My favorite websites

After seeing every ones websites I was very impressed with how thorough everyone was. Many of the backgrounds flowed well and were usually an easy read, which is good!

Matt- good contrast, the blue is very appealing, the font is easy to read and very nice pictures. the layout was simple and not too complicated for someone like myself who is bad with the Internet. The overall website was clear and crisp.

Ryan Phillips- it was simple, and I like that! Good layout, all of the font colors matched with the backgrounds. The thumbnails were very impressive, i liked that you had some of when you were little. The image map was excellent, it flowed very well. I also greatly enjoyed the layout of the resume. I want to know how to do that, and add it to my website.

Raelle- Your website was also very pretty! You and I have known each other for years and I am very disappointed that I was not in ANY of your pictures! Other than that, however, the overall quality of your site was very impressive. Your backgrounds were excellent and they matched some of the colors in your pictures on each particular page, which helped with the overall flow and quality of the site. Nice job.

Anyone who reads this can find my website here http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~jcauthor/index.htm I hope you enjoy!

(grade nicely!)




-Drew Cauthorn

Next Semester's Computer Skills Students

I actually had a lot of fun in this class. Ms. Belisle was an excellent teacher who helped with all sorts of problems that I had before coming to Trinity. As a freshman I feel that this class has better prepared me for the future. I was upset about not passing the Computer Assessment exam, however, after having completed this course with flying colors I am glad I was able to take it. I learned all about PowerPoint, word, excel, how to make my own website and much more. All of these programs I now feel as if i was a pro, and will have no problems in the future. You will have fun in this class, no doubt. (As long as you get your work done) One suggestion I would make would be to check blackboard every day. Always assume that you have homework in this class!


So, in conclusion- come to class with a positive attitude and you will a) learn a lot and b) have fun

Drew

HTML

I was very excited to be learning about the HTML code in class. A lot of my friends know how to do it and make their own little fun websites so I was always feeling out of the loop. HTML code is very useful for web designers because if a web designer creates a web page using Expression Web or Dreamweaver and there is a problem with their website and they can't identify the problem, they can look at the code to decipher what's wrong. Once the problem has been identified, they can simply re-write the correct code in the place of the faulty one. Even though HTML code can be really annoying to use, because it is such a lengthy process, it is without a doubt one of the best tools for one who wants to create a website. Like us in class!


-Drew

My favorite two powerpoints!

My two favorite PowerPoint presentations was Emmalee Bannon's, dealing with the legend of Tanta Carhutha, and Demi Keith's involving the history of Medusa. The reason I chose Emmalee's was because of several reasons. Firstly, was that it was extremely interesting and inspiring. It made me want to go into the mummy field, or at least go and see the mummified girl in the museum in Peru. The overall quality of the presentation was well thought out and explained, the font and color background's and pictures all flowed extremely well and added to the effectiveness of your overall presentation. I could also tell that you are very passionate about your topic, which came across in your presentation.

As for Demi's, I was also very impressed with the color scheme, and the overall effectiveness of her presentation. The drawings, paintings, sculptures, etc. were all very impressive and made your presentation a beautiful one. your topic was also very interesting and I greatly enjoyed listening to you present. Nice Job!


-Draw Cauthorn
=P

I got the skills to pay the bills

Finding high-quality information on the web can be made quick and easy when using Google. Most often Google is my first choice out of all the search engines and here is why. Number of searches –Google, 59.80 %/ yahoo, 21.30%/ ask Jeeves, 4.21%. These percentages deal with the amount of people searching for any sort of information on the web. I think it is very clear that Google is the most popular, and there is no surprise why. Here is how the Google search engine works. Firstly it picks out key concepts by taking specific words or it sees to look if all the words you type in occur more than once, and if they all come up in one sentence, how often the words occur, etc. The links at the top are how often the link is searched by other sites on the Internet
Google automatically incorporates AND into their searches, which is nifty! Some searches pay Google for specific placement. Many people pay for ads on Google, in yellowish box or on the right hand side. When looking for academic searches on Google, many of those links will be way down on the list because academic and or scholarly searches are often less valued by the general public. Some of the links will have biases so you don’t know if they are the best choice. However, advanced search is a way to narrow your search down to get more specific searches and links. A fun fact, National Geographic is not considered a scholarly reference. So, advance searches help for sure. Directories from libraries, are often good sites and can be compared to, yellow pages, so Chris Nolan says. I also learned that if .com is found in the url, then it is a commercial site. If there is a .gov in the url, then it means it's a federal government website. Also if there is a .org in the url, then it means that it's a non-profit organization site. This will help for future reference when doing certain research papers for class.


-Drewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Cauthorrrrrrrrrrrn

power point for newbies

I have always used PowerPoint for class presentations etc. but never done anything more than simply slide after slide with a little information, a little color and a few pictures. I found these articles about good and bad presentations to be very helpful with discovering my hidden abilities with power point. I never understood the concept, less is more, when making a power point presentation. I now know NOT to incorporate a ridiculous amount of wording and information into my slides. Keeping it short, simple, and to the point will allow for a much more effective presentation. Using actual photos of people on slides never occurred to me either. I was not aware that it can help the audience connect better with the presentation instead of putting clip art or some other kind of animation. The "Top Ten Slide Tips" by Garr Reynolds was, in my opinion, the most helpful slide. This dealt with the actual presentation itself and gave the most successful tips.
1. Keep it simple. 2. limit bullet points and text. 3. limit transitions. 4. use high quality graphics. 5. have a visual theme. 6. use charts. 7. use color well. 8. use fonts well. 9. use video or audio (I like that one!) 10. Spend time in the slide sorter "so you can see how the flow of your presentation is progressing" (Reynolds).

I always hated it when someone was reading off of the power point as if they were reading a book. I tried to avoid doing the same thing but after reading through these various tips on PowerPoint, perhaps I was making the same mistakes that my fellow classmates were. We shall see!


-Drewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Exceling in Excel

I had no idea that the new excel could be so useful. I was never a big fan of using it on class projects and avoided it whenever possible. Now I feel confident that even if i didn't know or remember how to do something, I know enough about excel to figure it out. I had taken a small time computer class in high school but basically learned nothing. I am also really excited about my skill level with excel. I feel exceptionally comfortable when using it and have full confidence in my abilities to navigate and speed/efficiency. I would have never guessed that excel made life so easy, such as various formula options. Making a fixed cell reference is also extremely useful and conserves a great deal of time. I am a business major so excel will be used a great deal later on in classes. Excel has been the most interesting part of the year so far, perhaps because this is where I learned the most. I have already begun to use it in order to track the amount of money I am spending on a weekly basis.

Looking forward to PowerPoint!


-Drew