October 2011 – The Logical Blog

October 27, 2011

Mac Troubleshooting: Spotty Internet? One Quick Solution

by AJ George

I use Parallels on my iMac with Lion OS X and Windows XP. Generaly speaking, my setup works very well. However, last week my computer was giving me headaches. I could start applications, do my work and send and receive email. However, I could not reliably access the internet.

Webpages would only load after being refreshed 3-5 times, or not at all. Streaming would stop playing right in the middle.

I tried wireless and Ethernet internet connections. I tried Safari and Chrome on the Mac side, Internet Explorer on the Windows side. Nothing seemed to resolve the issue.

Luckily, we have Apple Care so I was able to get some assistance direct from an Apple tech. Here is the simple solution I was given that I thought I would pass along.

From the Apple menu, choose Go > Computer.
Double-click Macintosh HD.
Open the Library folder.
Open the Preferences folder.
Find the SystemConfiguration folder and drag it to the trash.
Restart the computer.

Apparently it is not uncommon for network preferences to become corrupt. Throwing the SystemConfiguration folder away (it will automatically regenerate itself after you restart the computer) is a quick solution.

***

About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Communicator and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

October 25, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5.5: Math Made Easy

by Kevin Siegel

So I'm working with a text caption in Adobe Captivate and the font size is 16 points. I'd like the font size to be twice as big. For many developers, figuring out what the font size should be if it's supposed to be twice as big as 16 points is easy… 16×2=32.

What's that you say? Math isn't your friend… not your thing? Most computers on the face of the Earth have a free, built-in calculator. (On Windows XP, choose Start > Run > Calculator. On Windows 7 or Vista, choose Start and type Calculator into the Search box. On the Mac, press [F4] on your keyboard.) And I'm willing to bet that just about every mobile device and tablet you can buy today has a built-in calculator.

Of course, if you use any of the devices mentioned above to calculate a desired font Size, you'll still need to return to Captivate and type the new Size within Captivate.

You can save a bit of time if you let Captivate do the heavy lifting for you. Here's how…

Select a text caption and, on the Character group, highlight the font size in the Size field as if you were going to type in a specific font Size. However, instead of typing in a specific size, use the standard math operators for multiplication, addition, subtraction or division. You'll find that in addition to calculating the math for you, the desired font size will also be applied to the text within the selected caption.

In the image below, I started with a font size of 108 points. My client wanted the font size to be one-third that size. There was simply no way I was going to be able to quickly do the math in my head. (I know, I know… you could easily do the math in your head… but not me.) No worries… it was a simple calculation on Captivate's Properties panel: 108/3 is 36 points.

Go ahead and give it a shot on your own. You'll find that you can use an asterisk for multiplication, a forward slash for division and a plus or minus sign for addition or subtraction.

***

Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

October 21, 2011

PowerPoint 2010: I Installed Lion and Now My Shortcuts Don’t Work!

by AJ George

Recently I updated my iMac to OS X Lion. I do a lot of work in Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 on the Mac by using Parallels. In a previous article I covered how to move objects in PowerPoint less than the standard 6 points using the arrow keys. By holding down the [Ctrl] key in conjunction with a directional arrow key you can move objects 1.25 points at a time instead.

If you, like me, recently upgraded to Lion you may have noticed that this shortcut will no longer work in PowerPoint. Pressing [Ctrl] plus the left arrow key will now move your screen left, to Mission Control. Pressing [Ctrl] plus the right arrow key won't do anything (in PowerPoint anyway). Pressing [Ctrl] plus the up arrow key will take you to Mission Control and pressing [Ctrl] plus the down arrow key will show the desktop.

To reset your shortcuts to the way things worked previously, you will need to adjust your Mac's Preferences.

From the top menu bar on your Mac, choose Apple > System Preferences.
From the Hardware area, select Keyboard.
At the top of the Keyboard dialog box, click the Keyboard Shortcuts tab.
Select Mission Control at the left.
On the right, deselect both instances of Mission Control as well Show Desktop.

