4 ms·

Note the unique presentation style - story with flashing images. It's surprisingly appealing. Even simple slides like "Anyway." that stay for just a second or t

by jd 18y ago

Note the unique presentation style - story with flashing images. It's surprisingly appealing. Even simple slides like "Anyway." that stay for just a second or two keep the viewer from getting distracted. The whole "less words more pictures" philosophy has become really popular lately, and it seems this has taken it to a new level. Bonus points for style and execution.

stcredzero 18y ago
Eventually, media and computers are going to change our language from a verbal one to one where instantly synthesized sounds and images will directly portray many of the ideas we now communicate using word abstractions. I'm not the originator of this idea. David Brin had uplifted dolphins doing this in his books. Since they could "see" through echolocation, dolphins could synthesize "images" for each other by mimicking what would be the return reflections of imagined objects and directly beam them into each other's heads. It will take many advances in interfaces, but we will eventually get there. Already, cameraphones and video cameras and media are starting to effect the way we communicate about the past.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
timr 18y ago
It's great, but I think I'm going to be pretty sick of it by the time I've seen the tenth presentation on web programming that's been done in the same style.
- jd 18y ago
  When you have 50 pictures in a presentation about web programming, about half of them tend to fall into the lolcat category. Of course that grows old quickly. But in a presentation about the dodo every picture is both relevant and interesting. The 60th picture is as engaging as the 3rd. In other words, with web programming pictures are used because text is boring and the presenter wants the audience to know he doesn't work at IBM.
  - jrockway 18y ago
    Incidentally, most presentations that I've seen that have contained lolcats have been by people who do "work at IBM". I've used a lolcat once or twice, but I stopped after I noticed that :) Apparently it is now cool to use the word "fuck" a lot, since the corporate types seem to have trouble emulating this. Even that is getting old now, forcing speakers to be even more obscene. My favorite example was a friend describing mod_perl during a talk -- "When all you have is a nailgun, everything looks like the Messiah". I am not sure what was funnier, that remark, or the horrified look on people's faces. Either way, it was better than a lolcat.
    - timr 18y ago
      That was kind of what I was getting at...soon, we're going to be seeing lots of picture-filled presentations on AJAX, where every other slide is a profanity. ;-)
12ren 18y ago
It's the planned spontaneity that makes the "Anyway." slide work. His setup and delivery of this line is so enthusiastic, natural, sincere that it couldn't be planned... yet there's the slide. Cute theatrical technique. Here's an idea: treat the slides like a ventriloquist's dummy, so that they counter your argument, mock you, undermine you. You could have a conversation. You'd need theatrical skills to pull this off. Please reply to this comment if you try this out!
- kirubakaran 18y ago
  > treat the slides like a ventriloquist's dummy, so that they counter your argument, mock you, undermine you. This is an awesome idea. Stephen Colbert does this a little bit. But having a conversation would be great.
  - staunch 18y ago
    The Word segments: http://www.hulu.com/watch/47154/the-colbert-report-the-word---a-man-named-plaxico#s-p1-st-i1 http://www.hulu.com/watch/47154/the-colbert-report-the-word-...
    - 12ren 18y ago
      thanks, but Hulu says "not available in your country" :( oddly enough, the colbert report's own site is happy to share it worldwide: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/211989/december-02-2008/the-word---a-man-named-plaxico http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/21198... It's a similar idea, but the charm of it really coming from the speaker (as in a ventriloquist's dummy) is missing.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]

by jd 18y ago

stcredzero 18y ago

Eventually, media and computers are going to change our language from a verbal one to one where instantly synthesized sounds and images will directly portray many of the ideas we now communicate using word abstractions. I'm not the originator of this idea. David Brin had uplifted dolphins doing this in his books. Since they could "see" through echolocation, dolphins could synthesize "images" for each other by mimicking what would be the return reflections of imagined objects and directly beam them into each other's heads. It will take many advances in interfaces, but we will eventually get there. Already, cameraphones and video cameras and media are starting to effect the way we communicate about the past.

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

deleted 18y ago

[deleted]

timr 18y ago

It's great, but I think I'm going to be pretty sick of it by the time I've seen the tenth presentation on web programming that's been done in the same style.

jd 18y ago
When you have 50 pictures in a presentation about web programming, about half of them tend to fall into the lolcat category. Of course that grows old quickly. But in a presentation about the dodo every picture is both relevant and interesting. The 60th picture is as engaging as the 3rd. In other words, with web programming pictures are used because text is boring and the presenter wants the audience to know he doesn't work at IBM.
- jrockway 18y ago
  Incidentally, most presentations that I've seen that have contained lolcats have been by people who do "work at IBM". I've used a lolcat once or twice, but I stopped after I noticed that :) Apparently it is now cool to use the word "fuck" a lot, since the corporate types seem to have trouble emulating this. Even that is getting old now, forcing speakers to be even more obscene. My favorite example was a friend describing mod_perl during a talk -- "When all you have is a nailgun, everything looks like the Messiah". I am not sure what was funnier, that remark, or the horrified look on people's faces. Either way, it was better than a lolcat.
  - timr 18y ago
    That was kind of what I was getting at...soon, we're going to be seeing lots of picture-filled presentations on AJAX, where every other slide is a profanity. ;-)

12ren 18y ago

It's the planned spontaneity that makes the "Anyway." slide work. His setup and delivery of this line is so enthusiastic, natural, sincere that it couldn't be planned... yet there's the slide. Cute theatrical technique. Here's an idea: treat the slides like a ventriloquist's dummy, so that they counter your argument, mock you, undermine you. You could have a conversation. You'd need theatrical skills to pull this off. Please reply to this comment if you try this out!

kirubakaran 18y ago
> treat the slides like a ventriloquist's dummy, so that they counter your argument, mock you, undermine you. This is an awesome idea. Stephen Colbert does this a little bit. But having a conversation would be great.
- staunch 18y ago
  The Word segments: http://www.hulu.com/watch/47154/the-colbert-report-the-word---a-man-named-plaxico#s-p1-st-i1 http://www.hulu.com/watch/47154/the-colbert-report-the-word-...
  - 12ren 18y ago
    thanks, but Hulu says "not available in your country" :( oddly enough, the colbert report's own site is happy to share it worldwide: http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/211989/december-02-2008/the-word---a-man-named-plaxico http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/21198... It's a similar idea, but the charm of it really coming from the speaker (as in a ventriloquist's dummy) is missing.
deleted 18y ago
[deleted]