Advice

My advice for those taking this class next year would be to always do your homework, and try to start on your assignments early so that you don't have to stress about it later.

Favorite Websites

I really enjoyed seeing the websites that we created for class. One of my favorites was Lynn's. I really liked how she put a lot of pictures and animated them so that they changed. I also enjoyed Daniela's website because of the bright colors and interesting information about Honduras. Another one of my favorites was Tess's. I thought she has some great pictures and a cool layout. Everyone did a great job and I enjoyed looking at them all.

My Website

Please visit my website at www.cs.trinity.edu/~crichar3

Making a website was not as difficult as I thought it would be. It did take some time but with the help of Expressionweb it was a lot easier. I am most proud of my future travels page because I like the pictures used and it also features a hyperlink and three hotspots. If I could change one thing about my site I would have tried to make it a little fancier by adding a giff. My biggest technical challenge was probably figuring out the navbar and putting in the hotspots. My biggest design challenge was probably trying to put the pictures in the right place. I eventually figured this out by using a table. I will probably show my site to my family and friends. Knowing how to make a website is very useful information and I would love to use it in another class.

Presentation by Larry Helcher

Last class period, Mr. Larry Helcher came in to talk to our class about Hardware. He taught us about memory and even opened up some computers to allow us to see the inside. I learned that the more memory you have, the faster your computer will run. Mr. Helcher also explained to us the importance of backing up your data. He gave us some tips for charging our laptops, such as always let the battery run down completely before recharging it. Finally, he gave us some maintenance tips for our personal laptops. I learned that in order to properly clean the screen of your laptop, you should use water with a little bit of dishwashing soap and a lint free cloth. It is important that you do not use acetone, ammonia or alcohol because these will destroy the finish of the screen.

Photoshopped image

I chose to photoshop a picture of some maple leaves. I chose this picture because it was simple but still a pretty scene. I manipulated the picture in several ways. First, I used the lasso tool to photoshop a ladybug onto one of the leaves. I then changed the hue of the ladybug so that it would be a more brilliant red. I used the cloning tool to fix some of the blemishes on the leaves so that there were no longer large brown spots. I also used the shadows/highlights tool to try and decrease the shadows in the picture to give it a less dark look. Finally, I lowered the saturation of the background so that the scene is almost in black and white. However, I did not change the color of the ladybug because I wanted it to be the main focus of the scene and I thought lessening the intensity of the background would help me achieve this. I manipulated this photo in many ways, however the manipulations I created were not particularly harmful. The article I researched was called "Smile and Say 'No Photoshop'" by Eric Wilson. This article discussed the way celebrities today are so dramatically photoshopped in magazines that it is obvious that their appearance in this picture is not even close to their natural appearance. I do not think my photoshopped image was harmful. The only things that might have been harmful was the retouching of the leaves because it is similar to the way that people are retouched in magazines to look more perfect. I removed the blemishes from the maple leaves the same way magazine editors photoshop blemishes off of their models. I do agree that photoshop may be harmful especially when referring to the standards of beauty in today's society. In the article mentioned above a man named Phil Poynter stated "The big discussion in the fashion business has always been about should we retouch girls, should we create a portrait of a girl that is not achievable by a real girl." This quote sums up the reason why people are worried about the overuse of photoshop. They do not want a society where the standards of beauty are unrealistic.

WILSON, ERIC. "Smile and Say 'No Photoshop'." New York Times 28 May 2009: 1. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Nov. 2010.

Class Powerpoint Presentations

I chose to do my powerpoint presentation on Katie Couric. I want to be a communications here at Trinity and I am interested in broadcasting which is why Katie Couric seemed like a fitting topic. She is a very successful news anchor, and has done a lot of interesting things so there would be plenty to talk about. I liked having her as a topic and I learned some very interesting things about her life. If I were to do it again, I would probably try to create smoother graphics and transitions. There were some very good presentations in our class. I really enjoyed Hannah's powerpoint about the Stanford prison experiment. It was such an interesting topic and I was excited to hear about it. I also enjoyed Lynn's powerpoint about underwater photography. It was a unique topic and had some awesome pictures. Overall I think the class did a great job and I really enjoyed all the presentations.

Presentation by Chris Nolan

Last class period, Chris Nolan came to our class to speak about finding high quality information on the web. It was a very helpful presentation, and we learned a lot of new information. We learned that google is by far the most popular search engine, and learned some new things about the site. We learned that in order to choose the order in which the links appear on the site, google uses the collective wisdom of people who use the web.Google ranks the number of links that the website has from other pages, to figure out how high up the link should appear on your search. It also gives priority to certain types of websites such as CNN, that would be more of an authority on a certain subject. We also learned about another valuable academic source called google scholar which may help you find better sites for academic purposes. Mr. Nolan also taught us about the different domains such as .org and .edu, and how to narrow our searches down so that only certain domains appear. Lastly, we learned some skills to help us decide whether the sight we are viewing contains legitimate information.

