PPT BlogEval

The best powerpoints presented were Hunter Ramsey's, Kevin Clements, and Tanner Barron for their enthusiasm for their respected fields.

Next Year's Class

My best advice to the next CSCI class would be to follow the class textbook EXACTLY for any excel homework because if you don't, one mistake might equal a failing homework grade. The quizes we take are worth studying for if you know nothing about the subjects we learn in class....other than that just do the homework and it's all good.

Last Entry

Finally, our final blog entry.
This entry is about our favorite websites presented during class, and while all of them were amazing, I had to narrow it down to three...
Moira Allen and Abby Talley presented what seemed to be the most structured and professional web pages that possessed clean transitions between pages. Travis Halff wins my third spot because of how his web site was very comical, yet was done in a clean and structured fashion.

My Website

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

Creating my own website was made easier than I thought thanks to the program Expression Web. I prefer my default page among the others because it best represents myself and the hobbies I enjoy. If I could change anything on my web page it would have to be the gallery because the different size pictures in the table I created fit unevenly. The little things such as the hotspot pose the most difficult of all the tasks for me. The technical part of my website creation that proved most difficult occurred during transferring my class file to the website publishing file to actually publish my website because it needed a lower case "d" in order to properly read my page. I will likely not show anyone this site because everyone I talk to knows these things about me, however I did show Ramsey the rap page to compare ours. I doubt I will take another computer class because it isn't my forte, so the likelihood of creating another web site is small.

Pictures that Lie

Semiotic Review of Books Volume 6 Book 2
SRB Archives
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/epc/srb/srb/pictures.html
"Pictures have for a long time served as scapegoats to the apocalyptists in the domain of media studies. The apocalyptic scenario of the power which pictures exert in manipulating and deceiving the masses appears as early as 1895..." (Noth, Winfred)

Depicting lies isn't something new, and it has been used to trick the masses for decades. These ideals were likely sparked by elitists such as Gustave LeBon, who wrote the Psychology of the Masses and stated that ,"To them, the unreal is almost as important as the real." It's thoughts like these that have caused our worlds numerous fibs.
Even early paintings have referred to "mere imaginary objects" to stimulate the minds of average citizens. The big question presented in this document, however, is whether these lying pictures can actually TELL a lie, and the truth is "Pictures can tell a thousand words" but it's only been recently that people have caught on to the deception pictures create. With all sorts of information floating around due to the internet, it would seem impossible for the public to be unaware, and it is. Now, more than ever, pictures are being re-created to portray the desired effects the producer wishes, not for truth. These lies are made easy with software like photoshop, but also we can thank electronics for better informing us of some sort of truth so that we may weed out the imaginary.

I chose a picture of the alamo because I have lived in San Antonio since I was 3 and the Alamo symbolizes San Antonio's history and the beginning of the city. I used google images to find a picture of the alamo and I added meteors to the picture to represent the "end of the world" as many believe our time period to be, and to show how it might end here. The Alamo is symbolic in displaying the end of San Antonio because it was the city's beginning. This, too, is the way I believe my picture relates to the website I researched in the sense that my picture speaks for itself, as anyone who views the picture will realize that it represents the end of San Antonio and does "tell a thousand words". The picture is not harmful in any way because it's merely a possibility and many wouldn't be gullable enough to believe it. Unless someone thought it disembodied the Alamo and they had strong tides with the Alamo, then that would be an exception. I manipulated the picture by first using the magic wand tool to isolate the meteor, I then increased both Hue and Saturation and decreased the lightness to add to the devistating effects the meteor would have on our city. I zoomed in and erased squared parts to make the meteor more realistic looking, then made two copies of it to bring emphasis on the damage being created. I made the meteor on the sunier side of the alamo brighter to make it seem more realistic. I then added burns on the building using the burn tool and the shadow option to make it seem as if the picture was taken just before the meteors hit.

Noth, Winfred. "Pictures Lying..." SRB Archives. SRB, 2009. Web. 12 Apr 2010.

Web Design

HTML code is responsible for the creation of web sites and there are applications such as Expression Web that enable you to create such web pages without knowing this code. However, for web designers it is essential that they know HTML code as it is the basis for everything a web designer does and if they don't understand it then there is no way they can provide their own feel to a web site. Web-Authoring software doesn't teach you how to separate your web site from others, but if you understand the code then you will be able to configure your own site to your liking, much like it should be.

Photoshop

"Throw away or they'll go away."

