TAKE MY ADVICE!

Hello New Students! So, if you think this a blow off class, you might as well say hello to a bad grade! This course is not significantly difficult, but if you decide to put off your work, and wait until the last minute you will most likely not earn a good grade! The best way to prepare for a test is really to do your homework (you would think this is a given, but I know your way of thinking). Also, pay attention! Most of you will use at least one of these applications in your academic and professional future! Watch out for the multiple choice questions because those are the trickiest! BEST OF LUCK!

Website Feedback!

So, this week every presented their websites! First of all, I want to say congrats to everyone in our class! I know that each of the websites took A LOT of time, regardless if it was simple or complex. Out of all of the websites, a three really stood out to me. First, I thought Erin Dooley's was great. I really loved how she used her resume as a foundation for her website. I thought it was a great idea to make it both personal and professional! Also, I really enjoyed CJ's website. I thought his photoshop skills with the tigers was a great idea and set a professional tone to his webpage. CJ's choice of tiger pictures were amazing too! Taylor Stratton's website was also really eye catching. I liked how his page was more of a personal site and showed his passion for sports and music! Also, I thought it was a great way to advertise his music! Great job to everyone!

I know you want to!

Please visit my website at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~lcevallo/! So I have to admit that making a website was even harder than I thought. Especially when you are really "nit picky" like I am. Thank goodness for technology because I would have had a nervous break down if I had to hand code the whole web page. Thankfully, I used Microsoft Expression Web when I built my website, so that made things easier. Although, I did use my hand coding skills at times when things did not turn out as planned. I have to admit that my favorite part about my webpage is my Navigation Bar. I put a lot of time into it, and in my opinion it looks pretty darn good. Page-wise I really like my family page. Especially now that I don't see them as much, it's really fun to remember all of the traditions we have. If I could change anything it would be the my home page. It's a little too simple, so I would probably add more pizazz to it. My biggest technical challenge was using the tables and adding pictures. Once I realized how to center it, everything went smoothly. My biggest design challenge was creating a "Welcome" graphic for my homepage. I tried to be too fancy, and then ended up with a simple creation. Even with the simplicity of my page, I will show all of my family and friends my website! Despite the sweat and stress, a future website might be in the making one day! Everyone enjoy!

Can I Trick You?

Alrighty, so here we have a manipulated picture. Don't freak out anybody, the kitten was not harmed! I found both picture on the internet and decided that the purpose of my manipulation was to ignite some emotion in some people, especially animal lovers (which includes myself)! Basically I took a picture of a kitten with a really sweet face on and inserted her into this picture with a man chopping some wood! I resized the kitten and lowered her opacity to match the colors of the background picture. I also adjusted the color and saturation of both the kitten and the background to look a little more frightening! I knew that with this manipulation I could get some gasps from the girls in class and some laughter from the guys. Now, was this manipulation harmful? Well, that is in the eyes of the beholder, but from my point of view, not really. The kitten is safe, but I guess this guy might be offended if he was really a cat lover. But, it's not like I manipulated this photo for a candidate for the PETA organization, so it didn't really cause any harm. However, the article I read describes that while simple manipulated photos might not be harmful, the advanced technology to manipulate photos can be. The advance in technology is increasing so rapidly that important legal documents are able to be manipulated using copies of forged signatures, letterheads, and false statements. Although some pictures like mine may not be that harmful, our technology savvy society may soon or currently be using forged documents that can affect our government and companies around the world!
Here is my citation for the article I researched: "Beware of a Blizzard of Fake Documents." New York Times (1991): 22. Print.

Why Bother With HTML Coding?

Even though it's tedious, you need to know how to manually code websites because if something goes wrong on your website you can look at your code, find the problem, and fix it!

Presentation Successes!

I have to admit that everyone did a great job on their presentations! No one had any horrific color schemes or unreadable font choices. Out of all of them two stood out to me. First I want to recognize Tori Carey and her presentation on a career as a pre-school teacher. What I loved most was her elaboration on more than just the obvious job description of a teacher. Tori used great color schemes that reminded the class of the great days of Crayola. Tori's gave a sociological and psychological meaning to the everyday learning events that we didn't even realize was going on. I loved her presentation because it made us realize that pre-school teaching is not only easy, but it helped shaped who we are today! Also, I thought that Taylor Stratton did a great job on his presentation over ophthalmology. Taylor's presentation was professional with his stethoscope background, yet kept our attention with the intriguing video on LASIK eye surgery. Not only was it interesting, but his statistics on the average salary definitely made everyone rethink their future career goals for at least a second!
***Here are the comments I would leave for my two presentations*** (Their blogs are not up yet)
Tori: I loved your example of the parachute game! That really brought back so many memories, and I realized how important each game we played was. Your presentation showed your passion for teaching and love for kids!
Taylor: I just learned about the eye in biology, so your presentation made me remember how interesting it is. Your video was awesome, but I have to admit that the slicing of the eye does not sound appealing to me! I think I will stick to glasses and contacts :)

