Event: Getty Summer Sessions

Summer Sessions 2004
Date: Saturday July 17, 2004, 6 pm
Location: Museum Courtyard
Admission: Free

The Summer Sessions return with the finest world music has to offer! All concerts are free with no reservations required and take place at 6 p.m. in the Museum Courtyard and Garden Terrace. Music for the Spirit: Africa's Heart/Beat - Using indigenous instrumentation and language, African folk music and Rastafarian dub are explored by Samite and Ras Michael & The Sons of Negus. Musical themes of spirituality, family, and nature are the songs' focus. Traditional beats meet contemporary styles with DJs Haul & Mason while session players and frontmen Hormel, Hodges & Holmstrom combine 60s Brazilian and 70s Afro-Cuban pop.

Career-Op: Inflexible Projects

Career-Op: Inflexible Projects
by Douglas E. Welch, ComputorEdge Magazine

Projects are everything in your high-tech career. They drive your work from day-to-day. They help you to build the great stories that will get you better jobs down the road. Some people, like Tom Peters, author of “In Search of Excellence” and David Allen, author of “Getting Things Done” say that you should consider everything you do, every goal you want to accomplish, just another project along with all the others. Unfortunately, projects have a way of self-destructing before they ever get off the ground. There are ways, of protecting yourself against project failure. Some of these, though, require addressing your preconceptions about projects.

(Continued)

Protection (and style) for your iBook

Foofbags are stylish and fun protection for your iBook (or other, similarly-sized computers). They are not designed to be sole protection for your computer, but a nice cover for when it is stored in your laptop bag or backpack.

Via Gizmodo

PowerPoint Guidance

If you use Microsoft PowerPoint to present your ideas to management, or the world, then you need Beyond Bullets, a great blog dedicated to helping you use PowerPoint in more effective ways.

Before you create another PowerPoint deck, head over to Beyond Bullets and learn ways to make all your presenations more effective.

Ditching Internet Explorer...

If you have been wanting to get rid of Internet Explorer, with all its security holes, you may finally have a decent choice.

Firefox, from Mozzila, now has versions for almost every type of operating system, including Windows XP and Macintosh OS X.

The software seems to work well in my quick trials on 2 computers (a Dell laptop and my Macintosh G4).

WEB: Idea-a-Day

Here is another way to get your brain moving in the morning -- Idea-a-Day.

Even if you can't use the idea as it stands, it could be a great jumping off point to exploring your own ideas.

From the web site...

Idea-a-day.com publishes an original idea everyday on the internet. The ideas are free of copyright*. They are there to be read, enjoyed, used  or abused. Subscribers and visitors to the site can respond to the author at idea-a-day.com. Original ideas are welcomed and can be submitted at idea-a-day.com.

Alsoft - DiskWarrior - Macintosh Disk Repair

Alsoft - DiskWarrior

Years ago, I used to carry a large pack of software to every computer-client appointment. Norton Disk Doctor and other software seemed to be constantly needed in order to repair and recover hard disk gone bad.

Recently, though, I noticed that I didn't need to carry much at all. It was a rare occcasion when the built-in Mac OS X Disk Utility couldn't correct minor problems with a har disk.

Almost as if I had jinxed my own luck, I have hard disk problems with 3 computers over the last week. Two were client machines and one was my own workhorse PowerMac G4/450. All of them developed problems that couldn't be fixed by normal methods.

I had heard of Alsoft's Disk Warrior product before, but when Apple's own support experts recommended it, I immediately got a copy. Sure enough, Disk Warrior was able to correct the hard disk problems on the machines, saving me a complete reformat and rebuild of the systems.

On a fast Macintosh, Disk Warrior does its work quickly and cleanly. My G4/450, though, is slower and also had overlapped files. This meant the software had to run over 24 hours in order to correct the issues. This is certainly not typical, but if you use Disk Warrior you should be aware that it can take a long time to complete, but will still be able to correct most problems.

Book: Simplicity: The New Competitive Advantage by Bill Jensen

I highlighted another Bill Jensen book a few weeks ago. Reading that book caused me to look back to his earlier books to find the concepts driving his work.

For Jensen, lack of communication is one of the biggest problems facing business (and individuals) today. Without a simpler, while not simplistic, method for communication, we are drowning in a complexity of our own making.

Bill Jensen Web Site

** Other books by Bill Jensen

Event: Music by the Sea - July 11-August 1

7th Annual Music by the Sea Concert Series

This free outdoor concert series with a variety of musical genres are set in a park overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Bring a picnic, a blanket, family, and friends. Spend the afternoon shopping, listening, and dancing to music. Entertainment varies each week.

W H E N : Sundays, July 11 through August 1, 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.
S I T E : Point Fermin Park, 807 Paseo Del Mar, San Pedro
C O S T : Free
S P O N S O R : City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks,
City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, and City of Los Angeles Council District 15
I N F O : 1-888-LA PARKS (527-2757), http://www.laparks.org

From the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department Festival Guide