Hello Fall 2008!

My advice to you is to just keep up with the homework assignments. And it really helps to work with friends from class. You'll get to know Beze Underground really well...I sure did. Try to attend class. You'll get lost if you miss more than one class.

Website Presentations

This past class, several of my peers presented their website to us. All of the websites were unique and different from the other. One of my favorites were Darcy Wheeler. I liked how everything on her website was clean cut and easy to read. Her imagemap looked really professional. Also, Mica demostrated how to use patterned backgrounds and color effectively in a website. Everything was very organized yet vibrant on her website. I also enjoyed Stu's webiste. I liked how he took pride in Canada and refuted many stereotypes associated with Canadians. The Youtube.com commerical was very effective in delivering the message of why we should not stereotype. Everyone has a great website.
You can visit my webiste at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~mchakrav/

HTML

Although there are programs like Expressions that make designing a web easier, I think it is important to know how to do your own html coding. You can be more creative when creating your html coding than in Expressions because many things made on Expressions look similar to each other. I'm really glad that we're learning html coding in class!

My Two Favorite PowerPoint Presentations

There were several great PowerPoint presentations in class. Two of the people that I thought did really well on their PowerPoint presentations were Hannah and Mica. I really liked Hannah's presentation. She captivated the audience with her numerous pictures. These pictures were very relevant to the presentation and allowed the audience to understand the subject of Geology better. I liked how she alternated between words and pictures on her slide. Mica's presentation also had lots of pictures and showed the use of PowerPoint as a visual assistant. I liked how she took advantage of the large screen, pointing at images and their significance. Mica's PowerPoint was effective since I enjoyed it and can still remember the story and significance of Malinche in Spanish society.

PowerPoint Tips

I agreed with many of the suggestions said in the articles. It's hard for me to know that it is okay if you have a lot of "white space" in your slide. It makes sense though because you want to keep the PowerPoint simple and clear to deliver your message. I loved the example of the large "72%" with just a picture of a woman to the side. It was really effective and clever, yet simple.
My advice for making a PowerPoint is:

1) Keep the slides simple, using animation only to emphasize a major point.

2) Don't put a lot of words on the slide. You want your audience to be focused on you and what
you are saying, not busy reading the PowerPoint.

3)Use appropriate language, text, and color. You want your PowerPoint to reflect your professionalism, maturity, and message .

4)Keep the presentation interesting. Don't just rely on the template slides. Don't just use text to reiterate your ideas. Be creative.

5) Make sure there is a purpose for everything on your slides. Put useful information and not common sense stuff. Don't just add animation or sounds or a picture just because you liked it.

Chris Nolan's Presentation

I learned many things from Chris Nolan's presentation yesterday. I never knew about the scope that Google covered, including tools like Google Scholar and was amazed by how Google is dominating in the search engine world. I also learned about the process used when using the search engine and how Google ranks the different searches. I thought it was very clever that Google was able to rank the level of credibility of a resource.

I was surprised that websites are not necessarily reputable if they have a .gov, .edu, or .org at the end of the url. I was also surprised that more than 70% of the Internet is invisible in databases.

I really enjoyed Chris Nolan's presentation and can't wait to apply everything I learned!

Copyright

Before the lecture, on Tuesday, I knew the importance of copyright laws. After the lecture, I learned about the controversies over some copyright laws. One issue in particular is the law that gives copyright protection for the creator's entire lifetime plus 75 years after his/her death. Although it would be interesting, if I ever created a novel or book, to have my legacy and rights preserved 75 years after my death, this law is flawed.

The problem with having copyright protection for that long, is that it doesn't benefit anyone. No one makes a profit. The texts or creations could provide great and easily accessible resources for students. If a teacher wanted to post an older essay from 100 years ago online as a teaching device, he or she should be able to do so. It's for a good cause.

I believe the author's rights should be protected to a certain point after their death. Maybe 10 or 15 years after their death is sufficient time.