IBM to launch MS Office for Linux

[arthur]

Powerpoint?? NO! It's driven presentations and speeches(business, academic, scientific, anything) into the lowest intellectual level imaginable. (the "My dog can do that" level)

 

Many presentations nowadays lack real content - powerpoint puts misplaced authority in the minds of the viewers...a nut case suddenly sounds authoritative...people listen to crap, because it's on powerpoint.

 

I got a digital camera just to avoid putting those annoying and instantly recognizable Clip Art.

 

I'll post back, I gotta search for that anti-powerpoint website and post a link here.

 

EDIT:

actually the misplaced authority comes from legitimate presentations using powerpoint well, but people find it hard to identify a good powerpoint presentation from a bad one, hence the "viral" effect. I suggest if you're any good, don't use powerpoint. Don't do boring sequential presentations - jump around and force your audience to listen and participate. That's what presentations are for. You might as well just give them a "movie" if you don't want them to participate.

Edited February 25, 2004 by arthur

[Sarissi]

I would be extremely HAPPY if IBM ported Lotus SmartSuite to Linux. I would GLADLY pay the price! Lotus is SO superior to MS CRAP.

 

Lotus database actually has a check register that works properly, UNLIKE GNUCASH.

 

Lotus is one of the reasons that I have Win4lin. Other reasons include:

 

VB 6 Pro

Poser 4.03 (3d CGI app)

Astrolabe Solar Fire 5 (Professional Astrology suite) (written in VB, Btw)

[Gowator]

Thats a really good observation Arthur.

 

I have to admit I use a shock tactic at work quite often....

I start off with a powerpoint presentation .... then switch to a flipchart/whiteboard to illustrate my points....

 

I think it started by accident during my MSc. dissertation ... and I ended up deriving some proofs in the old style projector and blackboard...(we didn't have powerpoint back then)

Afterwards everyone seemed really complimentary .. like hey how original and brave.

 

(In actual fact I just misplaced the proofs - but I wasn't letting on)

Now i use it all the time....actually plan it in.

 

You can see examples of this with some of the worlds great orators.

Larry Ellison loves doing it.... and much as I despise Tony Blair he is a very good orator. There's a interview Clinton did on the BBC right after he left the Oval office and visited England. He starts off with some background then moves in and sits on the table. He's like "i was planning to discuss.... but I just decided to talk about ....". Its so cool! Im sure its preplanned etc. BUT what it does is show people you can do something without props.

 

Since I'm meant to be a tech guru everyone expects dazling powerpoint slides. At one point I was getting commisions from the finance director !!

However, even a really cool presentation looses hands down to a spontaneous demonstration you don't need props becuase its all in your head.

 

Anyway.... that's my free tip for coroprate presentations.

[aRTee]

Back to powerpoint -- I maintain that it, together with excel, is one of the few good apps that MS ever made.

 

Now, if people get too much respect since ppt allows them to b*llsh!t in bigger and better ways, is that the app?

 

My comment was in the technical sense, the bollocks you can sell with a good presentation wouldn't be any less than with CorelPresentations or OOo or Kpresenter.

So all I wanted to say is that MSppt does what it is supposed to do, as a tool/app to use it works quite well. The usual caveats apply, as with word, hidden text is not deleted, file format is crappy, bloated etcetc....

Plus it is not an open standard.

Same for excel -- good app, does what it should do, crappy format.

 

*slaps Gowator*

:P

If only for not getting what I was saying. If anything else, for slapping back :P :P :P

 

 

The point that bullshit is easier to sell with a nice wrapping around it (a shiny turd is still a turd) was brought up a lot after the recent spacecraft drama; there is a point to that, but it has more to do with people being impressed than the app itself....

[arthur]

In one website I made, I put hand-coded html on most of it, and some VBscript and Javascript...and one, just one page saved from MS Word.

 

The page was as big as the entire site(excluding pictures) , and it wasn't such a small site either. Like the html code from MS Word Gowator posted previously, there was so much trash I couldn't get rid of.

 

Many people sing praises for OOo because it can do .doc files, but the fact is .doc sucks. I'd like to see a campaign to promote open standards like the XML-based ones, and I think it can be done in spite of M$ - just look at PDF, it's hugely popular though MS has yet to include native support for it.

