A quick guide to creating a basic table in APA format using Excel

While APA formatting can seem difficult and unfriendly at first the great news is it is often very easy to implement and is very well defined. APA formatting provides a consistent, systematic structure to references, figures, and tables helping to ensure that articles are easier to read.

When it comes to formatting tables the APA guidelines are fairly easy to follow.

You want to:

- Avoid Vertical Lines

- Minimise Horizontal lines

- Include a Table Caption at the top

And they're even easier to follow if you're working with the microsoft office suite.

While you can use MS Word to create an APA formatted table the easiest way to format your table using APA guidelines is to use MS Excel.

Simply enter your data in an excel spreadsheet, ensuring that the headings are in the top rows

Once you have done this highlight the top Row and right click

Select Format Cells

Go to the Border tab then select the top border and bottom border

Now select the bottom row and right click

Select Format Cells

Go to the Border tab then select the bottom border

Now highlight your table, copy it and then paste it into a MS word document.

Enter a title above the table using the following format:

Table 1: The title that you want for your table should replace the words you are reading now, the ones that come after the colon.

By this stage the hypothetical example should look something like that below:

Table 1: The title that you want for your table should replace the words you are reading now, the ones that come after the colon.

Easy!

Nikon Tell Us Who They Are - An Attempt at Communicating from the Inside Out?

For a while now Nikon have been advertising their cameras by telling us who those cameras are. Now Nikon are telling us who Nikon are. This seems to be following the idea of communicating from the inside out - if you can engage people on an emotional level they will buy from you for who you are rather than what you are selling them.

It will be interesting to see if this continues and if it gains them any ground. While many point to Apple as the best example of this approach working the fact that it worked for Apple doesn't mean it will work for anyone. Certainly this video isn't up to the standard that we see from Apple which may lead to them falling short. Furthermore it worked for Apple because people believed them. Will people believe Nikon?

New Diesel's in NZ - The case of the failing engines

New diesel engine require very pure fuel. The water content must be very low.
Much of our local Diesel supply is not up to standard.
When the engine's fail who is at fault?
The supplier of the fuel for not meeting the appropriate standard?
The importer of the vehicle for not ensuring that their product will survive on the local market?

Unless the fuel suppliers are stating that their fuel meets some standard of purity related to water content it seems like it would be difficult to put the blame on the fuel suppliers. Given that earlier diesel engine's did not suffer the same problems such a claim seems unlikely.

Moving from a signed Wedding Photography Contract to terms and conditions

http://www.consumeraffairs.govt.nz/for-consumers/services/contracts

If I understand the information in the link above correctly services such as wedding photography do not require a signed contract. The only contracts that require signatures are:

• consumer credit contracts
• door-to-door sales contracts 
• contracts agreeing to act as a guarantor 
• contracts for the purchase of a motor vehicle from a dealer 
• contracts for the purchase of real estate.

None of those are wedding photography. Yay!

Coronation Street Moves to 5.30 - Automatic Recording - TVNZ's missing piece of information

While I don't watch Coronation Street and am unphased about it moving to an earlier time slot many loyal watchers are upset. While TVNZ did raise the rating argument this, unsurprisingly, has not pleased the fans. While many have suggested that you could automatically record Coronation Street and watch it later it is somewhat surprising that TVNZ did not point out that you don't need to record it to watch it when you want to. Afterall not everyone is able to record programs through services such as tivo, MySky, or even a standard VCR or DVD recorder.

Coronation Street is available On Demand through TVNZ's website.
This means that you can watch it when you want to.
In fact you can watch it online at 7.30pm if you want to.

While Coronation Street's key demographic probably aren't currently heavy users of TVNZ On Demand this is an opportunity for TVNZ to change that. An opportunity to introduce a new group of users to convenience the On Demand experience.

It's not all a bed of roses though. It does require a solid internet connection, dial-up won't cut it, and a fair amount of data. Anything less than a spare 1GB of data on the monthly plan might leave room for concern.

The link to the Coronation street page is below:
http://tvnz.co.nz/coronation-street

Lytro's New Camera - Shoot First, Focus Later

It would seem that Lytro's first camera will be released on schedule at the end of this year.

As expected the cameras seem to be aimed at the consumer market and some commenters have suggested that the cameras may become the polaroid of the digital age; providing hassle free shooting with an apparent user friendliness. With a price tag hovering around $400 US it's also comparable to high end compacts which should make it a true competitor.

Whether or not it takes off will be interesting to see. While the ability to focus later is a huge strength it is also a potential weakness. Requiring focal points to be selected by users later may be equivalent to forcing consumers away from the user-friendly point and shoot of jpeg toward the post processing intense RAW photography work flow. Hopefully the desktop software they have written will include features such as face detection to pick popular initial focal points in order to overcome this issue.