PowerPoint 411

So, I think it is safe to say that we have all experienced near death or a great nap during a PowerPoint presentation. Once the lights go dim and the countless words fill the screen, our attention is lost. After reading a few articles and remembering my own bad experiences with boring PowerPoints, I have made a list to help everyone from making the same mistakes.
TIP #1: DO NOT use an entrance animation that takes longer to display than the whole presentation should last. Nothing is worse than letters falling one by one in a 16 word sentence.
TIP #2: DO NOT read off of the slides! This should be a given, but everyone makes this mistake. It's boring, and it makes us think that you didn't even prepare your presentation. This is a sure way to make the audience doze off.
TIP #3: DO NOT use obnoxious background and colors. If you are going to use a bright color, it is more presentable with a darker background with a brighter font. Nothing is harder to read than a red background with orange letters!
TIP #4: KEEP IT SIMPLE, including the font. I know that there are tons of cutesy fonts, but your first priority is delivery, then design. If no one can read it, it makes it hard to present your point.
TIP #5: DO NOT overload with the sounds provided on Word. I know that the cha-ching and the boring sounds can be fun, but it can be rather irritating in a presentation.

Hopefully, these tips will help both you and I prevent from presenting any more sleep-igniting presentations!

The Romantic Drama

Two girls plus one boy is bound to end up in heartbreak.

Who doesn't LOVE Google? For as long as I can remember, I have always gone to Google to search for anything and everything. Today, Chris Nolan, Assistant University Librarian, gave our class insight on Google that I cannot believe I didn’t know before. Usually I just go to the search engine and type the subject that I’m looking for. It had never occurred to me that Google had an advanced search engine. You would think that the idea is kind of a “DUH” thought, but I had never thought to look at the small typing next to the search engine labeled “Advanced Search.” Through the advanced search you can narrow your search to country, language, and even to a specific site such as “.gov.” Not only can you narrow your search, but when the results are downloaded there is small print below each result labeled “Cached.” This link allows you to see the same document on the Google server. The link displays the document with the keywords you typed highlighted. Now if that isn’t nifty, I don’t know what is! What surprised me most was how efficient Google can really be. Through the Advanced Search link, Google allows an academic search to be completed! So, now you can tell your professors to eliminate their discrimination of Google for class research. Although it may take some time, Google is on its way to compete with our own library databases.

How low can you go?

Alrighty. So here we have a picture of the University of Wisconsin students enjoying themselves at a football game, right? Well, you would think so, but there is one problem. The African American student smiling to the left was inserted into this picture to reflect the diversity that the University of Wisconsin was obviously missing. Now if that isn't low then I don't know what is. Not only is this wrong because this student was cropped in this picture, but it is totally sending the wrong message. Sure different racial backgrounds are considered diverse, but diversity isn't just about color. Diversity includes religion, culture, personalities, interests, and many other things that don't revolve around skin tone. This picture was used in the 2001-2002 undergraduate application for the University of Wisconsin. The idea that one black student is used to advertise the diversity of the campus is not only embarrassing for the student, but for entire education system. Diversity goes beyond the skin, and that is one misconception that continues to be present throughout our society.

A Whole New World!

Okay, so maybe this blog isn't going to be about Aladdin, but it is going to be about "a whole new world," in the library! As our computer class group reached our field trip destination, we witnessed some of the most extensive computers and equipment. And to top it all off, we, as students, are allowed to use it! Free of charge!This amazing place that I am referring to is the Center for Learning and Technology (CLT) on the first floor in the library! Until recently, I had never been interested in technology and its uses. However, now that I know how much I enjoy designing documents and editing pictures I cannot wait to use the equipment and help in the CLT. We basically get programs and personal help for free. If you ever need advice to edit a video or website or if you just want to play around with some pictures head down and ask an employee for help! I'm pretty sure I will take advantage of the CLT equipment when I make my own website in my computer class! Who knows? Next time I design a word document, I might take it to the CLT and add some finishing touches on it! Tip of the day: Don't be afraid to explore the lower levels of the library!

CopyRIGHT or WRONG?

