Sebastian Kirsch: Blog

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Something for my mom, who is an elementary school teacher and who is learning PowerPoint at the moment:

This Wired article by one Edward Tufte details why PowerPoint (and related presentation software, but mostly PowerPoint, through its ubiquity) makes us stupid. Why it degrades the quality of communication and makes every well thought-out argument into a piece of mindless marketing drivel.

Tufte also wrote a monograph on the subject of PowerPoint abuse, called The cognitive style of PowerPoint; sample pages from the monograph are on his web site on a page about the Columbia accident.

Tufte is an artist and graphics designer who has written several books about the visual display of information. (A department in which I am sorely lacking, so perhaps I should treat myself to one of his books eventually.)

So, please, mom, think of the children: Don’t let them use PowerPoint!

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Happy new year, everyone!

I just came back from a wonderful holiday in Zürich – celebrating new year’s eve at the lake, watching the fireworks, visiting the Monet exhibition at Kunsthaus Zürich, fine vegetarian food at Restaurant Hiltl (which has over 100 years of experience in vegetarian cuisine), fine asian food at Tiffins, fine fast food at New Point (try the shish kebab, not the döner kebab), and a very nice evening at the Jules Verne panoramic bar (in the old observatory, overlooking the city.)

The downside: Zürich is as expensive as ever.