In terms of resolution the team are a little cagey. While they do say it can record Hi-def images (1080p) in the video at the bottom of this post they also say it can be scaled up and are quick to argue that the camera debate will be moving from megapixels to consideration of lightfields. What they mean by scaling up is a little unclear. If they simply mean that the images can be enlarged then that's nothing new. However if they mean they can create higher resolution images by using information from the light field then that is something that is truly exciting and should be expanded upon. However as they didn't come straight out with such an answer it's more likely to be the first option; low resolution images that can be enlarged,

In the long run I'm not sure where this camera will end up. It is likely to gather a cult following and will undoubtedly find a worthy place in technological history. Will it be taken up by professional photographers though? While it may be beneficial for some static advertisements - to lead the eye from the cool person to the cool product perhaps - such techniques are already employed in a number of banner ads by using  multiple images. While using Lytro's cameras would reduce post processing it would reduce control over individual elements meaning that the status quo will probably hold its ground.

Check their website for full specs, prices, and additional information including example photos.

https://www.lytro.com/camera

Shopping Online - How are you treating your customers?

While I am not an online retailer I am an online purchaser. Previously I hadn't really noticed how silly some of the things we are asked to do at online checkouts really were. However this video from the google analytics team makes some really strong points really nicely. If you run an online business watch this video closely and think about how you can apply the lessons to your business.

Orcon Genius Review

We got Orcon Genius when it first came out. Overall it's been pretty good with no real noticeable difference from a standard internet and phone package. That being said I thought I'd formalise things a little bit.

Positives:

Cheaper Price - More Data
We chose to go for the entry level data pack. We rocketed to 30GB of data from 5GB. This was great for us as we make virtually no phone calls and watch a lot of online video.

Voice Mail to your E-mail
Awesome delivery of voice mail to your e-mail means you can check your message from anywhere with internet access. It also means there aren't any pesky voice menus to navigate.

Negatives:

You now only have 1 phone jack and it's part of the Genius Unit.
This isn't too much of an issue if you have a cordless phone but can be a bit of a hassle if you haven't got a cordless phone.

The style of Phone Jack has changed but Orcon haven't told you what it has changed to
Check this post on how to connect your old phone to the Orcon Genius unit for details

The cheaper price comes with conditions
If you go for less than 2 years on contract you will have to pay a rental fee for the base unit
If you go for less than 12 months on contract you will have to pay a connection fee

Conclusion:

Beneficial if you're a light internet user with a cordless phone or a light phone user looking for a good deal on internet.

Critique this wedding photo

I've uploaded this shot so I can include it in a thread over on the photo business forum. I'm looking for some critical feedback over there so feel free to provide it in the comments section below as well :)

My favourite photo from my first wedding shoot

Over on the photobusinessforum one of the members asked us to share our favourite image from out first wedding. I thought it was a great idea so, in additiona to sharing it with them, I thought I would share it with you.

This was my favourite image because it was the one I had the strongest initial pre-imagining of and it was also the one that I was most convinced would not meet my original vision. In the end it worked out and I was stoked as.

Inbound links increase 300% overnight

In a truly bizarre surprise my inbound links have increased from around 200 to around 800 overnight.
The main culprits appear to be search results from map websites combined with my comment popping up as a recent comment on someone's blog.

While this is good in some ways it is terrifying in others. In particular it may look like a sudden link building burst.

If it gets me in trouble I'll let you know.

Girl With a Movie Camera - An audience member's opinion

DISCLAIMER:
I know nothing about dance and am a huge advocate of story. More than likely I am not qualified to give an opinion on the performance. That being said, here's my opinion. It could well be wrong.

Cool dancing

Cool images

But where's the story?

It could well be that the lack of a story is the whole idea. It could be that the independence of each section is intended to reflect each shot in a montage thus emphasising the role of director/camera in the construction of reality in any performance/film. As an added bonus this would fit within the original framework of Man with a Movie Camera (there was to be no story).

However if this is the case they seem to have missed a very important point - the advantage that being in control of these shots gives the director. They are able to arrange them in such a way as to convey any message they desire.

Additionally the if the argument is that the removal of story is necessary to comply with the original Man with a Movie camera the argument doesn't work. The original film also avoided theatre (here we have dance) and intertitles (here we have lines read aloud to the audience). Staying away from story to maintain purity is pointless if the performance is already tainted by other compromises (In fairness the inclusion of theatre is a necessary component of the new performance but intertitles are not. If you are prepared to make one unnecessary compromise how can you justify not making others?)

