Rachel's Computer Skills Blog

Student Wesbsite

2008-12-06T15:03:00.000-08:00

I had a lot of fun using Expressionweb! I never realized what went into making a website, and now I have a greater appreciation for each web page I visit. I really enjoyed Joy's website because of the photo collages. She must have put a lot of work into photoshop to create all of those image maps. I also really like Ralph's website because of all the picture that he used. The layout of the website was very nice and I liked how he picked traveling as his topic. Katie's website was also very interesting. I really liked all of her different backgrounds and her page on her travels was great!

Please visit my own website at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rgarrett

Advice

2008-12-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

My best piece of advice for this class would be:
Pay attention to the small details. Always go back and check your work because it is very easy to leave out the little details

HTML what?

2008-11-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

Although there is web-authoring software available, there are multiple advantages to knowing html code. For example, it is good for web designers to be familiar with html code when something does not appear the way they want it to on a website. It is very frustrating when an element of a page does not do what you want it to, but if you are fluent in html code, you can go back into the code and decipher what is going on. A problem can be fixed much more quickly if you can go in and pinpoint an error in the code, rather than tinkering around on web-design software until the problem gets fixed by trial and error. Also, if you can read html code, then you can use things from other websites, such as a background color that you like. So although software such as Expression Web makes designing a website much easier, knowing html code can help you from getting stuck at any road blocks.

Power Point Evaluation

2008-11-10T09:47:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed listening to eveyones powerpoint presentations! One of my favorite presentations was Abigail's presentation on Art. I really like the background that she used, with all the clouds flying in, and I thought it was very clever how she put her screen-shot into a cut-out of a cloud. The various examples of art that she used in her presentation were very interesting and I really enjoyed learning about the spacial aspect of art. I also really liked Stephen's presentation on the Dell Magazine Award. The beginning of the presentation was very well executed with the various pictures and music. I really liked learning about this science fiction award and Stephen explained the magazine very well. I also though it was really cool how he submitted his own work to the magazine.

Searching the Internet

2008-11-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

With search engines such as google, answers to most of our questions are just a push of a button away. But after listening to Chris Nolan in class, I now realize that we must be skeptical of these websites we obtain our answers from. In order to obtain more credible results, there are multiple ways we can manipulate a search engine such as google. I learned that by going to the advanced search tool on google, you can limit a search for a particular type of source, such as .edu or .gov. There are many other useful tools available such as google scholar, or google books, that may have more worthy results for an academic setting.

Chris Nolan also described how google comes up with the display order of the website on the query page. Google calculates relevance by using an algorithm. I suspected that relevance was calculated by how many times a certain word or phrase appeared in the article/website, but I was surprised to learn that how many times other sites link to a certain website gives that site more weight in ranking. So just because a website is at the top of the list on google does not mean it is relevant or has accurate information.

Slide Show Guidlines

2008-10-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

The most important thing I learned from reading about powerpoint presentations is that the most important thing about a presentation is not the slides, but rather the message you are trying to communicate to the audience. With this said, a simple, well-planned slide show is probably more effective that a complicated, overly detailed show. A powerpoint is an easy and efficient way to communicate ideas to a large group, but the message can be easily lost in a presentation that has too much going on. Here are 5 guidelines you should keep in mind when you are making a powerpoint:
1. Don't use too many graphics
2. Don't write more words than you need.
3. Don't repeat ideas that have already been established.
4.Don't use too many animations or transitions.
5. Don't use too many different fonts or a font that is hard to read.

Excel Experience

2008-10-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

I learned a lot from our unit on Microsoft Excel! Probably the most important thing that I learned was that instead of repeating the same formula over and over again for a function, you can simply drag down on the box of the formula you wish to duplicate to obtain the same results. I also learned about absolute and relative cell references. Excel might be useful for me in the future in that is makes it easier to keep a running budget of my expenses.

Academically, Microsoft Excel is very useful for keeping up with your grades. With conditional formatting on Excel, it is easy to format the cells to make things such as failing grades for noticeable. Excel can be used in business for recording a budget, so that a business can see if their profit outweighs their expenditures.