 

MS Office works. That's all, it's popular because M$ killed the competition. Corel and Lotus are barely alive even though they made good apps...I was using WordPerfect when it was still in DOS, and even at that time I could see that it was good.

[Gowator]

Fair point aRTee....

However the Presentation point (if you'll excuse the pun) is all part of the lockin.

 

i.e.

Insert ---- MsMap object, MSgraph object - MS movie, MS etc etc.

 

This spoils an otherwise useful app. Its all well and good you setting out and being careful not to add the MS... stuff but the majority of people don't.

 

This leaves companies with massive legacies of MS stuff that they can't convert if they ever do decide to change.

Since I posted some Word HTML, here's some powerpoint generated HTML....

This is a real EXAMPLE of a powerpoint presentation my boss asked to be put on the Intranet for subsidiaries to access (on a 64kbit line) !

He thought it was so cool that Powerpoint exports this, a ready made Intranet instead of having all those techies making it by hand!

 

<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"
xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
xmlns:p="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:powerpoint"
xmlns:oa="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:activation"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">

<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; [b]charset=windows-1252[/b]">
<meta name=ProgId content=PowerPoint.Slide>
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft PowerPoint 10">
<link rel=File-List href="<name_of_pres>_files/filelist.xml">
<link rel=Preview href="<name_of_pres>_files/preview.wmf">
<link rel=Edit-Time-Data href="<name_of_pres>-/editdata.mso">
<title>Title of Presentation</title>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:DocumentProperties>
 <o:Author>User453368</o:Author>
 <o:Template>M:\Office97\Modèles\landscape1.POT</o:Template>
 <o:LastAuthor>user12594</o:LastAuthor>
 <o:Revision>30</o:Revision>
 <o:TotalTime>1141</o:TotalTime>
 <o:LastPrinted>2000-10-10T09:50:18Z</o:LastPrinted>
 <o:Created>2002-02-11T14:27:27Z</o:Created>
 <o:LastSaved>2004-02-26T13:46:33Z</o:LastSaved>
 <o:Words>373</o:Words>
 <o:PresentationFormat>On-screen Show</o:PresentationFormat>
 <o:Company>Ms Slave</o:Company>
 <o:Bytes>746505</o:Bytes>
 <o:Paragraphs>125</o:Paragraphs>
 <o:Slides>13</o:Slides>
 <o:Notes>2</o:Notes>
 <o:Version>10.4219</o:Version>
</o:DocumentProperties>
<o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
 <o:RelyOnVML/>
 <o:PixelsPerInch>80</o:PixelsPerInch>
</o:OfficeDocumentSettings>
</xml><![endif]-->
<link rel=Presentation-XML href="<name_of_pres>_files/pres.xml">
<meta name=Description
content="26/02/2004: Brain dead presentation">
<meta http-equiv=expires content=0>
<![if !ppt]><script>
<!--
var ver = 0, appVer = navigator.appVersion, msie = appVer.indexOf( "MSIE " )
var msieWin31 = (appVer.indexOf( "Windows 3.1" ) >= 0), isMac = (appVer.indexOf("Macintosh") >= 0)
if( msie >= 0 )
 ver = parseFloat( appVer.substring( msie+5, appVer.indexOf ( ";", msie ) ) )
else
 ver = parseInt( appVer )
browserSupported=0
if( !isMac && ver >= 4 && msie >= 0 ) {
 browserSupported=1
 window.location.replace( '<name_of_pres>/frame.htm'+document.location.hash )
}
//-->
</script>
<![endif]>
</head>

<body>
<script><!--

if( browserSupported )
document.writeln('<div style="visibility:hidden">');

//--></script><font face=Arial size=2><b>

<p>This presentation contains content that your browser may not be able to show
properly. This presentation was optimized for more recent versions of Microsoft
Internet Explorer.</p>

<p>If you would like to proceed anyway, click <a
href="<name_of_pres>/frame.htm">here</a>.</p>

</b></font><script><!--

if( browserSupported )
document.writeln('</div>');

//--></script>
</body>

</html>

(Basically are you running IE or NOT! )

 

While creating this:

 

26/02/2004 14:46 <DIR> .

26/02/2004 14:46 <DIR> ..

