PowerPoint hyperlinks using Internet Explorer instead of jumping to other slides

Here's a problem I had at work and it took me awhile to fix it, so I'm posting it here so I can find it again.

A user wanted to create clickable text in a PowerPoint presentation and have it jump to another slide within the same PPT presentation.

Insert > Hyperlink > Place in This Document

















This worked fine when I chose "Next Slide" but when I manually told it what slide to jump to, PowerPoint used Internet Explorer to open a link with that slide name, and it obviously failed.

It's supposed to simply display that page in PowerPoint, not try to open a web page.

I found the fix for this on PPTools. You need to select File > Properties > Summary, and select and delete any text in the "Hyperlink base" text field. Apparently my company had inserted their web address into that field in the default PPT template, so PowerPoint would call IE to open that site for all hyperlinks, even ones that were supposed to jump to new slides.

Tangy Taffy

What happened to Tangy Taffy? It can't be found anywhere.

I don't want the inferior Laffy Taffy - that stuff is junk, especially when all that's left is banana flavor because no one likes it and then all the rest of the candy in the bowl smells like banana Laffy Taffy.

Plus the jokes are bad. But a fun twist at parties is to reveal the answer to the jokes/puns/riddles first - and make people guess the question. And every time they get one wrong they have to eat a banana Laffy Taffy until all the banana ones are gone or someone has to go to the hospital.

I want a great big bar of the Tangy damn Taffy!

Preferably grape.

You're in the big league!

I couldn't find these lyrics anywhere, but I found the ad online. What a great song and a great gum. When it first came out a pack of Hubba Bubba was only 25 cents, but this gum was 75 cents, but so much cooler (bigger too)!

Now you can get them for $3.50/pack on Amazon.


You're in the big league,
When you make a perfect slide.

You're in the big league,
When you keep the team alive.

You're in the big league,
When you block a shot or two.

You're in the big league,
When you’re into Big League Chew!

Leinenkugel's Fireside Nut Brown Lager

Last year Leinenkugel's dropped Heather's favorite beer - Apple Spice. Now they are announcing a new winter brew.

Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. said today it is launching a new seasonal beer: Leinenkugel's Fireside Nut Brown Lager.

An English-style beer, it contains 4.9% alcohol by volume and has a roasted malt character with amber tones. English two-row malts give it a "maple aroma and pronounced chocolate, caramel and hazelnut top notes," according to the brewer, which said in a press release that the seasonal brew "harkens to a time when multiple generations of the Leinenkugel family would gather with friends and enjoy a special brew crafted especially for the holiday season."

The beer will be available during November and December.

Great American Beer Fest - Wisconsin Winners

Here are the Wisconsin medal winners from the 2008 Great American Beer Fest, held last week in Denver. I'd say that Henry Weinhard cleaned up!

Gold Metal Winners

Capital Brewery Co. Capital Autumnal Fire - German-Style Strong Bock
Central Waters Brewing Co. Bourbon Barrel Barleywine - Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer
MillerCoors Coors Light - America-Style Light Lager
MillerCoors Henry Weinhard's Hefeweizen - American-Style Hefeweizen

Silver Metal Winners

Dells Brewing Co. Dells Chief Amber Ale - Scottish-Style Ale
Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark - American-Style Dark Lager
Lakefront Brewery New Grist - Gluten-Free Beer
MillerCoors Hamm's - American-Style Cream Ale or Lager
Titletown Brewing Co. Railyard Ale - German-Style Altbier

Bronze Metal Winners

Great Dane Pub & Brewing Co. Old Scratch Barley Wine '99 - Old Ale or Strong Ale
MillerCoors Keystone Light - American-Style Light Lager
MillerCoors Henry Weinhard's Private Reserve - American-Style Lager or Premium Lager
MillerCoors OE 800 - International-Style Pilsener
MillerCoors Henry Weinhard's Classic Dark - American-Style Dark Lager
MillerCoors Henry Weinhard's Blue Boar Pale Ale - American-Style Cream Ale or Lager

Dallas Stampede Light Beer... wait for it... PLUS!