We have all heard of copyright since the beginning of time, or at least since the time in elementary school. It goes back further than my elementary years. In fact, it goes back to the Constitution in 1790. The importance of copyright was recognized even before the Bill of Rights drafted. I never realized the significance of copyright or its uses. One of the main reasons for copyright is not just to make protect one’s work, but to inspire the nation to be creative and original. Think about how easy it is to write down the answers for a test on your hand. If you did this every test you would never learn anything or have any desire to. Why learn when you can excel without trying, right? Well, copyright prevents this case of laziness. Once you create your own work of art and set it in a fixed medium, it is by law protected by copyright immediately. It is protected, even without registration, for your lifetime plus 70 years. This protection did not always last 70 years after your death. The Disney Company changed it from 50 years after death to 70 years after. However, their reasoning for the copyright extension seems questionable to me. Once the 50 year anniversary of Walt Disney’s death came up, Disney realized that they would lose all profits of his personal creations. In order to prevent the loss of about a billion dollars, the protection was increased. On one hand they are protecting the use or misuse of Walt Disney’s original work, but on the other hand they could be worried about the loss of money for the company. I personally hope that it is more so to protect the legacy of his work rather than to reap the rewards of his creativity. The use of copyright should not be manipulated solely to continue the profit of one’s business. Copyright or wrong? I guess we’ll find out when Walt Disney’s 70^th anniversary rolls around.

CopyRIGHT or WRONG? by Lucy Cevallos is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

My Trinity Network Diagram!

Alrighty guys. So, I know (from the many e-mails I have read from my fans) that you have all been dying to know how Trinity's Computer Network works. Well, to please my viewers I have organized a diagram that does just that. What more can you ask for than a diagram that shows how your computer access works? I actually got to go behind the scenes and see just part of the crazy technology our university has invested in. In fact, there are so many servers in one room that without the air conditioner, the temperature could get up to 100 degrees! YIKES!

Not Tech Savvy?

Before I get to the point, let me answer your question. Yes. This great painting is one of my own. I have to say I would classify it as my Magnum Opus. I know, I know. I've outdone myself, but let's get to the main reason why I'm even writing this blog. Technology, technology, technology. Gosh will it ever quit growing? I highly doubt it, so just to keep up with today's technological advances, I thought I would share a computer tip with you from a very tech savvy person, Joe Hatch. We all have to admit that we get on our computers, go to a web site, and happily and immediately connect to our email (since we've saved our passwords). Well people, STOP DOING THAT! We're all guilty of saving our passwords. Listen. The longer you keep saving your passwords, the easier it is for hackers to get into your email, banking account, and documents. Basically, it's like taking candy from a baby. Moral of today's blog: Protect your candy. Or, in other words, be safe about securing your documents.

Who Would Have Known?

Wow! So who would have known the insane amount of diversity we have in our class? I have to admit reading everyone's entries was pretty entertaining! I read Chelsea's, Erin's, and Blake's blog and discovered the first girl I know to play tuba, a fish with the most sophisticated name alive, and how little I know about golf and video games! Here are their blog URLs if you want to take a look:

http://clewis1300.blogspot.com/

http://www.emdooley.blogspot.com/

http://www.blakedturner.blogspot.com/

The Secret is Out

Hello, my name is Lucy Cevallos. I'm from Pasadena. Don't get too excited; I'm not from California. Believe it or not there is a Pasadena, Texas. You may have never heard of it because there is not much to it besides suburban neighborhoods and chemical plants (hints how we got the nickname Stinkadena). I come from a pretty big family where there is not an introvert to be found. I admit that my whole family loves to karaoke; however, most of us are not vocally blessed, which is why I was in orchestra, not choir. Mostly, I'd say breaking a sweat to a beat is my favorite kind of exercise, which leads me to my involvements at Trinity. I am part of the Trinity Ropers, or at least I'm in training. Trinity Ropers is a country western dance team that performs at events ranging from nursing homes to the San Antonio Rodeo. I also play on the club lacrosse team at Trinity, am involved with the christian fellowship Reformed University Fellowship, and work in the history department. Aside from the extra-curricular, I am studying biology on a pre-medical track living and breathing photosynthesis and the global carbon cycle! Concerning computers, I'd say I'm Microsoft proficient, but I'm not a fan of 2007. I like to keep it old school with 2003. My one secret, which I find more of a nuisance than a secret, is that every day I never fail to hiccup. Whether it is once or three times a day they never seem to stop. It's always embarrassing when I'm talking to someone new and in the middle of our conversation I let one out. Apologies in advance if this ever happens! The secret is out!

You can email me here.