Luisa's Computer Skills Blog

Computer Skills Advice

2009-04-28T06:40:00.000-07:00

I think it is important for new students coming into the Computer Skills course to, like in any other class, come to class and keep up with the homework because otherwise it becomes very easy to fall behind. Most importantly though, I think it would be really helpful for new students to have a positive attitude, because they really will learn a lot of useful and fun things about computers they never would have before!

Student Web Sites

2009-04-27T13:24:00.000-07:00

This past week in computer skills we all created our own web sites. Every ones page came out really well but among my favorites were Kim, Marilou, and Emily's. All three girls had consistent backgrounds and well organized and designed pages. Also their navigation bars were easy to find and you could access each page from any of the other pages. I liked Emily's "special interests" and "entertainment" pages and the vibrant pictures Marilou used to show the Philippines. I also liked the characters Kim draws and how her nav bar had a picture of color pencils to illustrate her interests. Great job girls!
You can visit my own website at cs.trinity.edu/~ltamez

PowerPoint Presentations

2009-04-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

Today in class we finished up the PowerPoint presentations. I really enjoyed Jenni and Elena's presentations. Elena used a very cool background picture with old fashion pens and ink. She had just the right amount of words on each slide and the way she had them slant was a very good design choice. I had also never heard of her topic and I thought writing a novel in one month is very interesting and cool. Jenni's design was also very good. I thought the black background was simple but extremely effective. I liked how she would switch to a red font on all the last bullet points and the pictures also added emotion to the presentation. I think Doctor without Borders is a very important thing and I thought it was interesting to learn there are also jobs in non medical fields with this company.

Great Job Girls!

PowerPoint Presentations

2009-03-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

I found the articles on how to give a good power point presentation very interesting. They made me realize that i always put far too much information on the slides and let them give the presentation instead of myself. I think all students should be careful not to overload their presentations and instead focus on what they will be saying and how to make the slides look organized and appealing. I found the following five guidelines to be very helpful:

1) The articles mentioned to never use the pre-designed PowerPoint templates because they are over used and will be boring to the audience.
2) According to "Really Bad PowerPoint" presenters should never use more that six words per slide. "EVER"
3) Another thing all the articles mentioned and something I find very annoying when used in presentations is the use of obnoxious transitions such as spins or complicated dissolves
4) PowerPoint clip art and sound effects also look/sound "cheesy" and degrade the level of one's presentation
5) Finally I think it is important to remember that text should be at least 28 points and keep color schemes that are appealing and legible

How Microsoft Excel Can Help One Excel

2009-03-18T13:00:00.000-07:00

Learning about Excel this semester was very beneficial. In high school I took a course that focused very much on Excel but since that course was a few years ago, this semester was a very good review and expansion because I had forgotten how to do some of the most basic things. Before this course I did not now how to use the conditional formatting or set themes so that was very interesting to learn. I am sure there will be many times in the future when it will be very useful to know how to use Excel. Keeping track of my expenses or keeping records of other such things will be much easier and organized when done in an Excel spreadsheet. Also, if you know the proper way to use Excel and which equations to enter, the program does almost all complicated calculations for you. It is especially useful for businesses or academic fields that must keep track of several expenditures made each day and their revenue, while also calculating in things such as tax or commission. Knowing how to use Excel would also be very beneficial for teachers, to keep track of all their students assignments and grades.Excel is also useful for any field in science that requires storing and calculating a lot of data. It is clear that knowing how to use Excel would be a very good thing for many versatile careers or areas of study or simply for personal use.

Field Trip to the CLT

2009-03-04T15:49:00.000-08:00

In class on Tuesday we toured the Coates Library Center for Learning and Technology. Although I had been there a few times before, I learned many interesting things I did not know. For example I learned that this center has some of the newest technology for scanning and editing photos. Students may check out cameras and other equipment with a professors permission. I also learned that there is a Digital Audio Lab where students can edit and record or do different things to audio clips to use in projects and presentations. The CLT can be used in our class and in any other class for assignments that require photo examples. I am in an American Musical Theater class and if i ever need to use a sound or video clip for a presentation i now now there are resources to to so in the CLT. I had no idea there were so many tools available for students to use and I really liked the emphasis placed on how willing the people who work in the CLT are to assist students in whatever they may need.

Pictures That Lie- Oprah's Amazing Body

2009-03-02T14:03:00.000-08:00

The picture I chose was the cover of a T.V. Guide in August 1989 showing Oprah Winfrey with a very different outfit and body that she usually is seen to have. I chose this picture because I found it funny to see Oprah displayed like this and posing in that manner, while wearing a sparkly dress. The picture was manipulated by pasting Oprah's head to the body of a 1979 publicity shot of actress Ann-Margret. The picture was most likely manipulated to show Oprah in a "good" light since the heading of the article discusses if she is "the richest woman on T.V. " and how she came about this fortune. The photo seems to be implying that Oprah has it all, including the body. The photo was harmful because neither party gave their consent for their pictures to be used, much less together in that manner. However, other than perhaps angering both Oprah and Ann-Margret and causing a possible controversy I do not think the picture caused any serious harm to anyone.

