Odds & Ends from Tammy Worcester

Top 10 Travel Essentials

Wed, 5 Dec 2007 14:35:55 -0600

My friends have told me that I’m the most organized traveler they know. I don’t think that’s entirely true, but I have honed a system that works well for me. Below is a list of my top 10 12 travel items along with my comments.

Mouse over an item for a larger view. Click the item to see more details (including pricing information) at the Amazon website.

Choosing the Best Airline Seat

Wed, 3 Jan 2007 09:52:08 -0600

If you fly first class, you don’t need to read any further. For the rest of us...

Ever find yourself in a seat that is right beside the bathroom? It is noisy, smelly, and you have a constant close-up view of the backsides of those who are standing in line.

Or -- the flight offers a movie, but you can’t see the screen unless you tilt and turn your head just the right way.

Or -- you just want to settle in and sleep and you discover your seat doesn’t recline!

You can easily prevent these things by using the Seat Guru website. Here’s how to use it:

Book a flight through any airline’s website (or use Expedia, Travelocity, etc.).
Follow the on-screen instructions to get to the “Select Seats” option.
This page will show you a diagram of the airplane and will tell you the type of plane. Here’s an example from an American Airlines flight:   
Open a new window in your browser and go to www.seatguru.com.
Use the menus at the left to choose the airline and airplane. This will show a diagram of the plane, color-coded to show desirability:    
Mouse-over any seat to read a detailed description along with pros / cons:   
Return to the airline website, and choose the best seat you can!  

Thankful for Technology

Sun, 26 Nov 2006 09:30:56 -0600

A few days ago I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for about 20 relatives. Other than providing the house, my main job was to make the mashed potatoes.

As I reflect on it now, I’m amazed at the role that technology played to enhance this traditional event. How did our ancestors survive without these resources? :-)

I’m thankful for:
allrecipes.com - a website that provides recipes with ratings and reviews I found a great recipe for make-ahead mashed potatoes! 
cell phone - a call to Mom from the grocery store to find out how many pounds of potatoes to buy. 
google.com - Through a search for “best mashed potatoes”, I learned about the potato ricer... 
potato ricer - a low-tech way to mash potatoes. The potatoes stayed fluffy, even when re-heated for supper!   
CrockPots - an arsenal of different sized crock pots allowed us to keep the food warm until dinner time. 
Dishwasher - made cleanup SO much easier! 
Microwave - We’re still working on the leftovers! 
Laptop computers with wireless Internet connections - Websites like hotwheels.com, legos.com, crayola.com, and prongo.com kept my young nieces and nephews entertained and out of the kitchen! 
iTunes - I was able to download a variety of Thanksgiving music. 
iPod - With my iPod connected to speakers, everyone could enjoy the music. 
Guitar Heroes - a video game that kept the teenagers entertained - even Grandma tried it!  
Digital Camera - used to capture the fun!

Clever PowerPoint Example

Fri, 3 Nov 2006 09:51:24 -0600

Last week, I gave a plea for the support of the PowerPoint tool. This week, I’d like to share an example of the tool being used in a creative way to enhance a presentation. (Note - I’m not sure whether this presentation was created with PowerPoint or with Apple’s Keynote, but it really doesn’t matter -- it is a good example of ether one.)

This video clip shows a small portion of a keynote address given by Dick Hardt, Founder & CEO, Sxip Identity. To see the entire presentation, go to: http://identity20.com/media/OSCON2005/

Please be patient while the video loads:

Don’t Blame PowerPoint!

Wed, 25 Oct 2006 09:33:50 -0500

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “PowerPointLESS”. In fact, a Google search for that keyword returns 844 hits. If altered to “powerpoint-less” the list expands to 9930. A search for “Death by PowerPoint” tallies about 62,000 returns.

I’ve read articles describing the horrors of PowerPoint. I’ve listened to teachers complain profusely about the program. And I’ve heard administrators say things like, “If I go into a classroom and see one more student doing a PowerPoint presentation, I’m going to pull my hair out!”

OK, I’ll admit that there are a lot of students, teachers, and business people who are creating some pretty bad and boring presentations, but is that really the fault of the PowerPoint program?

If a student writes a poor essay, is it the fault of the pencil? If a carpenter does a shabby job on a building project, do we blame the hammer? A patient dies on the operating table. Might it have been the scalpel?

PowerPoint is a tool for creating presentations. Nothing more. It is only a TOOL. And a tool is only as powerful as what we do with it.

So -- the next time you sit with a numb bottom enduring another seemingly endless parade of meaningless bullet points, please don’t blame PowerPoint. Blame the teacher who gave the assignment; blame the student who didn’t have the gumption to do something more creative; blame the businessman who didn’t care enough to try -- but don’t blame the TOOL!