A Little Advice...

Computer skills was a helpful class. I really enjoyed learning about the applications and programs we used. Make sure you get your work turned in on time and listen. Learning about Photo Shop and how to make a website will make your projects more creative, too.

websites

The websites in class were awesome. They were creative and well-designed! My three favorite websites belonged to Hye-Won, Adan, and Maddy Hazelwood in the 2:10 class. 

Hye-Won's website was colorful. I liked her purple home page and picture. I thought it was very artistic, and I liked all the pictures she included of her friends and family. Another great touch was the top and back buttons, which makes viewing her website easy.

Adan also had a great website. I liked how he designed his own font in Photo Shop. His website was very complex and included a lot of great pictures. I liked how he linked his website with his band's MySpace page because this will give his band more exposure.

Maddy included lots of great pictures of her life on her page. I liked her color scheme and design. My favorite part of her website was her image map. I thought it was very well put together. 

Check out my website:  http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~jzeberle

Power Point Pt. 2

Wow! It was another great day of presentations. It is so cool to see every one's interests. It also helps to include great multimedia effects! I really liked the presentation of the science of attractions because I never thought about that through a scientific standpoint. I also liked the presentation on epilepsy because I think the brain is super cool/mysterious. The presentation of D-Day was well put together; I liked how the song played in the background throughout the entire presentation. The background and animation tied made it feel like we were back in the war. Overall, I really enjoyed watching every one's presentation. They were informative and fun to watch!

PowerPoint Presentations

I really enjoyed watching the PowerPoint presentations last class period. I found that they were very informative and fun to listen to. I liked to see how everyone incorporated the design elements into their presentations.

 My two favorite of the day were Staci's and Hannah's projects. I could tell they both had passion for their areas of study. However, what really wowed me was their designs. Staci's topic was about global warming. She included relevant pictures, comic strips, and diagrams to illustrate her point. She had an impressive animation in which she showed how the "green house effect" happens. Her slides were cohesive and well put together. Overall, I thought it was a great presentation. 

Hannah's presentation was on broadcast journalism and she made that her theme throughout. All her slides were televisions which broad casted the information, or news, on this field. She included YouTube videos in her presentation, as well. It was a fun presentation to watch. I both learned and was entertained.

Some Pointers on Power Points

Power points keep presentations interesting. They provide visual support for the presentation including pictures, sounds, videos, and important bullet points. The key to an effective PowerPoint though is to keep it looking sharp by not distracting the audience with too much. Your PowerPoint should support what you have to say, not the other way around. It is easy to get carried away because PowerPoint has so many options! The number one goal is not to distract your audience. 

Here are my five tips for PowerPoint:

1) Less is more- Make sure your slides have plenty of blank space. Too much writing or pictures on a page will distract the audience from your focus. They will spend more time reading your slides than listening to what you are saying. Highlight a few points of what you are saying.

2) Pictures speak louder than words- When possible use a picture in your presentation. You can edit pictures using Photo Shop or the tools provided on PowerPoint. Pictures provide a great visual display for your presentation.

3) Tie it all together- Use the same color scheme throughout your presentation. All the slides do not have to be the same color, but they should flow together. Keep the colors simple. This will make your images and text pop more in contrast.

4) Keep transitions simple- I know transitions like flying in or the typewriter may seem fun, but they are not. Do not use these! They are painfully annoying. Transitions should be simple and all the same. 

5) Practice- Make sure you spend time going over your presentation several times with the PowerPoint. Use the notes function to write down what you are going to talk about for each slide. Make sure your presentation flows. Practice will smooth out any kinks in the presentation.

Microsoft Excel

Coming into this class, I did not know much about Microsoft Excel. Now, I feel like I have a good handle on this problem. I know I will use it for my personal life as well as in school until they create something better.

I found the exercises we worked on relevant for everyday life. Balancing a checkbook on Excel is much more efficient than balancing one with pen and paper. Excel has formulas that do the simple addition and subtraction to find a running balance. I have already started keeping track of my expenditures on an excel document.

Excel is useful in any type of business setting, as well. It can quickly draw up graphs and charts for a presentation. It can also help manage payroll and bonuses. Excel offers tons of functions that allow for one to calculate averages, percentages, medians, standard deviations etc. There is even a function that puts in the date for you!

Overall, though excel may not be the most fun program out there. I think it is very useful. I know I will use it to help me organize. Plus with all the fast tricks I have learned from class, I'll be able to get work done faster!

The CLT

Located one the first floor of the library, the CLT offers everything for the techies needs. Computers for editing film, programs to design websites, computers to listen to pod casts, and an audio studio has a lot of options. The staff is really friendly and knowledgeable, as well. The CLT is the hidden jewel in the library. I know I did not learn about all its great resources until we visited as a class. Great chairs also add to this comfortable environment!