Chris Nolan's Presentation

2009-02-25T12:26:00.000-08:00

I learned several very interesting things from Chris Nolan's presentation. For example, I knew Google was good about placing articles and sites relevant to one's search at the top of the results list but I had no idea how it did this. Google decides what links are relevant to a search based on popularity, or the number of times that other websites link to that site, and the quality of the websites that link to this page. For instance if CNN or other accredited companies or groups often link to a certain website, this website will appear closer to the top of the results list. Also, Google determines how relevant a website is to a search based on the frequency or how many times the words that were searched are in the website, and where they appear, like if they are in the title. Finally i learned that Google works with word order and results vary depending on how you type in phrases, but using the word "and" in a phrase does not change the search results.

However, I was surprised to find how unreliable some search results may be. The site on Martin Luther King Jr. was very close to the top on the results list, but it was in fact a white supremacist website. I think this shows that although search engines such as Google are very helpful and often provide very good, relevant results, people still need to be cautious and take proper steps to ensure the places they are getting their information is reliable.

What is Right About ©opyright Terms

2009-02-04T15:49:00.000-08:00

Today in the copyright presentation I learned that everyone’s work once it is created is copyrighted. I thought this was very interesting because I always assumed that to get one’s work protected through copyright they had to go through a long process and have the copyright symbol inserted at the end. However a very controversial issue today is how long the term of copyright exists. In the United States the term for a work created after January 1, 1978 is the remainder of the author’s life plus seventy years after their death or if it is something like a film without a single author it is the date of publication plus ninety five years. Also the Sonny Bono Act, also called the Mickey Mouse Protection Act, is a bill passed in 1998 that extended the term of copyright an additional 20 years.

People who are against such long terms argue that there is not enough material in the public domain and eventually there will be nothing available to the public at all. Those who are for the long terms though clearly want their work protected and do not want their work to be used without their authorization and lose the gain for what they themselves created and should rightfully profit from. I believe that the terms are very long and it is tedious to have to ask for permission for every single copy you wish to make or video you would like to share, especially if you are not using it maliciously or for your own gain. However, the creation of the Sonny Bono act I think is a very good example of why such long terms are necessary. The Disney corporation would lose millions and completely lose control of the company and public interest if its characters and all things that represent it entered the public domain. Although Disney is a huge business and a very extreme example, it is a good example because all smaller companies or authors also have similar concerns and it would be much more tedious to try to look at individual situations to decide when they should enter public domain; a term that covers all may seem too long but it is better to make one rule than to try to make individual exceptions. I understand that making a copy out of a copyrighted book is not the same as reproducing and selling Mickey Mouse dolls so perhaps what should be revised is the punishment for violating copyright rules and under what circumstances they are used. Also perhaps the term should be revised depending on size or popularity of what is created.

I agree that copyright terms should be revised but I do not think automatically creating shorter terms will resolve the problem because all people no matter how small or large their work is want and deserve what they have created to be protected.

Facebook

2009-02-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

I found the article about Facebook very interesting. I use Facebook and I think it is a very helpful thing to have in a university environment. Being away for college, it is nice to be able to keep up with friends who are also all around the country. Although I find it preferable to make a phone call to find out how my friends are doing, time does not always allow for that and it is nice to have a place where you can leave them a quick message or see what new things they have been up to or new pictures they have taken etc. Also since almost everyone is now on Facebook, several groups on campus create groups and sites within Facebook to notify members of events and such. This is much more useful then sending out emails or trying to keep track of events in another not so central location. Academically students can also join groups or post a question on a classmate's wall with the knowledge that the question will be answered quickly since most students check their Facebook often.
However, I also am aware of what a great tool for procrastination Facebook can be. I have many times strayed from doing homework to check my page and look into the many links and distractions. I thought it was interesting also that the article mentioned employers looking at candidates Facebooks. Although I think Facebook is something more personal and not so serious, therefore not always the impression you would want to give adults or people in a higher position, it is infact an expression of self. People do need to be aware then that anyone can see what they post and should know that this is what they are presenting as themselves to all people. Also for students safety they really need to be aware and careful in regards to what they post and display on Facebook.
Here is a link to the article :http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1213/p13s01-legn.html

Microsoft Office Word

2009-01-29T08:14:00.000-08:00

My only previous experience with Word is using it to type papers. I also have used clip art and created very basic charts/tables, but nothing very indepth. I have a Mac and i use the program Pages and i have forgetten where many of the applications can be found on Word, so it will be nice to review. I would also like to review how to insert items such as pictures and maintain a nice layout.

Joe Hatch's Visit

2009-01-20T09:36:00.000-08:00

Today in class Joe Hatch spoke to us about "Computer Survival Skills." I learned about the purpose of clean access and signs that may show a computer has a virus. Without programs like clean access, one infected computer could affect all others on the network.

2009-01-15T07:25:00.000-08:00

Hello, my name is Luisa Tamez and I am a first year student at Trinity University. My home town is El Paso, Texas, which actually hardly seems like a part of Texas since it is so far away from all the other cities in the state. My parents were both born in and lived for several years in Mexico and most of my family still lives there, so living in a border city is nice because it makes it possible for us to visit each other frequently. This is a link to a Google Earth shot of El Paso:

http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/google_map_El_Paso.htm

My interests involve spending time with my family and friends. I also enjoy reading, singing, playing upright string bass, and dancing. My secret fact is that i have taken ballet classes for thirteen years. At Trinity I am a member of the Catholic Student Group and work in the English department. I do not have very many computer skills, in fact this is my first blog. I took a basic keyboarding class in middle school and a general Microsoft course in high school. I hope to learn much more about computers in this course, especially graphics and photo shop. My email is ltamez@trinity.edu.