Slides are the supporting structure for your talk, not the main event. Speak the meaty and informative portion of the presentation out loud and use slides as a backdrop to set either the emotional tone or reinforce the message that you are trying to convey.

For example, I love using this image of Obama in Berlin as a backdrop when I talk about the growth of social data over the last several years. In this image every single person has a device and is generating their own data about their shared social experience. The content of the image supports what is otherwise a fairly abstract statement, and you can feel the excitement of the crowd, boosting the excitement that I want to share about the possibilities of social data.

This is a particular style of slide design will fail for situations where “the Powerpoint” will be shared independently of the talk, and it’s not appropriate for all content, but it is a ton of fun when you can get away with it and uses people’s expectations about what they are going to see (a speaker and some slides) to create a more compelling experience.

This article is part of my series of speaking hacks for introverts and nerds. Read about the motivation here.

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Every night before you go to bed do you have that ritualistic search behind your bedside table or on the floor for that elusive phone charger?

Welcome to the new brand new phone accessory gadget on the marketplace that cures all when it comes to getting you phone charger off the floor forever. Designed with simplicity and practicality it cures all when come to charging your phone by your bedside table, desk or kitchen bench top. No more fumbling in the dark as it keeps it in place.

Designed to fit almost all mobile phone charger cables from Apple, Windows and Android based phones. Not only is it great for your smart phone but it is also a fantastic tablet accessory also. Compatible with most brands, the Charger Clip can keep you tablet charger cable right on the desk where it should be.

The charger clip comes in many great colours. From clear for those who want to keep their décor and clip more subtle and invisible. Or be daring and go for the 4 other great colours, from Black, White, Pink and Green.
Available online today at cablecatcha.com, you can buy just one or buy the twin pack for your partner or for your second device.

For more information visit: http://cablecatcha.com/charger-clip

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Every so often, a gadget comes along that is so simply brilliant it’s a wonder no one has thought of it before. Everyone from students to researchers to business executives has had the experience of retyping quotations from print materials, notes from classes or meetings, or simply information from one document to include in another.

Scanning each document in full can be impractical at best and an additional time sink at worst as you struggle to save snippets of text from a PDF or JPG. Photos of the source material are unsearchable and depending on the length of the source, simply retyping the material can be frustrating, error-prone and a waste of time.

Thank goodness, then, for the Scanmarker. This hand-held scanner is the size and weight of a highlighter and just as easy to use. It’s just 3oz and connects to your PC or laptop (with a 5’ cable so you can easily connect to a computer tower while still using your desk) and can scan both typed and hand-written documents.

You use the Scanmarker like a highlighter – by sliding it across a line of text. However instead of marking important phrases in the text for you to remember later, it transfer the text to a text file on your computer where you can edit, copy and paste, add to documents or save for later. The fact that the text isn’t stored as a picture isn’t even the most impressive fact – the Scanmarker also has a built in translator to automatically translate text in another language while it scans.

While there are hundreds of potential uses for the Scanmarker, this gadget seems to be particularly well suited for students. As someone who always managed to highlight more of the text in my textbooks than I left unhighlighted, and then could never find the truly important bits, I can certainly see the ways this would help me focus my studies. In particular, the ability to have the key points of my text saved digitally, where I could then search though the saved bits, would have done wonders for my grades.

The Scanmarker also seems to be a great option for anyone with dyslexia or difficulties reading as there is also a text to speech option.

With a price tag of just under $80, this isn’t the cheapest gadget on the student’s desk – and certainly a step up from a disposable highlighter. However the Scanmarker is really an investment in an educational or professional future, especially for those who find themselves spending a great deal of time trying to copy lecture or meeting notes, retyping quotations or information from books and reports or simply struggling with focused studying or reading challenges. The Scanmarker is highly recommended.

Scanmarker starts at $79.99 and is available online.

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The wonderful folks at LucidWorks have posted the video of my recent Lucene Revolution keynote.

The brief idea behind this talk is that search is not a solved problem — there is still a big opportunity for building search (and finding?) capabilities for the kinds of questions that the current product fail to solve. For example, why do search engines just return a list of sorted URLs, but give me no information about the themes that are consistent across them?

The audience was technical, specifically Lucene and Solr devs, so I spent some time talking about how we use those technologies at bitly.

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Given how much people love their iPhone, there’s no question that they want to protect them to the best of their abilities. Selecting an iPhone case with waterproof capabilities isn’t very difficult, as there are a ton of great products on the market that make it easy. Here are just a few of the top iPhone 5 and iPhone 4/4s cases to select from.

