Advice

For all of you who are taking Mrs.Belisle's Essential Computer Skills class during the 2010-2011 school year, I guarantee that you will get a lot out of it! Simply keep up with your work, listen in class, and put in effort and you will learn so much that will help you with other projects in the future! Mrs.Belisle is a great teacher and is very helpful! Ask questions if you need! Good luck :)

Classmate's Websites

I would say that my three favorite websites from my classmates are Teka, Ana, and Rory's. Teka's was just really well put together. I loved everything about it, especially the organization and graphics. I saw her working on it and she was putting so much effort into her graphics, using photoshop and creating her own images. I thought Ana's was really visually appealing. It was very balanced in terms of space and overall her site looked really nice. Rory's was really creative, specifically with his graphics. I liked how he created his own background by blending various pictures (I especially enjoyed the Fernando Torres one), and on the page about himself, had pictures of his cut-out head spread out across the background. It was a neat concept and only Rory could pull it off (yes, that is a compliment). Overall, I thought our whole class had some really good websites!!!

Website

Please visit my website www.cs.trinity.edu/~btammaro

I thought making the website was easier than I thought. There's definitely a lot that goes into it, and I can see how if you want a really professional website, it might be more difficult. For my website, I used Expression web and I really liked how it coded everything for you. I thought EW was pretty easy to use and didn't have too many complications. The page I'm most proud of would probably be the SPURS page because it's bright and has a lot of nice pictures on it. If I could've changed anything, I definitely would've made everything more creative, specifically the navigation bar. I didn't have too much time to work on it and make it really unique but if I ever create a website in the future, I would definitely put more time into it. I did put a good amount of effort into my site, but it didn't turn out as pretty as I wanted. My biggest technical design at first was hyperlinking because for some reason it wouldn't work. I had to have Brittney help me a lot with that. My biggest design challenge was probably making the navigation bar because there were so many possibilities. I will only show this site to the people in this class and maybe my family. There is always the possibility that I will create another website in the future, probably for my career.

My Pictures that Lie

I chose an action photo of Cristiano Ronaldo and decided to blend it with one of Pele. At first, it was a photo of Cristiano playing another team with two other players in the background so, using the clone stamp tool, I had to cover them up using the existing background. After that, I cut out Pele using the magnetic lasso tool and inserted him into the other picture. I then proceeded to strip the picture of a lot of its color, and hue and saturation. I also adjusted the lighting. By doing all of this, I was trying to give the picture a old look similar to those of the Nike and Gatorade advertisements.


I also added the title (which I added some effects to), "Battle of the Ages" because like any soccer fan knows, Pele is reguarded as the best soccer player of all time, and Christiano Ronaldo is arguably the best of his generation. Being a huge fan of Christiano Ronaldo, I would love to see this matchup, even though of course it would never happen. This photo manipulation is not harmful because as most people know, or can even see by the pictures, Pele is from the 1950-70s while Ronaldo is a current player.


One of the main points of the article I chose was that "it is not the technology that is at the heart of the photo manipulation controversy rather it is the ethics behind manipulation." I thought this was well said and makes a lot of sense because just because technology provides to resources to do so, it doesn't mean that it is morally right to manipulate an image.


Salvo, Suzanne. "True lies." Communication World 25.5 (2008): 26-30. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 14 Apr. 2010.

Importance of HTML Codes

It's vital that web designers to know use HTML codes because it's the platform of their profession. Even with all the new software and technology that basically does it for you, web designers should be able to know the basics. It's like drive because you've always had someone do it for you. Technology these days have caused society to get lazy because it provides them with resouces to either do things for them, or simply faster, better, and easier. It's important for web designers to know how to use HTML codes so they can easily fix any problems that occur that will require them to look over the codes to see what is wrong. That way, since they are familiar with the codes, they can easily identify and fix the problem.

Powerpoint Presentations

I think my two favorite powerpoint presentations were Teka and Glenn's because they were both very powerful. I loved the how beautiful Teka's presentation was, especially the tranquil music. Glenn was very passionate about his subject, and I thought the video was very creative. Both presentations had very interesting subject matter and gave me great insight into the topics of Terra Cotta Warriors and Philosophy. Overall, I think both presentations used graphics and transitions very well and took different approaches to the layout which were both very effective.

Powerpoint

Powerpoints can make or break a presentation. You can have everything going for you, be extremely intellectual and know everything about your topic, but if you have a boring powerpoint you might as well kiss it all goodbye.

There's a few tips I've learned about powerpoints that I think will make it a success: don't overdo graphics, don't put too much text on a slide (don't try to cram too much information onto one slide--just split it up), and be aware of the colors you're using (don't make each slide a different bright color--this can be extremely distracting).

Some things you should do are: use appropiate and detailed graphs, use quality and well-sized graphics (don't make the graphic too small), and choose your fonts wisely (don't use distracting, inappropriate fonts that don't suite the powerpoint or different fonts on every slide). With these tips, I think anyone can make a strong, eye-catching, and powerful powerpoint presentation.

Collage

The pictures featured in the collage are from my trip to Europe this past summer with my family. The architecture theme is seen through the incredible structures built in ancient times by the Europeans. I titled the collage the "Tour of Europe" because the pictures were taken in both France and England.