26/02/2004 14:46 2,608 master03.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 10,461 master03.xml

26/02/2004 14:46 6,362 preview.wmf

26/02/2004 14:46 214 master03_image001.wmz

26/02/2004 14:46 2,453 master04.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 7,997 master04.xml

26/02/2004 14:46 6,124 master02.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 4,074 pres.xml

26/02/2004 14:46 7,136 slide0001.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 426 master04_image002.gif

26/02/2004 14:46 16,458 slide0003.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 183 image003.gif

26/02/2004 14:46 8,519 slide0002.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 8,773 slide0008.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 12,895 slide0013.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 73,257 slide0013_image004.jpg

26/02/2004 14:46 21,253 slide0013_image005.jpg

26/02/2004 14:46 69,233 slide0013_image006.jpg

26/02/2004 14:46 26,113 slide0013_image007.gif

26/02/2004 14:46 446,988 slide0013_image008.jpg

26/02/2004 14:46 27,589 slide0013_image009.jpg

26/02/2004 14:46 106,787 slide0013_image010.jpg

26/02/2004 14:46 22,688 slide0013_image011.jpg

26/02/2004 14:46 14,522 slide0009.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 8,021 slide0004.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 4,739 slide0005.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 12,161 slide0005_image012.png

26/02/2004 14:46 15,330 slide0006.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 15,578 slide0007.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 15,192 slide0015.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 11,971 slide0010.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 6,759 slide0012.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 9,083 master01.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 7,472 master03_stylesheet.css

26/02/2004 14:46 24,575 script.js

26/02/2004 14:46 839 fullscreen.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 1,834 buttons.gif

26/02/2004 14:46 1,377 frame.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 14,740 outline.htm

26/02/2004 14:46 1,509 filelist.xml

40 File(s) 1,054,293 bytes

2 Dir(s) 33,999,028,224 bytes free

Now check out the wmf and the wmv. The wmv isn't actually used, its a windows movie player blank file. Just to prevent you running this on anything but an IIS server!

Notice slide 13... this had animation.

Its just the same image repeated with a bar etc.

Loading this across a 100Mb network takes time....

Imagine getting this on dial up!

Plus its not maintainable, ANY changes need doing in Powerpoint and reexporting the whole thing.

 

You wouldn't think it could get WORSE but here's one of the actual HTML files

<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml"
xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
xmlns:p="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:powerpoint"
xmlns:oa="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:activation"
xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">

<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<meta name=ProgId content=PowerPoint.Slide>
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft PowerPoint 10">
<link id=Main-File rel=Main-File href="../*******.htm">
<link rel=Preview href=preview.wmf>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
p\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
v\:textbox {display:none;}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<title>Title of Presentation</title>
<meta name=Description
content="26/02/2004: **************** ">
<link rel=Stylesheet href="master03_stylesheet.css">
<!--[if gte IE 5]>
<object id=MSOANIM classid="CLSID:A4639D2F-774E-11D3-A490-00C04F6843FB"></object>
<object id=MSOTIME classid="CLSID:A4639D29-774E-11D3-A490-00C04F6843FB"></object>
<![endif]-->
<![if !ppt]>
<style>
.CT
{color:white;}
</style>
<style media=print>
<!--.sld
{left:0px !important;
width:6.0in !important;
height:4.5in !important;
font-size:107% !important;}
-->
</style>
<style>
<!--
oa\:* { BEHAVIOR: url(#MSOANIM#ANIM) url(#MSOTIME#TIME) }
oa\:par,oa\:seq,oa\:iterate { BEHAVIOR:url(#MSOTIME) }
oa\:video,oa\:audio {BEHAVIOR:url(#MSOTIME) url(#MSOTIME#MEDIA) }
-->
</style>
<script src=script.js></script><script><!--
if( !IsNts() ) Redirect( "PPTSld" );
//--></script><script><!--
g_animItemsToHide=new Array("_x0000_s57392");

//--></script><!--[if vml]><script>g_vml = 1;
</script><![endif]--><![endif]><p:slidetransition advancetime="0"
effect="randomBar" direction="horizontal" flag="1"/><o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="28,40,58"/>
</o:shapelayout>
</head>