I know now I'll visit the CLT to work on school projects and personal interests. I want to learn how to edit film, so this lab will help me learn on great software. I was really impressed.

Pictures that Lie!

Photoshop can work wonders! With the ability to alter every detail of a picture, one can change the whole focus. This cool website called Pictures that Lie allows viewers to see how pictures in the media have been altered. I've included the link at the end of my blog so everyone can check it out!
I looked at the before/after picture of Katie Couric released by CBS. In the first picture, her suit is brown, she looks a little heavier, and the image is rather blurry. However, in the second picture, her suit is now black, she is slim, and the shot is crystal clear.
The altered image appeared in a magazine later that year, but why was the original changed so much? Photoshop offers so many options to change pictures. By making her suit stand out more and her slimmed down physique, Katie stands out more. Black is a sophisticated color, and, nowadays, everything that goes to print is airbrushed. The camera does add ten pounds.
Overall, when the two pictures are side-by-side, one can see the difference. The alterations are apparent. However, if I saw each individually, I would not know what or how much was altered.The changes could be harmful, but they play into what society wants. What society demands, though, is a whole other issue!

://news.cnet.com/2300-1026_3-6033210-1.html?tag=mncol

Chris Nolan

I thought Chris Nolan's presentation on how to find good research through the search engines was helpful. Learning about the little tricks to refine searches will help me save time and effort next time I'm researching a topic for a paper. 

I think the resources the library has set up are great, but the websites like Google and Ask.com is what I've grown up with. However, sometimes it takes FOREVER to get the right research. Chris Nolan taught us how to refine our searches using the tools offered by the search engines. Who would've thought? Adding quotation marks tells the site to look only for those together. Minus signs tells the site to look for certain words without other words. The cached key highlights where the words are on the website. This is helpful because it allows the reader to give the website a quick glance to see how relevant/helpful it would be. 

The advanced search key confused me before I knew what I did. This function allows you pick certain domains, phrases, and other specific information.

I've already put these helpful hints to practice. They will sure be a time saver!! 

copyright & the media

Are the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA), and Entertainment Software Association (ESA) targeting college students? From the bias of this college freshman, they totally are. However, it is for the right reasons.

Copyright laws have been around forever! In fact, in the US the first copyrighting laws predated our Bill of Rights. I am all for copyright. I believe what I write should be considered mine and only mine and I would be upset if anyone else tried to take credit for my work. Who wouldn't right? So shouldn't we apply this same method to the musical artist and actors who provide us entertainment?

I get it though us college kids are downright broke from all the money we spend on tuition, book, and living on our own. Money is tight nowadays, but does that justify stealing? Downloading illegal music, movies, games, etc. off the internet without proper payment is stealing! You would not steal the newest skateboard or designer purse if you did not have the money for it right?

Ok, I know the movie stars and musical artists of our day rake in the dough. But what about the people behind the scenes? There was one commerical awhile ago that showed the devastating effects of pirating (or downloading illegally) music. The question at the beginning read, "so who does pirating hurt?". It first started with the musical artists, then showed the producer, then the sound board equipment staff, and on and on. It is a rippling effect that sets off a whole chain of events.

Bottom line: do not download illegally! Besides the utter fear of getting a "take down notice" (which by the way Trinity gets a lot of), it's morally wrong. Just pay the $1 per song or listen to the radio. That is all, thank you!

The Facebook Craze

The article talks about how the oh-so popular Facebook can be used for social networking. Facebook allows anyone to create groups or causes to voice beliefs. Literally, everything has a group! I have seen things ranging from Cancer Awareness to National Chipotle Day. 

While I may join groups, I do not use Facebook for the means of networking. I use Facebook to simply stay in touch with people. I go to school out of state and it's nice to have a place where I can continually keep up with what is going on in my friends' lives even if it keeps from my school work a little bit... 

A Little About Me

Hi! My name is Jenny Zeberlein. I grew up in a town just south of Denver, Colorado. I love Colorado! I am a true Colorado sports fan. I especially follow the Rockies and Broncos. Of course, you cannot live in Colorado and not love the mountains. They are gorgeous and visible nearly everywhere. I ski and attempt to snowboard in the winter. In the summer, I go hiking,camping, and boating whenever I am not working at the daycare. 

I know the basics of the computer. I can find my way around Microsoft Word and PowerPoint- Excel intimidates me! However, if one would ask me to create a website, I would have no idea what to do or how to start! I am definitely going to learn a lot from this class.

My secret fact is: In German, my last name means "Little Wine Maker". My grandfather is really into discovering our lineage and he stumbled across our last name's meaning one day. 

Jenny Zeberlein

jzeberle@trinity.edu