Results for:
creativity

• The Facebook Movie. No, not that one

  27 Jan 2011

  A friend mentioned a recent interview from our NPR station KUOW about great short videos on the Internet . Reporter Jeannie Yandel's interview with video editor Tracy Dethlefs gave some wonderful examples of creativity in the age of video (and video tools at anyone’s disposal). Along with a fabulous...
• Random text: Needed filler or future prose?

  28 Dec 2010

  Sometimes you have to write. Sometimes you just need some filler. I was working on a fictitious document and needed some text to make it look like a real document. (Yeah, it’s one of the things I do). While I was looking for that usual “ Lorem Ipsum ” text, I remembered that Word can...
• Is work the best place for work?

  20 Dec 2010

  Here’s one to chew on: Author Jason Fried recently gave a TED talk about his philosophy of work and how the workplace interrupts the flow of getting things done. He has three ideas you can try today, including “No-talk Thursday.” Watch: I gotta say a lot of things he said did remind...
• Exploring the new OpenType features in Office 2010

  15 Dec 2010

  This post comes from John Berry, program manager in the Typography group, and Bill Davis, of Monotype Imaging. Microsoft Word 2010 and Publisher 2010 include new text features previously available in high-end professional publishing applications. Now you can produce documents with text that rivals the...
• Ahem. Care to share with the whole class? Giving personality to information (video)

  9 Dec 2010

  Do you want people to listen to you? For a long time, the classic schoolroom model governed how we received information. Some authority figure would speak from a lectern, or an actor in a doctor's lab coat would talk on the television, and listeners, sitting attentively and still, would (supposedly)...
• Where do good ideas come from? (video)

  14 Oct 2010

  Is it true that "Chance favors the connected mind?" That's one conclusion of Steven Johnson 's intriguing new book, Where good ideas come from. Johnson draws from events throughout history to describe 7 patterns and conditions--from "liquid networks" to "the slow hunch"--that foster creative breakthroughs...
• Is the Web messing up your mind? Take the test

  29 Jun 2010

  Do you remember "This is your brain on drugs"? A 12-second video of an egg in a hot skillet swept the airwaves in the late 1980s, courtesy of the Partnership For a Drug-Free America. Debates raged over whether TV rots the brain. Update that to the 21st century and the question shifts to our newest habit...
• Computers and your brain

  8 Jun 2010

  The New York Times published a doozy of a set of articles this week on attention span, your brain, and computers: Hooked on Gadgets, and Paying a Mental Price . They tracked one family’s serious technology habit and the science of how the brain adapts to all those screens. I would say it’s...
• Mouse Mischief: 1 computer + 25 mice equals a cool (& free) education tool

  30 Apr 2010

  Mouse Mischief , a free PowerPoint add-in debuting today, fills a great need at many schools: how to get kids involved with computers on a budget. The trick here is up to 25 kids can interact with one computer (the teacher's) with just one mouse per student. See how one school works with Mouse Mischief...
• The cure for bad meetings: 9 steps of the 22 minute meeting

  7 Apr 2010

  Were you late to your last meeting? Do you wish your meetings were memorable? Here is a quick method to have more effective meetings, and save your sanity. Nicole Steinbok, one of the fabulous Office Labs folks (makers of Ribbon Hero ), came up with this concept last year: the 22 minute meeting. She...
• A few words about Seth Godin and his new book Linchpin

  26 Jan 2010

  It you read blogs about business, you should have Seth Godin's bookmarked (or in your RSS feed). The author/speaker/marketer spins stories and strategies on (nearly) a daily basis. Most hit a target: a tangible idea to inspire or improve a project you're working on. (Here's a recent post on failed projects...
• My favorite: The Die

  12 Jan 2010

  My wife and I were shopping at a fabulous store, Math ‘n’ Stuff , a place for cool school things and educational toys. My favorite was this blank die I bought for myself (and one for my dad). I’m fascinated by the thought: what could you place on each side? What six ideas could you...
• Crabby’s shorty shortcuts for working smarter (Part II)

  17 Dec 2009

  Have I got some tips for you. And unlike "tips" from Wall Street, these won't incur the wrath of Main Street. They may, however, make your coworkers jealous. A few weeks ago I offered tips for Word, Excel and Outlook . Now PowerPoint, Publisher, and Visio get their turn. (Visit my column on Office Online...
• Winning football by breaking all the rules

  15 Oct 2009

  Flipping radio stations while stuck in traffic yesterday I came across an interview with a high school football coach. Coach Kevin Kelley of the Pulaski Academy Bruins in Arkansas does things differently: the Bruins do not punt the Bruins always onside kick the Bruins never try FGs they ALWAYS go for...
• See and use cool pictures without leaving home

  14 Oct 2009

  Do you use stock photos? Well, as you might have read in Robin Wauter's post on TechCrunch today , you're in luck because you can have access to over 7 million royalty-free, high-resolution images with a free (yes, free ) add-in ribbon for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint 2007, courtesy of our friends at...
• “Give me something to hate,” he says

  5 Oct 2009

  A prominent member of the PowerPoint and presentation community, Tony Ramos, wrote a provocative blog post about creating content in general. Quoting a colleague, Tony mentions how paralyzing it is to attempt perfection on the first try and how liberating it can be to allow your rough draft to be horrible...
• Managing a creative staff isn’t like juggling cats

  2 Sep 2009

  One of the many challenges my group poses to our tireless manager is our collective creativity . You might think all Microsofties are computer geeks, but not so. For example, our muli-faceted team of ten employees includes two actors, two poets, a sculptor, a dancer, a painter, a gourmet cook, a graphic...
• This or that: Take a card, any card

  31 Aug 2009

  Someone who blogs on this site has a really snazzy electronic business card for Outlook. Truly, it is a business card to be envious of. So, following some instructions , I decided to create some electronic business cards on my own. (I’ll admit, though, that hers is MUCH cooler.) Vote Now! Between these...
• Graphics cage match! Newsletter nameplates

  24 Aug 2009

  Every day when I open my mailbox, I mostly see two sorts of things: bills and newsletters. And honestly, I like newsletters. (They’re certainly better reading than the other kind of mail.) I want to know about on-going sales and events at the local co-op, coffee shop, or music store. Occasionally, I...
• This or that: what makes a logo interesting or memorable?

  17 Aug 2009

  Logos. You see them everywhere and on just about everything. Companies spend a lot of money to create, promote, and protect their own logo. (And just to be clear, sometimes we might call something a “logo” that is more properly a “mark” or a “lettermark.”) A memorable logo creates a visual signifier...