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.
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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?