Advice for Future Students

I am so glad that I took this class. I came in thinking that I wouldn't learn anything knew, but I really did! I advise future students to be sure and do they're homework- it really helps you to study for quizzes and tests, but also helps you to really master the information. Good luck in class!!!

Student Websites

All of my fellow students' website were really great! I enjoyed looking at them all and learning a little bit more about each one of my classmates. I particularly enjoyed Brittany Flores' site. I think that it's so cool that she added some comments in Russian on her home page! Her imagemaps and especially her email me button are very interesting, and it's obvious that she worked hard on her website.
I also really enjoyed Sara Hansen's page. Her navigation bar was really interesting and colorful, and I really liked that she put all of her pictures on her site as thumbnails so that you could pick out certain ones to enlarge for a better view.
My third favorite site is Andrew Gill's page. It really looks professional! You can really learn a lot about Trinity University from his site. He should consider sending it into the dean! He could help out with the official Trinity site!
If you would like to check out my website, go to http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~ehoward

HTML Code or NOT?

These days, there are several programs that can help you expertly design webpages. It is still important, however, for web designers to know HTML code. First of all, someone has to design the designing programs in the first place!
Also, it is important to know the idea behind what you are doing. For example, if you are using a calculator for a math class, you should know the basic idea behind what the calculator is doing. The same goes for designing websites. Even if you have sophistocated software to create the code for you, you should still know the principle behind it.
Another reason to know the basic code is if there is a glitch in the programming software. It might be necessary to change the HTML code by hand to get the type of result you want for your website.
It's always important to know the basics behind the shortcuts!! Otherwise it's kind of cheating! :)

Powerpoint Presentations

Recently in Essential Computer Skills, we listened to our classmates give Powerpoint presentations about their areas of interest and study. There were definately some great presentations!!
I particularly enjoyed the presentation by Alisa Dill about Pompeii. I have always been interested in this part of history, and it was great to learn more about it. I thought the animation was great, and the images were very stimulating.
I also liked Ellie Leeper's presentation about her uncle, Henry Guerra. I loved that she put a personal spin on her presentation, and was able to relate to someone in her family that shared the same interests as she has.
All of the presentations were great! I don't think that there was a bad one. :)

Powerpoint Tips

I have only made a few powerpoints in my life, but I have see a lot! My professors and teachers have used them to lecture in the past, and my fellow students have often used them for projects. I know now that there are definately some guidelines when creating a good powerpoint project. Here's a list of five guidelines:
1. Keep it simple! Don't use too many animations
2. Keep the color theme consistant and readable
3. Don't use too many bullet points...your audience will get bored
4. Visual images often work better than text in terms of keeping attention
5. Don't make the presentation too long...you will definately lose the attention of your audience!
I hope these help my classmates!!

Chris Nolan

Chris Nolan gave a very interesting presentation. I was unfortunately ill the day he came to class, but I have recently talked with classmates about his talk. I learned from him about judging whether or not particular websites are legitimate or not. It is going to be very useful for my future research projects.
I learned that often websites ending in .gov, .edu, etc are often more reliable than simply .com sites, and that, although google can be very useful, the websites that it brings up are not always the best to use for research.

Copyright Issues

It may seem pretty easy to download a digital file illegally, but the fact of the matter is, it makes many peoples lives very difficult indeed. It may seem like little or nothing, but imagine if everyone in the world only downloaded without paying. Music artists and the like would earn close to nothing, and therefore become nonexistent! Ok, that may be a little extreme, but we all love music. I think the important thing is to consider the long run consequences of illegal downloading. Imagine you are short on cash, so your burn all of your friends CDs for Christmas. It seems simple enough, but in fact, it is considered a felony to commit a copyright infringement involving more than ten copies! You could be fined, or sued, or worse! It is really worth such consequences?
You can even get caught at school. It may seems like some protocols are safe, but no matter what you have heard, not even Bit Torrent is going to make you invisible to the law. Trinity has actually been forced to hand over names of students who have downloaded illegal digital files, and they will certainly not pay for the legal costs.
My advice is to just take the time and make your friends a gift, and download a program that lets you listen to your favorite songs legally! It's all for the best.