<body lang=EN-GB style='margin:0px;background-color:black'
onclick="DocumentOnClick()" onresize="_RSW()" onload="LoadSld()"
onkeypress="_KPH()" oa:clockstart="onstart">

<div id=SlideObj class=sld style='position:absolute;top:0px;left:0px;
width:534px;height:400px;font-size:16px;background-color:#13436F;clip:rect(0%, 101%, 101%, 0%);
visibility:hidden;filter:revealtrans(Duration=1, Transition=21)'><p:slide
coordsize="720,540"
colors="#82A7BD,#FFFFFF,#13436F,#FFFFFF,#13436F,#FF0000,#FFCC00,#009900"
masterhref="master04.xml">
<p:shaperange href="master04.xml#_x0000_s57345"/><![if !ppt]><p:shaperange
 href="master04.xml#_x0000_s57391"/><![if !ppt]><v:group id="_x0000_s57392"
 style='position:absolute;left:54pt;top:192pt;width:619.125pt;height:156pt'
 coordorigin="375,1389" coordsize="4914,1350">
 <v:line id="_x0000_s57381" style='position:absolute;mso-wrap-style:none;
  v-text-anchor:middle' from="378,1389" to="5289,1389" strokecolor="white [1]">
  <v:shadow color="#13436f [2]"/>
 </v:line><v:line id="_x0000_s57383" style='position:absolute;
  mso-wrap-style:none;v-text-anchor:middle' from="375,2739" to="5286,2739"
  strokecolor="white [1]">
  <v:shadow color="#13436f [2]"/>
 </v:line><p:animation number="1" delay="0" type="object" effect="stretch"
  direction="across" flag="17412"/></v:group><![endif]><![if !vml]><img
border=0 v:shapes="_x0000_s57392,_x0000_s57381,_x0000_s57383"
src="master04_image002.gif" style='position:absolute;top:35.5%;left:7.49%;
width:86.32%;height:29.5%'><![endif]><p:shaperange
 href="master04.xml#_x0000_s57394"/>
<div v:shape="_x0000_s57394" class=O style='position:absolute;top:93.0%;
left:28.46%;width:76.96%;height:3.5%'><span style='font-family:Arial;
font-size:67%;text-shadow:auto'><b><i>******
- April 7-10, 2002<span style='mso-spacerun:yes'>         </span></i></b></span><span
style='font-family:Arial;font-size:75%;text-shadow:auto;mso-special-format:
lastCR;display:none'><b><i>
</i></b></span></div>
<![endif]><p:shaperange href="master04.xml#_x0000_m57386"/><v:shape id="_x0000_s59394"
 type="#_x0000_m57386" style='position:absolute;left:90pt;top:210pt;width:546pt;
 height:109.375pt'>
 <v:fill o:detectmouseclick="f"/>
 <v:stroke o:forcedash="f"/>
 <p:placeholder type="centerTitle"/></v:shape><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t202"
 coordsize="21600,21600" o:spt="202" path="m,l,21600r21600,l21600,xe">
 <v:stroke joinstyle="miter"/>
 <v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect"/>
</v:shapetype><v:shape id="_x0000_s59399" type="#_x0000_t202" style='position:absolute;
 left:192pt;top:306pt;width:342pt;height:28.875pt' filled="f" fillcolor="#13436f [4]"
 stroked="f" strokecolor="white [1]">
 <v:fill color2="#82a7bd [0]"/>
 <v:shadow color="#13436f [2]"/>
 <v:textbox style='mso-fit-shape-to-text:t'/>
</v:shape>
<div v:shape="_x0000_s59394" class=CT style='tab-interval:1.0677in'><span
style='position:absolute;top:38.5%;left:10.48%;width:79.77%;height:7.75%'><span
style='color:yellow'>*</span>**** <span style='color:yellow'>*</span>ffiliates
<span style='color:yellow'>**</span>ta </span><span style='position:absolute;
top:48.75%;left:13.48%;width:73.97%;height:7.75%'><span style='color:yellow'>**</span>***<br>
 </span><span style='position:absolute;top:58.0%;left:13.48%;width:73.97%;
height:4.0%'><span style='font-size:50%;mso-special-format:lastCR;display:
none'>
</span></span></div>
<div v:shape="_x0000_s59399" class=O style='mso-line-spacing:"100 50 0";
position:absolute;top:57.5%;left:27.71%;width:46.81%;height:4.0%'><span
style='font-family:Arial;font-size:75%;text-shadow:auto;color:yellow'><b><i>My Boss</i></b></span><span style='font-family:Arial;font-size:
75%;text-shadow:auto;mso-special-format:lastCR;display:none'><b>
</b></span></div>
</p:slide></div>

