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.