Advice

If I were to give advice to incoming students who are going to take this class, my advice would be to have fun and do your assignments and projects on topics that you like because if you are genuinely interested in what you're working with, then the quality of your work is noticeably better.

My Favorite Websites

Three of my favorite websites were Laura Husband's, Langston Neuburger's, and Rebecca Ribbling's. While I liked all the websites that were done in our class, I particularly liked these three because they were all unique and interesting.
I really enjoyed Laura Husband's because she did hers on a fellow Trinity student, Ashley Hamner. Having seen Ashley perform multiple times, and being a fan or her music, I thought that this was a very creative idea for a website. It's beneficial for Ashley because her music will be more widely publicized and it is cool to have a website made after you! I thought that the backgrounds and images were all simple and interesting and it looked very well-done.
I also really enjoyed Langston's website because I found the content of his website to be interesting. I do not know that much about computers, so I found his website to be very informative. I was impressed by how much he knows and his website had a nice design layout and a lot of information. The website was really well organized and easy to navigate, which was helpful because I was curious to continue reading the content.
Finally, I also really enjoyed Rebecca's website because I was impressed by all the places that she has lived. I think it is so cool that she has lived in such foreign places such as Chile and Korea. The layout of her website is easy to follow and it's cool that she has links to outside websites for further information on the places that she has lived.

My Website

Please visit my website www.cs.trinity.edu/~acrook


I learned a lot about the process of making a website while creating my own webpage. Originally, I was intimidated by the process, however, after understanding the links and the layout, it turned out to be  fun, engaging process. I used both Kompozer and Expression web because I worked on my Mac with Kompozer and on the school computers using Expression Web. I am most proud of the pictures because I think they accurately capture the beauty of these sites. I especially like the panoramas of Machu Pichu because they are very colorful. If I could change some things, I would add more photos and include pictures from my trips, but all the photos are on my home computer all the way in California! The biggest technical challenge that I faced was making it so the navbar linked properly, and the biggest design challenge that I faced was adding the photos so that they looked good. I will show my site to my friends and family because hopefully they find it interesting! After completing this assignment, I definitely plan on creating more websites in the future. I think it is was a fun assignment and I look forward to utilizing my newfound website making skills for future classes!

Larry's Lecture

I was highly impressed by Larry Hechler's lecture. I learned a lot regarding a variety of different aspects to computers. However, the concept that I benefited the most from was he talked about how we should treat our computer batteries. He explained how it is harmful for our battery when you use it for fifteen minutes, only then to recharge it. Hechler explained that this is detrimental because the battery becomes accustomed to only needing to exert itself for short periods of time. Instead, Hechler explained that it is better to let your battery run the full amount, then fully recharge it. I will benefit from his tips because I realized that I am not fully maximizing the potential of my computer battery because I often work on my computer while it's charging. Also, I learned that Dell has a really good warranty program. Hechler explained that if you buy a Dell, you are eligible for "Complete Care" which guarantees that the company will either replace or repair a broken Dell as long as it's within the time warranty. I found this information to be very useful because when I buy my next computer, I'll definitely take that into consideration because it is a very good deal. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Larry Hechler's lecture; he is a very nice man, as he finished the lecture by letting us know that he was always available to help us with any computerproblems that we may encounter.

