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.

My New Knowledge of Excel!

I started learning about Microsoft Excel in high school when I needed to use it to record data for Phsycis. I actually only learned what I needed for the class, so there was a lot missing. The Essential Computer Skills Class has taught me so much about Excel!! For example, I have learned how to put data in order, highlight important statistics, and format my workbooks. I have actually thought about using it to keep track of my general finanaces in the future, as well as the costs that it takes to take care of my horse. Also, I may use it to keep track of my internet account user names and passwords, because I seem to constantly be forgetting!
I think that my new knowledge of Excel will really help me a lot in the future. At my job over the summer, which is as a camp counselor at a youth camp in Colorado, I plan to offer to use my knowledge to help organize important paperwork.