<p:animation/><![if !ppt]><oa:par id="TimeNode0" dur="indefinite"
restart="never" p:nodeType="timingRoot">
<oa:seq id="TimeNode1" dur="indefinite" prev="document.onpptprev"
 next="document.onpptnext" concurrent="enabled" nextAction="seek"
 p:nodeType="mainSeq">
 <oa:par id="TimeNode2" begin="indefinite;TimeNode1.onbegin" fill="hold">
  <oa:par id="TimeNode3" begin="0.0" fill="hold">
   <oa:par id="TimeNode4" o:presetID="ppt_17" o:presetClass="entrance"
    o:presetSubType="0xA" begin="0.0" fill="hold" p:nodeType="afterEffect">
    <oa:set id="TimeNode5" begin="0.0" dur="0.001" fill="hold"
     targetElement="_x0000_s57392" attributeName="style.visibility"
     to="visible"/>
    <oa:animate id="TimeNode6" dur="0.5" fill="hold"
     targetElement="_x0000_s57392" attributeName="ppt_w" calcmode="linear"
     valueType="number" keyTimes="0.0;1.0" values="0.0;#ppt_w"/>
    <oa:animate id="TimeNode7" dur="0.5" fill="hold"
     targetElement="_x0000_s57392" attributeName="ppt_h" calcmode="linear"
     valueType="number" keyTimes="0.0;1.0" values="#ppt_h;#ppt_h"/>
   </oa:par>
  </oa:par>
 </oa:par>
</oa:seq>
</oa:par><![endif]>
</body>

</html>

Honestly its near impossible to edit by hand.

 

Heres the same thing by hand in about 15 minutes!

 

23/09/2003 12:03 <DIR> .

26/02/2004 14:46 <DIR> ..

05/06/2003 12:12 73,933 a_sensible_name.jpg

06/06/2003 11:18 106,755 a_sensible_name1.jpg

06/06/2003 11:18 156,563 a_sensible_name2.jpg

06/06/2003 11:18 146,352 a_sensible_name3.jpg

05/06/2003 17:14 1,400 instable.htm

05/06/2003 14:24 6,345 a_sensible_name6.gif

05/06/2003 15:11 8,847 a_sensible_name7.gif

8 File(s) 503,808 bytes

(half the size but it doesn't need to be loaded all at once like the other!)

06/06/2003 11:49 4,337 _1.htm

06/06/2003 11:49 2,335 _2.htm

06/06/2003 11:49 2,586 _3.htm

06/06/2003 11:49 2,116 _4.htm

06/06/2003 11:50 3,502 _8.htm

06/06/2003 11:49 2,131 5.htm

06/06/2003 11:50 2,136 6.htm

06/06/2003 11:50 2,128 7.htm

06/06/2003 11:49 2,694 9.htm

06/06/2003 11:50 2,119 10.htm

06/06/2003 11:51 2,897 11.htm

06/06/2003 12:12 2,973 12.htm

06/06/2003 12:15 4,093 13.htm

06/06/2003 12:23 3,496 14.htm

06/06/2003 12:33 2,343 15.htm

 

(51,200 bytes)

Its easily maintainable and the images are reused.

Powerpoint copies the logo for instance for every slide.

It runs on ANY http server and ANY browser!

