Nostalgic Movie Recommendation: When Jeff Tried to Save the World

Saturday night at the movies was spent at home this week, scanning Hulu for content that fit the occasion. Recently-added When Jeff Tried to Save the World seemed to promise an entertaining, comedic ensemble film. Read on for the no-spoiler scoop, and add it to your watch list!

The choice was not a disappointment, starting straight off with scenes that feature the incomparable Jon Heder. Those who remember Heder's remarkable performance in Napoleon Dynamite (2004) will understand the expectation for focus. While Heder has been busy since then, he's likely dropped out of site for most popular moviegoers who are most likely to remember him opposite Will Ferrell in Blades of Glory, but not so much his other work, which has remained steady . . . yet fairly niche.

"Comedic Ensemble" - Yes!

When Jeff Tried to Save the World is popularly-listed as a comedy-drama; however, with elements of both romantic comedy and subversive film, it would be best described to movie buffs as a light, comedic art film.

Its subversive quality is fairly evident in its most basic plot description, being a movie that deals with a dying local business, the biggest fans of which naturally wish it to survive. The writers' keen character traits, paired with fundamental storylines, help to deliver thematic messaging of a political context without directly approaching divisive dialog or [much] argumentation.

Romantic elements involve not only the more predictable situational meetup and progression of events, but as well address our most typical and fondest notions of familial relations, while hardly focusing on this aspect of the film. So, while the movie as designed is a slow burn (as many filmgoers love to see) there's quite a lot happening to keep a watcher focused.

There are familiar faces, as well as engaging less-familiars. Fans are likely to recognize and will be happy to see Jim O'Heir, whose lengthy career in comedy entertainment has set him before us in one thing or another for at least the last twenty years. Fans will also recognize a familiar female duo, appearing together again as friends. Overall, it's an admirable cast of characters that lend credence to otherwise nostalgic elements of the movie: bowling lanes, arcade games, snack bar fare and good times, all in the neighborhood. Modern elements add contemporary interest.

While When Jeff Tried to Save the World is well worth the time, don't expect it to be as exciting as Napoleon Dynamite. (Much tongue-in-cheek happening here.)

However, in vaguely the same way, When Jeff Tried to Save the World should be just as enjoyable for fans of Heder and other cast members, as well as anyone simply chasing a bit of nostalgia that hearkens to days and venues largely gone by in terms of modern entertainment.

Official Movie Poster Image via IMDB

Catch it on Hulu (for a limited time):
When Jeff Tried to Save the World

Actual When Jeff Tried to Save the World movie site, with trailer: WhenJeffMovie.com 

Let us know how you like the movie!


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Microsoft Office 365 Outlook: Desktop Mail Display Density - Full vs Medium vs Compact

Desktop users of Microsoft (MS) Office 365 Outlook Mail may have noticed that they have the option to adjust the software's "Display Density" between full, medium, and compact ("compact" being the way to show the most text, with everything being condensed).

The differences among the three display options may seem negligible, especially when you realize the most obvious changes . . . which are not all that obvious. However, a user's perception and ease of viewing may be significantly impacted.

Although actual character counts and visibility hardly seem changed, the way a user's eye takes in information will likely be keenest to one of the three options.

Which Outlook Display Density setting should you use?

It's important to make this decision while you have a few moments free to relax, being that it's a bit like sighting the mysterious visage in an autostereogram. But, let's not digress.

First, you'll open your Outlook in a desktop tab, and click on the settings wheel at top right.

You should be able to see the option to adjust your "Display Density" after clicking the wheel, as shown above.

To fully view the result of each selection, first expand your desktop window to full screen via your keyboard. (This isn't necessary, however, especially if you don't normally do this often enough to know how. In that case, just continue to refer to Outlook's Display Density options in the right-hand pane.) 

As stated above in our first paragraph, you'll find display options labeled full, medium, and compact. Short descriptions of each option are as follows:

• Full - In the full display setting, user profile icons are visible to the left of each incoming message (as under "inbox" in the image above); subsequently, fewer messages are visible because the icons themselves take up more space in the pane. The display setting affects all panes, so there will be fewer folders visible as well. Also, there will be somewhat fewer characters per line.
• Medium - In the medium display setting, user icons disappear, and more folders and messages are visible.
• Compact - In compact, the setting shown above, several more of your folders will show in visible screen, along with more messages in the inbox pane. Overall, there will be more text content on-screen.

