Live

Not Bad to Live, Easy to Show Your Web Pages Real-Time in PowerPoint Presentations

Yes, I think we’ll prefer this way of living Web pages real-time in PowerPoint presentations, not pause the slide show and open the Web pages in Internet Explorer. I’ve introduced the step-by-step guide to use ActiveX control to do the live Web page in PowerPoint slides (refer to my previous post Make Your Live Homepage in PowerPoint Slides. Now I just find the right PowerPoint add-in to simplify that complicated PowerPoint macro way from one of these nice PowerPoint MVPs (what’s MVP? refer to the post Know Those PowerPoint MVPs to Help Yourself). And the VBA tool is totally free for everyone, and compatible with PowerPoint 2007 and PowerPoint 97-2003. That’s maybe why a 5 stars editor’s rating in PC Magazine (refer to LiveWeb review by PC Magazine).

LiveWeb - insert and view web pages real-time. - by Shyam Pillai

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

New Presentation Technology in Review: Thank MVP Geetesh on FlashPPT

In early twenty-first century, I devoted myself into the presentation innovations, shaking up a business practice were settled to the future. Quite a few of my thoughts may come out as I also like to dig more on Microsoft PowerPoint. Yet Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals) in PowerPoint have their own opinions on the experienced presentation skills. I really appreciate their works in practice. Here I recommend MVP Geetesh’s latest professional reviewing and ranking for the Flash/PowerPoint mixed tools on his FlashPPT site. You’ll find the technical details about the PowerPoint to Flash presentation (http://www.flashppt.com/blog/).

Also, you may like the presentation guru Geetesh Bajaj’s another presentation site Indezine (http://www.indezine.com/) and his PowerPoint Blog (http://www.indezine.com/blog/), which contain more nice PowerPoint templates and a lot of presentation resources for everyone.

One thing I need to claim, I’m not Microsoft MVPs only the IT presentation concerned businessman. So I just think that improving presentation skills is important for modern guys with new presentation technologies to make the business world easier. We don’t need to be the PowerPoint MVP, but we appreciate all efforts of the MVPs to help us become the MVP in our own field with better presentation skills. Thank all MVPs.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Live Up Yourself as Flash Video with Flash Media Encoder

Forget off the latest beta version of called Adobe Flash Player 10 with advanced 3D and GPU capabilities, you’ll like to build your own live streaming station site with latest Adobe Flash Media Encoder. Just visit:

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashmediaserver/flashmediaencoder/

Adobe Flash Media Encoder 2.5 software is designed to enable you to capture live audio and video while streaming it in real time to Flash Media Server software or Flash Video Streaming Service (FVSS). When high-quality streaming is your priority, Flash Media Encoder 2.5 can help you broadcast live events and around-the-clock broadcasting such as:

Sporting events
Concerts
Webcasts
Educational or promotional events

As I know, most IT news sites deployed Flash media server products as its webcast solution, and the solution is really recommended and awarded. However, for individuals, stored Flash video like YouTube way might be more acceptable, so Flash Video Encoder is preferred.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

AOL’s Rich Internet Mail in Microsoft’s Silverlight Experience

Beyond the common sense of popular AJAX Web mail, AOL plans on new gadget for old Web mail service, which offers industry-leading performance, unique skinning options and rich media content capabilities. Generally, the spotlight upon those boring slogans is the Microsoft Silverlight 2.0 technology in called convenience of the Web and the performance of a desktop application together.

AOL demonstrated the new RIA Mail at Microsoft’s MIX08 conference. The demo highlighted a version of RIA created specifically for fans of the video game Halo, featuring a Halo mail “skin” as well as Halo-specific content and advertising to create a dynamic online experience.

According to my ever experiences on Flash-based or AJAX-based Web mail services, Google’s Gmail’s still my favorite as its really Internet-friendly technology. However, AOL’s RIA Mail seems shinning and nice. If the high-appreciated future mail service can be launched to beat up Yahoo or Earthlink’s Web mail, I think Microsoft’s Silverlight should be the best weapon to arm to tooth. Also, I guess the new AOL mail may promote Silverlight as its engaging case study.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

The Master’s New Delivery: Steve Jobs’ Keynote On The Apple “i”

Again, with great delivery, simple visuals, total engagement, Steve made his next best presentation: on what’s important and skims over what’s not: “The ’90s are not important.” Watch the masterpiece and always learn more essentials.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Media Player and Adobe TV: Test Drive Adobe Family’s Newbies

Adobe officially unveiled long-waiting Adobe Media Player and Adobe TV last week.

Adobe Media Player is a cross-platform Adobe AIR application that offers content discovery and interaction. Companies that are offering content for the player include CBS, MTV Networks, Universal Music Group, PBS, CondéNet, and Scripps Networks. The official support of streaming Flash video in FLV format for Adobe Media Player could be a nice point to end-users, however, Adobe targets on the high definition media playback in 1080p, 720p or 480i resolutions. It’s really great as a combination of Web and traditional media.

