Chelsea's CS 1300 Blog

Tips for Making a Website

2009-12-08T09:32:00.000-08:00

When making a personal website on Expression web, I would definitely use tables. It is easy to center and control the width of your website that way. Also, I would make all the complex pictures in photoshop and then flattened that image to include on your webpage. I would begin making your navagation bar, and then form the rest of the website to match that theme and color scheme. In my website, I included some of my favorite photos, movies, and books. My last suggestion would be to use images and hotspots for links. It can really add to your webpage.

My Lying Picture

2009-11-11T22:31:00.000-08:00

I choose a picture of George bush originally holding an american flag and changed it so he was holding a protest poster. I choose a presdient to show what outrageous propaganda one can create with photoshop and access to pictures. I found both pictures on google images. I purposefully searched on a common website, to show that almost anyone could create this. I cut out a poster from a picture of Bush protestors. I then layers over it the picture of Bush holding a flag. I erased out the section of the top layer to reveal the poster, so it seems the president is holding it himself. I also resizes both the images so they looked more realistic together. Finally, I added a red rectangle and text to the top of the picture to make my own propaganda poster. I created this image so show how easy it is to paint a politician in a bad light by warping images. I could have easily inserted a different object into Bush's hand to make him seem more or less patriotic. Because I added the text and the idea of Bush protesting himself is so absurd, one can easily tell this image has been tampered with. But by using the same pictures and techniques, someone could easily ruin a person's reputation or a politican's campaign.

2009-11-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

I really enjoyed watching all the powerpoint presentations. I must say there was not one that I disliked. I really appreciated the different designs ranging from simple templates with good information to complex design with animations. Even though I found good things about all the powerpoints, the two I liked best were Lukas's and Dana's. I really enjoyed the mixture of professional information with the emotional video involved in injury thearpy. I was impressed with his consistant design and imbedded video. Dana brought an issue to my attention that I think is extremely important. I was not aware of some the shocking statistics she included in her presentation. I really enjoyed her topic and thought she did a good job presenting it.

Powerpoint tips

2009-10-28T22:15:00.000-07:00

After reading several articles on powerpoint, I have a few good tips to share. Most of the articles had similar advice for those giving presentations. The Top Ten Slide Tips concentrated on making slides interesting and visually pleasing. The recommendation for the faculty focused on communication through powerpoint. Finally, the really bad power points article told the reader specifically what not to do. Here are a few tips from all of the articles

DON'T
1. write too much on your slides
2. use chessy picture from clipart
3. use annoying transitions and sounds
4. misuse charts for information
5. read off your slides

DO
1. use nice pictures and backgrounds
2. write only key words
3. give out a handout after your presentation
4. have your own notes
5. pick visually pleasing colors

Hope these tips help!

CLT Trip

2009-10-26T23:19:00.000-07:00

I found a lot of interesting things in our trip to CLT. The equipment for photo, video, and music editing is amazing! I really want to just go down to the center and play with all the stuff. But, the programs have academic value to me too. I could defnintely use the center to do photoshop homework for Computer Skills. ALso, I am constantly having to present design ideas in my theatre classes. I might go down to edit videos of my acting or creating visuals for my design ideas. It is a great resource!

What I learned about Excel

2009-10-21T14:36:00.000-07:00

I learned a lot about Excel I didn't know before. When first learned about Excel, I just how to type in the formulas, but not the function tool. I learned how to make lists and running balances. The most useful tool I learned was that Excel has templates. I am sure that will come in handy in the future. In the future, I hope to use Excel to keep track of my grades and my budget for college. Also, Excel will help with future projects and presentations. I would like to start incorporating more charts and visual representations in my powerpoints. Now I know how to paste these visuals in with a link to Excel.

I can see how Excel is useful for businesses to keep track of budgets and accounting information. Spreadsheets are incredibly useful for keeping track of a lot of information. Also, Excel can especially represent difficult statistics in science and math in an easily understood way.

