Advice

To all the students taking CS1300 next semester:

Be ready to learn a whole bunch of useful information.  Be creative in the projects and have fun.  It has been a privilege being introduced to programs that I know I will use in future classes and the workforce.

Thanks Ms. Belisle and Brittany for everything!

Favorite Websites

My 3 favorite websites:

Betsy's website was well-organized and had good color combination.  It was simple and easy to navigate.  I especially liked her favorite website page because she used a map of the United States to link her hotspots to the area relevant to the specific website.  Her pictures from Europe are amazing, and I love her descriptions on each page.  Nice work Betsy!

I really enjoyed looking at Hannah's website because it was very personal, especially the page she included to thank the most important people in her life so far.  Just from visiting her website I can tell Hannah is very witty and has a great sense of humor.  Her news page was also a great idea.

Last, but not least, I really liked Lynn's website because she did a great job with the gif animations and text on the homepage.  The YouTube videos she included were also a great idea because then you can watch her favorite bands from her website.  It was cool to have a common theme as well - Music Madness.

My Website

Please visit my website at www.cs.trinity.edu/~jmeuth.

It was a really great opportunity to create my very own website.  I learned a lot and am still experimenting with other tools.  Using Microsoft Expression Web, designing my website was much easier than hand-coding everything.  Hand-coding is very useful for making minor adjustments and understanding the structure of your website.  I am probably most proud of my biography page because it recaps very special memories from my senior year of high school, and I love the background.  As of right now, there is nothing that I would change, but I'm sure there will be many updates, especially of my Trinity experience.  I would also like to add a page of favorites such as websites, songs, YouTube videos, and food.  My biggest technical challenge was embedding a background sound, but thanks to Brittany I learned how.  Thankfully, I really did not have any technical problems with design.  I can't wait to show my website to my family and friends over Thanksgiving along with posting a link on handy-dandy Facebook.  I do not know whether I would create a site for another class because I think I will just keep adding additional links and pages to my original website.

Larry Hechler

Mr. Hechler greatly emphasized that there is no such thing as having too much memory on your computer.  The more memory you have the faster your computer will work.  You can purchase more memory at http://www.crucial.com/, a great site where all the TechSupport speaks English.  I also learned that you regularly need to back up data and other files in case your hard drive crashes.  It is highly unlikely that anything will be able to be recovered.  To do this save files to an external hard drive, DVDs, a thumb drive, or the Y: drive.  I also learned that the battery will last much longer if you allow it to run all the way down before recharging.  Lastly, whenever your screen becomes covered in fingerprints, you should use water and a soft free linen cloth or one drop of Dawn dissolved in one quart of water.  When cleaning make sure the computer is off and do not have any excess liquid.  Never use a solution containg alcohol, ammonia, or acetone.  Thanks Mr. Hechler for an informative session.

Photo Fakery



"Visual images unconsciously shape our students thinking and their perception of the world."

I discovered an article that addressed how our perceptions can be distorted due to false, altered images in the media.  The media alters photographs for advertising purposes.  For instance the seventh graders studied in the article were given a Toys R' Us flyer to evaluate.  They were asked to estimate the age range targeted, how many children in the advertisement were African American, White, Hispanic, Asian, and Indian, and the price of the toy associated with a particular kid.  To their surprise they found that the higher priced toys were associated with the white child and the less expensive items were always paired with some other race.  "Whether deliberate or unconscious, marketers made associations based on ethnicity."

Sometimes the media manipulates photos to promote a certain body ideal.  On this magazine cover, Faith Hill is featured, but take a look at just a few of the alterations that were made.  "For young teens, such 'picture perfect' images raise questions of whether their normal bodies are acceptable at a time when their bodies are changing and they are vulnerable to self-doubt."

Celebrities and politicians are extremely targeted in digitally altered images.  Image distortion promotes accepted ideals, conveys false information, and deceives consumers.  It is alarming to see how the world around us can be manipulated in photographs, and it should be a concern that "real historic record will be indistinguishable from digitally-fabricated fantasis." 

"Indeed, history might be rewritten through pixels."

De Abreu, Belinha. "Seventh Grade Students and the Visual Messages They Love." Knowledge Quest 36.3 (2008): 34-39. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 4 Nov. 2010.

Here is the photo I altered using Photoshop:



I used two different photos for this postcard.  I used the magnetic lasso tool to cut Reese Witherspoon out of photo set in France and move her to Switzerland.  I also flipped her horizontally so she could lean against the brick.  I used the blur tool to blend her into the background more and changed her overall tone so she wasn't so contrasting.  I also adjusted the brightness of the Switzerland photograph because it was very hazy.  The last thing I did was add two layers of text to complete my creation.