In other words, if we continue to not recycle, we will hurt our pets and at some point a once simple walk won't be possible. In order to save our pets favorite spots, such as Janes favorite spot (as shown in the picture), we must first do the little things like throwing away our trash. This picture shows the effects of trash to be toxic and the exact opposite of what Jane needs.(opposing sides of the picture)

Chris Nolan Search

Before Chris Nolan's speech, I knew very little about search engines on the internet and figured they were all the same. I often used google because it was easy and I used the basic search because I thought it was easiest, however I discovered that it's very easy to refine your search and in turn advance it. After a simple click you may specify things such as changing the location of the sites you search to the area nearest you. This may come in handy if you search movies and it is the new fact I learned that most interested me. It also surprised me to find out that sites do not top the lists of big search engines such as google based off of how much they pay for advertisement.

Altered Picture

I chose this picture of a British soldier in Basra, Iraq because it reminded me of an awesome series on TV called Generation Kill that simulated the Iraq War. This subject is of much interest to me and I support our efforts overseas.
The picture was done by Brian Walski, a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times, and was tainted in a way that would show the troops in a aiding state as the photographer combined two photo's to suggest the troops were telling the people to move to cover. This was a positive thing to do for the sake of our nation as it projected good deads, as was intended when restructuring the picture, in Iraq and represented a peaceful nature in our troops. However, if it is truth you seek, this picture did more harm than good because it led many of our nation's citizens to believe that everything in Iraq was going smoothly, when it wasn't. It's amazing this would lead to Walski, of the L.A. Times, being fired for simply adding on to a picture of a lonesome soldier.

Our Visit to CLT

CLT is a center in Trinity that provides for studies not normally studied by the University students. It involves students with some of the best technology in media and the arts fields. In addition, any research you could possibly desire for any varying project can be found here. There is even a room you can rent out if you have a large group and need exactly what you find in the classroom. The advice from the Trinity staff in CLT, especially Mr. Chapman, will never fail you as any question will be answered.

How I See Copyright

The issue revolving around the length of a copyright in the United States sparks the most interest in me when regarding the subject of copyright and its laws. The idea of copyrighting work was established in England, when in 1710 Parliament enacted the Statute of Anne. We then followed this and formed our own with the Copyright Act of 1790, which granted authors 14 years plus an additional fourteen if they still happen to be alive. This act arose in order to create incentives for authors, artists, and scientists by providing the maker with a monopoly.
The economic stimulus created by a monopoly is tremendous, but the constant change to the length of a copyright in the United States has become ridiculous. What started at 14 years is now the author’s life PLUS 70 years, allowing for corporate giants such as Disney to rule over their mystical characters for eternity, or at least until they run out of time and are forced to influence law makers into extending the length of a copyright. It is disturbing how easily such a well established law, which pre-dates the Bill of Rights, can be altered to deny the public access. On the other hand, these extended periods of copyright can be viewed as ideal and even purposeful because after all it was the person with the copyrights’ idea and he should always be provided with first hand access.


How I See Copyright by Nick Steffen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at nicksteffen.blogspot.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://nicksteffen.blogspot.com/.

Network Diagram

Seeing how our network here at Trinity was run amazed me, and it was cool to see how many different things go into it. It was funny seeing things we commonly use here such as T-learn, in a little metal box run by wires. The tour opened up my eyes to another side of Trinity's technical world.

Joe Hatch Speech

The insight provided by Joe Hatch helped clarify how the network at trinity works, he even showed me things I didn't know about topics I have already covered such as the Y drive. Ccleaner was my favorite topic, as it is an easy way to rid unneeded things from your computer every time you log on. I wish that Mac's had a similar device.

It's hard to believe how many people that are out there who can access personal information with such ease, this was the most startling of topics presented by Joe Hatch. Ways around this were also given by Joe, but unfortunately even the expert expressed how difficult it is to be safe. It made me hope for a better technical future and created a new desire for the end of such offenders.

CSCI 1300 Blog

I preferred the blogs of the two baseball players in the class, Tanner Barron and Kevin Clements. This is because baseball was once the sport I revered, and reading their blogs reminded me much of my own, as it is short. I honestly chose to comment on Abigail Talley's blog because I almost skipped her secret fact. When I first opened her link the blog was empty, but I just had to use another link; a good reason for a comment.
http://tannerbarro.blogspot.com/
http://kevin-clements.blogspot.com/
http://abbytalley.blogspot.com/

I am from San Antonio Texas and my name is Nicholas Steffen, but I prefer to be called Nick. I have lived here since the age of 3 and lived in Kansas before that, which is the location of the basement that once terrified me.

I went to highschool at Sandra Day O'Connor. The basic training of the public school sytem is as far as my computer savvy senses stretch, but video games have somewhat aided this disability. It is the academics however that led me towards the boundaries of Trinity, despite going here to play football. My plan is recieve my BA, through Finance. My fondness for numbers and financial subjects was brought through the experiences my step-dad relived to me of his days on wall street. The variety of people I have met while at Trinity is astonishing, as each person I meet has a wildely different story from my own.


http://nsteffen@trinity.edu