Pictures That Lie

2008-10-18T22:34:00.000-07:00

The picture that I decided to look at was the one of students at the University of Wisconsin- Madison football game. I chose this picture because I thought it was interesting to see what the students, and the student population looked like back in 1993 at a major university. The picture originated in the university's 2001-2002 undergraduate application. The picture was manipulated in the sense that a black student was added into the picture that originally only featured white students. It was manipulated to reflect the diversity on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus. I think that this manipulation was harmful because it is not really representing diversity. Students applying at this university may be lead to beleive that there is more ethnic diversity at this university than reality shows. If the university really has become more diverse in recent years, then they should use a more up to date picture for their application.

CLT Tour

2008-10-11T15:24:00.001-07:00

The At&T Center of Learning and Technology (abbreviated CLT) is located on the first floor of Coates Library. The CLT has many useful resources for both the students and staff here at Trinity. The CLT includes many facilities such as The Studios @ CLT, which is a computer lab with workstations that allow students to work with different types of media technologies for video, audio, and graphic projects. These workstations also include creation software from Adobe, Apple, Macromedia, Roxio, and many others. The CLT also has an Audio Lab, which is available only by request by professors on behalf of their students. Another facility here is the Video Conference Center, which includes and electronic classroom. The CLT also operates TriniTV and is in charge of distributing the films shown on Tiger TV.

I learned that there are many things you can do at CLT. You can transfer your videos from VHS to DVD, as well as take advantage of the video dubbing decks. Digital still cameras, video cameras, and video cassettes are also available for students to check out. I might use the CLT for this class by taking advantage of media software in The Studios for possible projects. I also think that the electronic classroom would be very useful for a study group in subjects such as math. There is so much high-end technology at CLT, it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.

Copyright

2008-10-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

I learned many things from Diane Grave's presentation on copyright. I learned that copyrights have been around a long time, beginning in 1790 in the U.S. I also learned that the RIAA, MPAA, and ESA are especially interested in campus-based file sharing, and that the Higher Education act states that colleges and universities must take steps to prevent students from file sharing or they will lose federal aid money. But I also learned that in some cases, a person can use another's copyrighted work, like when it is being used for news reporting, as a parody, or if it is being taken for nonprofit educational uses. The length of time documents are protected by copyrighting has advantages and disadvantages. A good thing about the length of time fro copyrighting is that it helps keep the music industry alive. Without copyright laws in placed specifying a great length of time, musicians would not make very much money because their music would be given out for free a while after they produced it, and therefore they would no longer be able to support themselves and could no longer make new music. Another good about the length of time for copyrighting is that people who have worked really hard on making some sort of break through will be given credit for their idea for a very long time and will not have to worry about other people making money off of their written idea. A disadvantage for the length of time for copyrighting is that people who want to use a work positively to spread the word about one subject or another, or inform the public about an issue, must either wait 75 or more years, or go through a lengthy and sometimes costly process just to obtain permission to reproduce that work. We could use so many documents in a positive way if they were not protected for such a long time by copyright. Although I believe that copyrighting is a good thing, I think the length of time that a work is protected is way too long.

The Wireless Campus

2008-09-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

I never realized how useful my laptop would be until I came here to Trinity. Trinity's wireless network has really made my life easier, and I am sure that many of the other students here would say the same. One class in particular that Trinity's wireless network has really come in handy is my biology class. Through the Trinity network, when I get to class, I am able to open blackboard, where I can access the lecture for that day. With the lecture right in front of me on my laptop, I can take more efficient notes on my computer and save myself time. I would say that this is more of an academic help than a social distraction because those of us who get distracted by things such as facebook, would probably find other distractions even without a computer in front of us. There are many more benefits to having a wireless network than there are costs. For more information on some of these benefits, see the article in the New York Times online:http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/00/04/circuits/articles/20camp.html

About Me

2008-08-28T11:40:00.000-07:00

My name is Rachel Garrett. I am from Round Rock, Texas, which is located right outside of Austin. I have an older sister at U.T Austin and a twin brother at Texas A&M. I have lived in Texas my whole life. I like watching sports, visiting art museums, and going on road trips. This is my first year here at Trinity and I will be playing softball in the spring and I hope to get involved in community service. My computer background is very limited since I have never worked extensively with computers. I just recently got Windows Vista, so I am excited about learning more about the program. If you have any questions, my e-mail address is rgarrett@trinity.edu.