Where are you? You are at the personal portfolio of Web Designer Aaron Murphy. I specialize in designing web sites, multimedia, print work and branding.

What do you get when you put together one of the most talented violinists in the world, a Stradivarius and a Washington DC metro station crammed full of government employees rushing off to work? Not much apparently. Joshua Bell a world renowned classical musician plays incognito at metro station during rush hour.

Read the article at the Washington Post.

Thanks to Matt for this.

I’ve never been a fan of plain jane bulleted PowerPoint presentations. Text bullet points which are read aloud seem like they are really for the speakers benefit and do nothing to help the audience. Instead the speaker should keep bullet points where they belong - on note cards. Instead they should offer the audience additional information on the screen not the same exact information.

Now there is research which suggests that not only is this method an ineffective tool to communicate information, it may actually cause the audience to learn less from what you are saying.

Researchers in Australia have found that when the same information is presented verbally AND visually at the same time, it causes a mental overload which keeps us from learning as much as from one source alone. Instead the researchers favor speaking to information presented on screen not reading it verbatim. Some examples of more effective communication would be showing a graph or photo which inform a particular point you are making.

Sydney Morning Herald article

Professor John Sweller’s Research at the University of New South Wales

Sawatdi Khrap! Sabaidee! Chau! Ni hao! 90 Hours of train rides, 90 hours of bus rides and 7,000 pictures later - I’m back. A full report and my photos will be online asap!

From Flickr

I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, so if you liked the first two movies go see it - BUT its not as good, or even close. The first two were directed by Bryan Singer, but when he exited to direct Superman Returns, the producers had some difficulty finding a replacement. Taking his place is Director Brett Ratner, who directed the Rush Hour series, and thats about it. Singer managed to make the movies as much as about the story as the action. Ratner is all action, and not much else. For a real review check out the onion av club’s review.

In a tragic turn of events, Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter was killed while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. I really enjoyed his show along with fellow Animal Planet host Steve Corwin’s “Steve Corwin’s Adventures”. He had a sort of controlled wreckless abandon that was contagious to watch. He was killed of all things by a sting ray, A String Ray! This is the crocodile hunter, I’ve seen him wrestle crocodiles, play with an untold number of poisonous snakes, stand way to close to Rhinos, Lions, Tigers, Bears…the list goes on. He will be missed. Read more at Animal Planet