Awesome tip from Lifehacker (I've always wondered how to do this):

Save your PowerPoint presentation as a show:
"Loyal reader Mark writes in: If you want to really impress people with your PowerPoint, save the file as a .pps

This is a PowerPoint Show. Most people save them as a PowerPoint Presentation (PPT). A PPT shows the slides and the work that can be done on the presentation. By saving as a PPS (PowerPoint Show), when you double-click it, it will auto launch into the show mode. It makes it look so much more professional. I've always seen presentations where people open the PPT, then go to Slide Show > View Show. This cuts off that step.

Make sure you also save a PPT copy to work on it, but make your final output file a PPS.

Since, for whatever reason, PowerPoint presentations seem apt to go wrong, it's a great idea to cut out at least a couple of extra steps; not only will your presentation look more professional, but there's also less of a chance that something will go wrong between saving and presenting. — Adam Pash "

I am a HUGE fan of Dane Cook...he makes me giddy. I think you either LOVE him or hate him, but either way Tourgasm begins tonight on HBO. I'm excited!

Looks like a couple of taken hotties are no longer taken. Ryan Reynolds and Matthew McConaughey are both single!! If only Josh Duhamel could get rid of Fergie!

Movie Updates
After seeing The Da Vinci Code, my dad lamented that Paul Bettany might have sabotaged his career with such a cheesy part. However, having seen Dogville last night, I think he's still got street cred to spare. He just needs to avoid making any more Knight's Tales.

For the record, I liked him in Da Vinci Code because even as a scary, melodramatic albino, the man is still a fox. Overall, I hated Da Vinci Code only because it bored me to death. I already knew the story, so suspense was a moot point-- all I wanted was scenery and to be able to see the places featured in the book. When they skimmed over the effigies in the Templar church, I was so disappointed.

Since I'm talking about movies, I should add that Casanova was uninteresting and confusing (somewhat exacerbated by my falling asleep in the middle, but I don't think that was a coincidence). Over the Hedge was really funny and not annoying like kid's movies can be (when they have trite conclusions or forced conflict), but it was no Shrek.

Miss Jolie popped out future babe Shiloh. Celeb baby madness!

99, Kingston is a nice enough name. Do you agree? Reminds me of Jamaica though.

Should this have been a comment to the previous post or a new post? Parker will chide me if it's the former I'm sure.

Gwen Stefani FINALLY had her baby! I seriously thought she was gestating an elephant. I'm not a huge fan of No Doubt or of Gwen's solo career, but I love Gavin... so I guess congrats are in order!

For P:
Finished watching the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more had I never seen the 1995 version. Usually I like Keira Knightley, but she didn't seem right as Elizabeth. How was she nominated for an Oscar? And she and Matthew Macfadyen have zilch in the chemistry department. I read that Keira Knightley is dating the guy who played Wickham; maybe they should have cast him as Darcy, even though he looks like the poor man's Orlando Bloom. I told my mom (who watched this version too) that Mr. Darcy is supposed to be very handsome, and she was astonished. However, 2005 had some lovely cinematography and I liked its Jane Bennet better. The issue is the Mr. Darcy 2005 is dull and didn't seem very proud to me. Just dull and quiet. The ending is supremo cheesy.

(My favorite scene in the 1995 version is when Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth talk while dancing at the second ball. It's hot, but not blatantly so.)

In preparation, Overheard in New York.

Despite being only of interest to me, I shall continue with the lists linkage love and submit The World's 50 Best Restaurants, as compiled by Restaurant Magazine. Seems like my posts are all food related so far. Anyway, this post was inspired by a pal who told me of her desire to eat at Napa Valley's The French Laundry, the best restaurant in America and number four in the world. The friend said hell with the $210/person menu and crazy reservation system, incredible food is to be had. Of course I haven't been to any of the restaurants on the list [yet]. Someday. When I'm filthy rich. Gotta move to Spain!

My first post...woo hoo! Unlike my co-bloggers here at Alacrity, I read the TIME magazine instead of Newsweek. Unfortunately, my TIME magazine goes to my parents' house instead of my apartment, so I read the news a week late. Last week TIME reported the TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World. Who was on the list? Dane Cook! My new favorite comedian, I had to pick a new one since Mitch Hedburg passed away. Check out his article!

Yay, my first post! I hope this is to your liking, Parker. I tried making these coconut rum balls, and they seem pretty yummy, but the true test will be taking them into work tomorrow. Will my coworkers gobble them down? Will they get drunk off them? I shall find out.

Does anyone use Last.fm? Is that worth looking into?

After careful consideration, I have decided to take this site from two regular commenters to zero by inviting my unofficial contributors to be my official co-bloggers. Start checking who made a given post, because it won't always be me anymore. The quality of this effort can only improve with their efforts. Welcome to the team, pseudoanonymous friends, Inessa and Agent 99.

New Atom Feeds

Okay, I'm being very bad and procrastinate-y today. Anyway, I just discovered I can do the RSS/site-feed thing with my page. I know I hardly ever go to my regular sites anymore, I just monitor them via Google Reader, so I thought for anyone who likes my stuff, but hates how infrequently I post, it's a nice compromise. This is the link:
http://parkerj.blogspot.com/atom.xml

It's easy to add to Google Reader. You're on your own with other aggregators.