Adobe TV is just a network in Adobe Media Player and offers “expert instruction and original series programming” about Adobe products. Its four channels targets at Photographers, Designers, Video Professionals, and Developers. By the way, the streaming is very smooth and in high quality.

I’m satisfied with the newbies from Adobe, and Adobe Media Player is the best AIR application I ever seen.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Make PowerPoint Presentation as Digital Signage Solution to Empower Your Business

Digital signage is the system that is used to convey your message, information or advertisements to your customers, students or colleagues. In simplistic terms, digital signage can be a PowerPoint presentation or you may wish to use a professional digital signage software package. Your message can then be displayed on large format LCD monitors, large plasma screens, multiple monitors, video walls, or through a projector onto a projection screen, a suspended acrylic rear projection screen or onto glass window film which may be touchscreen.

To reduce the time and effort needed to develop high-end presentations and graphics from any type of digital signage application, existing clip art galleries, imported images in any format, and link slide elements to real-time data sources to create stunning visual displays with continuously updated content could be combined with live video inputs, a real-time crawling ticker, video clip playback, and multiple animated logos and clocks, and you have everything you need to produce a full digital signage production just within Microsoft PowerPoint.

You may never know your PowerPoint application could be so powerful. Actually it is, and the unprecedented ease of use coupled with the highest quality output means users can create professional
and compeling digital signage in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost.

You may find more about this solution by yourself on Google:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=powerpoint+digital+signage

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Recommend Some Silverlight Demos from Microsoft Development Community

As Silverlight is really hot other than just Microsoft, I’m digging on it recent days, and now recommend some demos for everyone to know the further technology better, and plan it in your own business. The resources are just from Microsoft develper Nigel Parker’s presentation in his blog. Thanks for the effort.

Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Surface Demonstration (Video Support)
http://weblogs.asp.net/mschwarz/archive/2007/06/04/silverlight-surface-demonstration-video-support.aspx

French Silverlight 1.0 Application (Script#)
http://galilee.microsoft.fr/TechDays2008/SL/techdays-2008-silverlight.aspx
Script#

Silverlight 1.0 Inking Search Sample
http://www.tabletpcpost.com/search/

Silverlight 1.1 Alpha Invaders
http://www.andybeaulieu.com/silverlight/DestroyAll/Default.html
Code

Glenn Conner Interview
http://gobeyond.net.nz/glennria.html
Amazon Demo Silverlight 1.1 Alpha

Building a Video Player in 8 mins with Silverlight 1.0
http://gobeyond.net.nz/wotp/ReflectJam.html

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran

Make Your Live Homepage in PowerPoint Slides

You probably will like this way: a live window within a slide in PowerPoint, which displays the live Webpage, not just a pop-up Internet Explorer when clicking a hyperlink. Actually it’s easy to do so, at first you should add a Microsoft Web Browser control to a slide, and then run a macro as an action to the live Webpage in PowerPoint.

1. Show The Control Toolbar In PowerPoint
    In PowerPoint 2003 and earlier versions, point to View -> Toolbars, and click Control Toolbox, now the box shows up;
    In PowerPoint 2007, click the Microsoft Office Button -> PowerPoint Options -> Popular, click the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box, and then click OK, now the control group is in the Developer tab.

2. Draw The Web Browser In A Slide
    Click “More Controls” button, and then click “Microsoft Web Browser”, and then draw the control on your slide. The Microsoft Web Browser ActiveX control now appears on your slide.

3. Make A go2URL Macro For Presentation
    Launch the “Visual Basic Editor” in PowerPoint:
    In PowerPoint 2003 and earlier versions, go to Tools -> Macro -> Visual Basic Editor; in PowerPoint 2007, go to Visual Basic in the Developer tab;
    On the Microsoft Visual Basic window, point to Insert -> Module; just specify the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) as you like in the following code, and paste the modified code in the new Module window, which will run the browser, opening the URL:

Sub go2URL ()
Dim varURL as VariantvarURL = "http://www.yahoo.com"
Slide1.WebBrowser1.Navigate varURL
End Sub

    Then close the Visual Basic Editor.

4. Add An Action To Run The Macro
    Type any texts or insert any shapes you like, then add the actions to the live Webpage on them: make the texts or shapes selected, and point to Insert -> Action; in the tab of “Mouse Click” or “Mouse Over” as you like, select “Run macro” -> “go2URL”, and OK.

Now preview or save the presentation with macro, you can activate the live Webpage in the PowerPoint slide with a mouseclick or mouseover on the link.

William Peterson
Presentation Veteran