The Golden Rule of Advise...

If I had to leave one single sentence of advise to next semester's incoming students, it would be this:

In order to be successful in the CS1300 class, one must follow all instructions as told, read all required material, pay attention to the class lecture, and, above all, be willing to open up the doors to creativity.

Websites Galore!!

After all of the presentations were over today in class I couldn't really decide which websites that I enjoyed the most. All I know is that as everyone took their turns, it made more and more nervous with my own creation. I couldn't believe the creativity of the entire class! It was just amazing to see all of the wonderful designs that the class had come up with.
Although I really enjoyed them all, my favorites were Chiara's, Tasha's, and Reuben's. They really did it for me. Chiara stole the show with her super cool drawings and website design. I still can not believe her talents. I just found it fascinating to be able to design something using your own artwork instead of just some random pictures off the Internet. Tasha's website was really pretty and very easy on the eyes. I liked her rotating pictures on her home page and how she was kind enough to share photos of some of the trips that she has been fortunate of taking. It was really neat! Reuben's website was just great!! It was really cute of him to show so many photographs of his family and of his childhood. That website is a keeper! I really enjoyed the video clip that he posted, but my favorite part was how he managed to incorporate all of his talents from football to knitting.
Being able to see all of the different ideas and ways that people approach the same assignment was really inspiring to me. I have learned a lot about my class based on their websites. This has got to be, by far, my favorite project.

Like I said, my classmates did a splendid job, but if you want, you can see my website as www.cs.trinity.edu/~adoming2

CS1300

Warning: To all those on their first day of class here in CS 1300, be prepared to learn a wide variety of things. I'm serious! This class is full of awesome information, and I now feel so much more confident with my computer abilities than I did before. Sometimes things may feel a bit tedious, but I reassure you that everything will be okay in the end. There may come a time when the work load feels like more than you can handle, but no fuss. In the end, you will feel much more confident with how much you have learned in this class. Just some quick reminders are to always attend class, because even just one day can set you back. Read all of the required material and take notes during the lecture in class, because several of the things you will be asked to do have multiple steps. Other than that, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy your time spent in Computer Skills.

The Importance of HTML Coding

Almost everyone has had the great opportunity of logging onto the Internet and feasting their eyes upon the infinite number of websites. There is literally a webpage for almost anything one can think of. But how did they all get there? What makes up a webpage? It is amazing to see all of the little things that make up a relatively simple webpage. Most people just see numbers and symbols all bunched up together, but to the HTML person, every symbol has its purpose. The addition of one singal number or letter could change the entire appearance of the website! Of course for students, HTML may seem like a difficult program that requires the memorization of meaningless codes and shortcuts, but to a web designer, it is a language that they understand very well.
I was first exposed to the HTML program during the summer of my seventh grade year. I was in a summer program called PREP and they highly encourage students to learn the methods of HTML. They constantly told us that it was a very important skill that we should possess, and that it would help make life later a little easier. Now , almost 5 years later, I am having to design my very own website, and I am just really glad that I have some background on it. Before it was difficult having to carefully type every code in to make the webpage just the way you wanted. It took a really long time and was quite tedious, but it was worth it once you saw your page come to life. Now, through the advancement of technology, their are programs such as Microsoft Expression Web that do all of the coding for you! It is a really neat program and cuts design time almost in half. There are numerous cons to such a wonderful program, but there are some down falls to it as well. Expression Web works just like a word document. You type in what you want and the HTML code is automatically taken from what you just typed in. The problem with such programs is that sometimes programs have defaults of certain fonts or colors and it makes it the way it thinks it should be. Doing HTML coding yourself, you would be able to choose freely what it is that you are inserting or even catch the mistakes that you have made in coding. Not knowing the HTML language would make this so much more harder for web designers.
All in all, HTML is vital. It is what makes up this very blog spot and other things just like it. Not being able to create webpages on your own could lead to error or even dependence upon programs such as Dreamweaver or Expression Web. The point is that every good designer should know the dirty work of what they are creating and just not rely on someone else to do it for them.

