Death by Powerpoint

Okay...Today, we watched a slideshow called "Death by Powerpoint". Quite a famous topic, but one I disagree with immensely. The "Death by Powerpoint" slideshow also gave tips on how to make a good Powerpoint presentation. I could relate to a few of these tips, especially the one to keep the text short and simple. However, the overall "Death by Powerpoint" thing is something I disagree about. First off, I've never seen someone be bored to death (Though that would immensely interesting). Second, Powerpoints can be a great way to present as long as the presenter is prepared. Finally, some detailed Powerpoints I.E. ones with a lot of text can actually be useful depending on your audience- for example, a board of trustees would rather listen to you speak and read the more interesting points on your Powerpoint, but a classroom of kids would rather be amazed by transition animations and hear you speak the important points in quick sections.
I must agree that some Powerpoints can be utterly horrifying, though. Some Powerpoint presentations I've seen have had way too much text, or text you couldn't even read due to the scintillating or overly colorful backgrounds. Others have had too much text, too little information, or no visuals to back up the data when needed. One Powerpoint I've seen had rock music that drowned out the speaker and had absolutely nothing to help the presentation.
But, I like Powerpoint. I don't think it'll be the death of me at all. Keynote, on the other hand...

I'm Back!

What's up, folks! PaulyD is back from his (extended) vacation and has a whole new project to work on.
Our assignment is to pick a Web 2.0 tool (More on that in a moment) and to experiment with it, then assess its pros, cons, and usability for students and present that information. Web 2.0 tools are tools such as blogs, wikis, and social networks such as Facebook that allows people to share data. It is also referred to as the second generation of the World Wide Web, which some may consider as an "upgraded" version (I.E. mp3.com ---> Napster, Ofoto ----> Flickr, etc.). Most Web 2.0 sites allow users to post their own content next to the site's content - As a matter of fact, Blogger is a Web 2.0 tool!

My project will either be on Wikipedia or Stock.XCHNG as two famous Web 2.0 sites. I was considering using Youtube, but one of my friends grabbed that as his presentation. I chose Wikipedia and Stock XCHNG because I know a little about them already (I didn't really want to do a presentation on a website I knew absolutely nothing about =( ) Plus, they're both famous websites. I like that.

Reflection- 3rd Six Weeks; End of Semester

This semester in this class has brought me fun and anger, a learning experience and and terrible one. I've learned how terrible a Mac can be, yet how enjoyable using one can be if it doesn't hate you. I've enjoyed my time in this class, and I've learned a lot about Pages, Photoshop, and Numbers. As you can see in my showcase below, I've done pretty well in Photoshop- and I'll keep using the skills I learned there to create presentations for other classes as well. My favorite project was, of course, in Photoshop because of the creativity involved; my least favorite (equally obvious) was in Illustrator, which seemed determine to kill my brain cells slowly.
Anyway, this is PaulyD, signing off for a while yet.

Finishing the Final

I came in on Saturday and finished my final document. Converted into a PDF and posted on Google Docs,
here it is!

Bibliography (Items used to make):

Works Cited

Abascal, Ruben. Medieval Castle. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 8 Mar. 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/964169>.

Antkevyv. fall. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 19 Nov. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1320395 >.

Brelsford, Nate. Chicago Cityscape 3. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 18 May 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1186763>.

Brough, Colin. Knights on Horseback. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 14 May 2008. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1005866>.

Department of Defense photo by Sergeant Alicia J. Brito, U.S. Marine Corps. Chuck Norris in Iraq in 2006.jpg. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 2 Nov. 2006. Web. 11 Dec. 2010. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chuck_Norris_in_Iraq_in_2006.jpg>.

Diko1967. Scubadiving-safari in the Red Sea (Egypt). N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 14 Nov. 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1241765>.

Espinoza, Luz Maria. Volcan Villarica, Chile. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 24 Feb. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1263744>.

Fabbri, Gabriella. Fantasy space. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 7 May 2010. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1280244>.

Fokkelman, Fred. Forest Scene. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 16 Aug. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1303043>.

Ganzler, Orsolya. Prague. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 30 Dec. 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1251091>.

Kgreggain. Brick Wall Texture. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 11 May 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1281239>.

Lewis, John. dragons eye. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 14 Nov. 2005. Web. 3 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/409522>.

Maeda, Michiru. A Kitten. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 8 Nov. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1308349>.

Michie, Robert. Beach. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 29 Sept. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1311428>.

Patka&#328;, Lukáš. Paris from Eiffel tower. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 14 Mar. 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1159774>.

Pena, John. Chicago skyline. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd, 16 Mar. 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1160677>.

Proksa, Robert. Floral wave 2. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 20 Dec. 2009. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1249234>.

Saavedra, Miguel. Squared window. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 10 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1253782>.

Schuster, Eva. hidden pond. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 29 Nov. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1321579>.

Szkurlatowski, Kriss. Golden crown of german kings 1. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 17 Feb. 2009. Web. 9 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1148658>.

Tochichi. Black hills cat-tochichi. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 20 Apr. 2006. Web. 11 Dec. 2010. <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Black_hills_cat-tochichi.jpg>.

Van Schalkwyk, Sias. Impala, burnt land 1. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 25 Aug. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1304524>.

Wuertemberger, Matthias. A cat in garden 1. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 29 June 2010. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1290764>.

Zatrok, Zsolt. Paths in a Sand. N.d. Stock.xchng - the Leading Free Stock Photography Site. HAAP Media Ltd., 9 Oct. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2010. <http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1314301>.

Reflection

As some sharp people might have noticed, I was absent on December 7th. Sorry! Field trip.
Anyway, today I finished the picture of the evil cat that ruled the other world:

You can't say this isn't epic. -Maker

More pictures to come!

Today's Reflection

Today, I finished my Window Into Another World. Image to come, sorry, the Internet is flickering in and out..
Anyway, it looks pretty good to me. Post any opinions you guys have on how to make it look better.

Sorry for the late post:

Right now, I'm working on a picture of an evil cat that rules over that dimension...Again, picture to come soon!

Final Project

We've started working on our final for this semester. Our assignment is to create a two-page spread in Pages to showcase three pieces of our work in a program of our choice (Illustrator [Yeah....no], Photoshop, etc.) I used Photoshop. My work today was creating a "Window into another World", a window with panes that have different landscapes. I don't have a picture of it quite yet; I'm still working on the details. Today was a pretty successful day, and I'm happy to be working on another Photoshop project.