Chris Nolan's Lecture

2009-10-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed Chris Nolan's lecture on google and search engines. I did not know that you could narrow down your searches in google. I find it very useful to limit my results by either the .com, .edu. or . org. Also, I can see google scholar coming in handy for my future research papers. Using the advanced search makes my searches quicker. Even though google is incredibly fast, a lot of the websites it lists are not helpful. Now, I can narrow down my search rather than browse through the list of all the websites pertaining to my key term. It was also helpful to know I can make an advanced search by just the way I type in my key term. you can search your key term and add site: and put in your limitations, such as trinity.edu or just .edu. This produces more exact results.
I found it surprising that google leaves so many “easter eggs”. Even though it was a little detail in his lecture, I loved the fact that you can change the language in google to be pirate or piglatin. I love the sense of humor and the challenge to learn more about google. I can now personalize my searches and maybe even enjoy doing research papers.

Pictures That Lie

2009-10-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

I picked the edited picture of Oprah in on the cover of TV Guide in August 1989, because I was amazed at the quality of picture manipulation before the 90s. The two parts of the picture come from a publicity picture of the actress Ann-Margret in 1979 and one of Oprah. The cover artist spliced Oprah's head onto Ann-Margret's body. It was manipulated to make Oprah appear to have a better body; however, the composite was created without the permission of either woman. This picture was not really harmful. It was just a publicity move to make Oprah more apealing.

Copyright Laws

2009-09-23T20:22:00.001-07:00

I am sorry to say that I missed the copyright lecture during Tuesday's class. Even though, I was not present, I got a better sense of copyright law from Rebecca Piller's notes. (Thanks Becca!) What I found most interesting in her notes was that the term for copyright in the US published works is now the author's life plus seventy years. This new termw as changed from the author's life plus fifty years because of Walt Disney's copyrights almost expiring. Also, another interesting point is that there are four factors of fair use: 1) the nature of the work 2) purpose of reproduction 3)the amount reproduced and 4) the effect of the reproduction on teh profit of teh copyright holder. These were particularly interesting to me because I am involved in theater. I can now use monologues and certain cuts from scripts for non-profit or scholarly use.

An interesting issue in copyright law is Creative Commons. This non-profit movement providees an alternative to title 17 copyright. It allows you to control the manner in which others use your work. For academic reasons, I think that others using my work would be more than fine. As long as they cite my idea, I would be glad to share my knowledge. However, I understand why it is a touchy issue with copyright. One should always check with the four factors of fair use.

My Network Diagram

2009-09-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

Joe Hatch Helpful Tips

2009-09-09T16:16:00.000-07:00

I found the tip on how to map your network drives to be incredibly helpful. I was having trouble finding the shared folder on my laptop, because I was only putting in my username and password but forgetting the domain. Joe Hatch pointed out (what was probably obvious to others) that I actually needed to type in TRINITY/username and then my password. Now I am able to do my homework on my laptop and save it in the shared folder.

About Me, Myself, and I

2009-08-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hi! My name in Chelsea, and I'm from Houston, Texas. I am an English Drama double major and love acting, directing, reading, and writing. On campus, I am involved in the theater department and hope to get more involved with volunteer work. Other than academic interests, I love to hang out with friends, shop,watch movies, and ski. Even though I am from Houston and go to school in San Antonio, I was raised with skiing and go every winter break. My extended families live in Colorado (where I ski) and Canada. My immediate family consists of my dad (who I nicknamed fatherman), my brother, and my maternal grandparents. I love to travel, but (unfortunately) I have not been many places. I love dogs and spent my summer working at a kennel near my house. My secret fact is that I am addicted to coffee! I cannot go a morning without it. Also, other sources of caffeine will not do.

I went to a Catholic- all girl high school which had a laptop program. Even though I had a laptop through all four years, I only am confident in my ability on word, email, and the internet. I would love to learn more!

If you would like to contact me, please email me at ctaylor2@trinity.edu