Elena's Legacy. Texts written by Elena, excerpts from texts she liked, her artworks.

Monday, January 1, 2018

Powerpoint Presentation

Steve Jobs outlined once a number or principles that should be followed. These include the number of word you have on each slide. Jobs explained that the word count should be limited to fifty words maximum, but this does not include extra text, such as sources. This practice will help you to be more concise and focus on the core messages.

The presentation muss be accompanied by general commonsense rules, such as using a clear font so that everyone can read it without any complications.

Another key point is to make sure that the headline is clear. It should summarize the entire content of the slide and the reason for its existence. One way to think about this is the following: if your whole presentation were to be read by a very busy CEO, could this person read the headlines of each slide only and still understand the key points? Would he or she be able to take away the key points and recommendations? If this is possible, then you have achieved your goal.

Throughout the presentation, it is also of great use to remember the old adage "a picture speaks a thousand words". Research has shown that by combining a powerful verbal message with an image, there is a 75 percent greater chance of your message being recalled than when using words alone.

Communication. Illustration by Elena

While this is very difficult for all slides, it is often a vey useful tool of getting across common therms - and it can also be useful in introducing an element of humor into the presentation.

Should you be one of the many who suffer from nerves and as a result speak too fast or forget your words, don't worry. These issues disappear with practice.

If you speak too fast, then practice speaking slowly. Read every day slowly a text which is more verbose perhaps than your usual read. Remember to speak sonly and to physically force yourself to slow down. Over time this slower tone will become natural when presenting.

Another important tip is to take a moment to yourself before the presentation to slow down your breathing. Hold your hand to your mouth and practice breathing in and out slowly into your hands ten times. Follow this with three large deep breaths and then breathe back into your hands ten times. This will gradually bring your heartbeat down, making you feel calmer, and make it easer for you to deliver the presentation.

There is no shame in taking notes up on stage with you. The key here, though, is to ensure that each of the cards has a maximum of three key words on it. The words are to act as prompts and remind you of the points you are going to make. They are not to be used as scripts and you need to be very careful when using them to carry on engaging with your audience and maintaining eye contact with them.

Keep in mind that well defined paragraphs will make it easier for the recipient to digest and understand the information. It is also advisable to use bullet points to identify lists and key points of action or points that require a response.

Furthermore, it is vital to convey the correct impression by only using full words - do not get drawn into using the language of texting. There is also no excuse for spelling mistakes, especially as every e-mail program now comes with spelling and grammar checks.

Finally, remember that digital has come forever. Once the send button has been pressed, it will be recorded for the duration of time on some file with the ether forever.

(from The Art of Selling Yourself, by Adam Riccoboni and Daniel Callaghan)

Sunday, December 31, 2017

Dial M for Meteorology

Call a 900 number to get good weather information – for a fee. (History of meteorology, situation in the 90s).

People planning vacations or business trips and who need accurate weather reports and forecasts for their travel destinations can turn to 900-number hotlines, the best of which are sponsored by the Weather Channel, USA Today, the Weather Radio Network, Accu-Weather, etc. All of these hotlines describe a selected city’s weather conditions, including forecasts that range from three to seven days.

Both the Weather Channel and USA Today outdo the other services by providing the most information. Those traveling by car can find out about conditions on major highways surrounding a selected city. International travelers can use these hot lines to learn about visa requirements, tipping customs, currency exchange rates, and State Department travel advisories.

Unlike USA Today, the Weather Channel sponsors a marine report of interest to beach-goers and boaters that includes tide information, wave heights, and water temperatures. The Weather Channel also presents slope conditions at over 400 ski areas. USA Today’s weather line even tries to give the traveler the chance of rain on any given date in the city.

The Winter Is Coming. Photo: Elena

Accu-Weather’s advantage over the other hotlines is its simplicity. Callers con get good, basic weather information and since there are fewer options, the call is shorter and so costs less money. All three services take about one and a half to two minutes on average to present a standard weather report and 36-hour forecast.