By popular demand (from my only two readers): The Top 1,000 US High Schools.

First of all, let's hear it for #77, AHS! Let me tell you, when I presented a paper on this article in my cognition class I let it be known where we stood, especially since there were few or no Iowa schools on the list. What's up now, snobby Iowans?!

It's hard to hate a list that ranks your own school highly, but honestly, this list is pretty bad. My big problem with their ranking system is their obsession with AP/IB. My specific challenges to their article:
"Large studies in Texas and California done over the past two years indicate that good grades on AP tests significantly increase chances of earning college degrees."
--- I'm sure this is only established as a correlation, there's no evidence that AP scores cause anything. The same smart kids are both more likely to pass AP tests and get college degrees.

"That has led many public schools in disadvantaged neighborhoods to look for ways to get their students into AP... in hopes that their students will have the same college-graduation rates enjoyed by AP and IB students from the country's wealthiest private schools and most selective public schools."
--- Again, there’s a confusion of causation. AP classes don’t cause higher graduation rates for the wealthy students. Leaving issues of SES and intelligence aside, the wealthy students they want to mimic don't have any of the social forces working against them that the disadvantaged students have. Having AP classes on your transcript won't stop you from having to work to pay for college, reduce the challenges of being a minority or lower-class student, or change the way your home community values the importance of higher education. AP classes may help these students get into competitive colleges and get scholarships, but they won’t fix low graduation rates. /end soap box

Lisa and Laura, is this what you wanted?

In the last week I have suddenly gone crazy for a couple of They Might Be Giants songs:
Birdhouse in your Soul
Ana Ng

The first one and I go way back to summer camp in 1st grade or so, but Ana Ng is a new favorite. So darn catchy! I'm asking for their best-of album for my birthday. I am so late to this party.

Defective Yeti posted yet another funny offering, read it if you like to laugh at Montessori schools.

Woah, mama. Tivo is coming out with a new line that lets you record two shows at once. I wish I could justify having two tivos capable of recording three shows at once in a one person, busy as heck already, household. Really I just want the 80-hour memory to save more stuff. I'm a pack-rat even on my tivo.

Daniel sent me this picture. It was dark when the twister hit, but he says this is illuminated by lightning (it's also as the twister is picking up, I think). This picture is taken from Clinton St about 2 blocks west and 4 blocks south of my apartment.

Relevant news from CNN and the Daily Iowan

Damage report:
The things that made me the saddest were
- The crop of daffoldils that had just bloomed near the psyc building have all had their necks broken, so they'll be wilted by this afternoon (I snagged one that had been completely decapitated and I have a pretty little daffodil to brighten my office)
- RIGHT outside of my building, four or five large trees were completely severed at their bases or pulled up at their roots (and they weren't pine trees like we're used to seeing easily destroyed, these boys were sturdy)
- I haven't seen it, but I know St Patrick's church was destroyed which is really sad because it was one of the prettiest in a town full of pretty churches (the good news is the parishoners were all safe in the basement when it went). PICTURE

Funny things
- Too many people running around with their camera phones (I stepped into one guy's shot on purpose because he was taking it from a car and everyone is supposed to avoid driving in downtown, so it bugged me that he was gawking)
- A city cop trying out a new segway (who knows where he scored it, but his cop friends were all talking about it so I know it's new)
- a stop light was twisted and knocked over, but was still functioning, so I knew when I could cross as a pedestrian, but not which direction to go. PICTURE (yes, that's exactly the one I was talking about, but it's not my picture)

Destruction
- The ped mall area is pretty messed up. All of those buildings are 100-150 years old and many of them are missing chunks of their roofs now. Most of the buildings are bars and restaurants, but some have apartments in their upper stories, so I hope everyone's okay. The starbucks looks seriously damaged, so caffeine addicts mourn today.
- Everything is covered in dirt and pieces of leaves. A small price to pay for no damage in my immediate vicinity.
- I just found pictures of Iowa Ave, where a lot of students live and a street I traverse very regularly. Really scary, since it could easily have been my building with the roof missing, and since I stayed in my second floor apartment (hiding in the closet) it would've been serious for me if my roof had blown off.

The atmosphere is 60% tacky gawking, 20% construction site, 10% sad, and 10% freakin humid.

(I'm updating a lot because I can't get my mind off of this. It's not that I see it as a curiosity or want others to look at it as a curiosity, but it's cathartic to talk about it, even through a blog. I love this town and I hate to see the damage done to it.)

If you've seen the news today you know Iowa City was hit by a huge tornado last night. I'm fine, and my building is fine, but my nerves just can't get a break because I keep hearing about how very close the storm damage is, meaning how very close the tornado got to me. From the press-citizen:

"Cars at the Kum & Go convenience store at Burlington and Gilbert streets remained at the gas pumps, just as they were when the storm hit. Only now they were damaged and covered in debris. Stoplights at the intersection were twisted in the opposite way they originally stood."
(about 5 blocks south of here)

"Several large windows in the new Plaza Towers building were broken out, and police roped off the area." [three blocks south of here]

I'm going to walk to my office soon (classes are cancelled, but I have work to do!) I'll post again if I see anything wild.