The absence of a clear ongoing story is a shame as a story is so there for the taking. All that would be required is a restructuring of the events.

The key messages seem to be:

Cameras operate in a contrived reality

The real world is messy

Montages allow for the odering of images in the most advantageous way

The camera is a mechanical eye

The girl with the camera needs to adapt to keep pace

While these messages are currently delivered vocally they don't reliably tie into the following or preceding section. One very clear example being the use of the idea that real life is messy and unstructured, difficult for a mechanical eye to capture. What follows is perhaps the most structured section of the entire piece. Mechanical movements done in time to Daft Punk's Technologic in costume reminiscent of office workers. Rather than convey the messiness of life this section seems to reinforce the structure of office work.

If the messages and performances were restructured to move through a logical order we could create a story where the girl with the camera triumphs

The camera is a  mechanical eye

(Demonstrate with the RGB scene and anything similar)

Cameras operated in a contrived reality

(Demonstrate with well controlled scenes (probably the ones in the dance hall), the camera on the bungy cord being one example)

Montages allow for the advantageous ordering of images - probably link with previous

The real world is messy

(Here the real world footage might be appropriate, preferably show the camera unable to keep pace somehow)

The girl with the camera must adapt

(show the camera working within its limitations to produce great results - one way to achieve this could be to include the current camera on a bungy cord scene here. This could echo back to a new camera on a bungy cord scene where the dancers are doing things on stage at anytime except when the camera is on them. This would show the camera missing the messiness of real life)

There are also some areas of confusion

- the repetiion of nologic at the end of the technologic song - is this deliberate or poor editing?

- the see through people entering the theatre at the beginning - is this deliberate or poor editing?

- the dancing being close-to-but-not-actually synchronised between the video and the stage - is this some kind of statement or some kind of error?

- The conflict of voice and music at the start - sometimes the voices of the dancers are barely audible over the music. This is an area in need of improvement.

Overall though the performances are strong and the images and movements are visually interesting. A strong experimental performance piece.  

Connecting an old telephone to Orcon Genius (BT to RJ12)

If you have switched to Orcon Genius you might find that you are not able to connect your old telephone to the Genius jackpoint. A large part of this is the fact that the Genius jackpoint is not the same as a standard house jackpoint.

New Zealand jackpoints are usually BT (British Telecom) while the Orcon Genius jackpoint is an RJ12.

As long as your phone is not a rotary phone the solution is simple: buy an adaptor.
The adaptor you want looks like this:

And is a BT to RJ12 adaptor. Why this specific information isn't inlcuded in their installation booklet or on their FAQ is beyond me (while they do say you will need an adaptor they don't specify the connections).

If your phone is a rotary phone the solution gets a bit more complicated. While you may still need a BT to RJ12 adaptor you will also need something to convert the pulse dial that your phone sends to the network to a signal compatible with the VOIP system (Genius). This can be done with a DialGizmo available through Duncan Flett on Trademe.

Unboxing the Canon Powershot a1200 - The Point and Shoot Project

This is the first video in the point and shoot project.
As a bit of a laugh I thought I would do an unboxing video. Afterall, they do unboxing videos for dSLRs so why not point and shoots right?

Why buy the Canon Powershot A1200 - A Review (of sorts) - Point and Shoot Project

So in the past I've blogged about what I would look for in a point and shoot camera. While all of those points still held the rules of the point and shoot project meant that most of the checklist became irrelevant. At the price point we were working at. However there were some unexpected bonus features that really helped to push things over the line. They will be covered first:

Bonus features:
Optical Viewfinder
Discreet Mode
Use of AA batteries
Use of SD cards

1) Size
This one actually held together. The Canon A1200 is pocket friendly and that works for me. That being said this is true of most cameras at this price point.
2)Minimal Shutter delay
At this price point the shutter delay will always be left wanting. In this case the delay is about 1/2 a second which is in line with everything else in its class
3)Good lens, colours, and image quality
I checked this out online pre-purchase. I did this by checking out other reviews and looking at sample images. At this price point you should really juts look at images and ask yourself 'does that look good?' The answer for me was yes, it looks fine. In fact the wee powershot seemed to do quite well all the way up to iso800 - that's better than what I was expecting from a wee point and shoot.
4)Around 10 megapixels
The canon powershot a1200 comes in at 12.1 megapixels. This is plenty.
5) Zoom
4x Optical zoom isn't much but it's better than nothing and, most importantly, it's way better than digital zoom
6) Flash
It has one. That's all that matters at this price point
7)High Iso Performance
Surprisingly good
8)Manual control
This is limited to scene mode selections but it's better than nothing and that's actually ok... just as long as you understand what those scene mode selections are doing