Black Slide
I was about to do a presentation in New Orleans on sustainable landscapes, but the session before me was taking place where my images will be projected. Normally, I'd set up my computer with my title slide, but that didn't work in this case. …
Graphics Without Backgrounds
I made this really nifty graphic illustrating the Classical-Vernacular Spectrum in Keynote:
Here's how I did it: I needed to be able to import little images with transparent backgrounds so that stuff behind them comes right up to the edge of the image. …
Great Facilitators
The Great Facilitators should be long remembered with thunderous gratitude, because without them, those of us who step up to the microphone often might not have the chance. I've just spent several days in San Diego with Howard Blackson of …
Luggage and Packing
If you speak outside your locality, then that means you travel to do it. Here are a few travel ideas:
I buy Briggs & Riley luggage because it's the most smartly-designed stuff I could find at a price for mere mortals. …
Napkin Notes
I do some of my best work on napkins... Both building sketches and written ideas as well. Little square bar napkins are perfect... one for each of the major principle. This allows parallel trains of thought as I randomly think of items in stream-of-consciousness fashion on each of the subjects.
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Note Refinement and the Worthy Notebook
I wrote last year about how napkin notes allow multiple trains of thought... on paper... at once. Not bad, for those of us that are multi-tasking-challenged. But napkin notes, by themselves, have problems. …
Runkeeper
I've just used the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. RunKeeper is an iPhone app that uses the GPS in the phone to track where you're running. It uses the clock in the phone to track how long you take. …
Speaker's Rule #1
"You are not obligated to answer the question. Rather, use the question as an opportunity to advance your ideas." This is commonly known as the Politician's Rule #1, but it works for speakers as well. …
Speaking on the Street
Posted on Useful Stuff during the Congress for the New Urbanism in Denver:
Ever try to be a street orator? Today's Original Green session at the CNU in Denver was scheduled for a room where it couldn't possibly work. …
Taxi Pickups
For years, I went through early-morning drama in Miami trying to find a taxi to get to the airport. The problem was the fact that if you call early in the morning, they won't agree to come at a particular time. …
Taxis and Credit Cards
I spent several days in Boston recently, where the taxi drivers treat credit cards like Kryptonite. They would rather sit where they are for another 20 minutes to pick up a cash fare than to take a CC fare. …
Travel Lounges
Why should you have a travel lounge membership in today's economic climate? Maybe you shouldn't, but here are some factors to consider in tough times.
First, it all depends on how much you travel. …
WiFi on Airplanes - Peril or Profit?
Remember all those dire warnings about being able to use computers on airplanes only if you could disable the WiFi? Often, some of the flight attendants would announce that WiFi could "interrupt the airplane's navigation equipment," presumably imperiling the craft. …
