CSCI 1300 Ryan's Blog

Student Websites

2008-12-04T14:34:00.000-08:00

I thought all of the websites were really impressive and there was something unique about all of them. With that said, my three favorites however were Emmalee's, Ashley's and Demi's.

Emmalee - I thought her website was like that of a professional. Everything was well layed out and the purpose of her website was clearly presented. I thought the black background was a good choice, as it made the page more depressing as the topic of poverty, aids, etc. should be.

Ashley - Ashley's site was very well layed out and she did a good job of using tables. I thought the Trinity tower background was a nice addition to her Life at Trinity page. I also liked how the pictures on her athletics page went diagonally and all the colors she chose contrasted nicely.

Demi - This website was absolutely unbelievable. I thought Ms. Belisle said it best when she asked how Demi made her text and backgrounds look the way they did. Everything that is on her site makes you think, "how did she do that" and "I wish I would have done that in mine." The site was really impressive and the uniqueness of it certainly worked.

Overall, the sites were very well done and I enjoyed watching all the presentations. As frustrating as I thought Expression Web was to work with, I enjoyed making my own website and was fascinated to see how well the sites turned out. Please visit my own site at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~rphilli1/.

Advice For Next Semester

2008-12-04T12:16:00.001-08:00

Even though I was upset that I had to take this class in the first place, it actually turned out to be pretty informative and enjoyable. Ms. Belisle is a great teacher and is certainly there to help if you have any trouble along the way. This course entails the basics from Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and also some other programs that are fun to experiment with such as Photoshop Elements and Expression Web. Although some of the programs may be difficult at first, you quickly get used to them and get a feeling of accomplishment after you're done. Overall, the class is a great experience and is certainly worth taking, as it will surely help you down the road.

In one sentence, my advice would be: to pay attention during class lectures, complete the homework assignments, and just have fun with the projects, as they'll certainly turn out better.

HTML Code

2008-11-18T13:59:00.000-08:00

Although HTML code is very frustrating and time consuming, anyone who is interested in making a website, should have a basic understanding of its use. Even though software such as Microsoft Expression Web is definitely easier to use when making a website, knowing HTML can be a way of solving many problems one may run into. For example, if text on a website is bold and Expression Web will not allow you to un-bold it, by looking at the code, you might find that the font style is a default bold, and you must change the font in order to rid of the bold. Another instance may be if you would like to copy another web site's background color or perhaps some information, it is much easier to look at the code of the site and use the exact same format when writing your code. Without knowing how to read code, you would have no idea where to find what background color was used and would be stuck trying to find a match in Expression Web. A final instance where knowing code is important, is to make sure that a website is capable of being found by search engines. Search engines must parse HTML code in order to find any relevant content. If there is something wrong with your code, the search engine might drop its search from your site and the website will not come up in results. Even though Expression Web will normally contain no errors in code, if you were to have a code that contained error, it is essential to know how to read code, so you can correct the mistake and have the website be found in future searches. Overall, writing HTML code is very tedious and web-authoring software is probably the way to go. Having a basic background of HTML code certainly has its advantages however.

My Favorite Presentations

2008-11-06T14:01:00.000-08:00

My two favorite PowerPoint presentations were Cristina’s and Emmalee’s. Each of their presentations made me more interested in their respective topics, especially anthropology. I thought that Cristina did a great job of showing us what she was talking about with all sorts of pictures and even videos. It is so much easier and enjoyable for the audience to actually see what the presenter is talking about with visuals such as she used, opposed to just writing all sorts of information on slides and continuously repeating it. I also thought her background (the outline of the lion) and her animations (lion prints) were very fitting and well done. As for Emmalee’s presentation, I thought that she picked a really interesting story and did a great job in presenting it to the class. The music surely added something to the presentation and the different pictures of Tanta Carhutha helped in gaining a visual for the story. The different backgrounds used, especially Machu Picchu, were very fitting and made you gain an overall appreciation for anthropology. Altogether, these were my two favorite presentations; they surely did a great job in capturing my interest, in subjects I thought I never cared about before.

Searching the Internet

2008-11-04T20:12:00.000-08:00

Something that I learned from Chris Nolan's presentation was the directories that are available for use on the Internet. These directories give a good amount of sites on vast subjects and the best part is that they come from recommendations of libraries around the country. This assures you that you are getting sites that have been previously visited and the previewer believed the information was accurate and useful enough to recommend. I will surely use directories such as, Infomine or Librarians' Internet Index the next time I do a research paper. One aspect of the presentation that surprised me was the fact that Google insists they do not rank websites based on how often they are visited. Even though Mr. Nolan himself sounded skeptical, Google claims they rank the websites that appear during a search based on: how often other sites link to a site, how often the search words are repeated in a site, and also whether the search words appear in the title of the site or perhaps just in a small, insignificant paragraph. Although I too believe that Google must take site visits into some consideration when it ranks its websites, they must know what they are doing as Google is by far my preferred search engine.

