Precious Advice for CS1300 students!

One precious piece or (pieces) of advice that I give to you students taking Ms. Belisle's CS1300 Computer Skills class is to never skip class, do not get behind on the class work, and keep good notes from class times for future references like exams! Good Luck!

Favorite Websites!

The website project was actually very interesting to work on and was even more exciting viewing all the other classmates' websites. One of the website presentations that stood out for me would have to be Joy Lin's. Each website you could tell how much work and effort was put in by the small details and beautiful web pages. Joy said that she used Photoshop to create her pages and she showed that her skills were put to good use. Another website presentation that I enjoyed was Abigail's. I really liked how she put all the good photographs on her web pages which fit well with her website profile. The designs matched wonderfully and the pictures were amazing. Last but not least I really liked David's website. It had a very peculiar theme behind it all but what I really liked about his website were all the YouTube videos! Overall I am very glad that I learned how to create my own website and I know this will help me in the future.

You can find my website at:
http://cs.trinity.edu/~pchun

HTML Code

Even though there are programs out there like Microsoft expression and Dreamweaver, it is important to understand how to use and read HTML code. The reason behind this is that all web pages are created through HTML code and through the code is how it appears nice and clean on the Internet. For instance if a web designer wanted to adjust certain lines or words on his/her web page, he/she would have to go through the code and fix it from there for it to turn out the proper way on the website. If you look at every web page making program, you will notice that there is a code layout tab which you can view in HTML code and make adjustments to your page directly from this tab. Understanding how to use HTML code will enable the web page creator not only to make more efficient web pages but when problems arise in the future he/she will be able to fix them by looking and adjusting the HTML code.

My Favorite PPT Presentations!

I was truly impressed with Steven Sheppard's PPT presentation. My favorite part of his presentation had to have been the intro slides where there was a good balance between music and fade in and outs of the pictures which were articulate and moving. Another reason why I liked his presentation so much was the fact that the audience knew that he simply did not just do this project because he was an English major but that he had a huge interest in the Dell Magazine subject.
Another that I was truly intrigued with has to be Alexis' accounting internship presentation. I really liked how she made her presentation so neat and perfect which I am sure she did on purpose to match with her accounting subject. And most people see accounting as a boring topic but Alexis named the points where having an accounting internship can be interesting and fun.

Chris Nolan's Presentation

Chris Nolan brought new light onto me about surfing the web and using search engines. One new thing that I learned that I know will help me on my future web searches is the advanced search option. I did not know about this option and he gave a very good example with the Mexico and photography search. I did not know that you can exclude certain words or phrases to come up in your Google searches and I know this is so helpful because it narrows down a search substantially. One thing that surprised me about what Mr. Nolan said was the topic on .gov sites. I knew that sites ending in .gov were government sponsored sites but I did not know that the government could skew information as Mr. Nolan explained. Now I believe I am a smarter web surfer and more skeptical viewer as I search the web.

PowerPoint!

After reading the articles on PowerPoint the first thing that came to my mind was, "you can do a lot with PowerPoint." The range of options with PowerPoint seems endless from different chart styles, themes, pictures, audio, video, etc. I did not know that even the font type used was so important in conveying the message or clarity for the audience to see. The main point that I feel is imperative to a good PowerPoint presentation after reading the articles is to remember that it is used as a communication device with your audience and not as a teleprompter or list to read off of. 5 guidelines that I recommend to my classmates are:
1. Less is more, the PowerPoint slides should be kept simple and clear of what you are trying to get across.
2. Never read down a list off of a slide during a presentation, your audience can read.
3. Your text should be large because one you should not have many words on a single slide and two so that people in the back can read what is on the slide.
4. PowerPoint is animation friendly, do not use all text in your slides, use pictures and charts to help send your message and it will keep your audience awake.
5. Know your material and be familiar with your slides before your presentation so that you do not come upon a slide and wonder what it is talking about.