Both of the photographs came from MSN.  Reese was already leaning on something, so all I had to do was find another backdrop for her to be in.  Since she looked like a welcoming host, I decided to use my manipulation as a postcard or possibly for a traveler's brochure.  Unlike the images altered in the article I found that deceive consumers or promote stereotypical figures, my manipulation is positive because it simply welcomes visitors to a new location.  Who wouldn't want to go to Switzerland?

PPT Presentations

My PPT Presentation was on Psychology with a focus on women's eating disorders.  It is something I am very passionate about, and psychology in general is interesting because it is a field that is never stagnant.  There is always more to learn and explore.  My favorite part of the presentation was the YouTube video.  It was a Dove Self-Esteem commercial about encouraging young girls to let their "True Colors" shine through and to love themselves.  There is nothing I would have changed about my PowerPoint other than saving it in the correct format.

I really enjoyed Lynn's presentation on "Underwater Fashion Photography."  It was interesting and she used really great pictures that showed up nicely on a black background.  I also like Nyk's presentation on "African American History" especially during the American Revolution.  It was educational, interesting, and he used entertaining sound effects and presented it well.

Chris Nolan - Helpful Hints

Today Chris Nolan, the Assistant Librarian at Trinity, talked about how to find high-quality information on the web.  Did you know 66% of the United States uses the Google search engine?  Google continues to advance its algorithms to make searching easy and quick for users.  One subset of the Google index is called Google Scholar, which enables you to narrow your search to scholarly information that has been reviewed.  I also learned how to use the Advanced Search to further filter results, like by country, language, or domain name.  Looking at the domain names, such as .org, .edu, .gov, and .com, is a good way to know how credible the information is.  I learned that putting a + or - sign in front of a word filters results to either include or exclude specific information, respectively.  For the world's largest digital library of education literature, look for a URL containg .eric or go to http://www.eric.ed.gov/.  Finally, when evaluating articles be sure to check the author's credentials, who is the publisher, the intended audience, objectivity, substantiation for claims, and recency of information.  Good Luck!

PowerPoint Presentations

When creating or giving a PowerPoint presentation, there are a few things to avoid like putting too many words on one slide.  Your presentation should reinforce what you have to say not repeat it.  Avoid cheesy sound effects and any other superfluous effects for professional presentations.  Do not read from the screen; use cue cards and talk to your audience.  Do not give hand-outs before the presentation, otherwise nobody will have a reason to listen to you.  Lastly, avoid low quality images and make sure they are relevant to your topic.

The presenter has a huge impact on the quality of the PowerPoint presentation.  If you have an upbeat, interactive speaker whose presentation highlights main points and shows visual examples, such as pictures and graphs, then the presentation will be a success.  I have seen a couple really great ones, but the speaker had the biggest impact.  You want somebody who says everything you need to know.  The presentation is just a back-up and a way to stay organized and moving forward.

PowerPoint presentations are fun to create for class projects as a supplement to your main discussion.  They keep your audience involved and most importantly, interested.

Center for Learning & Technology (CLT)

Today we made a visit to the Center for Learning and Technology (CLT), which is on the first floor of the library.  I've heard about being able to check-out video cameras for projects and such, but I did not realize CLT was so much more than that.  Robert Chapman introduced us to CLT and told us about the friendly staff who are always willing to help.  There are a total of 26 computers, 14 are Macs and 12 are PCs.  Certain computers have special programs related to Audio/Video Editing, Web & Graphic Design, and Podcasting & Internet.  The Video Broadcasting Center is equipped with Polycam two-way video conference facilities which accomodates a growing mode of instant communication.  The Digital Audio Lab is where students and faculty can record, manipulate, and incorporate audio materials into presentations.  The tour was very helpful, especially since I will be using it for a Spanish project that involves filming and producing a 5-minute skit based on what we have learned.  I am also excited to use CLT to convert movies to DVDs and to be able to scan photos and use Photoshop.  I encourage you to check out CLT whenever you have time!

Pictures That Lie

Doesn't Oprah look amazing?  Too bad only the head belongs to her.  The body came from a 1979 publicity shot of Ann-Margret.  The TV Guide cover was created without either woman's permission.  Ann-Margret's fashioner designer recognized the dress and that it was even Ann-Margret's ring on Oprah's hand.

Now take a look at this clip from YouTube.  