PowerPoint Extravaganza!!!

After much contemplation and debate, I have finally narrowed down my top 3 favorite power point presentations. The winners are Brian Pabian, Chiara Ferrari, and Jordan Enloe, in first, second, and third respectively. The reason for my choosing these three presentation was because of the way in which incorporated it to something that they each enjoyed personally. Jordan was full of information on Alexander the Great, and his presentation supported him well. All of the maps and photographs really gave the entire presentation a nice feel. Jordan knew exactly what he was talking about, and even went the extra mile to create more than the required amount of slides. The design of his presentation really incorporated material that we have covered in and out of class discussing design and representation. Chiara's presentation was splendid given the fact that all of the pictures used in it were her very own creations! They were really great drawings that she brought her own uniqueness to. Her presentation on drawing, or really how to start drawing, depicted a side of Chiara's creativity and passion. The overall design of the presentation was very "artsy" and very interesting. My favorite out of the three was Brian's because he really went all out. He included sound, an animated gif, a video clip, and a overall professional design. Everything he included into his presentation went hand-in-hand with the information that he was trying to convey about the steps of getting into law school and passing the Bar exam. My favorite part was the end, when the video clip showed a judge dismissing the court. It really gave it a very nice touch.

Searching the Internet...the right way

Everyone is aware of the brilliant and multiple ways that the Internet can help you when you happen to find yourself searching for something. I have used the Internet to search for several things, ranging from academic research to shopping for clothes. The point is that there are numerous ways in which one can search for things. I, along with 60% of the United States, choose to use the search engine, Google. It has been something that I have used for a really long time now, and it has worked extremely well, almost always getting me to the information that I am looking for.

It wasn't until recently that I discovered how to use this magical search engine to perform more to my advantage. In my computer class the other day, we had a wonderful presentation by Trinity's very own Mr. Chris Nolan, an assistant librarian (more like an Internet wizard if you ask me), who was so very kind to show us how to search the Internet properly. Everyone has already probably experienced a search of some kind on one of the search engines (Yahoo, AOL, Ask,etc) and, if lucky, has received over a million results that are related to the topic. The truth is that most of those results have very little, if anything at all, to do with what you are really looking for. Mr. Nolan gave the class some tips on how to really narrow your search down in order to best find what it is that you are looking for. By adding in a + or "" in your topic search, you are more likely to get results that match your keywords if you happen to be searching for two different things and how they are related to each other. I found this to be very interesting to me, because I always use the word "and" , and never really get the things that I am looking for. This will probably be the most helpful when the time comes for some research for a class assignment.

You could also use the link Advanced Search to pull up only links that pertain to the keywords that you typed in on the search bar. The Google Scholar link is an excellent way to find scholarly sources that are more likely to be more reliable than other random things posted on the Internet. The URL extensions are another thing to look for when trying to find a reliable source. For example when doing research on the government, it would probably better to go with a site ending in .gov rather than a site ending with .com.

All of these tips are extremely helpful and are only going to make life a little easier for me as a student. I am really glad that Mr. Nolan was kind enough to help out his fellow Trinity students like this. A really big thanks to you...

Everyone Makes Mistakes...

Everyone at some point in their school years, whether it was college, high school, or even middle school, has had to do some form of presentation. Most people usuallly do the typical written report and read word per word out loud to the audience without even making their pulses increase. For the more creative folk, when it comes to presentations, they usually turn to visual reports. That's where Microsoft Power Point comes into play. The only problem with these forms of presentations is that they are beginning to turn into the old fashioned written report. Several presentors, including myself, do not realize the mistakes that they are making in their presentations. After reading some articles on the do's and dont's of Power Point Presentations, I suddenly realized that I have had mistakes in every single presentation that I have ever given! For starters, I think that the most common error that I found in myself was using the Power Point Presentation as a teleprompter. I don't mean to do it, but as a result of adding too much information to the slides, I end up writing out everything that I wanted to say instead of just saying it myself. Some tips that I found to be extremely helpful from the articles are listed below:

• Slides in a presentation are supposed to support the speaker and are not supposed to be filled with too much unnecessary information.
• Avoid using cheesy clip-art and instead aim for using photographs that are more professional.
• Make sure that you are using the proper charts for the type of information that you are trying to convey.
• Avoid too many bullet points per slide, and instead try to narrow words down to a minimum of 6 per slide.
• Stay away from distracting backgrounds and tacky, hard to read colors and fonts.

