Category Archives: Design

The Facebook Face Flip

Posted on November 13, 2012 by ricbret

This is not a political post, although a quick reading without comprehension will surely give some that impression. Trust me, and read on. I was reading this evening about how you can actually see people “unliking” Mitt Romney’s Facebook page … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, History, Media, Organizations, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Random thoughts, Technology, Thoughts, Writing | Leave a comment

The First Thing to Do to Your New PowerPoint 2013…

Posted on November 1, 2012 by ricbret

Warning, I’m pretty opinionated when it comes to a garish design that I have to look at for hours at a time. I find it personally offending and I’m not going to mince words here. Luckily there’s a quick fix … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Thoughts | 3 Comments

Four Days to Better Presenting – Yes, You Can!

Posted on August 11, 2012 by ricbret

Oh dear. Another drab blog entry about presenting.  Well, maybe not. If you hear the title Presentation Summit, you might picture an international cabal, those folks from around the world whose job it is to keep presentations bland, sleep-inducing and … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Travel | Leave a comment

PowerPoint History, 25 years ago…

Posted on May 25, 2012 by ricbret

This has to be quick.  Sorry for any typos or errors, but I’m packing, medicating, and generally running about today and this could not wait. I got a very nice letter from Bob Gaskins yesterday. If you don’t recognize the … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Business, Deals, Design, Geeking around, History, Media, Organizations, Personal, PowerPoint, Presentations, Software, Technology, Thoughts, Writing | 2 Comments

This is so easy to do…

Posted on April 19, 2012 by ricbret

There are some things that are such a pleasure to do, to pass along, to endorse… it kind of feels like cheating, like “duh” this doesn’t even have to be said. Yeah, this is one of those. I love the … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, History, Home and Family, Media, Movies, Software, Travel | 3 Comments

QuickTechThought: Our Red Toaster

Posted on January 13, 2012 by ricbret

Our pretty red toaster died this week. Sunbeam Oster. It wasn’t even three years old.  I know, I know, they don’t make things like they used to.  But it’s just a toaster, it’s supposed to be pretty fundamentally simple.   … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Food and drink, Geeking around, Home and Family, SciFi Fantasy, Technology, Thoughts, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

How Facebook Will (May Have Already) F#@k You Up

Posted on December 11, 2011 by ricbret

Really, I’m not doing much here.  Just trying to draw your attention to someone else’s work on how Facebook’s recent bout of ill-conceived changes continue to mess with your privacy, your communications, and your ability to actually use the system … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, Home and Family, Media, Organizations, Personal, Random thoughts, Technology | Leave a comment

Nest Learning Thermostat

Posted on December 6, 2011 by ricbret

Last Friday I installed a new thermostat in the house, the first one since we moved in. Now the prior thermostat was programmable, hourly and daily you could configure it to heat and cool as you like.  It made a … Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Geeking around, Health, Home and Family, Personal, Random thoughts, Technology, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

This Just In: Microsoft Fails to Get the Macintosh – or just good installation practices…

Posted on October 25, 2011 by ricbret

Just got notified that there’s a Silverlight update for the Mac. OK, I’ll update, what’s the… Wow. The instructions are so dense with unnecessary text, and eventually tell you to first uninstall any previous version, which necessitates removing half-a-dozen files … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, Software, Technology, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

My iOS 5 Update on iPad

Posted on October 13, 2011 by ricbret

Just finished the iOS 5 update on my iPad 2. Man, what a marathon. It basically needs to back up your data, reset the device, update the OS, then restore your data. So plan for a few hours to completion. … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Geeking around, Random thoughts, Software, Technology | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The PowerPoint Blur Trick

Posted on January 9, 2011 by ricbret

It’s been a while between posts, so I wanted to give you something special.  It’s a little longer than most, but I think you may find it worth your while. -Ric Sometimes the right collection of commands and techniques in … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Presentations, Software | 24 Comments

The Garr Box…

Posted on September 23, 2010 by ricbret

To be honest, I’m having a little trouble getting to the point where I write every day. But I’m lucky, I have inspiring friends who help me get past this without even trying.  Today is Garr Reynold’s turn. It’s Wednesday … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Design, Media, Personal, Presentations, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Resonate!

Posted on September 21, 2010 by ricbret

Nancy Duarte’s new book, Resonate, is in the house. Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Business, Design, Personal, Presentations, Thoughts | 1 Comment

Oh, where to start…

Posted on August 5, 2010 by ricbret

So my imaginary reader, do any of these “resonate” with you? Let me know, I’m feeling some writing coming on… or is that the sore throat? Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Personal, Presentations, Thoughts | 5 Comments

Why does this appeal to me so?

Posted on June 15, 2010 by ricbret

There’s something magic about retro tech. Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Geeking around, Technology, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Want to show off your presentation design skills?

Posted on June 2, 2010 by ricbret

Rick Altman of the Presentation Summit conference wants to have you join his festivities for free. Continue reading →

Posted in Design, Media, Presentations | Leave a comment

An ending leads.

Posted on May 29, 2010 by ricbret

Forgive me if you’ve heard this one before: I honestly never meant to stay this long. Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Design, Personal, Presentations, Software, Thoughts, Uncategorized | 2 Comments