Someone else is using the Vitamin Beer™ idea, but not my special name for it. Stampede Brewing Company from Dallas, Texas is brewing Dallas Stampede Light Plus (the Plus means vitamins!) with the help of Jessica Simpson, who now owns 15% of the brewery. Kind of weird and kind of sad.

According to Stampede's website, their beer is made from "pure mountain spring water" (from the Texas mountains?) and infused with "smoked, white oak chips" but they don't list what vitamins are in there.

My Vitamin Beer™ will be chock-full of vitamins and they'll be proudly listed right on the bottle.

From the LA Times: Jessica Simpson pushes new vitamin-spiked beer!

New Schlitz beer now available on tap

From JSOnline, the new "classic formula" Schlitz beer is now available in draft. Maybe I'll get a keg.

Pabst Brewing Co., which owns the Schlitz brand, has begun distributing the brand's "Classic 60s formula" in kegs to taverns in Milwaukee and other areas in an effort to meet demand for the beer. The demand for Schlitz in bottles has outpaced production, which is done under contract at a MillerCoors LLC brewery in Eden, N.C.

Compared with the Schlitz sold in cans, the reformulated Schlitz in bottles has a more full-bodied taste. Schlitz has not been served as draft since 1999.

Remove Push to Talk (PTT) from your AT&T BlackBerry

Here’s how to remove the Push-to-Talk (PTT) application from your AT&T BlackBerry if you don't use it (just one less application that needs to be open on your phone):

1. Download javaloader.exe from somewhere by searching Google for it and save it to your c:\temp folder.

2. Open a DOS prompt (Start > Run > cmd) and attach your BlackBerry to your computer with a USB cable.

3. Run the following commands, one at a time. Your device will reboot after each command.

c:\temp\javaloader.exe -usb erase -f net_rim_bb_phone_ptt_app.cod
c:\temp\javaloader.exe -usb erase -f KnJCDE.cod

The King of Beers - Boston Beer Company

With Budweiser's acquisition by Belgian-based InBev, Boston Beer Company is now the country's largest, independent, publicly-traded brewery. But even with this new status, the maker of Sam Adams beer has less than 1% market share in the United States.

Fortune Magazine has an interview with Boston Beer CEO Jim Koch.

They also have a great interactive beer guide that shows which company makes which beers - 99 bottles in all.

Miller Light Craft Beers Dumped

From JSonline.com - MillerCoors is dropping plans for the Miller Lite Brewers Collection, three spinoffs of Miller Lite that tried to emulate craft beers.

I never got to try them. Oh well. Now girls everywhere can keep drinking beer without any taste.

Sleep well, sweet prince

From JSOnline, regarding Heather's favorite holiday-themed spiced malt beverage:

Leinenkugel drops Apple Spice, adds Nut

Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Co. is dropping its Apple Spice seasonal brand and replacing it with Leinenkugel's Fireside Nut Brown Lager, it was announced today.

The new holiday seasonal beer will be sold during November and December. The Chippewa Falls-based brewer says it will be "the perfect complement for holiday foods such as glazed hams, roasts, gravies, pies and pastries."

Apple Spice, which had been Leinenkugel's winter seasonal beer, is being dropped. Apple Spice had good sales, but its growth is currently limited by production costs and ingredient availability, a company spokeswoman said.

HBO's John Adams

I'm looking forward to watching HBO tonight for the first episode of their 7-part mini-series, John Adams, a biopic of the 2nd President and the story of the first fifty years of the United States.

HBO has made a bunch of great historical films: Band of Brothers, From the Earth to the Moon, and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. This one looks good too. It'll probably be more informative than anything you learned about John Adams from school. They could probably show this movie in 6th grade and skip history class for the rest of the year.

Paul Giamatti plays John Adams and Laura Linney plays his wife Abigail.

It should be cool seeing all the other characters from history too, like Benjamin Franklin (played by the great Tom Wilkinson).

If you don't know who invented something, or you wonder who said some famous quote, you should always assume it's Ben Franklin. The next time you're playing your glass harmonica during a thunderstorm, thank Ben that the lightning rod on your house will protect you from electricity shooting right up your urinary catheter.

Samuel Adams is in this movie too. You know, the guy who invented beer . Oh wait, that was probably Ben Franklin.