Investigating the Internet

I thought the informational session given by Chris Nolan was extremely helpul, especially because the internet is such an integral part of society now-a-days. I was really glad that he included information on Google and Wikipedia. I love Wikipedia and am guilty of using it to learn background info on the topics I'm studying. I had always been told about how unreliable it could be so I was glad to not have it drilled into my mind once again. Instead, Nolan related to us and explained ways to determine accurate from inaccurate or questionable data. I learned how to navigate through Google searches, specifically how to find sites outside the United States and how to limit your searches. Something that surprised me was how much of a difference adding or omitting words could have on the search results you receive. This could be the difference between obtaining scholarly or ambiguous and/or unreliable sources in your search results.

Pictures that Lie

The picture I chose was the British soldier in Basra because when I when I first looked at the picture, I thought it was pretty amazing with the mixture of emotions and just the overall message the picture was sending of fear, panic, and chaos. However, once I read the description on the side, I was appalled. The photo was taken/manipulated by Brian Walski, a staff photographer of the Los Angeles Times, by combining two of his photographs to create this picture. The reason why he did this, I’m guessing, was because he was trying to please his editors and make a name for himself, which is often the reason why most journalists fabricate material. It just amazes me that Walski was a 30-year veteran of the news-business. He knows right from wrong and even after 30 years, he still did this. Also, the fact that the newspaper somehow let this slide, especially for being as reputable as it is, is pretty disappointing. The manipulation was harmful because it did not actually happen, it distorts the truth, and was overall deceiving.

CLT visit

Before our visit, I had only seen the CLT center once and my first thoughts were that this was a place to simply balance out the number of computers in the library, since most of the ones are on the third (main) floor. It wasn't until Robert Chapman explained to us all of the center's functions that I realized that it could, and will be extremely useful for upcoming projects in my classes. Particularly, in Ms.Belisle's Essential Computer Skills class, it will help when we start digital imaging and Photoshop. I'm going to be a Communications major so I know that the CLT center will be a great resource to use for my classes because of the media production tools they have, including: audio video, graphics, and photography. It's also home to TriniTV, which would be a great source to learn how the system works. Not only will this center help for projects in my other classes that need a technological touch, but I can supplement my creativity by working on any personal projects I have. Overall, I know this center will be extremely helpful and I'm glad our class got to learn more about the resources it contains.

Copyright

When Jason Hardin first told us we'd be taking a quiz on copyright, I felt pretty confident. I figured I had enough common sense and eithical knowledge that I'd pass with flying colors. This was not exactly the result I rewarded myself with. The quiz asked us questions like the difference between copyright and plagirism, when U.S. copyright laws date back to, and the term of copyright for U.S. published works. I didn't know the answer to either of these questions so overall, I was pretty glad that Jason Hardin explained this all to us. This knowledge is an essential part of college and will be extremely useful for when we enter our professional careers.

An issue related to copyright is the term of copyright for US published works and how Disney influenced the change from the author's life plus from 50 years to 75. I understand that Disney wanted to keep a hold on their characters, especially because they are some of the most recognizable figures in society, but at the same time, they can't keep delaying their release by increasing the amount of time covered by copyright.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

My Trinity Network Diagram

I finally finished my TU Network Diagram and I'm pretty glad to be done. Although it was interesting going on the tour of the main data center, technology and networking isn't exactly my forte. I liked having the chance to be creative with this project but it got time-consuming after a while. It's good to know how everything works but I'm just glad I don't have to deal with it. Going into the server room was definitely intimidating with all those wires!

Joe Hatch info

I thought the informational session with Joe Hatch was really useful. I learned about phishing, reasons behind a slow connection and ways to clean up your computer. I think the "Top Tech Tip" that I would choose from Joe Hatch's "Computer Survival Skills" discussion would be the use of Ccleaner, which essentially removes temp files from your browsers. He said to use this several times a week and since my computer has been a little slow lately, I definitely think I'll try this.

Scavenger Hunt

Overall, I though the scavenger hunt was pretty cool, especially since we were able to learn some pretty neat facts about each other. I wrote on Luke Suchecki http://lsucheck.blogspot.com/ and Amanda Beekes http://abeekes.blogspot.com/ blogs. I found it interesting that Luke wanted to study Geology (rocks) and that Amanda is in SPURS and she's from Colorado. Everyone's profiles looked very colorful, as well.

A little bit about me...

Hello! My name is Brianna [Bri] Tammaro and I am from San Antonio, Texas, specifically on the outskirts in Leon Springs which is about ten minutes from Boerne. I'm a freshman here at Trinity University and I couldn't imagine a more perfect place for me. Not only does it have phenomenal academics but a stellar athletic program, as well.

I love sports with a passion. I grew up watching the University of Texas at Austin football. At Clark High School, I played varsity soccer, cross country and track for all four years. I served as the captain for my soccer and cross country teams as well as for my club soccer team, the Classics Elite.

I currently play soccer for Trinity. I'm also a part of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and the Trinity Distinguished Representatives (TDR). In my spare time I enjoy listening to music, watching movies and television, traveling, going to concerts and hanging out with friends.

I plan on majoring in Communications with a minor in Sports Marketing. I would love to be a Public Relations representative for a sports organization. My hidden fact was that I served as the Sports Editor for my high school newspaper, The Chronicle, for two years. I really enjoy journalism as well as learning about the various forms of media. This ties directly into what I hope to get out of this class. We live in a media and technology-driven society so I would really like to be as familiar with computers as I can, especially since most journalism and communication is going digital. Due to journalism in high school, I am very familiar with photoshop as well as microsoft word, excel and powerpoint from the classes i've taken, including a computer class.

I look forward to expressing my creativity with this class and becoming even more media and techonology literate. Please feel free to contact me at: btammaro@trinity.edu