My Image Manipulation

For this project, we were asked to choose an image that we were to manipulate using photoshop tools. I decided to select an image of Machu Pichu and manipulate it by adding birds flying around, appearing to "invade" Machu Pichu. I chose birds that are not commonly seen in that region of Peru, to make it seem like an eery occurrence. I chose this picture because I personally have back packed to Machu Pichu, and it is truly the most incredible experience that I've had. I did a weeklong trip full of hiking and adventure to Machu Pichu, and the sight of the great ruins is absolutely incredible. Machu Pichu is creviced in the Andes, and waking up at 4am to hike in the dark through the crisp, damp air to the gates of Machu Pichu is an awesome experience. I took many pictures that essential replicate the one that I manipulated, however I decided to use one off the internet because it was clearer and the colors were better. I manipulated the image by adding four different species of birds flying over the ruins. In addition, I altered the colors. I changed the hue and saturation and added shadows to the background because I thought it gave off a more mystical feel. I also lowered the brightness of the image because I think the hovering shadows added an element of uncertainty as the birds swarmed above. Additionally, I believe that the shadows added to the majestic image of Machu Pichu. I believe that the manipulation is not harmful because it is somewhat humorous and purely for entertainment purposes. There is no subliminal or political messages embedded in the image. This relates to the article that I read because the article talked about how the ability to manipulate  images truly alters the way people view a specific topic or image. For example, the way that companies manipulate images of people, and it ultimately makes viewers feel worse about themselves because they feel that the images depict reality and that they have to meet those standards. However, what I took from the article was that people see an image and oftentimes are intrigued and captivated by the presentation. For example, I believe that many people have not seen an image of Machu Pichu, so if the first one they saw was mine, then they'd be confused and unable to distinguish the original. I believe that this ties in with the article because the article focused on how technology has allowed teachers to manipulate images and to captivate their students. This allows them to have the attention of their students because the students are more likely to pay attention if the material is visually exciting. For my image, I believe that people would be captivated by the colors, and the beautiful scenery of Machu Pichu.

 Greenberg, R. "Image Processing for Teaching." Journal of Science Education and Technology 2.3 (1993): 469-80. Print. 

My Powerpoint Presentation

As a History and Spanish major who is interested in working in the field of education, I decided to do my powerpoint presentation on the program Teach for America. I talked about how I believe that going into education equpips one with the necessary skills essential to any job in any profession because you learn how to effectively articulate your ideas and thoughts through a strong leadership position. The ability to relate to others and teach lessons is very important, and I believe they are skills that anyone in this globalizing economy should value. I ultimately want to go into education administration because I want to be apart of putting the change into effect. I believe so many people complain and pass judegment on the education system today, however, they fail to provide any feasible, attainable solutions. Instead, as an administrator and leader, I want to be apart of the group that comes up with new, innovative, realistic plans that help end educational inequality. I thought my presentation went relatively well. I have been sick for the past week, so my voice probably wasn't as clear as it normally is, but other than that, I think I did a good job in presenting my powerpoint.
While I the enjoyed all the presentations and powerpoints, I particularly liked Danny and Taylor's. Danny's was very unique. She presented on Advertisment and I really thought that hers was unique because the graphics were really cool and interesting. I was intrigued and entertained the whole time. She kept the design of her powerpoint well colored and a good combination of graphics and text. I also really enjoyed Taylor's presentation because it was clear that she had a passion for her topic, opthamology. The design of her powerpoint was simple, yet captivating because it kept the focus on the topic. She had good bullet points, in which she further expanded on by explaining throughout the presentation. The video that she included was also really neat!

Chris Nolan's Presentation

Chris Nolan visited our class last week, and I thoroughly enjoyed his lecture. He talked about the various search engines that are available to us and how they differ from one another. Google is currently the most widely used search engine. I found Nolan's lecture really interesting because he additionally talked about how google is one of a kind because they put a lot of effort into sorting out bad information and sources from the good. They filter a lot of bad sites out of so that the most reliable and relevant sites are listed first when one does a search. I learned about how the various endings in a web address refer to the type of site that it is. For example, if it ends in -edu, then it is a website affiliated with an academic institution (usually higher education) and if the website ends in -org then it is a non-profit organization. Another thing that surprised me was how widely google is used. Approximately 66% of internet users cite google as their search engine of choice. This surprised me because that is a clear majority, for other engines such as Yahoo  (16%) and MSN/Bing (11%) garner much less attention.