More Movies

I watched Fracture with Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling this week. It's sure nice to see Hopkins step out of his evil murderer role - oh wait, he plays an evil murderer in this movie too!

When Ted Crawford discovers that his beautiful younger wife, Jennifer, is having an affair, he plans her murder--the perfect murder. Among the cops arriving at the crime scene is hostage negotiator Detective Rob Nunally, the only officer permitted entry to the house. Surprisingly, Crawford readily admits to shooting his wife, but Nunally is too stunned to pay close attention when he recognizes his lover, whose true identity he never knew, lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Although Jennifer was shot at point blank range, Nunally realizes she isn't dead. Crawford is immediately arrested and arraigned after confessing--a seemingly slam-dunk case for hot shot assistant district attorney Willy Beachum, who has one foot out the door of the District Attorney's office on his way to a lucrative job in high-stakes corporate law. But nothing is as simple as it seems, including this case. Will the lure of power and a love affair with a sexy, ambitious attorney at his new firm overpower Willy's fierce drive to win, or worse, quash his code of ethics? In a tense duel of intellect and strategy, Crawford and Willy both learn that a "fracture" can be found in every ostensibly perfect facade.

I like Anthony Hopkins in most of his roles and he's always great playing an evil person. I found myself rooting for him to escape instead of being brought to justice. I also like Ryan Gosling from watching Lars and the Real Girl but he wasn't any spectacular in this movie. Still, I enjoyed the film and I recommend it.

I had recorded A Scanner Darkly from HBO awhile back and finally watched it this weekend. I knew a little bit about this movie and I like Robert Downey Jr. as an actor, so I was interested in it.

The movie is based on a Philip K. Dick novel. Dick wrote many other science fiction stories, several that have been made into films after his death (Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report).

To give the film a distinct look, the movie was filmed digitally and then animated using interpolated rotoscope over the original footage. To me, it looks kind of like a very-smooth cartoon, which was a perfect way of showing the drug-induced views of the characters in the movie.

Set in a future world where America has lost the war on drugs, an undercover cop, Fred, is one of many agents hooked on the popular drug Substance D, which causes its users to develop split personalities. Fred, for instance, is also Bob, a notorious drug dealer. Along with his superior officers, Fred sets up an elaborate scheme to catch Bob and tear down his operation.

Also starring in this film are Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, and Woody Harrelson. I enjoyed the animation and the acting, although the story was fairly complex and I had to pay close attention to make sure I knew what was going on. But you're rewarded with thoughtful and uncommon plot that makes it worth watching.

Films with Actors I Don't Like

I watched another movie in the continuing series I like to call Films with Actors I Don't Like.

Mr. Brooks

Consider Mr. Brooks: a successful businessman; a generous philanthropist; a loving father and devoted husband. Seemingly, he's perfect. But Mr. Brooks has a secret--he is an insatiable serial killer, so lethally clever that no one has ever suspected him--until now. Earl Brooks is a man who has managed to keep his two incompatible worlds from intersecting by controlling his cunning, wicked alter ego Marshall. But now, as Mr. Brooks succumbs to one last murderous urge, an amateur photographer witnesses the crime. Suddenly Brooks finds himself entangled in the dark agenda of an opportunistic bystander, as well as hunted by the unorthodox and tenacious detective Tracy Atwood. Can Mr. Brooks outsmart his adversaries and conceal his shocking double life from his wife and daughter--or will someone expose his crimes and his identity once and for all?

I didn’t know anything about this film before I watched it except that it starred Kevin Costner, who I do like. And I know that critics seem to pan all Kevin Costner movies.

But I didn’t realize it also stars Dane Cook (who I just saw in Dan in Real Life), who I don’t like. And it also stars Demi Moore, who I also don’t like.

But there were also some actors that I like. Besides Costner, I thought William Hurt was great in this movie and I've been a fan of his acting (Into the Wild and A History of Violence). I also like Marg Helgenberger from CSI, who plays Costner's wife.

Parts of this film were really good and I enjoyed it. There were other parts that were completely ridiculous (every plot envoloving Demi Moore's character) that almost ruined the movie for me. But the story is interesting enough to keep your attention though the stupid parts, and good acting my Costner and Hurt make it entertaining.