These tips are given to help make presentations the best that they could possibly be and to avoid an audience of sleeping people. Power Point is supposed to be an aid in making the best presentations ever, but it is simply up to the presenter to make sure that that is the ending result.

Excel in school!!!

Throughout my years in high school and even in middle school, my exposure to Microsoft Excel was minimal. I never really had the opportunity to create graphs and analyze spreadsheets of data. At the beginning of the semester I felt completely overwhelmed because I lacked the basic computing skills to be able to construct data analysis and other forms of numerical presentations. With the courses of Integrative Biology, Biology Lab, and Calculus A, having these skills is vitally important to be able to complete the assignments distributed by the professors. Taking the Essential Computer Skills course has really helped me a great deal in developing my Excel skills. Before any instruction, I did not have any knowledge on how to create graphs and make functions out of the data. I know am capable of using shortcuts that will make the entire process of assignments way easier. Being able to use this program effectively is important because it is used in several workplaces as well. Aside from the fact that Excel is a program used throughout college, it is also something that can help you with careers and jobs. I personally have had to use the program in a workplace when I used to work at a doctor's office as a billing clerk. All of the patient's information and insurance information were all organized in excel spreadsheets, and my lack of experience made it difficult for me to be able to manipulate the data easily. If I would have had the experience and skills that I now hold, the entire job would have been way easier for me.

Diversity at Wisconsin University....

It is common knowledge to several people that pictures can be deceiving, but to those with an untrained eye, it could easily fool them. With today's technology and advanced computer programs, transforming a photograph or some video image can be as easy as clicking a button on the mouse. For the 2001-2002 Undergraduate Application for the University of Wisconsin, the cover photo of the application was manipulated "to make the campus appear to be more diverse". The original photograph was of a 1993 football game, which depicted several Caucasian students celebrating a possible victory over an opponent. The hidden truth behind the altered photograph is that an African American student by the name of Diallo Shabazz was photo-shopped into the background in order to make the background diverse enough for the applicants that would be applying in the upcoming school year. The student, Diallo Shabazz, was actually not even in attendance at the game. The photo of him was actually from 1994. This manipulation seems to be unharmful, compared to some of the manipulations that are running around in the media everyday, but it did in fact present some "false advertisement" ideals. While some famous actresses have their faces placed on the bodies of beautiful models to make them appear more attractive, Wisconsin University did this as well, but in a different scheme. By adding the African American student to the background that showed Wisconsin students having a great time, the University was hoping to attract more students from different ethnicities in order to accomplish this goal of diversity. Seeing this as a harmful thing could go either way, considering that a student from an under-represented ethnic group could feel out-numbered and like an outcast in a place where they alone and the only one of their kind.

The AT&T Center for Learning and Technology...

It still completely astonishes me when I look around and see how technically advanced Trinity University is. Sure, it is a university and should be able to offer it's students the best technology for their own personal educational advancements, but it has turly gone beyond that expectation. On the first floor of the Elizabeth Coate's Library, the AT&T Center for Learning and Technology can be found. It is a center with truly remarkable resources for the student's disposal. There are several work stations that vary in programs and equipment. There included the Innovation Studio, the Video Conference Center, Studios@CLT, Media Presentation Lab, and my personal favorite, the Digital Audio Lab. It is the one with which I worked with the most because it was completely entertaining to me. One could do so many things in the area since it is equipped numerous computers, a synthesizer, digital audio importing and editing hardware, access to a number of audio sources providing both digital and analog import capability, and sound editing software. I am a music fanatic, so seeing all of the recording devices was truly exciting, not to mention that it is also extrememly beneficial to Power-Point Presentations and other projects that you may encounter during your time in college. This station could be incorporated into my CS1300 class by adding special audio effects to one of my presentations or assignments in class. It is really only up to your imagination! The technology is there, we just have to take advantage of it and make the most of it.