Excel

I did not know that excel could be used in so many different aspects of our lives not only for school but for our work and personal life. I have used the old version of excel and now that we are working with the 2007 version, it seems simply "smarter" and more user friendly. I am pretty bad when it comes to spending my money and I now know how to use excel to manage my money. I am a finance major and know for sure that excel use will come up in the future for me.

CLT

On the first floor of the library there is a dynamic resource that many Trinity students are unaware of: CLT. The Center for Learning and Technology is sponsored by AT&T who has given Trinity $5,000,000, yes that is million for making CLT what it is today. When you first enter the room you will notice that relatively half of the room is composed of PCs and the other half MACs. These computers are on the high end of the market with large flat screen monitors and latest software technologies. The Apple's are ran with leopard software and the Dell's with Microsoft Vista. There are also scanners, audio and video digitizers and other high-tech developmental tools in order to assist students with their homework projects, presentations, or any technological related work.
Whether you are interested in working with video/audio, photographic, or graphic related work, CLT has the resources for you. CLT also delivers and sets up electronic equipment for faculty and all student class presentations. CLT is a great place for students to get together for presentations or just to study because of the different rooms available. These rooms include a Digital Audio Lab, Media Presentation Lab and a Video Conference Center. Another great aspect about CLT is that there are workers there who will help you with any of the resources and answer any questions related to CLT. So give CLT a visit and lets not waste 5 million dollars because this center was built for the students to utilize and help with our education process.

COPYRIGHTTTT

I did not take copyright very seriously until recently my parents told me of a story that happened to a friend of theirs. So one of my parents' friend who runs a business in LA has an import clothing business. Pretty much he runs his own line of clothing but he recently got caught for copyright violation. The family friend called his own line "reaction" (which is copyrighted under the clothing company Kenneth Cole) and I am not sure if he knew that he was stealing the name or not, but now is battling Kenneth Cole in court. I do not think that there will be any jail time for him but my parents tell me that he was wealthy (a multimillionaire) and could possibly go bankrupt after the lawsuits take place. And the main point from all of this was the fact that if he had not used the same name then none of this would happen.
After hearing numerous stories about Trinity students being sued from artists and record label companies for downloading or sharing several songs, I know how serious copyright violation can become. I definitely do believe that copyright laws are there for the right reasons and without the world would be in chaos. I cannot imagine creating something of my own like a music album I have been working on for a year and then someone stealing it and calling it their own. I do agree that being sued for thousands of dollars over a song or two is ridiculous but I know that they are just compensating for all the ones that they do not catch. I know how serious violating copyright laws are especially after hearing the story that happened to my parents' friend and you should not violate them too!

My BFF: Wireless Network

Like I mentioned before, I am completely dependent on the Internet day in and day out. Like many other freshmen I entered Trinity with a brand new laptop and completely utilized the wireless connection across the campus. I primarily use the wireless Internet when I do not feel like studying in the library and I just open my laptop wherever I please. Another great aspect of the wireless Internet is the fact that I get to check my Facebook or emails during some boring lectures. I believe that it is just a matter of opinion whether you think the wireless connection is a distraction or help to your daily life. Without the wireless connection I would feel "disconnected" from the world at a disability. But one thing is for sure and that is the fact that Trinity becomes more technologically advanced and the students become more world wide web friendly with a wireless network across campus. Here is an interesting article that I found:
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/2961/wireless-access-predicted-to-surge-on-college-campuses

a little about me

Hi my name is Philip and I am from Houston, Texas. I am a senior here at Trinity University with a finance major. I enjoy playing sports and competing in most of the IM's that are available from football, basketball, tennis and everything in between. During the breaks from school I love to travel with my friends and recently I was backpacking in Europe and while in London outside of a bar I was cursed out and almost kicked out by a waiter for spitting on the ground. One of the most important things that I learned while traveling would have to be being open-minded to foreign cultures and while on their land not bringing any of your own domestic habits. I would probably have to say that I would not be able to go on a day without using the Internet. I have become so dependent on the Internet and the computer and I would say that my computer skills are around average. I am pretty familiar with Microsoft excel and surfing tools for the Internet.

Email me at philip.chun@trinity.edu