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?

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