1. iPhone 5 Liquipel Coating

Most iPhone cases can be easily slipped off by the owner, but Liquipel Coating is a unique way to completely waterproof your investment. The actual coating process is so refined that it’s not even visible to the human eye. It’s also so protective that the advertisements go to the extent of showing entire balloons of water being popped over an iPhone with no visible damage. The developers of this coating claim that it bonds on a molecular level and lasts for the lifetime of the device. Liquipel might not be the most cost effective solution for waterproofing your iPhone 5, but it’s probably the most thorough.

2. iPhone 5 Outdoor Tech Waterproof iPhone Case

Of all the more traditional iPhone cases on the market, this one might be the one of the more creative looking. It’s completely clear on the sides and has a black overlay on the front. In terms of functionality, the Outdoor Tech case allows you to do just about everything you normally would with the iPhone 5. That includes calling, using the touch screen and taking photographs. The only real challenge with this case might be that it may be a bit bulkier than other slim fit cases.

3. iPhone 4 RainBallet

The RainBallet might be the most rugged iPhone 4 case on the market. The strange name might fool you into thinking that this case isn’t all business, but the case itself works excellently in protecting the iPhone from more extensive water damage. The case designing group Joy Factory have used special technology to ensure that only water is blocked out. The fidelity of the sound remains crystal clear.

5. iPhone 4/4S Lifeproof Case

Much like the Outdoor Tech Waterproof iPhone Case, the LifeProof case is made for people on the move who don’t want to worry about water damaging their iPhone 4. This versatile case can also be submerged underwater to depths of up to 6 feet. It retails for around $75 US dollars online.

Reviews Courtesy Of : iFix Express in the UK

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We’re all busy people, right? This means that we need our gadgets and devices to provide us with tools to make tasks easier and save us money, time or stress. So whether it’s to organise your schedule, give you a helping hand or just make you smile – these apps need to be in your life.
Organisation & efficiency
1. Evernote lets you take notes, create to-do lists and add screenshots and links, and allows you to tag them so that they are indexed and searchable. Sync it with Outlook so you can transfer all of your actionable emails into Evernote lists and sync with your phone so that you are still productive when you’re out of the office. Genius! Free on iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows.
2. Do you always lose the TV remote? If so then this is the app for you. LG TV Remote turns your smartphone into a remote control so you can stream channels from the TV onto a smartphone or tablet screen with the app installed. It also has a feature that acts as an on-screen mouse which powers a cursor on the TV screen as well as the usual volume and channel controls. Find out more about LG smart TVs here. Free on iPhone, iPad and Android.
3. iMindMap is another great planning and ideas app for note-taking and scheduling – but it creates a mindmap illustration instead of a boring list. A great tool for those who think and work visually. Free on iPhone, iPad, Android and Windows.
4. If you struggle to keep up with the day’s news from various sites over the internet, Summly will save you lots of time. It uses hundreds of sources to create 400-character digests of the latest headlines all in one place. Free on iPhone and iPad.
5. LogMeIn allows you to access the desktop and folders of your home computer from anywhere on your smartphone or tablet. Great if you need something in an emergency. Free on iPhone, iPad; £20.14 on Android.

Health & lifestyle
6. The Fitness Buddy app is your portable personal trainer. With bespoke workouts and over 1,000 videos showing you how to properly use gym equipment, you’ve got no excuse not to go to the gym! Your buddy will also track your progress so you can see just how far you’ve come. Free on iPad, iPhone and Android.
7. Lots of us have trouble sleeping and fear the dreaded alarm clock going off in the morning. It’s just not nice to be shocked awake. The Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock gets around this nicely and still makes sure you’re up in time for work. It analyses your sleep patterns and monitors your movement to understand which sleep phase you’re in and wakes you up when you’re in the lightest phase. 69p on iPhone and iPad.
8. If you want to get a quick picture of your overall health, the Embarrassing Bodies My HealthChecker is a good place to start. Conduct an eye test, check your reaction times and your memory as well as having access to advice on improving your general health. Free on iPhone and iPad.
9. There’s nothing worse than wandering around trying to find something to eat when you have 10 minutes left of your lunch break. You’ll probably end up grumpy – and with something you didn’t fancy! With the Foodspotting app, you can type in the type of food you’re craving and it will tell you the best places nearby to find it! Free on iPhone, iPad, Android, BlackBerry and Windows.
10. If you need to get somewhere in a hurry, the Addison Lee app will get you a taxi in London in under a minute. It uses your phone’s GPS system to understand where you are, so you just need to press ‘find my location’ and the app does all the rest. Free on iPhone, Android and Windows.