Again, differences between the three Outlook display options seem to be barely noticeable! Still, the result is perceptible, and users at attention will realize that they prefer one of the three options.

Perhaps the most noticeable difference is in the presence or absence of the MS user profile icons. While some users will prefer to see these icons (full mode), others will prefer to have the most possible text (including folders) condensed into the viewable screen (compact mode).

You likely have hundreds, if not thousands, of emails in backlog on any given day, and can surely benefit from making every visit to your inbox as pleasing as possible. If we've helped you today, or you have another idea for easing the inbox experience, leave us a comment. We'd love to know. Or, comment with one of your personal preference inbox tricks.

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Disability and the Workplace Community

The modern political landscape encompasses an ever-morphing progression of issue-related events, with both positive and negative interpretations—and reactions to—various difficulties brought to light in efforts to redress grievances or quality of life. Among these concerns are the implications of disability.

Disability occurs in many forms, with the condition that one has a "reality to be accommodated", or possesses "a form of human variation", and there exists a long history of persons with disability, who have undergone life-affecting struggles to coexist in within their communities. This includes a relatively recent foray into the politics of bringing about significant change that positively impacts the lives of those who would benefit from improvements in the approach of whole communities.

While perceptions of (and treatments for) disability have continuously improved over the years, it's important to realize the reason for the shift: the activism of those with, and who care for those with, disabilities. There are several key references to historic political activities designed to bring needs of the disabled to light, from which we can begin to learn more about the process. 

Recent progress includes the primary benefit of social media: its capacity to assist in reaching the public with pertinent information designed to boost and forward such efforts. For example, the National Association of Democratic Disability Caucuses works through its Facebook page to enlighten activists as to the breadth of options available in developing and sustaining both organized and individual efforts for the cause.

There are a number of things anyone can do in the interest of creating a continually civilized culture that is not only accepting of, but as favorable to the environmentally disabled as anyone. One of the most effective strategies to change the landscape for the better rests on our ability to communicate effectively in a manner that does not diminish the disabled through ableist language.

ableism - discrimination in favor of able-bodied people

A person can use damaging ableist language in a couple of ways. When subconsciously used, ableist language is a learned habit that inhibits our capacity for complete understanding. When consciously used, ableist language is designed to inhibit progress that might be considered costly to detractors. 

Perhaps one of the most critical environments for the importance of language use is the workplace. When working with, or speaking about, a person with a disability for any reason, we can effect communication that equalizes the environment that person must navigate in order to meet their needs. By putting the person first in our perceptions and interpretations of circumstances, we avoid becoming the dreaded ableist in the lives of those with circumstantial disabilities. 

Avoiding ableist language in regard to wheelchair users

In order to better understand the relationship between ableism and language, dedicate some time to learn about all the intricacies involved in disability awareness communication. Resources today are many.

On the Holocaust: ensuring accurate historical information is taught in schools and beyond

A recent news report revealed that a school principal ran into some trouble after [allegedly] indicating that his educational institution did not necessarily prioritize the Holocaust as a factual event in history.

Considering the principal's alleged reasoning—something along the lines of 'not all people believe the Holocaust occurred'—it was perceived by an inquirer that the school wouldn't be teaching its students about Hitler's genocide of European Jews during World War II. The school, however, has reassigned the principal and assured the public of its actual position on the matter.

Our Takeaway:

It's difficult to stomach the propaganda that exists which insists the Holocaust never happened. Most of us have surely been confronted with such ideas as we navigate political social media.

One can only imagine that such an unexpected proponent of this discombobulating misconstruction is either uneducated and thus susceptible, or plain malicious. You'd have to know someone very well in order to certainly determine which, so it wouldn't be proper to presume the latter in this case. Still, we believe the content of the report linked above supports the idea that parents and guardians should be adequately involved in the campus experience of their children so as to avoid the neglect of such a situation.

An alertness to the the handling of subjects we'd personally be concerned about is paramount to the effective teaching of our youth and subsequent raising of responsible adults. Especially with modern technology's constant flow of information and perspectives, we should all be vigilant in doing our part to correct any misinformation that occurs in our field of perception. In addition, we should reach beyond our usual boundaries, into those areas around us that affect the lives of others.

It's appropriate to raise our own questions when confronted with addling,  or obviously misconstrued, statements regarding important events.