PowerPoint Presentations

2008-10-23T15:39:00.001-07:00

After reading the articles on how to create a good PowerPoint presentation, the one article that I found the most interesting was the one intended for faculty. I am assuming that the presentation that was shown to faculty on how to give a good presentation must have been boring and ineffective itself, as I cannot begin to count how many lectures I have sat through that were a waste of my time. Through my first three semesters of college, I would have to say that the amount of professors who give good presentations is about half. There are just too many professors who load up their presentations with information and just repeat it, opposed to actually teaching the material. To be fair, I have also had great professors who are capable of putting together a lecture that grabs my attention in subjects I have never had a remote interest in. They were able to do this by passing out copies of the important parts of the slides, which allowed me to focus on what the teacher was saying opposed to just trying to copy down information. Their presentations periodically also contained sample test-like questions that engaged my interest and was helpful in allowing me to know how well I was learning the material. At first, creating a PowerPoint presentation seems simple and easy, but there are many ways to quickly ruin a presentation. My list of five things to be sure to do (or not) would be: 1) Just have subjects or keywords that help you in presenting your information, opposed to a bunch of sentences/bullets that no one is going to read or remember 2) Use legible fonts and colors so that the audience can actually read your slides 3) Minimize the effects you use as they probably do not help you present the information and just end up being annoying 4) Proofread the information that is on the slides, otherwise it will be unprofessional and the audience will lose interest 5) Be creative. Use a background or some feature that the audience has never seen before and is going to capture their attention. Although there are many aspects that can be detrimental to a presentation, with proper time and concern an effective PowerPoint presentation is more than capable.

Excel

2008-10-21T10:04:00.000-07:00

Before this class I used Excel very limitedly, mostly due to the fact that I had no idea what Excel was for or capable of. I knew it was mainly for creating spreadsheets, but I never really had any reason for using one. After our few weeks of practice with the program, I now realize that Excel is pretty much capable of doing anything that you ask of it and I will certainly use it much more often in the future. The one aspect I found the most intriguing was all the different sorts of formulas that Excel can calculate. Whether you just need to find a sum or average, Excel can do it all, not to mention various functions it can compute such as the "IF" function. I will certainly be using Excel in future business courses, such as Statistics, in order to find descriptive statistics on a set of data or to quickly compute other information. Excel really can do almost anything you ask of it and I know it will come in handy for many applications in the future.

Pictures that Lie

2008-10-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

The picture that I chose to analyze was the CBS live broadcast of New Year's Eve. My reason for choosing the picture was simply due to the fact that I watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve every January 31st, so this was an issue I felt was interesting and something I could relate to. The picture is a frame shot from CBS' broadcast of New Years from Times Square and it was manipulated by putting CBS' logo on the Times Square screen, when in reality NBC's peacock logo was being displayed. The intent behind manipulating the broadcast was simply to conceal NBC's logo and instead promote CBS to audience viewers. This sort of manipulation is not something that can be done through Photoshop, but is instead done through other technology that is available to TV stations. I personally do not believe that this sort of manipulation is harmful. In this case, it is simply one company trying to cover up the advertisement of one of its main competitors. There is no political propaganda or subliminal messages being sent, like so often found in other manipulated photos, which is why I believe this picture/broadcast is fine. The same type of technology used in this picture is often used in sporting events, where advertisements are displayed throughout stadiums and arenas. Instances that I witness the most are in baseball games, on the padding, in front of the seats behind home plate and also in basketball, where the check-in booth is located. If you actually go to the games, you will see that there is nothing really there, or that there is some other advertisement than that displayed on TV. The manipulation is simply the broadcasting station trying to promote itself to the audience opposed to the actual advertisement that is displayed. I believe this is fine, considering the fact that I watch TV specifically for the program being shown, and most of the time don't even notice the advertisements being shown simultaneously. Others may disagree with me, however I feel that I am truly only affected by advertisements on TV if it is a commercial, and not something that broadcasters snuck into the background.

