same presentation, for instance.