Plagiarism...

Everyone has been told the basics of plagiarism. It has been installed into our minds since elementary school that copying someone else's ideas or work is morally wrong. We are constantly reminded by teachers that we should always cite everything that we use in our papers in order to avoid this type of fraud, but it was not until recently that I discovered that there were several other things involved in plagiarism or copyright that I had never really considered to be wrong. Of course I knew the downloading music without paying for it was wrong, but I didn't know that it could literally be tracked down by the record companies and pin-pointed to the person who commited the crime. During the presentation that we had in class concerning copyright laws and such, I was given a direct example of this happening to several of the students here on campus. Lists were being released with their names on it, accusing them of illegal downloading, and now they were being asked to stop or suffer the consequences of a lawsuit. To me personally, the students were stealing, but they justified their reasons for doing this with the fact that everyone else was doing it. This of course is partly true, but the point here was that they were the ones that got caught, therefore taking the downfall for everyone else. To the recording companies, it is completely unfair to be robbed of something that they put time, money, and effort to create, so they wanted justice and to be recompensated for their losses. I believe that this is the only far thing to do, and it teaches people to not do the wrong thing. It reallys helps to know all of this information, because it could be the determing factor when you find yourself in a situation debating whether or not to ckick that download button.

A World Without Wireless Internet? I think not...

It still amazes me at how unique the Trinity Campus is. One of the single most important things that captured my attention was the limitless wireless Internet available. On move in day, I couldn't help but notice all of the attention my computer was getting. Practically even more than me! The technology department here at Trinity is just wonderful and they really know how to keep you as up to date as possible. They can be located as http://iraa.trinity.edu/iraa/x132.xml. You can go literally anywhere on campus and have complete access to the Internet and your personal files once you are logged into the program. I use the Trinity Network every single day, at least three times a day. Whether it is in my dorm or at the picnic tables outside of the Coate's Center, I use the Network to manage my homework, class lectures, or personal miscellaneous things. It is pretty impressive to me to go to a class and see everyone with their personal computers taking notes via the university's wireless system. I'm not sure if other universities value this type of wireless liberty, but I'm sure that it is greatly appreciated here.

Here is a link to another university wireless system: http://www.its.msstate.edu/Services/WirelessNetwork/index.php.

Angel...All About Me

Hello everyone! My name is Angel Marie Dominguez, and I'm a native of San Antonio. My family and I have lived here most of our lives, with the exception of a short period of time when we moved to a small town called Hondo. We lived there for a couple of years on a farm, but decided to return to San Antonio because of the distance that my father had to travel every single day to work. It was great living in the country and I had several animals and pets, which leads me to my secret fact. While living out in the ranch I was given the opportunity to raise a young fawn as my own pet! It was an amazing experience. The truth is that living here in Texas is everything that I could possibly want, and being able to further my education in a prestigious university located in my hometown makes it all the better. On campus I just recently auditioned for the Trinity Symphonic Wind Ensemble, and am planning on joining club volleyball. I am on the pre-med track and am still debating on what I plan to major in. It is either between Biochemistry or Neuroscience. As far as my computer skills go, I have previously been exposed to some computer science classes in middle school, but have not been introduced to many of the new forms of technology and programs that are available today. I am looking forward to all of the knowledge that I will gain over the course of this semester in my computer class, as well as all of the other ones. It just amazes me how Trinity gives you that motivation for learning, while still being able to be relaxing and fun. If you have any questions about anything or just need to get into contact with me, my email is adoming2@trinity.edu.