PowerPoint

Powerpoints are used often when giving presentations or lectures. Sometimes, the powerpoints presented are not so great. There are a few things that bother me when watching a powerpoint. I do not like when the words are hard to read because of a crazy font. Another things that might make it difficult to read the text is when the color used for the text is too bright. Another factor that might make a powerpoint less appealing is when the background is very similar to the color of the text and it is barely visible. I also do not like when there are too many things going on in a slide, and it is hard to focus on the point of the slide because the graphics are too distracting. When used effectively, powerpoints can be a very useful tool. They are a great visual for the audience. They are also handy for the speaker because having bulleted key points on a powerpoint help prompt the speaker, and highlight the key points of the lecture. They often help keep things organized. Overall I think powerpoints are a great tool.

The AT&T Center for Learning and Technology

Last Class, Robert Chapman introduced us to a room in the library that I had never visited before, called the AT&T Center for Learning and Technology or the CLT. The CLT is located on the first floor of the Coates library and offers a variety of technology for students to access. There are multiple computers, including both windows and macintosh which are equipped with useful software. Scanners are also available. There are also other rooms located here that might be useful to students. We visited the video conference center, which was a large room where it is possible to hold a conference through video screens. The CLT also offers a Media Presentation lab where students may see presentations that were developed in the studio. While visiting the CLT, we had practice using the scanners by scanning a self-portrait of ourselves on to a computer. Using a scanner is a useful skill to have for many of our classes, including this one. It is also helpful to know what resources are available to the students for future projects.

Photoshopped Pictures

I chose the picture of Oprah Winfrey on the cover of T.V. Guide. It appears to be a picture of Oprah posing for the camera, but in reality Oprah Winfrey's head was photoshopped and put onto the body of an actress named Ann-Margret. This was done withought permission from either Oprah Winfrey or Ann-Margret. This manipulation was done in order to make Oprah Winfrey appear to have a more ideal body. Editing photos in this manner happens frequently and may create higher standards for individuals to live up to when it comes to looks.

Excel Experience

This class has taught me a lot of new things about Excel. I have learned how to use conditional formating, create borders, fill the cells with color, and much more. I did not know much about Excel before taking this class, but now I know how to solve problems that come up while working. The program is now easy for me to use, and I would definitely feel comfortable if I needed to use the program for a different class.

Copyright

We recently had a guest in our computer science class named Jason Hardin. Mr. Hardin spoke to the class about what copyright is, and about the laws of copyright. We learned that copyright lasts for as long as the creator lives, plus 70 years after their death. We also learned that copyright is not something new. Copyright laws actually date back to 1790 and was mentioned in the constitution. According to Mr. Hardin, copyright has a very financial nature, and was created as an economic incentive for creators to have thier work protected. We also learned about some ways that one could get in trouble for with the law because of copyright regulations. It is a felony to commit a copyright infringment involving more than 10 copies and a value of more than 2500 dollars. One way that one could get in trouble is through illegal downloading. If you are caught downloading illegally, you will first receive a takedown notice. After the takedown notice, the next step would be to recieve a subpoenae, and then finally if you continue to download illegally, it is possible that you may be sued. Colleges and Universities are actually required by the HEOA to provide alternatives for illegal downloading. I understand the appeal of illegal downloading to students. It is convenient and cheap to download the music for free, but I also understand that downloading music without paying is stealing from those that worked hard to make the music.

Copyright by Claire Richardson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

My network diagram

This is the network diagram that I created. I used shapes to represent each step of the process that the information goes through. I also used arrows with text in them to indicate which type of wires were used to connect to each stop. I also made sure to note a few key points about the process.

Trinity Mystery Spot

I see this scene almost everyday. If you're a freshman then you've probably seen this place before, maybe on your way to do laundry. I changed the photo just slightly, but it is still pretty obvious where it is. I increased the color saturation on the photo to give it a brigher look. Then I added a matte to give it a dreamy quality. I also added a raincloud and some rain in the corner of the picture, which is what the weather has been like lately. Do you recognize where this is?

Best Tech Tip (6)

One of the best tips that I heard from our guest speaker Joe Hatchet was about how to clean up a computer if it is running slowly due to too many junk files. He taught our class that computers save and store a lot of information when you're just surfing the web. Mr. Hatchet showed us a website that will help clean up some of the junk files called ccleaner.com. This is a useful sight that will scan your machine and help clean up the junk files. It is mostly used for Windows computers and can be very useful.

Introduction

Hey Everyone, my name is Claire Richardson and I was born in Tokyo, Japan. My dad works for the government so I have lived overseas for my entire life. I lived in Japan for eleven years before moving to Stuttgart, Germany where I eventually graduated from high school.
I am currently a freshman here at Trinity and so far I am really enjoying it. Right now I think I would like to pursue a major in communications, but that may change over the next four years.
     Trinity seems to have so much going on and I can not wait to get involved! I am still looking at what is available but so far I plan on trying out for cheerleading, joining S.A.G.E., and maybe participating in rush.
     One Interesting thing about me is that I used to dance hula. We performed at cultural events and parties. It was a lot of fun.
     I do not have too much computer experience. I took a semester long course in high school, and that is about all. Hopefully this class will be helpful in extending my knowledge and I will be able to keep up!