I also watched the Academy Award-nominated Disney movie Enchanted, with Amy Adams (who just hosted Saturday Night Live). The actor I don't like is Susan Sarandon.

The tale follows the beautiful princess Giselle as she is banished by an evil queen from her magical, musical animated land--and finds herself in the gritty reality of the streets of modern-day Manhattan. Shocked by this strange new environment that doesn't operate on a "happily ever after" basis, Giselle is now adrift in a chaotic world badly in need of enchantment. But when Giselle begins to fall in love with a charmingly flawed divorce lawyer who has come to her aid--even though she is already promised to a perfect fairy tale prince back home--she has to wonder: can a storybook view of romance survive in the real world?

This movie was better than I expected and I really enjoyed the songs, especially the ones I had heard on the Oscars a few weeks ago. It's worth watching, especially if you're a little girl.

Michael Scott and the Real Girl

I watched two decent movies this week.

Lars and the Real Girl is the story of Lars Lindstrom, a loveable introvert whose emotional baggage has kept him from fully embracing life. After years of what is almost solitude, he invites Bianca, a friend he met on the internet to visit him. He introduces Bianca to his brother Gus and his wife Karen and they are stunned. They don't know what to say to Lars or Bianca--because she is a life-size doll, not a real person and he is treating her as though she is alive. They consult the family doctor Dagmar who explains this is a delusion he's created--for what reason she doesn't yet know but they should all go along with it. What follows is an emotional journey for Lars and the people around him.

This movie was surprisingly good - and touching - despite the fact that Lars's girlfriend is a doll. It's a smart comedy with a lot of tender moments. I was impressed and I think the movie is definitely worth watching.

Dan in Real Life stars Steve Carell from The Office in his typical role. Advice columnist Dan Burns is an expert on relationships, but somehow struggles to succeed as a brother, a son and a single parent.

Juliette Binoche is the love interest but she didn't seem quite right for the role - maybe a little too old. Comedian Dane Cook also stars in this movie and I'm not a big fan of his. The movie is also pretty predictable, but I still enjoyed it. Steve Carell does a great job and makes the movie fun to watch.

Vermont looks at lowering the drinking age

I used to care more about the legal drinking age when I was younger, but now I understand why the it's 21.

I don't understand how they can legally say that you can't drink at age 18, but I think it makes sense to try to discourage immature people from drinking. And everyone under the age of 30 is immature.

This week, a committee of the Vermont Senate approved a bill to have a task force weigh the pros and cons of rolling back the drinking age there to 18.

Organizations and lawmakers in other states are considering similar ideas.

In South Dakota, a lawyer had drafted an initiative petition to allow 19- and 20-year-olds to legally buy beer no stronger than 3.2 percent alcohol.

In Missouri, a group is using the Internet social networking sites Facebook and Meetup to try to collect more than 100,000 signatures to get a measure on the ballot to lower the drinking age to 18.

In South Carolina and Wisconsin, lawmakers have proposed allowing active duty military personnel younger than 21 to buy alcohol.

And last year, former Middlebury College president John McCardell started Choose Responsibility, a nonprofit that favors allowing 18- to 20-year-olds to legally buy alcohol once they've completed an alcohol education program.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving is against these proposals, saying the higher age limit has saved thousands of lives since the 1984 enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. The act required states to raise the age to 21 or lose federal transportation money. South Dakota was the last state to comply, in 1988.

Read the full story on Yahoo! News.

The Hunting Party

I just finished another movie - The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard. I hadn't heard much about this movie but I saw Richard Gere on The Late Show and he seemed pretty enthusiastic about this film, so I gave it a shot.

Based on an article that was published in Esquire Magazine, The Hunting Party tells the story of three journalists who take it upon themselves to find the most wanted war criminal in the world, Bosnia's "The Fox".

I liked it; well worth a rental, especially if you are a Richard Gere fan. If anything it's a different story than the ones we're used to seeing. I'm not sure why it didn't get a lot of attention in the press. It scored a 7.1/10 on IMDB and 6/10 on Rotten Tomatoes.