Powerpoint

Powerpoint is a very resourceful program that allows one to visually present their data in an organized way. However, because there are so many cool tools that you can use to enhance your presentation, a lot of people get carried away and it ends up making their powerpoint worse. Five things that I dislike about powerpoint are: 1. I don't like when people use crazy colors and backgrounds to the point where it overshadows the information they are trying to convey. This happened a lot in high school when we'd make presentations, and people would put more time in choosing the colors and the backgrounds than preparing the information. 2. I do not like it when you can't read the writing on the slide. This bugs me because people don't seem to check to see if the text is visible. 3. However, on the flipside, I don't like it when a powerpoint has no color or photos. I do believe pictures and a nice background enhance the presentation because it captivates the audience and makes it look like you tried. I think there needs to be a good balance between overdoing it and making it look professional and presentable. 4. I do not like it when the words on a certain slide appear on the screen one at a time, accompanied by the annoying swooshing sound. 5. I also don't like it when the speaker only relies on the slides to present their information. I think powerpoint should be used as an aid, but the speaker needs to effectively articulate their presentation with their words.
All of that being said, I do believe powerpoint is a huge tool in helping people communicate and articulate their research, project, or any other source of information. I believe this because it allows the speaker to utilize visual, sound, and video aids within their presentation. It can also serve as a talking guidlines, so they stay organized and so they don't have to remember everything. For the audience, it can be helpful because they can visually see the main points the speaker is presenting. Powerpoints can be utilized in vitually every sector of professions, be it education, business, or the humanities. Educators can present their lessons to students using powerpoint. This is a very common method of aiding teachers.

CLT Visit

I found our visit to the AT&T CLT center very interesting. I thought it was really cool because I haven't really utilized all the resources the center has to offer. It was awesome to see all the Macs and PCs available to us students. Additionally, when Robert Chapman showed us the sound recording studio, I was amazed by the equipment that every student here at Trinity has access to. Robert Chapman talked about all the uses the center has, including it's ability to record sound, edit videos, photoshop, and a lot of other softwares. I realized that the center has a lot of uses that I can take advantage of for not only this class, but for my other classes as well. I think I will use the photoshop software in the center when we have photoshop assignments because the computers are equipped with an advanced version. Also I can use the software on these computers to edit videos that I record. For my job in the education department, my boss has me edit recordings of teachers, so that they can watch themselves teach. This enables them to learn how to become a more effective teacher. I can come to the CLT center to edit the videos because the computers in the education department are not as nice and efficient. Overall, I realized all the resources the CLT center has to offer. I think it's a really good place where you can study, record music, edit videos, and use photoshop!

The Abilities of Photoshop

For my photoshop blog, I decided to select the image of OJ Simpson on the cover of Newsweek and Time magazine. I decided to use these images because I think it accurately reveals the great effects and potential of photoshop. These images stirred up a lot of controversy, and photoshop and picture alteration certainly played a part in distorting the image. The image on the cover of Time is the photoshopped mug shot. The picture is Simpson's original mug shot. The photo was manipulated by dramatically darkening Simpson's face, which makes Simpson appear more "killer-like" because he appears angrier and more threatening. The photo was manipulated because Time believed it would grab more peoples attention if Simpson appeared more frightening and it would draw people into buying their magazine because they would want to know why he appeared on the cover. There are many perspectives in determining whether the manipulation was negative or detrimental, however I believe that photoshop ultimately was negative for this photo. Because the photo was manipulated, OJ Simpson was portrayed as a dark, menacing killer. Fair or not, the media altered his mug shot so they could sell more copies of their magazine. I believe that is wrong to harm someone else's image for financial gain.
I also selected a short Youtube clip on photo editing and image manipulation. I decided to use a video that was more of a practical, positive tool. The video outlines the various uses and abilities of photoshop. The uses that they highlighted were: photo touch-ups (for blurry or faded photos), the ability to add special effects (enhanced coloring), to look slimmer and younger, and colorizations. I think the point and message of this video is that photoshop and image manipulation can improve your photos, regardless of the problem. There are many tools that are out there that can help your pictures, so they hope that people recognize the vast abilities of photoshop to improve their photos!

Excel

Over the course of the last week, I have learned a lot about Excel. My previous experiences with Excel were very limited, so this week I found myself covering a lot of things that I did not know how to do. The exercises that we did making conversion charts, financial organizers, and income statements were very useful for me to learn more about Excel. Because of all the exercises we did, I recognize how Excel can be widely used for various purposes. Excel can be utilized for a range of purposes, be it keeping track of personal finance data, travel expenses, to organizing business accounts.I know that I will continue to use Excel because it will help me stay organized because I like that it keeps a running update of what you want it to (for example, we are using Excel to keep track of our grades).

