AMD APU

If you’re getting a new laptop to use for electronic presentations consider getting an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU). Advanced Micro Devices‘ 64-bit microprocessor uses a graphics processing unit integrated with the CPU.

The AMD Ryzen APUs may function faster than some of Intel’s top processors, and are a cost effective option. However they may not function well with Nvidia discrete graphics cards that are separately installed. Unless your laptop has memory dedicated to video, its performance will be limited by the system RAM.

AMD's Ryzen 4000 'Renoir' APUs were released for system developers this summer, and may be a significant improvement over the previous Picasso APUs.

Diffchecker

Diffchecker, is a free online tool that does a fine job of comparing differences between two text or PDF files.

See this comparison of the official Sedona Conference Proclamation on the left, and my edit of it on the right.

Altered words are highlighted on both sides.

Diffchecker can also help you compare multiple versions of an image. It will show the differences by overlaying two images:

. . . and even better by letting you slide back and forth between them.

Highlighting Photo Areas with the Fragment Tool

In PowerPoint, you can use an easy trick to add emphasis to a specific area of a photo.

1. On the photo, circle the area that you want to emphasis with the circle or oval shape.

2. Then select both the shape and the photo itself. Be sure to select the photo first and then press CTRL and select the circle.

3. Under the Drawing Tools . . . Format menu, and on the far left select Merge Shapes . . . Fragment.

4. Then select the background photo and go to the Picture Tools . . . Format menu, and on the far left select Artistic Effects and choose a blurred version of the photo.