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In his latest Alertbox, Jakob Nielsen publishes the results of a quantitative study on how time needed to complete website tasks increases as you get older. According to the study, there is a 0.8% increase in task time per year for users between the ages of 25 and 60.

Nielsen attributes the increases in time to the human aging process—erosion of cognitive resources, loss of visual acuity, etc. Apparently, the older you get the harder it is to process complex information and tasks on the web.

While there is not enough disparity between 30- and 50-year-old users to warrant different design approaches, Nielsen notes that there is a specific drop-off in ability after age 65. Websites designed for senior citizens clearly need to follow different usability guidelines.

It’s hard to disagree with the Nielsen’s findings, although concluding that older users struggle more than younger users is hardly groundbreaking. The study notes that the age at which people start using the web has some impact on their ability, regardless of age. However, the study does not take into consideration how the types of online tasks you perform vary by age.

Pew Internet released an interesting report on how online activities differ by demographics. While the findings do support Nielsen’s findings, there is equal variance across different demographics such as income, race, and education.

Vista Service Pack 1 fixes an annoying bug on the Lenovo T61 where the system would only recognize 3MBs of RAM (even if you had installed 4). This bug only showed up on Vista 32-bit editions.

The bug is now history post-upgrade. Nice to see that Microsoft is getting a lot of these bugs fixed!

Interested in Silverlight and WPF? Mike Demopoulos, partner and creative director at RDVO, maintains WPFDev.com, a growing compendium of the latest projects, technology advances, and how-tos for Microsoft Silverlight and Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF).

At RDVO, we’ve identified Silverlight/WPF as an exciting and emerging new technology for building truly dynamic web applications. While the technology has yet to truly take off, it will only be a matter of time until it’s embraced by a wider audience.

Take a look at WPFDev.com for a taste of what’s to come and see how cutting-edge organizations are already using the WPF and Silverlight platforms.

Earlier this month Google rolled out a new search feature that displays an additional search box in the results set.

According to the Google Blog here’s why and how the additional box is generated:

This feature will now occur when we detect a high probability that a user wants more refined search results within a specific site. Like the rest of our snippets, the sites that display the site search box are chosen algorithmically based on metrics that measure how useful the search box is to users.

You would think that Google would limit this service to directories and informational website. Think again. Here are a number of business websites that return search-within-a-search results.

• Northwest Mutual
• Boeing
• UBS
• Cisco
• Microsoft
• National Semiconductor

It’s important to note that searches performed in the additional search box are returned at Google, not at the website associated with it.

This is a smart and useful feature. When and how will Google offer it as a premium service for advertisers?

Strunk and White’s Elements of Style (originally published in 1918) identifies clear guidelines and recommendations for clear writing. They also have a list of commonly misused words and expressions. At the top of the list:

-ize. Do not coin verbs by adding this tempting suffix. Many good and useful verbs do end in -ize: summarize, fraternize, harmonize, fertilize. But there is a growing list of abominations: containerize, prioritize, finalize, to name three. Be suspicious of -ize; let your ear and your eye guide you. Never tack -ize onto a noun to create a verb. Usually you will discover that a useful verb already exists. Why say “utilize” when there is the simple, unpretentious word use?

More and more of these ‘-ize’ terms are constantly being added to the modern business lexicon. Perhaps they were created as a catchier, more intelligent technique to state the obvious…

Here are five common terms that overused and some suggestions on replacement terms.

Finalize

‘Finalize’ is one of the most commonly used fake terms. “We can finalize the deal only after both teams agree on the scope.” Also: finalizing, finalization.

• Use instead: ‘Complete’: We will complete the requirements document only after expectations have been defined.”

Strategize

How many times have you heard this one in meetings? “The team needs to meet so we can strategize the elements of the project.”

• Use instead: ‘Assess’ or ‘Define’: “The design team met to assess the creative approach.”

Conceptualize

Somewhat similar to “strategize”, this term is frequently used as an element of the creative process. It’s an ugly word with a number of simpler options. “After the wireframes are completed the designers will conceptualize the creative approach.”

• Use instead: ‘Plan’ or ‘Address’: “The creative director used mood boards and case studies to plan the design strategy.

Templatize

This is an awful term that indicates that something is converted from custom to repeatable. “We can save time if we templatize all the pages.”

• Use instead: ‘replicate’: “The information architecture needed to replicate the structure to maintain consistency.”

Incentivize

A truly cringe-worthy term. “Free water bottles should be enough to incentivize users to fill out the survey.”

• Use instead: ‘motivate’ (or simply ‘incent’): “We can motivate employees if we offer additional personal days.”

There is no shortage of articles lamenting on how tools like PowerPoint have done more harm than good. In my opinion, PowerPoint is not the problem—it’s just a means to an end. The real dilemma is that the “slides” and “presentation” have essentially become the same things.

Your presentation is not your slides. Slides are visual aids meant to emphasize and support your oral arguments. The audience is listening and reacting to your words, not to your laptop. A disconnect has now evolved—presenters now spend the bulk of their energy focusing on the production of their slides and minimal effort on the actual delivery of their presentation. How many presentations have you sat through where the presenter simply read from their slides word for word?

While I am certainly guilty of falling into the PowerPoint trap, I’ve learned a few techniques that can help break the habit. Preparation is critical.

Here are three prep techniques that require you to step away from PowerPoint (for at least a little bit) and can be used to develop compelling presentations.

Write the story

There is an art to effective presentations, and it has nothing to do with slide templates or diagrams—the art is the story you tell. Like any story, a presentation must have meaning. The best stories have an intriguing opening that captures attention, a logical progression, and a killer conclusion. When planning your presentation, take the time to think about the story your telling and what it is about it that will keep the audience interested and engaged.

Instead of organizing your presentation around slides, think about it as chapters in a story. Sales presentations are a great example. There is a formulaic approach—features, benefits, examples. Instead of thinking about that way, try to tell the story of the software: how did it help in a particular instance? Channel Steve Jobs. When he introduces new products, it’s never all about the functions – it’s the story of the product in context to how it can make your life better. Think about this approach and then build the slides to support it.

Treat your presentations as stories and narratives. Stories are far more compelling than lectures.

Do your homework

I recently attended a presentation by a search marketing company pitching its services to a biotech that develops software for managing clinical trials. The presentation went along swimmingly—the firm confidently presented their capabilities and experience, and seemed to know their stuff…until one of the audience members asked a question about their thoughts about the clinical trial process. I was dumfounded when the presenter asked, “What’s a clinical trial?”

End of presentation.

Regardless of how good your presentation is, if you fail to do the necessary research you are simply shooting yourself in the foot. Take the time to learn about your audience’s industry, their competitors, and their needs (both real and assumed). Granted, you cannot expect to know everything about your audience but knowing enough that you can confidently speak their language goes a long way. It also shows that you are committed and took the time to understand their business.

Remember, your audience needs to more than your inherent skills and competencies—they want to know that you have smarts to apply your abilities to their business needs.

Get some sleep

Presentations are often completed at 3:00AM the night before the big meeting (“I have to get my slide builds just right…”). Good work requires time and it often takes up to the last minute to get everything done. Regardless, it is just as important to show up to presentation rested and energized. Looking haggard does not translate as “hard working” to your audience—it makes you appear disorganized and unprepared—usually not traits audiences respond to.

So instead of pulling an all-nighter hovering over your slides, get a good night’s sleep, eat a good meal, and try to relax. Doing so will improve your ability to present much more so those extra five case studies that you worked on until sunrise.