 

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<title>****2002</title>
<style><!--
.Normal
{font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
-->
</style>
</head>
<body lang=EN-GB class="Normal">
<p align="left"><span lang=EN-GB><b>Download original Presentation<a href="***.pdf"><img src="../graphics/acrobat.gif" width="73" height="67" border="0"></a>Presentation 
 by My Boss <a href="GSR2002_2.htm"><img src="../graphics/NextPage.gif" width="104" height="36" border="0"></a></b></span></p>
<table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
 <tr> 
   <td width=23% valign=top class="Normal"> 
     <p>Page 1/15</p>
   </td>
   <td width=77% valign=top class="Normal"> 
     <p><span lang=EN-GB><font size="6" color="#FF0000">*</font><font size="6">*********
       <font color="#FF0000">*</font>***** <font color="#FF0000">DA</font>** 
       <font color="#FF0000">*</font>*****
</font><img src="../graphics/companylogo.gif" width="100" height="110" align="right"></span></p>
     <p><span lang=EN-GB><font size="+4" color="#FF0000">******</font></span></p>
   </td>
 </tr>
 <tr> 
   <td width=23% class="Normal"> 
     <p><span lang=EN-GB><Author:My Boss></span></p>
   </td>
   <td valign=top class="Normal" width="77%"> 
     <p><span lang=EN-GB><Presented at: some Dull conference 
       7-10, 2002></span></p>
     </td>
 </tr>
 <tr> 
   <td height="3" width="23%"><img height="1" width="36" src="../graphics/spacer.gif"></td>
   <td width="77%"></td>
 </tr>
</table>
<hr>
<p><font size="7">The Subjects of the Presentation:</font></p>
<p><img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="14"><b>Subject1<br>
 <img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="13">Subject2<br>
 <img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="13">Subject3<br>
 <img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="13">Subject4<br>
 <img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="13">Subject5<br>
 <img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="13">Subject6<br>
 <img src="../graphics/X.gif" width="13" height="13">Subject7<br>
 <img src="../graphics/X.gif" width="13" height="13">Subject8<br>
</p>
<p><font size="4">Making an effective Intranet Presentation by Gowator!  </font></p>
<p><img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="13"><font size="4">Top class 
 Intranet's need to be maintainable and clear for the user to follow</font></p>
<p><img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="13"><font size="4">Information should be more important than presentation</font><br>
 <img src="../graphics/ARR_RIGHT.gif" width="15" height="15">Otherwise this conversion would take forever! 
 data<br>
 <img src="../graphics/ARR_RIGHT.gif" width="15" height="15">If users find this presentation they are looking<br>
 <img src="../graphics/ARR_RIGHT.gif" width="15" height="15">for information, not fancy graphics</p>
<p><img src="../graphics/TICK.gif" width="13" height="13"><font size="4">They might need to cut/paste text</font><br>
 <img src="../graphics/ARR_RIGHT.gif" width="15" height="15">So embedding it in a graphic is pointless<br>
 <img src="../graphics/ARR_RIGHT.gif" width="15" height="15">Gowator is bored so he's going to just delete a chunk <br>

............
<hr>
<p><span lang=EN-GB><b>Download original Presentation<a href="effective_intranet.pdf"><img src="../graphics/acrobat.gif" width="73" height="67" border="0"></a>Presentation 
 by My boss<a href="2.htm"><img src="../graphics/NextPage.gif" width="104" height="36" border="0"></a></b></span></p>
</body>
</html>

Here is the same page!

(Im not proud of this coding its just a quick hack!) However at least you can start to clean it up and make it more efficient. The Powerpoint one is as generated, I challenge anyone to edit it as opposed to rewrite it.

[phunni]

I'm a technical trainer and I have to use powerpoint to do my job, I have absolutely no option.

 

I have always used flipcharts and whiteboards to add to my presentation - so does every other trainer I know, these aren't really shock tactics.

 

I have to say that, in general, I think that MS Office is a good product (ok - not for producing web pages but, with the exception of frontpage, that's not it's main purpose). The only thing I don't like about is the closed formats. It's still a good product though and IMHO a better one the Star office/open office

 

That said, I generally use Open Office because of the opne formats - except when I have to use powerpoint that is...

[Gowator]

Yeah but you a PRO phunni.....

Believe me ive sat through enough presentations where the guy READS the slides to you.

 

Kinda reminds me of a line from top gun.

'in Vietnam the navy kill ratio was ....... our pilots were relying on missles and lost their dogfighting skills'

 

Powerpoint seems to be a coroprate missle of choice.....

'in 1989 our tecnicians presented the <> based on an understanding of the subject, by 2004 that ratio had dropped to <>..... our executives became reliant on Powerpoint and lost their presentation skills....'