I chose this photograph and video because they reveal just how deceiving the advertising and entertainment industries can be.  Images like these place expectations on women and their appearance.  As a result, young girls and women feel pressured to look like the "Photoshopped" women in the media, and they face many self-esteem issues.

Microsoft EXCEL

I like working with Excel because it can keep track of so much information.  I took BCIS my senior year of high school.  Our teacher was also the UIL Accounting coach and so you can imagine we spent a lot of time in Excel.  A lot of what we are doing in class right now, like using relative and absolute cell references, is a good refresher to what I have already learned.  Running balances can greatly assist and organize your personal accounts and budgets.  Excel is also very useful when wanting to calculate and keep track of your grades.  When playing around with different tools and functions there is a seemingly endless amount of knowledge yet to learn, and I can't wait to learn something new.

Copyright 101

What is copyright?  According to Jason Hardin, manager of Access Services at Trinity University, copyright is the government’s assurance that you control the distribution of your property and can profit from it.  The U.S. copyright law dates back to 1790, and is included in the Constitution.  So what is the term of copyright for U.S. published works?  Thanks to Sonny Bono, it is the author’s life plus 70 years.  As students, it is important to note that copyright and plagiarism are not the same things.  Copyright is a legal issue and leads to a criminal offense, while plagiarism is an academic offense.  According to the Higher Education Opportunity Act, colleges and universities must implement a system that provides alternatives to illegal downloading.

According to the Fair Use defense provided by Title 17, copyright infringement depends on the purpose for why you are creating the copy.  Is it for educational and non-profit purposes?  If so, then you are safe.  Also, be aware of the nature of the work, the amount of work reproduced, and the effect the reproduction has on the right holder’s revenue.  

A Relevant Issue Today:

How can embedding YouTube videos into personal blogs and websites put you potentially at risk for a lawsuit?  Simple, you may have used a video clip that already contained infringing content.  Whether done consciously or unconsciously, you have incorporated a copyrighted work into your site without the rights holder’s consent, even if the clip was already posted by someone else.  The most likely outcome is that the rights holder will file a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notice and YouTube will pull the video.  However, take precautions because there is no way to tell whether a rights holder will take extreme measures and file a lawsuit against you. 

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

My Trinity Network Diagram

Thanks to Jared Pack, the Systems Administrator in ITS, I now know more about how the network is connected on campus.  Trinity ranks among the most unwired campuses in the country, and dedicated workers like Jared take pride in always looking for ways to improve the Trinity network.

Mystery Photo?

In Spanish class, I can see the Smith Art Building from this window.  What building am I in?  I used Picnik to give my photograph an eerie and haunting effect.  Experimenting with several tools I finally was satisfied with a faded, sketchy scheme.  The rain today complemented the atmosphere in the picture perfectly, too.  And what better way to add a suspenseful story line to my photo than to quote "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.

Best Tech Tip

After listening to Joe's informative speech today, I have learned so much more about viruses and how indiscreetly they can infect a computer.  Mr. Hatch also introduced me to the program CClean, which gets rid of unnecessary files the computer stores over time that can cause it to operate slowly.  Therefore, I have every intention of installing this program on my laptop as soon as possibble.  Thanks Joe!

Profile - Jena Lynn Meuth

Hello everybody!  My name is Jena Lynn Meuth, and I am from Giddings, Texas.  I am not aware of the last census, but I would guess we are a town of about 5,500.  I have lived in Giddings my whole life, and for your information we have the absolutely best Meat Market in Texas!  I am an only child, but my family and I enjoy the company of two spoiled cats, Pepper and Callie.  I went to a private Lutheran school from Kindergarten through 8th grade, and then attended Giddings High School. 

Some of my interests include cooking, baking, playing basketball, working out in general, watching movies, bargain shopping, watching Food Network, hanging out with my best friends, and listening to music.  At Trinity, I am on the basketball team and looking forward to joining other organizations such as InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, FCA, and TUVAC.  I am looking forward to meeting new people and professors to broaden my perspectives and experience all Trinity has to offer.  As of right now, I am going to explore my interests in Psychology and I also want to minor in Spanish and Art.

My secret fact is that I love cats.  They seem to live in a world all their own and they are very independent.  Therefore, if I could be any animal I would choose to be a chubby, furry, tortoiseshell cat.

I only took one computer class in high school, but have been exposed to computers since early grade school.  I am very excited about learning how to use Photoshop, creating my very own blog, and incorporating my artistic and designing skills into my work.

God's Blessings!

jmeuth@trinity.edu