Alternately, you could double-click each shortcut and hold down new keys to reset the keyboard shortcut to something that won't interfere with PowerPoint's shortcuts.

Note: If you change your mind about deactivating (or changing) the shortcuts, simply click the Restore Defaults button to put everything back the way it was.

***

About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Communicator and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

October 18, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5.5: The Hidden Font Size Menu

by Kevin Siegel

Changing the font size of selected text is a simple thing to accomplish in Captivate. All you need to do is select a text caption (or highlight some text within a text caption). On the Properties panel, Character group, type the desired font size and press [Enter] on your keyboard.

Have you noticed what's missing on the Character group? It appears that you cannot select a font size from a drop-down menu like you can in most other applications.

But looks can be deceiving. While there isn't a traditional font-size drop-down menu, you can in fact scroll through a list of font sizes.

With a text caption selected, move your mouse pointer over the current font Size on the Properties panel (Character group). Don't click inside the Size field… just move your mouse pointer over the field.

Notice that your mouse pointer becomes a hand-mouse pointer and a horizontal arrow.

Captivate's Font Size scroll pointer.

With your mouse pointer looking like the image above, drag your mouse right to see larger font sizes; drag your mouse left to see smaller font sizes.

As you drag left or right, the font size will increase or decrease by one point. If you want to use a specific font size, simply stop dragging once the size appears and release the mouse clicker.

Note: The largest font size in Captivate is 720 points; the smallest font size is 1 point.

***

Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

October 16, 2011

eLearning: Finding Google Images You Can Actually Use

by AJ George

I have previously written about some good, free stock image resources. In response to that article, a reader asked me if the images on these sites were royalty free and could be used in courses that he planned to sell. The short answer is that it's a case-by-case basis. Sometimes you can use the images, but only if you credit the original artist. Other times you can use the image, but not if you're going to sell your eLearning courses. And sometimes it's just really complicated and you would be well served to contact the owner of the image and get permission to use it.

An alternative to this would be to use Google to hunt down images that specifically fit how you're going to use them. I've written about this before, but thought it was worth re-hashing since I am asked this quite often.

While most of the images you find by doing a normal Google image source are NOT okay to use, that doesn't mean all of them are off limits. Here's how to find something you can work with:

From Google, click the Images tab at the top of the screen.
Click the Advanced Image Search link to the right of the Search Images button.
From the Usage Rights category, click the drop-down menu and notice that you can filter your results to only show images that are "labeled for reuse" and go beyond that to find images that are labeled for "Commercial use" and "Modification."

This method is a more sure-fire way to be at ease that the images you find are appropriate for your commercial use and modification without stepping on any legal toes. All the same, be sure that for any image you find and plan to use with this method, you check out the source to be sure that the image can be used. If the image is from a Flickr account, for example, there is a section on the bottom right labeled License that will tell you exactly under what conditions you can use the image.

Google put the following warning on their Usage Rights page:

Google license

***

About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Communicator and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

October 12, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5.5: Resizing is a Snap, But Watch Your Anchor

by Kevin Siegel

In the image below, I've drawn two objects on a Captivate slide. Clearly the object on the left is much larger than the one on the right. I'd like both objects to be the same size. In fact, I'd like the smaller object to grow larger to match the size of the object at the left.

Two objects, different sizes.

While it might be tempting to delete the image on the right and simply duplicate the existing object, there is a little-used option in Captivate that I'd like to share.

Select the objects you'd like to be the same size and choose Modify > Align > Resize to the same size.

Resize to the same size.

And bam… you get this:

Resized objects.

What's that you say… you got this?

Resized... but smaller.

Take a look at the very first image above and notice that the object on the left has white resizing handles. In the image directly above, the object on the right has the white resizing handles.

When aligning or resizing multiple slide objects, the object you select first becomes the anchor. The anchor will neither move nor resize when you apply Captivate's align and/or resize commands. In the first image, the object on the left is the anchor; in the image above, the object on the right is the anchor.