Copyright and Creative Commons Lecture

I found Jason Hardin's visit to our class to be really interesting and informative. Hardin gave a lecture on copyright in our society and the various issues regarding copyright. The main reasons why I found Hardin's lecture so interesting was because I have never known too much about copyright and all the logistics of it. I knew the basics, but his lecture really introduced me to many new concepts. One of the main things that I learned was that it is a felony to commit a copyright infringement involving more than 10 copies and a value of more than $2500. A big issue that is relevant to many college students today is how it is illegal to download music without paying for it. Hardin informed us how many college kids ignore the fact that downloading music is illegal because they believe since everyone does it, then they can too. However, strict repercussions ensue if one is caught.
One case that serves as a reminder that such actions can lead to harsh consequences is one situation that a Boston University student found himself in. In 2009, the student was ordered to pay a staggering $675,000 for illegally downloading thirty songs. The student was ordered to pay four different record companies for the damages he caused them. While many believe such a sentence is harsh, the companies view this as a reminder to all who participate in illegal downloading that they will not tolerate it. Companies lose money when people do not pay for the work that they produce. So, from a business standpoint, they sue those who "steal" from them in order to make up for the damage illegal downloading causes them.
From a students perspective, this can be viewed as an unnecessary, extreme consequence. From this perspective, one can believe that they are not really causing any harm by downloading music illegally. Oftentimes, those who produce the music are already filthy wealthy, therefor, not paying $1 a song is not that big of a deal. Why make the rich richer? Especially if you can get it for free? I side with the student on this issue. I think that is not a huge deal if people illegally download music because those who produce music are creating art, and art is something that everyone should be able to benefit from and appreciate, regardless of their ability to pay. Also, don't fans pour enough money to these music starts when they throng to their concerts and purchase other merchandise? Somehow, I don't find myself feeling too guilty when the people I "steal" from are still earning 7, 8 figure salaries.





Copyright and Creative Commons Lecture Response by Andrew Crook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at andrewcrook91.blogspot.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://andrewcrook91.blogspot.com/.

Trinity Network Diagram

My network diagram will hopefully be an informative resource to help one better understand the complex computer system. The ITS employee who gave us a tour in Halsell was very thorough in describing how the network functions. I found that making this diagram was a good learning experience because I discovered the vast intricacies of the Trinity's network.

Trinity Mystery Spot

I decided to take a picture of this particular elevator because it is a place that I visit everyday. It is a significant location on campus. I'd say that a large portion of the sophomore class visits this location on a daily basis. I edited this photo because I thought it would make the picture more interesting. I changed the colors because I found the colors in the original dull. However, in my edited version,the contrast in colors make the image more captivating. I think it has a mysterious look to it, especially with the word "danger" in the bottom. Can you guess where on campus this photo was taken?

Best Tech Tip

Joe Hatch came to talk to our class today. I found his lecture to be very informative and interesting. He touched on a lot of different topics, including clean access and viruses. I really enjoyed his lecture because I learned a lot; I learned more about clean access, and the necessity of a secure, safe network. While I found a lot of his lecture useful, I think the best tip he gave us was to constantly make sure that you erase your history. He told us that this was important because erasing your history, cookies, and cache protect your from potential harm. I found this tip very useful because I never used to do this. I always figured that as long as someone else did not use my computer, than I would be safe. But Hatch told us that people are victims of identity theft, and robbery on a daily business because they do not clear their history. As a result, from now on, I will be more careful and always remember to clear my history because this fast, simple step can save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

Intro to Andrew's Awesome Academic Blog

Hello, my name is Andrew Crook and I am from Davis, California. As a kid, my friends would call me Drew or Andy, but I now go by Andrew. Some of my interests include sports, hanging out with friends, and going to interesting places around the world. I was born in the suburb of Chicago, Evanston, and moved in first grade to Davis. I played various sports growing up: soccer, tennis, baseball, basketball, and track. Here at Trinity, I keep busy by playing club tennis and IM soccer, in addition to keeping up with my studies. On the sticky note we turned in on the first day of class, I revealed how I skipped second grade. I decided to share that because most people do not know about me. As for my computer background, I would consider myself to have basic knowledge about computers; I know enough to make word documents, access the internet and conduct basic research using university search resources. However, my computer knowledge ends there. I am eager to learn more about computers, thus, I am excited for this class, for I am certain that I will learn a lot!

feel free to contact me with any comments

acrook@trinity.edu