Movies and the new iPic Theater

I watched a few new movies:

We Own the Night starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, and Robert Duvall.

Brooklyn, 1988. Crime is rife, especially drugs and drug violence. A Russian thug is building his heroin trade, while everyone laughs at the cops.

Brothers have chosen different paths: Joe has followed his father Bert into New York's Finest; he's a rising star. Bobby, who uses his mother's maiden name, manages a club. Bobby too is on the rise: he has a new girlfriend and a green-light to develop a Manhattan club.

Joe and Bert ask him to help with intelligence gathering; he declines. Then, Joe raids Bobby's club to arrest the Russian. From there, things spiral out of control: the Russian puts out a hit on Joe, personal losses mount, and Bobby's loyalties face the test.

This was a good action flick, but nothing you'll remember a year from now. Worth a rental.


Blue State starring Anna Paquin, Breckin Meyer (where do you know him from? Maybe from one episode of The Wonder Years in 1988) and George W. Bush. Blue State is a romantic comedy about a disgruntled Democrat who actually follows through on a drunken campaign promise to move to Canada if George "Dubya" Bush gets re-elected.

I thought this might be funny, but it was amateurish and not very good. I would skip it, even if you're a Bush-basher.


I went to the new high-end iPic movie theater at Bayshore Town Center to see the chick-flick Definitely, Maybe.

The theater is really cool - we had reserved seats that an usher escorted us to. The $9 seats ($6 for the matinee show plus $3 for VIP seats) included a large popcorn for each of us and you can add your own butter-flavored topping and various powders like barbecue flavoring, parmesan cheese, and salt.

The VIP seats are probably most comfortable movie seats I've experienced. They are giant high-backed love seats with an armrest that you can move out of the way and each side can rock back independently of the other side. The seats are also really spaced out so there's only like 10 people in each row.

The theater was immaculate and the sound and screen were excellent. I think the higher prices might keep out the riffraff too, like the damn rich kids I ran into at Marcus North Shore last December.

The theater also has a restaurant, a bowling alley, and a bar (you can bring your drinks into the movie and micro-beer prices are $5, not bad for movie theater prices). I was impressed with the theater and I'll definitely be back, even if the prices are slightly higher than at Marcus theaters.

Here's a free tip for you. On Tuesday nights you can get a half-pound hamburger from Bar Louie at Bayshore for just $1. And if you go before 7:00pm, all beer taps are just $2, including all sorts of microbrews like Lindemans Framboise and Delirium Tremens. So for $5 you can get two great beers and a decent burger; there's your cheap date before a movie.

Definitely, Maybe was OK. It starred Ryan Reynolds, who I think plays generic roles that could be played by any young, male actor. He was decent in this, but reminded me too much of comedian Dane Cook.

In this movie, a political consultant tries to explain his impending divorce and past relationships to his 11-year-old daughter. There are a lot of Madison, Wisconsin, references in the movie, although none of the movie is filmed there.

I was entertained by this romantic comedy, but probably could have waited for the DVD.

New beer technology

I don't know how I could have missed all of this new beer technology from Coors. Maybe it's because I avoid that swill.

Still, I think everyone can appreciate Coor's new way to drink beer faster than ever before. Maybe after the Miller/Coors merger we can enjoy some of these fine new technologies on cans of MillerCoors High Life Banquet Light.

From Brandweek.com:

Coors has introduced a “Vented Wide Mouth Can” for six and twelve packs of Coors Light and Coors Banquet. The new vented mouth directs airflow into the can to enhance the swigging experience for can drinkers.

The packaging is an evolution of last year’s introduction of the “Smooth Draft Vent Can,” which featured a wide opening that enabled the liquid to pour smoothly like a draught tap.

Last year, the No. 3 brewer also debuted its “Cold Activated Bottle” which features a thermochromatic label that turns the Rocky Mountain label blue when the beer reaches the optimum temperature.

This year they will also introduce a 24-ounce “Cold Activated Can” as well as distribute pint glasses with the Rocky Mountain logo that turns blue when beer is cold enough.

Car Fire

I saw a car on fire today on the way home. There was a big flame coming out of the engine but you can't see it in this picture, just the smoke as the cop put the fire out. It smelled poisonous.