Thursday, November 5, 2009

Powerpoint presentations

I really liked JP's blog. It had a really nice animation with the expanding globe. He seemed really knowledgeable about the topic he chose and thus was very informative. I liked how he stacked the white page, on which he wrote, on the picture (his background)

I was also very impressed with Aubrey's blog. It was very creative and artistic. Her use of pictures was very instrumental in making her blog stand out!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Powerpoint

PowerPoint is a very useful communication tool. It makes it easier for the presenter to convey his/her findings to the audience. While it the benefits of PowerPoint presentations cannot be overstressed, the consequences of its misuse can be disastrous.

One common misconception about PowerPoint is that it can only help the presentation. This is very untrue though because if used incorrectly, a PowerPoint can actually detract from the quality of a presentation.

When making a PowerPoint presentation you should adhere to the following guidelines;

1) Keep the layout consistent: nothing is more distracting than huge contrasts in the layout of subsequent slides (avoid transitions from a background of outer space to one of the San Antonio Spurs, whether or not you think the Spurs are a team of all-stars!)

2) Avoid using writing too much on each slide: even a bottle of Ambien© won't put your audience to sleep quicker!

3) Be creative, but professional: clip arts are tempting but detract from the professionalism of your presentation. On the other hand, avoid the traditional, boring approach of using the PowerPoint templates. Your audience probably did not find them too interesting in the past and they will not see them as the next best thing since sliced bread now!

4) Use color: don't be afraid to splash in some color. But be weary. Everything in moderation.

5) Keep it simple: Above all you want your presentation to be easy to understand. Important information should be easy to see. Your audience will not appreciate being burdened with the task of finding the needle in a haystack!!!

I personally find it annoying when presenter uses too many sounds within the presentation. The use of sounds should be employed discriminately. That way you don't distract your audience...

Or incur its wrath!!!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

CLT

CLT is a really valuable resource center in the lower portion of the library. I had been there once before the class visit. My initial reaction was one of amazement. "Why hadn't I heard about it before now"

It is a really nice, comfortable place conducive to a host of activities ranging from leisurely reading to complicated computing and video editing. It contains some of the best computers available on campus which can handle almost any task required of them.

Since it's location is a little conspicuous, it is just the place I need to be when I need to study (to get away from friends and other distractions that may be lurking on floor above! It is one resource which I intend to take advantage of in upcoming months!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Excel

I found the information relayed in the Excel portion of this class to be really insightful and informative. I had been exposed to Excel prior to this class but I have learned so much more in the past few weeks than I ever knew.
Excel is a powerful tool when it comes to data arrangement, organization, presentation and record keeping. It is useful for any professional in just about any field.
Excel is very important not only because of its usefulness as a presentation tool but more so because of the calculations it performs. It's ease of use makes enables one work in a more productive and efficient manner.
In addition to relaying numbers (which often make not sense when there are so many of them) Excel can also be used to make charts and graphs which make interpreting a data set easier for visual learners.
I definitely intend to continue using Excel in the future. It is a powerful tool and it's importance cannot be stressed enough.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Chris Nolan Presentation

I was really impressed by Chris Nolan's presentation. I found his information about research and search engines in general to be pretty relevant to requirements for many of my classes here in Trinity. I just wish he would have made this presentation sooner.
I have always known about google as a powerful tool for research and have utilized it for conducting research for many classes even from high school. The library department at my High School also introduced me (along with my fellow classmates) to google scholar as a means of finding research from academic sources. This is really important because at an institution of higher learning (such as Trinity) the credibility of one’s sources can be called into question. Google Scholar makes that a non issue as it filters result to articles from scholarly sources only.
I was pretty impressed with the filters available on google. It enables one to filter results pertinent to only the results they desire. Searching can be made more specific by wrapping search terms around quotations. I was also really surprised at how results for the same search were displayed on google versus yahoo, for example. I will definitely take Chris’ suggestion to switch between search engines if one is not producing the desired result.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

CBS Emblem Image - Photoshop


I chose the picture of wherein the CBS emblem was digitally inserted to replace that of NBC during a New Year's Eve broadcast. It originated in December 2000.
The picture was manipulated by digitally superimposing the CBS emblem over that of NBC.
I believe it was manipulated so that the viewers would think it was a CBS original broadcast.
I do believe this is harmful. Each network has its responsibility to gather and cover news events and effectiveness in doing so is what makes an acclaimed and widely viewed network channel.
By superimposing its emblem over that of NBC, CBS is claiming that it is the source and rather unfairly taking credit for the work of NBC. Not only do I find this irresponsible, I also think it should be punishable under the law.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

COPYRIGHT

Although I was unfortunately absent from class the presentation on copyright, I was able to acquire some information about copyrights through the blogs of my diligent classmates.

I have always vaguely known about copyrights especially in the entertainment sector. But after glancing through a few of my classmates' blogs, I was astonished by how much I was unaware of.

I, like most of you guys, was surprised by the fact that the works of an individual is protected for the entire duration of his/her life plus 70 years! This seemed particularly excessive!
One justification proposed for this long copyright protection period was that it was established so the author's family can benefit from it long after his/her death. I think this is particularly unwarranted as they can gain from the individual's creative genius over the course of his lifetime. And 10 years after the passing of the author (in the event that the author dies very soon after his work is published) seems long enough for his relatives to reap the rewards of his creativity.