 

:D

 

Perhaps you should be doing a course in effective presentations as well ?

Kinda a TOP GUN for technical presenters!

[aRTee]

Gowator, you wrote:

"Honestly its near impossible to edit by hand."

 

Not true. Ctrl-a and hit del. Fixes all nasty code right there.

:P

[Gowator]

LOL-

How did you know how I did it!

Seriously I have thousands of pages of the crap to edit....

 

Its years of people hitting html export and requesting the files be put on the intranet. Unfortunately the techies who's job it is are much lower in the food chain than the people submitting the offending HTML.

 

just another OT example.

To get an email address at my company the procedure is to 'send an email from your work account - only emails from work accounts will be processed'

 

When I first saw it I thought the guy who actually wrote the page and posted it on the intranet must have a screw loose. Now i realise he was just doing what his boss said.... he probably even tried to point out catch-22's and was told to shut up becuase that's the policy.

 

/me thinks and links back to topic thread...

The policy was probably passed at some IS steering comitee as part of a mind numbingly boring powerpoint presentation.

 

probably the same one where they decided to use a MS DNS resolver ...consequences of which we all had to have numeric unix account names instead of real names to fit with the NT system, only someone forgot that the UID is important, not the name. We are still 2 years later clearing up the mess this caused to hundreds of terrabytes of files!

 

I blame powerpoint :D

[Michel]

I would be extremely HAPPY if IBM ported Lotus SmartSuite to Linux. I would GLADLY pay the price! Lotus is SO superior to MS CRAP.

 

Lotus database actually has a check register that works properly, UNLIKE GNUCASH.   

 

Lotus is one of the reasons that I have Win4lin. Other reasons include:

 

VB 6 Pro

Poser 4.03 (3d CGI app)

Astrolabe Solar Fire 5 (Professional Astrology suite) (written in VB, Btw)

If you're interested, I think VB-pro is now (or going) to be available for linux. You have to check though.

[Sarissi]

Michel, I find it extremely difficult to believe that VB-Pro is or will be available for Linux, given that it is a Microsoft Product.

[Darkelve]

This is a real EXAMPLE of a powerpoint presentation my boss asked to be put on the Intranet for subsidiaries to access (on a 64kbit line)  ! 

 

[

Crappy powerpoint code comes here

]

:sick: :sick: :sick:

 

:sick: :sick:

 

:sick:

 

Arg... Gowator, why you do this to ME!?

Edited February 26, 2004 by Darkelve

[Gowator]

LOL....

its hard to beleive its really that bad...

and this was a pretty simple presentation! No embedded objects etc.

then, after seeing the index page you think it can't be worse till you see the actual slides!

 

If I detest Powerpoint abuse its becuae I get the damned job of cleaning the code up! Which as aRTee pointed out is actually CTRL+A DEL and start from scratch after extracting any images and stuff.

 

edits:

I know they were long posts, even for me but be honest... you wouldn't beleive they were THAT bad unless you saw them!

 

The good news is EVERYONE can do this! At work, university etc. SHOW others just how bad it is!

Edited February 26, 2004 by Gowator

[Darkelve]

LOL....

its hard to beleive its really that bad...

and this was a pretty simple presentation!  No embedded objects etc. 

then, after seeing the index page you think it can't be worse till you see the actual slides! 

 

If I detest Powerpoint abuse its becuae I get the damned job of cleaning the code up!  Which as aRTee pointed out is actually CTRL+A DEL and start from scratch after extracting any images and stuff.

 

edits:

I know they were long posts, even for me but be honest... you wouldn't beleive they were THAT bad unless you saw them! 

 

The good news is EVERYONE can do this!  At work, university etc.  SHOW others just how bad it is!

Why not just make some nice templates with (X)html and CSS?

 

Put them on the web, re-use them.

 

 

Put all your handy dandy layout mark-up in your external style sheet, then use it over and over! Powerpoint lay-outs are generally really simple, IMHO. Re-use for all yer presentations. Sure the stylesheets might get huge, but considering the alternative...

 

Put it on the web? Hey, it's ready to go!

 

But there's of course the 'problem' of how to download it. Put it in a Zip file? Good idea but sadly some chaps don't even know how to USE an unzip utility. And they work on PC's daily!