Tips for this class!

Here are some tips for those who are going to take this course:
1) Appreciate the content that you are taught because it is all really helpful. Everything you learn can be applied in your daily life.
2) Go to class every day because missing a day may delay you in your homework and classwork.
3) Make sure to do all your homework, because it is easy and you learn a lot from it.

Mostly I just want to say to enjoy the class and have fun with everything you learn!
Good luck!

My Picture that Lies: Water pollution turned to a waterfall

I created the picture to the left from a picture of polluted water coming out of the sewer. I chose the original picture because it wasn't pleasant and it was shocking to me to see the damage done to water by humans. All in all, I wanted to make something ugly look beautiful. I dont know where the original image came from, but it was probably taken in a lake where the sewage is drained. What I first did to the original photograph was change the color of the dense green water into a light blue-green with white to represent the splash from the waterfall, I had to use a layer on top of the original to create this effect. Secondly, I had to get rid of the sewer tube that was in the picture so I used the clone tool and cloned the rocks on top of the tube, this made it seem like the tube was never there. I also played around with the opacity of the water to make it look lighter and realistic. After a couple of minutes of changing things here and there I was pleased with the outcome of my fake waterfall. When I manipulated the photo I was doing it to make something ugly look beautiful, and to play pretend for a while that water pollution isn't a major problem in the world. If it wasn't for this special project I would say that manipulating this photograph is bad because you are taking away a reality from people's eyes. If human beings don't see how they pollute our water they will never learn!

Powerpoint tips round 2!

So I thought I published this post after I wrote it but oddly it never got posted so here I go again with my power point tips and feedback on the articles on powerpoints. After I read the articles I was happy to have realized that my AP Spanish Lit teacher was right when she gave us such a hard time on powerpoint design. She prepared me for the rough world of powerpoint craziness. As I read along with the articles I noticed some of the same points of what I should never do:

1) Do not have more than 6-10 words per slide.

2) Do not have distracting colors that take away the focus of your presentation.

3)Do not use boring templates that have nothing

4) Do not use annoying transitions, which are also distracting!

5) When presenting NEVER read off of the slide!

Now for the good things I guess you could say do the opposite of the WHAT-NOT-TO-DO but I guess some valuable things to remember are:

1) Communicate with the audience, use visuals and images and know how to explain.

2)Be sure to make good notes and be knowledgeable about your topics

3) Have interesting graphs and data, not just boring charts that no one understands.

4)Have a adequate size font that is understood by everyone.

5) Play around with color, but be careful to use it to your advantage only!

Hopefully these tips are helpful for anyone using powerpoint including myself. I think powerpoint is a great tool nowadays to get a point accross visually and verbally. It is amazing the technology that we have today, but we have to make sure we understand how to use it adequately.

Powerpoints!

I really liked all the powerpoints I saw in class, because they all contained something special but I have to say my favorite presentations were Noelle's on Oedipus, and Will's presentation on Bonobos. I liked these two presentations both because of the graphics, and because the presentations were well done and interesting. Noelle's presentation was really nicely done, and the design was adequate for what she was talking about, she also made Oedipus's story very interesting to me which was the point of the presentation. Will's presentation was also memorable because it was really funny and interesting at the same time. He had very fun graphics and sounds which made the presentation interactive. I never really thought a presentation on apes would be fun or interesting, but he made it happen.

Bottom line is that I learned a lot from all the presentations but these two were my favorites so far!

CLT VISIT!

The original name for the CLT is the AT&T Center for Learning and Technology. To be honest, I really didn't know this place existed. I thought I knew the campus really well, until I visited this magical technological world! The first thing that called my attention was how updated the team at CLT was. I was glad to see that they had both MAC and PC computers and that they were the newest available in the market. It is really cool to see that Apple computers are also being used in the school, for I myself have an apple laptop. The main goal of the CLT is to help you access the newest programs for designing projects. You can record your own music, edit your movies, and your photographs. You can also use the equipment available to you in the CLT like the video cameras and such.
I really love the fact that there are so many computers and that there are so many available options to what you can design and edit. I am also glad that the staff is accessible and knowledgeable and can help me with anything I need to improve my projects. I will probably visit the CLT center soon, and use the equipment wisely to edit a movie, a project or simply do any type of work I might want. I'm glad that scanners and printers are available just in case!
I think that everyone should be aware of the CLT and use it wisely to create amazing projects and take advantage of the equipment being offered to us.

My Experience with Excel

I had never really payed much attention to excel because I never really needed to use it. This class really opened my eyes, and now I know more about excel than I ever thought I would. I think I will definitely put to work what I have learned in the class about excel. For example, the running balances and the personal finances could be useful if I wanted to organize my expenses, or even run my own business. It was also really cool to learn to make templates from excel because I might have to do my own one day, or I could just use the templates that are already installed in excel. I learned many things in excel that I didn't know before like the difference relative and absolute cells, I learned to use conditioning formatting, and the difference between formulas and functions. I know that excel is very uselful in many businesses. Knowing how to work on excel is something companies often look for, so I am glad I learned all these new things about excel and I practiced often in class and by doing my homework. I hope that in the future I use everything I learn and be able to show someone else my new excel skills.

Chris Nolan's Presentation

Chris Nolan’s presentation was very helpful in many ways. I had always used google as my main search engine, and I’ve always found it quite effective, but Mr. Nolan’s presentation showed me much more than I already knew. I learned more about google books and google scholar, programs that I had never used. One other interesting thing I learned is how to filter my search so I can have better articles that are more relevant to what my needs. It’s easy to just go to any search engine, and plug in a word, but you have to learn to difference between what is a good search and what is not a relevant search. Even though you can always have the library database to access reliable sources, it is also important to learn how to search for reliable sources on the web. Chris Nolan did a very good job explaining the differences between regular searches, and he also gave good tips on things we should and shouldn’t do. One of my favorite tips was the (-) o (+) sign on the search bar, and how you can look for each countries code to search for reliable information on the web. I thought the presentation overall was very helpful and I will probably use his tips on search engines very often.