Toshiba NB205 Netbook has arrived!

I have been testing my Toshiba NB205. It supposedly has up to a 9 hour battery life. I fully charged the battery and used it for over 2 hours and it said it still had 75% remaining - so not bad so far. I hooked it up to my projector and ran a PowerPoint using PowerPoint Viewer. The color and clarity were great, however I did note that a couple of animations did not deploy the first time I hit the slides. When I backed up and tried the slides again, it worked. It deployed some animations and not others. It was not consistent on the type of animations that didn't deploy - I added that for you techies that are attempting to trouble shoot this in your heads. So I have to figure this one out to see if it the version of PowerPoint Viewer that came pre-installed or if it is something with the Toshiba.

I have used this with my wireless network at home and that connection is working great.

The built-in camera was a little slow to load, but once I got it to work it is working great. I loaded Skype on there and that is working fine.

I loaded Internet Explorer 8 on it and Google Chrome - doing a test to see which one it likes best. One thing I am finding with both of them is that some websites are only compatible up to Explorer 7 so I have to hit Compatibility and that works well on those sites. So far on most sites, if the site likes it, Google Chrome is faster. If the site doesn't like that format, you will know it as it loads really slow if at all. Then I just switch back to IE and do compatibility.

The keyboard is slightly smaller than a regular one (no 10 key and the regular keys are a little closer together than a regular board, but the keys are the same size). This took a little while to get used to as the reach for the keys is closer. However, not nearly as small as my Blackberry.

The size and weight are great - no back strain and it fits in my projector bag. So far I am really liking it.

Kind of figuring out the videos

I have been playing a lot with YouTube and my various websites and have learned something every time I have worked on another video. One of my sites will not take embeded code worth anything (this is where you see the actual video right within the page itself). So I took a still picture, put it in PowerPoint, added what looks like a play button, saved it as a picture and put that on the website with a hyperlink to the video. I thought it made it stand out more from the other pictures on the site. I didn't link this picture here as I don't want it to take you out of my blog to YouTube as it does on the actual site. Just put it here so you can see what I am talking about. Doesn't it just make you want to click on it since it has an arrow? If you want to see it on the site, it is at http://firststpaul.freetoasthost.us/membershipinfo.html

Then I found out from some of my other sites where it will take the embeded code that you can manipulate how the code works. Such as turning on or off if they get to see similar videos, the size of the video on the screen and the background color and borders. Check out http://www.4dynamicwomen.com/Presenters.html to see the embeded ones I did there.

Did you choose to be offended?

I met with a friend last night that was having negative feelings with her husband. Then this morning I turn on the TV and they are talking about how people can only offend you if you choose to be offended. It was an interesting string of events as that is basically what I was telling my friend last night. So, I guess that means I should be sharing it with you in a blog this morning.

Most people have something going on in their lives and heads that we aren't privy to. Unfortunately, we might just happen to be in their path at the time that the pent-up feelings coming spilling forth. The easiest targets are those that are the closest to us and love us the most. When this happens, take a step back, take a deep breath, and take a look around. Was it really something you did that you have control over and can now apologize for, make amends for, or make a future change? Was it something that was done to them that they didn't deal with at the time and is now misdirected at you? Let them know you get that something is up with them and you want to communicate with them. Let them be heard without judgement. Stay calm and off of the defensive. If it isn't something that can be resolved right now, a nice smile, "I love you", "I would like us to get through this together." and then sometimes a quiet walking away from each other momentarily might be what is needed. And then you need to reflect on the positive things in life, in your relationship (when it was going well), and push the negative thoughts away.

When you clear your head with positive thoughts, it is amazing at how many times a solution to an issue can become clear. If your head is filled with the negative, you tend to spiral further down. Sometimes coming up with positive thoughts can be difficult, yet rarely impossible. It's your choice.

Using Google Presentations in LinkedIn

I just used the Application "Google Presentations" on my LinkedIn account and it was frustrating! What was my problem you ask? I forgot to PUBLISH the presentation. You see it opens your Google Docs, which I am very familiar in work with that program. I have shared Christmas planning lists with my Mom, meeting planning documents with my volunteer groups, client documents with specific clients and more. However, rarely have I published anything and shared it with the world.

The instructions do not tell you to publish the presentation. All of the help files I went into said how to create the publication and they all ended with you making your last slide, playing it to make sure it was what you want, and then "there, you just created your presentation". Unfortunately it doesn't continue with sharing it with the world. So, my advise to you is that if you decide to take the plunge and create a Google Presentation, which is like a PowerPoint presentation, please remember to publish it if you are using it on any websites.

If you would like to see the little presentation I did, let me know. I guess Google Docs is experiencing an error and can't link there right now. Your other option is if you are on LinkedIn, check out my Profile.

Happy publishing!

Working on Videos

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook I can handle. This world of video creation is being a bit challenging for me. However, I have created a little video on Bruce's Mac and uploaded it to YouTube and added it to our website at http://burnsidedynamics.com. If you want to see the video check it out, here is the YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwK8SoKPs-g

Setting up the blog site

It is time to start sharing tips, tricks and ideas in a blog. Each month we produce a free newsletter letting everyone know where I am talking next; a tip on personal finance, technology and people skills; Bruce does an article on whatever he has been thinking about that month; and we try to be current with the information. Sometimes it comes from an article I have read, a discussion I had or just something that popped into my head. Now with the blogs, I get this stuff out on a more frequent basis and go backwards from there. To sign up for our free monthly newsletters, go to our website at http://burnsidedynamics.com/.