Advice for Future Computer Students

Hi I'm Abby Talley. If you're taking this class, you obviously want/need to learn more about computers. This class will teach you alot. My advice to you is to always keep up with your homework, and STUDY for quizzes. Also, don't miss class, because you can miss alot in a day. Good luck, and have fun!

Abby the Fabulous
P.S.- Travis deleted half of my blog; it used to be much better :(

Class Websites

On Thursday, our class presented the websites we created. My three favorites were Travis Halff's, Moira Allen's, and Alex's. Travis's website was extremely humorous, and incorporated an amazing navbar into the homepage. Moira's page was composed of original photos that were absolutely amazing. The navbar was very creative ("Music I DIG" was my favorite.) Alex's page had a ton of handrawn cartoons that made up the navbar and future plans page (very creative!!)

My Website

Please visit my website at:www.cs.trinity.edu~atalley

We have just finished creating our own websites in my computer 1300 class. The process was easier than I thought, as I used Microsoft Expression Web. I am most proud of my Apparel 1920s-2000s page: it contains a hotspotted graphic which I created on PhotoShop. This page took the most time, as I had to edit the pictures, compile them into a graphic, and link each hotspot to a separate page. If I had known how to, I would like to have added music on the main page. My biggest design challenge was formatting the different tables on my pages. My biggest technical challenge was properly hotspotting my pictures. I will show this page to my friends and family. I would like to create another website for a different class, but I now know how detailed the process is!

HTML Coding

HTML coding is a good, basic skill for all web designers to have. Though there are many programs available that make this process easier, it is important for designers to be familiar with hand coding. If something were to malfunction in the website, or an unknown problem resulted from using a coding program, it would be hard for the designer to fix it without knowledge of HTML coding. Additionally, it is hard to fully appreciate the complexity/what the computer is actually doing unless one knows how to HTML code.

Project Self-analysis-Pictures That Lie

I chose to manipulate a picture of a swimmer in the ocean.I altered the image to include a shark fin, and thus made a point about swimming safety.The photo originated on a flickr account (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1202/1356504891_71eb4407fd.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/mfaisco/1356504891/&usg=__mhF5z5M1hmAsVouKnMfmKdgaCP8=&h=319&w=500&sz=100&hl=en&start=39&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=1j7zhoemYZnClM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dswimmer%2Bocean%26start%3D21%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D21%26tbs%3Disch:1)as a set of photos by Manuel Faisco. The photo was changed into the black and white scale in order to match the inserted fin. The shark fin was taken from a resized photograph on a blog by dholman (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://dholman.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/howard-sokol-shark-fin.jpg&imgrefurl=http://dholman.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/surfing-jaws-and-the-search-for-truth/&usg=__yH-rabYhnVKIRGbDIH2AAMZ992U=&h=300&w=400&sz=17&hl=en&start=2&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=4hYk7QBlRZ6CAM:&tbnh=93&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dshark%2Bfin%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ndsp%3D21%26tbs%3Disch:1). The background was erased around the shark fin, and the shadow and edges of the shark fin were blurred. A text layer was inserted in a specific shape meant to mimic the movement of water in the photo. This text layer was made less opaque, and was colored red in order to contrast the black and white photo.I manipulated these photos in order to make a point about safety when swimming at the beach.The manipulation was not particularly harmful, as it could prevent shark attacks or other injuries in the ocean. However, it could also scare the viewer, and could hurt tourism to oceanside towns.
In the article I read, alot of information was given about photographs that had been manipulated in a harmful way (damaging reputations, editing history, etc.) This manipulation that I created was not particularly harmful, though the photo is not 100% truthful. I would comment that photo manipulation is not always a bad thing, as it can be used to make a dramatic point about things like safety. However, if the photograph can harm reputations or manipulates the viewer's emotions, it is probably not a beneficial alteration.

Works Cited
Casimiro, Steve. "Seeing Is Not Believing." Popular Science 267.4 (2005): 70-98. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 12 Apr. 2010.

PowerPoint Presentations

Last week, our computer class gave power point presentations on our preferred area of study. My two favorite presentations were given by Travis and Larissa. Travis's presentation on the Shake Weight had great sound effects and an attention-getting layout. He presented in a very convincing manner, and really held the audience's attention. Larissa's presentation had a very clear layout, was very informative, and contained great photographs. These two presentations stood out because of the presenter's unique style and their great content.

Powerpoint Tips

As our class is giving powerpoint presentations on Tuesday, I have five tips to give the presenters.
1. Limit the amount of transitions and animations. Don't distract from the powerpoints purpose.
2.Speak loudly and clearly.
3. Don't stare at the slides on the computer screen or at your notes.
4. Show interest in your topics!
5. Make sure to cite all sources.