Spaced Out :: 11 2005

Isn’t it always annoying when you find a web page with a Flash file embedded in it. You want to save it to look at later, but when you right click on it, all you are given are the Flash specific settings which don’t include saving the file. Well if you use Firefox there is a very simple solution. Right click on the main area of the page and goto “View Page Info.” Select the “Media” tab and you will see information on media files used in the webpage, including all Flash files. If you select the Flash file of interest you can then hit the “Save As” button. Easy!

I regularly use a Palm ZIre 72 to store my contact and diary information. Increasingly I find it great to refer to reference material and, through the excellent DocumentsToGo , natively edit Microsoft Word and Excel files. The Palm Zire takes SD storage cards and I have recently come across the Sandisk Ultra-II Plus. Not only is this a fast and spacious (0.5 or 1Gb) SD card, it very neatly folds to reveal a USB connector turning it in to a standard USB memory stick. It means I can place all my Powerpoint files on the card, view/practice them on the Palm and then plug them straight in to the USB port on the host computer.

Over the years I have accumulated a few gadgets and tips to aid the presentation and delivery of course materials. My favourite teaching gadget is the Interlink Presentation Pilot Pro, a remote control device for controlling Powerpoint (and the mouse), as well as having a built in laser pointer. It is a radio-frequency remote control (meaning it doesn’t need line-of-sight) that requires a USB stick to be plugged in to the host PC. When not in use, the USB stick recesses away in to the body of the RC which also acts as the permanent off switch; very neat. It is also ergonomically designed and fits VERY snugly in to the palm of the hand. At ~$US70 it’s not cheap, but well worth the money.

Given the above, its not surprising that I use Powerpoint to present many of my lectures. Whether research seminars or undergraduate lectures, I usually make these available for download at a later date. I usually put my Powerpoint files through two stages:

• 1. NXPowerlite - this is a stand-alone program which optimises Powerpoint file sizes. Specifically it resizes and compresses graphics and “flattens” (into graphics) OLE objects. It generally does an amazing job of compressing a Powerpoint file.





• 2. I often want to distribute PDFs of my Powerpoint material. This prevents people stripping elements out of my presentations for re-use. I am not averse to this, but would prefer people to request this. For a while I have been searching for a PDF print driver that can perform edge-to-edge printing in such a way that the PDF looks like the original Powerpoint. I have had little success until recently when I installed Open Office 2. Unlike Powerpoint, Open Office (in particular Impress) can export a Powerpoint file to a borderless PDF (or indeed a Flash animation). OO’s ability to import Powerpoint is excellent, so this is the route I use now.

Like your coffee?? Well you need freshly roasted beans in order to get the best cuppa. Whilst unroasted (”green”) beans retain flavour for months after they have been picked, roasted beans only last weeks, whilst ground coffee lasts days. Vacuum packs are designed to minimise this degradation (and they contain a one-way valve to allow de-gassing, rather than exploding the packet!), however you really need to get freshly roasted beans.

Having tried a few places I now order all my coffee from Hill and Valley Coffee in Aylesbury. They roast daily and post out immediately. You should get your order within 2-days of roasting. I can recommend the Ethiopia Unwashed Harrar as being a particularly good medium coffee!

I’ve been thoroughly testing a Dualit espresso machine (84009) for the last year. Yes it’s a little expensive, but it makes fantastic coffee. I really can’t fault the brewing of an espresso, which produces a great crema on top. It comes with a capacious 2 litre water container and a 15 bar pump. As a result the milk frother is first rate.

Beware that making good espresso is a very messy business. Be prepared for alot of coffee and water getting thrown around. And if you live in a hard water area, the machine will need very regular (monthly) cleaning; this means running a vinegar solution through the machine and then flushing it.

OK that’s good news. Reliability wise its been a bit hit and miss. I returned the first one after 4 months as the pump blocked. The second one has been fine so far, however I have been through six (yes six!) brewheads. The plastic “splitter” that diverts the brewed coffee in to two cups repeatedly snapped off after limited use. Would appear to be a manufacturing fault; to Dualit’s credit they simply sent out a new one, but they can’t just replace the plastic splitter. It’s got to be the whole brewhead.

That said I couldn’t live without a pumped espresso maker now and the Dualit certainly makes good coffee!