PowerPoint is Evil by Edward Tufte

This Wired Article sums up Tufte’s analysis…

“Slideware may help speakers outline their talks, but convenience for the speaker can be punishing to both content and audience.”

His Cognitive Style of PowerPoint essay costs $7 and is essential reading for anyone who wishes to avoid the mind numbing effects of this invasive tool. An excerpt, PowerPoint Does Rocket Science, is available online. Also visit Ask ET and his weblog.

Update: Visit my Using PowerPoint Effectively resource page.

The Cackle Sisters

I’ve always enjoyed yodeling, both alpine and the more bluesy American variety. So this public radio piece was a pleasant surprise. In spite of my interest I had never heard of this duo from Minnesota; they recorded only a handful of songs. Their performance of the lullaby Go To Sleep My Darling is a true gem, one of the most beautiful bits of old-time county music that I know of! The harmony is so evocative it brings tears to my eyes. For many examples of contemporary yodeling, check out Riders in the Sky.

The Decisive Moment – Henri Cartier-Bresson

Photography was my first creative outlet. I started in my father’s darkroom around age 15. I grew up admiring the work of Steichen, Adams, Bourke-White, Weston, and most of all Cartier-Bresson. His “The Decisive Moment” (2) was an early inspiration for me. In the introduction he wrote…

The decisive moment … is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as the precise organization of forms which gives that event its proper expression.