Spend some time with Captivate's align and resize commands (via the Modify menu or by right-clicking. Among the standard align and resize options, you'll also find some handy slide-alignment options. These options can prove handy should you want, for instance, selected objects to be perfectly centered on a slide.

***

Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.

October 7, 2011

eLearning & PowerPoint: A Great FREE Resource

by AJ George

I've talked a lot about where to get free stock photos, about how to manipulate stock photos, and tips for creating your own graphics. Somehow, in the midst of all that, I remained in the dark about what is probably the best free resource I've come across in a while.

When tasked with constructing eLearning on a limited budget and a limited time frame, you may be forced to take a linear approach to your navigation. This is often seen as a less effective way to present learning, but it doesn't have to be. One solution to the linear eLearning doldrums is to present your content in comic format.

This could prove quite labor intensive. But, behold: Design Comics. Not only can you take a look at some comic examples and download a pretty nice selection of characters and scenes, BUT, it's all free. SHUT-UP!

John has an idea.

This slide above took less than five minutes to build. All I did was drag and drop the downloaded images from Design Comics and slap a text box on it. Similarly, you could add more than one person and thought or dialog bubbles from the Shapes menu.

You could also ditch the comic idea altogether and just use these images as part of any eLearning course, even one with branching.

Branching 1

Branched comic.

Easy, fast, looks nice, FREE. What more could you want?

***

About the author: AJ George is IconLogic's lead Technical Communicator and author of both "PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials" and "PowerPoint 2008 for the Macintosh: The Essentials."

October 4, 2011

Free Technical Communicators Event in Boston and San Jose

Adobe will host two free, full-day customer events at the Adobe offices in in Boston and San Jose for tech comm decision-makers, strategists and managers at enterprise-sized companies.

Attendees will be able to:

Meet the Adobe FrameMaker, RoboHelp and the Technical Communication Suite product management teams
Share feedback on the above-mentioned products and influence the future product roadmap
Listen to presentations by Scott Abel and Maxwell Hoffman, who will dispel myths about technical writing and address how to simplify content strategy
Learn how other customers leverage Adobe's technical communication solutions

Attendees can also participate in on-the-spot contests and rub shoulders with the "who's who" of the tech comm industry at the end-of-the-day cocktail reception.

Advanced registration (via the links below) is free and required for entry. Seating is limited and registration will be confirmed via email and/or phone.

Boston, Mass.: Tuesday, Oct. 11

San Jose, Calif.: Thursday, Oct. 13

October 4, 2011

Adobe Captivate 5.5: Flash Player Version Aversion

by Kevin Siegel

One of the big decisions you will need to make during the Publish process (File > Publish) is which Flash Player to choose from the Flash Player Version drop-down menu.

Captivate 5.5 sports three versions of the Flash Player: 9, 10 and 10.2. While the Flash Player 10.3 was released back in May 2011, it is currently not available in the menu.

Flash Player Version drop-down menu.

Which Flash Player should you choose? According to Adobe statistics, Flash Player version 10 and below is in use in 99.2% of the world's mature computer markets (mature markets include the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan, Australia and New Zealand). Flash Player version 10.3 is in use in 40.5% of those same markets.

With the numbers above in mind, it make sense to select Flash Player 10 from the Flash Player Version drop-down menu. Right? Not so fast. In my experience, many companies and government agencies are still using Flash Player version 9 (with no plans to upgrade anytime soon).

Learners attempting to open a SWF published to a more recent version of the Player than what is installed on their computer will be unable to view the lesson. While some of those learners will be prompted to download the newer version, they may or may not be able to actually install the current Player (depending on their admin rights). In other cases, learners using an older version of the Player will simply see a blank, white page. Ouch!

During my Captivate classes, I encourage students to play it safe when it comes to the Flash Player Version and select one full version lower than what is offered. By selecting an older version of the Player, users who have the newer version of the Flash Player will still be able to consume your content, as well as those with the older version of the Player.

***

Looking to learn Adobe Captivate 5 or 5.5? We offer Beginner and Advanced classes. Both Windows and Macintosh developers can attend these classes.