Fri, 19 Mar 2010 08:55:33 +0000

Garr Reynolds' new book! After his breakthrough book, Presentation Zen: Simple Thoughts on Presentation Design and Delivery , Garr Reynolds brings us a further offering to the presentation design altar, Presentation Zen Design: Simple Design Principles and Techniques to Enhance Your Presentations . If you loved his first book, you should like his following book. I agree with other reviewers that it isn’t the same breakthrough as his first Presentation Zen book was, but it is a worthy stay on-up book for fans of his blog and anyone who does presentation design on a fixed basis. Overall, I give this book four out of five stars. Highlights of Presentation Zen Design More of the same from Garr Reynolds, which is a excellent thing in my mind. (c) Thinkstock As I mentioned, if you liked Reynolds’ first book, you get more of the same stuff you like in this book: emphasis on simplicity, stock photography, white space, no bullet points, fundamental design principles, fascinating slide examples, etc. Going owing to Presentation Zen Design was a excellent refresher or reminder on what’s vital for crafty a strategic, central-style presentation. In Presentation Zen Design, Garr Reynolds focuses on some new topics that were not covered in his first book: color, type, video, and data . All of these subjects were covered to varying degrees by Nancy Duarte in her Slide:ology book, and it’s nice to see Reynolds devote entire chapters to these key topics as I regard his opinion on them. Besides the helpful design suggestions from Garr Reynolds, in Presentation Zen Design you also get a fantastic collection of featured experts, who provided helpful insights on a variety of presentation-related topics. Some of these experts included David Rose (VC pitches), Nancy Duarte (storyboarding), John McWade (imagery), Scott Kelby (photography), and Stephen Few (data visualization). I felt as though these subject matter experts nicely complemented Reynolds’ content. Criticisms of Presentation Zen Design Throw on some wasabi, and I may possibly eat Japanese culture all day long. (c) Thinkstock I’m a huge fan of Japan and its incredible culture (e.g., sushi, ninjas, samurais, anime, tech gadgets, politeness, etc.). I’ve even been fortunate enough to have visited Japan three times in my life. Although the Japanese cultural references used throughout the book provided fascinating visuals and a common theme, I don’t feel as though they pulled their weight in terms of better explaining Reynolds’ presentation design concepts or main points. In fact, I felt as though the various facial appearance on wagasa (umbrellas), tokonoma (interior design), and zen aesthetic principles were mostly tangential at best (nonessential as Garr would say) and detracted from the efficacy of the book . Garr Reynolds, Nancy Duarte, Seth Godin, and other central presentation-focused experts seem to believe one approach fits all situations. For strategic presentations, a Presentation Zen Design approach is fantastic. What about the non-strategic, tactical slide decks that most presenters are dealing with on a day-to-day basis? Do we need remove all of the bullet points , use heavy amounts of stock images, and make contributions for all tactical presentations as well? For many tactical presentations, a pure Presentation Zen Design approach will be expensive, time-consuming, and ill-suited. Several of Reynolds’ design principles still apply to tactical presentations, but readers are unfortunately left to figure it out on their own. My final minor evaluation relates to the slide examples included in this latest book from Garr Reynolds. In his first book, I really loved all of the fascinating slide examples from various presenters, especially the before and after examples. I found it really helpful to see a poorly-designed slide side by side with a well-designed version. In Presentation Zen Design, I didn’t feel as though there were enough before and after examples , which was a small disappointing. In addition, there were too many slide examples from the same presentation design firm (Duarte Design) . I would have preferred a superior variety of try out work from different professional and non-professional presentation designers. Nancy Duarte’s team is very talented, but I wanted to see a richer variety of styles and approaches. Besides a affront Apple Central bias in Presentation Zen Design, Garr Reynolds’ following book builds upon the core concepts outlined in his first book. Overall, I believe Presentation Zen Design is certainly a excellent addition to your business book store if you evenly build presentations in your current role. Related posts: Book Review: Presentation Zen

At the beginning of 2002, the Bush Administration announced the ?FreedomCAR? initiative, an industry-government cooperative effort, to develop fuel cell vehicles. This prompted a subcommittee of the POPA Energy and Environment Committee to commence work on a report about fuel cells and FreedomCAR. The rationale for preparing such a report is that the topic is an important aspect of the nation?s energy policy?a topic that physicists justifiably feel competent to discuss. Previous POPA studies have been on nuclear energy, energy supplies, etc. Fuel cells are of interest to the physics community (e. g., see the recent Physics Today article by Joan Ogden [1]) and physicists are actively involved in research areas for potential hydrogen storage, such as carbon nanotubes. The materials aspects of fuel cells are especially within the purview of physicists. Overall systems considerations, wells-to-wheels energy efficiency, and related issues can benefit from analysis by physicists. In view of the high expectations for fuel-cell vehicles generated by the FreedomCAR initiative, it seems reasonable to examine what is reality and what is unsupported optimism. Of those who have read the Ogden article or popular-press fuel cell articles, some will want to know more. This report is a start on a balanced discussion that intends to educate, rather than persuade or advocate. The intended audience is POPA and the APS membership. [See Appendix A for fuel cell principles of operation and a schematic. The motivation for the FreedomCar initiative is to reduce U.S. dependence on imported petroleum, to reduce emissions of atmospheric pollutants, and to reduce CO2 emissions by improving fuel economy and/or by going to a hydrogen-based system. Since the transportation sector itself uses more oil than produced domestically (Fig. 1), FreedomCAR also addresses a serious national security issue. The big three automotive manufacturers have publicly committed their companies to participation in the initiative. General Motors Chairman Jack Smith: ?With the FreedomCAR program, we are taking a major step towards creating a future where the vehicle is no longer part of the energy and environmental debate.? DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche: ?FreedomCAR focuses on jointly developing technologies that are important to the entire automotive industry. This program allows us to continue to work together as an industry in a way that can make a difference.? Ford Chairman and Chief Executive Officer William Clay Ford Jr.: ?Our companies have made significant progress in reducing the environmental impact of our products. Our participation in FreedomCAR signifies our commitment to continue that progress.? FreedomCAR has the following technology-specific goals for 2010 [2] [See Appendix B for a complete set of goals and notes.]: • To ensure reliable systems with costs comparable with conventional internal combustion engine/automatic transmission systems, future fuel cell powertrains should have o Electric propulsion system with a 15-year life capable of delivering at least 55 kW for 18 seconds and 30 kW in a continuous mode, at a system cost of $12/kW peak. [Note this pertains to electrical systems other than the fuel cell such as electric motors, controllers, etc.] • A durable fuel cell power system (including hydrogen storage) that achieves 60% energy efficiency when operating at peak power and that offers a 325 W/kg power density and 220 W/L operating on hydrogen. Cost targets are $45/kW by 2010, $30/kW by 2015. • To enable clean, energy-efficient vehicles operating on clean, hydrocarbon-based fuels powered by fuel cells, the goal is o Fuel cell systems, including a fuel reformer, that have a peak energy efficiency of 45% and meet or exceed emissions standards with a cost target of $45/kW by 2010 and $30/kW in 2015.

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