The national Radio Network is unique among weather hotlines in that it allows the caller to listen to live radio broadcasts from 85 local offices of the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service updates these weather reports every hour, which is just as often as many of the other services update their information. However, the reports become more frequent when weather conditions become particularly troublesome. Therefore, the caller can almost be guaranteed to get the most recent information on public warnings during hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. This number provides detailed weather information, but because it is not menu driven, the caller who wants a basic weather report might have to listen to marine or road conditions before getting to the weather broadcast. On average, the calls last about 3.8 minutes.

For Accurate Weather

Predicting temperature accurately is more difficult in the cool season than in the summer. That’s because weather systems are stronger and move quickly in winter, leading to greater temperature variabilility.

In predicting precipitation, forecasts generally are les accurate when the weather is warm. Most precipitation in the warm season comes from showers and thunderstorms, which occur randomly, cover small areas, and don’t last long. In winter, precipitation usually results from weather systems that cover larger areas and last many hours or days, and thus is easier to predict.

Barometers

Know which way the wind blows: Forecast the weather by gauging changes in atmospheric pressure.

With a simple aneroid barometer, available at a local hardware store or marine supply center, you can make fairly accurate short-range weather predictions for little money. Generally, when the barometer is high and rising, it means high pressure is approaching. High pressure systems typically are associated with fair weather – light and variable winds, dry air, and temperatures below seasonal averages. When the barometer is low and falling, it typically means low pressure is on the way. Law pressure systems tend to bring inclement weather – strong winds, high humidity, clouds, and storm fronts.

An aneroid barometer has one pointer, similar to the hand on a clock, which measures atmosphere pressure in inches of mercury and another pointer which is used to reference pressure changes. Rising pressure causes the reading pointer to move clockwise, while falling pressure causes it to move counterclockwise.

Once or twice a day, the reference pointer should be placed to correspond with the reading pointer. Over the course of the day, you can track pressure changes by noting how the reading pointer moves in relation to the reference hand.

Park of the Hudson River, New York. Photo : Elena

To ensure accurate readings, aneroid barometers, and even some electronic barometers, occasionally need to be calibrated. A call to the local branch of the Weather Service or listening to the weather report on TV provides the current pressure adjusted to what it would read at sea level. Adjustments should be made on days with settled winds, which usually indicate the pressure is changing slowly.

Many amateur forecasters find useful the following chart, which bases its weather predictions on barometric changes and wind direction. However, meteorologists caution these are general rules that don’t hold true for all locations and situations. For example, west winds off the Great Lakes can bring terrible lake effect snows even when the barometer is high. Similarly, in the Northeast near the Atlantic Ocean, a sea breeze can bring cooler air, clouds, drizzle, and fog when the pressure is high.

Be Your Own Forecaster

Basic barometer reading for amateur meteorologists can fool you, but generally they can help you to find out what weather to expect.

The Old Science

When one looks at science from a historical perspective, it can be said that science has not always followed a linear path of development. For example, if one draws a diagram of scientific development, one can see that a lot more technological progress has been achieved in the last hundred or so years than in the thousands of years before that.

Naturally, history courses talk about the history of science from the invention of the wheel up to the advent of the Internet, with important milestones being the period of the Classics, the Middle Ages (during which scientific progress was halted and regressed), the Renaissance and Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution. Today’s era, due to its prevalence of information and communications technologies, is typically referred to as the information age or the Information era.

A Fort Stewart in Montreal. Photo by Elena

Alternatively, to look at the scientific questions from a spiritual perspective, even today the debate of creationism versus intelligent design persists. Many people argue that the two cannot coexist, while others believe that God created science and the laws governing physics, and that we are learning God’s laws by exploring science.

Regardless of what you believe or do not believe, there are social and hard applied sciences taught in universities and other institutions of higher learning.