CLT

2008-10-10T12:12:00.000-07:00

Today I not only found out what the second and first floors of the library looked like, but also discovered the amazing equipment available to students through the Center for Learning and Technology. Before my visit I had no idea that the CLT existed, let alone all the technology that can be used within it. The one room that I found the most fascinating was the video studio theatre. The room looked like something you would find on set for a blockbuster movie; with all sorts of expensive looking cameras and even one of those microphones attached to an elongated pole so you can better hear the actors. If I were to ever use the resources in the CLT, it would most likely be from the studios. There are an abundance of computers available for use, along with laser printers and scanners, in case I ever needed to print out a high-quality report or send a copy of something. As for all the software on the computers and recording equipment in the various rooms, it all seems so overwhelming. I have never considered myself to be good with technology and I feel it would take awhile to learn how to use all the different resources. Being a business major, I probably will not spend too much time in the CLT unless I am required to make an advertisement for a marketing class or such. I will be curious to see if we use the CLT in the future for this class and if so which resources. It would be a shame for no one to use all the equipment that is available down there.

Copyright

2008-09-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

After today's class I learned a lot about copyright infringement, specifically relating to illegally downloading music on college networks. The RIAA, MPAA, ESA are particularly interested in campus-based file sharing even though it is estimated that only 4% of actual file sharing occurs on college campuses. The reason behind going after such a small percentage is due to the fact that it is easier for these companies to track certain IP addresses related to a college network and locate potential violators. A school as small as Trinity has all ready been subpoenaed four times in cases with the RIAA, which goes to show just how serious the music and movie industries are on cracking down on illegal sharing.

I believe that it is smart for the recording industries to primarily focus on colleges, since it is so much easier for them to correctly identify any infringement. Going after the general public, there is the possibility that the industries could mistakenly accuse an innocent citizen. Opening a lawsuit against such an individual could result in facing counter lawsuits, as is the case with Tanya Anderson, http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/09/17/face_music_part1/. The RIAA opened a case against Ms. Anderson for the trading of 1,046 music files, however it turned out that the files belonged to a man who lived 200 miles away. Reluctant to believe Ms. Anderson's plea of innocence from the beginning, the RIAA now faces counter suits that could total a hefty amount.

As for myself, knowing that students at Trinity are having lawsuits filed against them, leaves me afraid to attempt to illegally download any files here on campus. I know the call home to tell my parents that I am being sued and will likely have to agree on a settlement somewhere on average between $13,000 and $17,000, would not go over too smoothly. The risks of downloading on campus are just not worth it. As for when I am home for the summer or any other vacation however, the urge to download is much greater. As mentioned above, the music and recording industries strictly focus on college networks, so the risk of getting caught while at home, although still possible, are much less likely. Plus when I'm at home, if I were to ever get caught, I could always blame it on one of my brothers.

The Wireless Campus

2008-09-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Even though I connect to the Internet from my desktop with an Ethernet cable, I still use Trinity's wireless network daily. My most frequent use of it, is probably receiving emails from others who are hooked up wirelessly. Having access to a wireless network I believe is extraordinarily beneficial. As enticing as it might be to browse Facebook or check ones email during class, to me the advantages far outdo the cons. Being in college, I believe we are mature enough to make the right decisions when it comes to something like this. Some of the benefits that come with wireless access is being able to follow along with a teacher during class by pulling up lecture notes or homework assignments. It is even possible to leave your room with your computer, if you need a break from your roommate, and still have access to all the same resources that you had sitting in your dorm. Simply put, having access to a wireless network enables us to communicate with the resources around us much more efficiently. I am able to look past the distractions it may cause in order to take advantage of the many benefits it possesses.

Robert Perry, executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents, believes it is crucial to give college students the technological atmosphere they will face once they leave college - http://www.brookingsregister.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=76&story_id=2929

Introduction

2008-08-28T13:14:00.001-07:00

Hi, my name is Ryan Phillips and I'm a sophomore here at Trinity University (email: rphilli1@trinity.edu). I currently plan on majoring in Business - Finance & Accounting, and possibly Economics as well. I was born in New Haven, Connecticut (the same town as George Bush!) and moved to The Woodlands, TX at the age of ten (http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.206021,-95.532954&z=19&t=h&hl=en). I have two older brothers; Matt, who is 24 and currently in his third year of medical school at UTMB and Jon, who is a senior political science major at Texas A&M. As for what I would like to do after graduating, is to eventually one day work on Wall Street. My grandmother got me interested in the stock market at a very young age and I have stayed passionate about it ever since. Other interests of mine include playing sports, video games and watching movies. Besides playing intramurals with some friends, which we won the basketball league last year, I am not too involved with many organizations here on campus. This semester I am however looking into joining Alpha Kappa Psi, the business fraternity at Trinity. As for my background in computers, there isn't much of one. I pretty much only know the basics that get me through what I need. I did take a digital graphics class my junior year of high school, however did not retain much of the information, Photoshop included unfortunately. I really do look forward to this class and believe it can be very useful. I know I will be held accountable to be sufficient with Excel and spreadsheets with my intended majors.