Advice for next semester

the best advice I have for students next semester is DO ALL THE HOMEWORK! By doing the homework, you learn the material well enough to do well on the midterm!

my favorite website's

Joel Van Essen
I liked Joel's blog because he used a lot of really high resolution pictures, and it was very interesting for me to read about his favorite sports teams. I also thought Joel did a great job of using tables to organize his photos and text on each page.

Teka Nicholas
Teka had one of the most visually appealing websites. She did such an awesome job bringing everything together. She could have fooled me into thinking a professional made it.

Rory Davidson
I thought Rory had an awesome website because of his nice background pictures. They were very engaging, yet did not take away from the content of his wesbite.

HTML

HTML is very important for website creators to make because it can help pinpoint specific parts of the website which you would like to tweak. If someone , like a coder, is going to be working with HTML for an extended period of time, it is very important to know the matter with which you are working with. It can help you to create a much better final product.

Picture That Lied

The picture I chose was a picture of the sky, it originated off of an image search on google. I manipulated the picture by adjusting its hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast. I also brought in a picture of a pig in the sky. I though it would be clever to make a pig 'fly'. I altered the pig by applying a glow to it and its wings and by slightly feathering it. I also added some lightning bolt shapes to add dramatic effect as if the flying pig has just revealed itself to many people for the first time. The manipulation changes the focus of the picture from the sky to the pig in the sky. It was not really related to the article i read. the article (Young, Jeffrey R. "Journals Find Many Images in Research Are Faked. (Cover story)." Chronicle of Higher Education 54.39 (2008): A1-A11. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 13 Apr. 2010.) dealt mainly with fraudelent photographs that are not created for fun, like mine was. I do not intend on tricking or deceiving anyone with my photograph, so it is unlike the photographs Ms. Roovers doctored and released in her journal.

Powerpoint presentations

The first presentation I really enjoyed was Glenn's. He had a very good layout on each of his slides and his content really kept me interested. My other favorite one was Joel's. Joel and I used the same topic (Sports Agents) but I found it interesting how different he made his presentation than mine. Just a few different ways of presenting his ideas made our presentations unique from one another.

Powerpoint tips

In the past I have seen some pretty lame powerpoint presentations, so here are a few tips to keep them engaging and interesting-

1. Keep text to minimum, no one wants to read an essay.
2. Make sure your color scheme is not distracting.
3. Do use a theme, black and white is monotonous.
4. Do not use too many slides.
5. The slides must be tidy and organized.

Crazy Photo

This photo pretty much just sums up what a crazy guy Joel Van Essen is...

Chris Nolan's Presentation

I learned a lot about Google from Chris Nolan's presentation. Previously I had not really used Google when researching topics and such for school, but by using the methods he taught us in class I am confident that this tool can safely be used for scholarly work. The most useful feature on Google in my opionion is the timeline option. This can help pinpoint exactly what information you are seeking about a specific subject. I was also impressed with his vast knowledge of the library catalog system. I can honestly say that I am much more confident in the computer catalog system in the library than before Chris Nolan's presentation.

Pictures that LIE!

The photo I chose from the "Pictures that Lie" gallery was the one with Clement Hurd. He was the illustrator for the book "Goodnight Moon". This is a very popular children's book that I can recall reading many times as a young lad. The picture is seen on the inside cover of the book. The picture was manipulated to eliminate the cigarette in his hand. I am guessing the publisher removed the cigarette from his hand to prevent children from seeing someone they could potentially idolize smoking a square. I believe it was a good choice to remove the cigarette from his hand because kids need positive role models, not ones that could lead them to start smoking. It could potentially offend Hurd, because maybe he wanted to be seen smoking cigarettes all the time. But ultimately I prefer the health of the children!

Visit to CLT

My visit to the CLT (Center for Learning and Technology) was very informative. Before this class, I had no idea such a place existed. It is absolutely wonderful that the university provides us with such high quality tools and computers, but at the same time it is a shame not everyone knows about it and utilizes it. When I was there, not very many people were down there using the machines and what-not. My favorite area was the Digital Audio Lab. In the future I hope to bring some friends down there like Joel Van Essen and maybe we can lay down some sick tracks or something. I have been wanting to record some music for a long time but have never had the means to do so. Now that I discovered this awesome place, I can begin my climb to the top of the music industry and become a famous rockstar one day!!!

Copyright Laws

Last Thursday we had a speaker in our computer skills class. His name was Jason Hardin and he works in the library here at Trinity. He came to teach us about copyright laws, which is what his specialty is here at Trinity. Copyright is exactly what it sounds like, a persons right to copy a work. The original creator holds the copyright, and the government is charged in the Constitution with protecting this right. I learned that copyright infringement is not the same as plagiarism, copyright is a crime, but plagiarism is a social taboo. The copyright is established when the piece of work is made, and it lasts until 70 years after the creators death. Then, the work becomes part of public domain, and anyone and everyone is free to use it as they wish. I knew that downloading music via a P2P program was illegal, but until I heard this talk I did not know just how much trouble could come of it. A Trinity student was caught illegally downloading music, and the lawsuit was settled out of court for $14,000. I think it is rather ridiculous that they can get away with taking so much money for such a small infraction, but that is just the way things work these days. Music artists make a lot of money these days, A LOT, so I do not see why the recording industry feels a need to crack down so hard on poor college students. I found the creative commons idea very interesting. I think it is a good idea for people to be willing to share their work with other people for free, generosity is hard to find these days it seems.
After hearing this talk, it made me think again about all the music I have been illegally downloading. Sure, it is a longshot that I will be caught, but is it really worth getting sued thousands of dollars? I think not. I have now resolved to quit illegally downloading music here at school and use websites like www.youtube.com, www.last.fm, and www.pandora.com to listen to the music I want to listen to. It causes more of an inconvenience to me, but it is definitely a better choice then taking a risk and possibly getting sued for every bit of money I have.




Kyle's Blog by Kyle Brightwell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Trinity Network

At last my diagram is done. When I first heard of this assignment, I dreaded doing it. But when I got to working, it was not as bad as I had imagined. It was actually kind of fun :)

Top Tech Tip

The tip I found most helpful from Joe was the defragging process and the CCleaner. I plan on implementing both of these ideas on my PC as soon as possible.

Post 2

I had fun looking through everyones blogs. I learned a lot about people that I would otherwise have no clue about. I commented on two posts, written by Joel Van Essen and Amanda Beekes. Keeping up with my blog has been pretty fun so far and I am excited about the rest of this semester :)

Introduction

Hello my name is Kyle Brightwell and I am from College Station, Texas. I went to a small private school where I played basketball, football, golf, and track. I tried baseball but it was not my cup of tea. Surprisingly enough though, I am definitely not an Aggie like everyone else in that town, that's why I ended up here at Trinity. I am a native Texan, and I love it here; I can not see myself living in any other place. My hobbies include playing sports, working out, reading, and copious amounts of video games. I must say that I have an unhealthy addiction to Madden and NCAA football. I have 4 brothers and 1 sister and I am the oldest. I love my family. I'm very scared of high places.

The only experience I have with computers prior to this class is a computer skills class and a digital arts class that I took in high school. My knowledge with computers is not very high, and I am excited to be in this class this semester.

At Trinity I spend most of my time either sleeping, working, or in the library. My favorite place in San Antonio is the Japanese Tea Gardens located by the zoo. Its a gorgeous little paradise and a very relaxing place to spend a beautiful day outside. I like to smoke there.

PS- I have never attended a public school.

Please feel free to email me here.