Fun & games
11. I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly thinking “Oh what’s that song that goes like this…?” before humming to the annoyance of my friends. If your friends want to save their ears, they’ll point you in the direction of SoundHound. Not only does it recognise music tracks you play it, but you can also sing or hum a tune and will tell you the artist and title. Free on iPhone, iPad, Android & Windows.
12. Whatsapp Messenger is a brilliant way to send your friends instant messages, pictures and videos – all for free with a WiFi connection after installing. You can have group chats as well as one-on-one conversations – a great way to keep up with your mates throughout the day. 69p on iPhone and iPad 69p; Free on Android, BlackBerry and Windows.
13. 4 Pics 1 Word is a simple but annoyingly addictive game that shows you four images and asks you what they all have in common. You’ve probably seen screenshots of it shared by your frustrated friends on Facebook, asking for help. Say goodbye to your evenings. Free on iPhone, iPad and Android; 75p on BlackBerry.
14. Snapchat is a messenger app which only allows you to take and send videos and images. The difference is, the app shows them to the recipient for a few seconds and then makes them disappear forever. Free on iPhone, iPad and Android.
15. Still a bestseller, Cut the rope asks the player to manoeuvre candy around obstacles and cut the rope from which it hangs to feed a little monster. This even won a BAFTA! 69p on iPhone and iPad; 62p on Android.

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Yoshie & Nico Floral Case

So, we showcased some lovely phone cases from the likes of Ted Baker and Barbour the other week, but we have a little hidden treasure to share with you!

The very trendy sounding Yoshie & Nico have some amazing iPhone cases in their range. We tried out one of their floral cases and I was really surprised by its durability and quality.

Most iPhone cases from Yoshie & Nico are priced at an incredible £9.99 and not only do they cater for iPhones, they also have a case for most mobile brands and tablets alike. Definitely worth having a visit to their website and browsing through the extensive catalogue of mobile accessories.

They are the perfect one stop shop if you’re buying for anyone who likes accessories. There’s something for everyone, both male and female on their site and you can be assured you’re getting quality at great prices. One for our favourites page I think!

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We haven’t featured any cases for a while, so we have chosen 4 of our favourites to share with you.

My personal favourite is the Ted Baker – Elvi by Proporta. It’s just so stylish and feminine. It’s reasonably easy to clip on and clip off. I was especially surprised at how slim the phone was with the case on. The case is £29.95 and you can see more of the Ted Baker High Summer 2013 collection on the Proporta website.

Second on our list is the QDOS Metallics range. This another great case. It’s solid and very funky. This range is great for the guys as well as the girls and is reasonably priced at £19.99.

Now, we all like a little bit of luxury. If you’re not after a clip on case and you want more protection for your phone, then this Proporta  Barbour case with cover is ideal for you. It’s beautifully finished and comes in grape, navy, olive and teracotta. Perfect for guys and girls and adds a little bit of country style to your phone. The cases also come for iPads and The Samsung Galaxt S4′s.

Finally, we have the Pong rugged cases by Pong Research. These are different from the others cases featured as they aren’t so much about style, but more about functionality. According to their website, ‘Pong cases can make your phone work better by directing cellular energy away from your head and body.’ This means they reduce the users exposure to radiation. They cost £47.99 and there’s free shipping on all cases. They are also available on a range of devices, so check out the website for more information.

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Since becoming a Mum, I’ve really become interested in arts and crafts. I took up Crochet and I do Hand Stamped Jewellery but I really wish I’d tapped into this creative side earlier. It’s so much fun and even more so when you’re able to create something unique for others.

The Cricut allows you to not only be creative, the stuff you can produce are useful and fun! Everyone gives cards at birthdays or Christmas etc. and the Cricut allows you to be creative and personal. It doesn’t stop at cards though, you can make decorations, create iron on designs to really personalise your clothes, bags and anything else you want to ‘jazz up’! The possibilities are endless.

There is so much inspiration in the Cricut Project Centre, you could spend hours in there planning your crafts. On their website, you can download the ‘Craft Room‘ and create your very own designs. It’s available on Mac and PC and completely free of charge.

The Cricut’s can be found on Amazon and retail between £190.00 for the basic and £270.00 for the more advanced models.

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Easter is just around the corner and so is all that egg buying. Whether you are buying for your kids or that special someone this Easer, why not get something a little different – A Sphero! So, it’s not strictly an egg, it’s a ball, but it’s close enough! Not only will it entertain your family and friends, your cats and dogs will love it too!

Sphero

The Sphero is controlled via your smart phone and not only can you roll it and race it, there are 20+ games you can play with it too. As well as the original Sphero apps, existing apps are integrating Sphero to enhance their gameplay as well.

Both my son who is almost two and my stepson who is eight, love the Sphero. My cats are a little bit obsessed with it too! I’m just waiting for an occasion to try out the party games for the adults. Bring on my Birthday!

Priced around the £100 mark, it’s not cheap, but if you have the cash, it’s certainly a party winner. Whether it be for Easter, Birthday’s, Christmas or that general family or friends get together, Sphero is great fun! Stockists include Firebox and Amazon.

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