Breaking Murphy's Law

Bookmarked: SharePoint Saturday Raleigh… (SharePoint Brain Freeze)

SharePoint Saturday Raleigh… (SharePoint Brain Freeze) – "I really apologize to the folks at my session, projector issues cut my time in half and then VM slowness and beta stability problems killed the rest of the session. The really embarrassing part came afterwards when I noticed in my rush to move rooms after the projector failed I never plugged in my laptop. No Power = Power Saving = CPU Suckage = VM Useless." [Classic cascade failure. Started with having to change rooms due to projector failure and ended up with the software crucial to the presentation not working well enough. Also illustrates Principle #8 — Existence does not equal adequacy. Having enough power to run the laptop doesn't guarantee having adequate power to present successfully .]

Bookmarked: Projector problems (Media-savvy’s Blog)

Projector problems (Media-savvy’s Blog) – "A group was giving a presentation and they wanted to show a video. The sound was working, but the video would only show up on their laptop screen, not on the projector. We (the audience) could see the media player, but the rest of the “screen” was black. Did you ever experience the same? What is the problem here? How could it be solved?" [I suggested that they make the projector the primary output. Any other ideas?]

Cyberpunk: Being pros, they had a backup…

gibson Even fictional characters know the importance of the first principle — If you canâ€™t do without it, make sure you wonâ€™t have to.Â Acting on this knowledge is what marks them as professionals in the eyes of the other character in this passage from my favorite early work by one of my favorite writers:

“Now,” Lucas said, “when Two-a-Day’s hired help, who are all in all a pair of tough and experienced console jockeys, when they saw what you are about to see, my man, they decided that their deck was due for that big overhaul in the sky. Being pros, they had a backup deck. When they brought it on line, they saw the same thing. It was at that point that they decided to phone their employer, Mr. Two-a-Day, who, as we can see from this mess, was about to throw himself a party.”

~William Gibson, Count Zero

I know. I’ve just betrayed a little geekiness in my ready habits. Just substitute “AV tech” for “console jockey” and “projector” for deck”. Okay, that’s still pretty geeky, but you get the idea.

Bookmarked: Presentation Horror Stories (More than PowerPoint…)

Presentation Horror Stories (More than PowerPoint…) – [An oldie but a goodie from Laura Bergells.] "She turned red, and asked for tech support to help. A gigantic, goth young man lumbered on stage, twirled her around to audience profile, flipped up her blazer, bent over and intently gazed at her mike's fanny pack."

Overheard on Twitter: Should have brought the Kodak projector.

Conference presentation is delayed. AV problems. Should have brought the Kodak projector. @SWsteven (Steven Widmann)

Bookmarked: win7 demo – japanese tv show (YouTube)

win7 demo – japanese tv show (YouTube) – [Know your equipment!]

Bookmarked: Lights Go Out On Craig Ferguson (Blog Stage)

Lights Go Out On Craig Ferguson (Blog Stage) – Last night, high winds swept through Los Angeles, disrupting electricity in the city — including the television studio where comedian Craig Ferguson was busy filming The Late Late Show. [Ever lose electricity during a presentation? In addition to the general disruption it causes, power failures can start a cascade of other problems. For instance, projector lamps don't react well to being turned of suddenly with out without competing their cooling cycle. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about a building- or block-wide power failure. Just be sure the electrical service you request from the venue is adequate to the equipment you will be using so you don't cause an outage in the room you're working in.]

Bookmarked: I survived a speaker’s worst nightmare at BlogWorld! (Birmingham Blogging Academy)

I survived a speaker’s worst nightmare at BlogWorld! (Birmingham Blogging Academy) – [Sometimes things started to go wrong week or months before you even hit the stage] "When the first few attendees left my presentation early, I wasn’t fazed. … Then, a few more left. Did my slides suck? Had I forgotten to shower?? And then someone raised her hand to ask a question. Jill Stanek asked if I would be teaching about how to write better blog posts. I said, “No, maybe you have the wrong room?” No, she was in the right room… I was confused. Another attendee pulled out her printed guide and read the description for my session. The session title was right, but the conference organizers had included a summary from a different proposal I had submitted months ago. (See, print isn’t dead.) I was horrified. I had been giving the wrong presentation! I started to panic. I wasn’t sure what to do. I was embarrassed for me. I was concerned for those who had already left. I was a little ticked. And I needed a game plan. I took a deep breath."

Bookmarked: Keynote ruckus at HighEdWeb (sleary)

Keynote ruckus at HighEdWeb (sleary) – [Technology is completely dependable only in that it's sure to find new ways to punish the unprepared.] "What do 450 web nerds do when they’re trapped in a hotel ballroom listening to someone who’s insulting their intelligence? They get out their laptops and smartphones and start tweeting."

Bookmarked: Do this before using PowerPoint seriously (PPTools)

Do this before using PowerPoint seriously (PPTools) – "Before you get serious with PowerPoint, do yourself a BIG favor and change a few settings. Leaving them at their defaults can cause you to lose data or even your whole PowerPoint presentation."

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