Advice

My best pieces of advice would be to show up to class every day, do all of the homework assignments, and for major projects, do not wait until the last minute. Most importantly, enjoy learning and applying all the wonderful technology skills you learn!

Favorite Websites

Although all the websites were well done and quite unique, my three favorites would have to be Christian, Morgan, and Courtney’s websites.

Christian’s website is incredibly professional, including a clean layout, neutral backgrounds, and excellent font choice. I also like how he put a “contact me” link at the bottom of every page, which allows visitors to easily email him from wherever they are on his website. Moreover, the pictures are all great quality and the links work fine. After looking at Christian’s site, I want to actually visit Honduras.

Morgan’s website is so well done, especially the home page. Specifically, the image map she created is fabulous and the backgrounds she chose enhance the overall professionalism of her site. Furthermore, the concept she chose regarding Converse is novel. I might consider buying a pair of converse.

Courtney’s website is amazing because of her great use of pictures, an appropriate background, and a wonderful home page. Particularly, I thought the snake was a creative way to incorporate links onto the page. Lastly, she provided a good amount of information to complement her pictures.             

My Website

Please visit my website at http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~vupadhya/

Creating a website was much easier than I originally anticipated. I was afraid it would involve primarily hand coding, something I have experience with, and hence know it is quite tedious. In addition, I was happy to discover we could use Kompozer or Expression Web to create our sites. Specifically, I used Expression Web to create my site. I started out working with Kompozer; however, I wanted to insert hot spots onto my image map. For this reason, I switched to Expression Web and ultimately found I preferred it to Kompozer because it was easier to work with.  

Although I am proud of all the pages I created on my website, I am most proud of my biography page because I spent a good amount of time setting up a proper layout. I also like this page because of the contrast created by the white text on a filled black table, which is on a white background. As far as changes go, I would expand my favorites section if I had more time.  I initially wanted to include favorite foods, quotes, and TV shows, along with favorite movies and books.  

My biggest technical challenge was probably getting some of the links on my thumbnail images to function. Eventually, it all worked out. My biggest design challenge was creating the image map in Photoshop because I decided to put individual fonts onto the map and wanted to choose pictures that truly reflected what was on the page. Thus, it took a long time to find the right images and fonts.   Moreover, another design challenge was trying to get every page on my site to be unique, but at the same time, maintaining a consistent layout and font style. I hope to share my site with my family and friends. In general, it is always good to show what you have created to as many people as possible because they can make helpful suggestions.  

Lastly, I do not see myself making a site for another class in the future because I am taking all science classes and am assuming that it is unlikely I will have to construct a website. Nevertheless, it is still possible I will have to help make one for a student organization I join, or maybe a non-science (common curriculum) course I take.  Either way, I am glad to say that I know how to make a website, because that is an important skill to possess in this technologically advancing world.      

Larry Hechler's Tips on Hardware and Computer Maintenance

Hardware and Technician Supervisor, Mr. Larry Hechler provided important information regarding computer hardware and system maintenance.  After listening to this talk, I truly enhanced my knowledge on different parts of a computer, as well as how to properly sustain computer life. Specifically, I learned that you should not use acetone, chlorine, alcohol, or ammonia to clean the LCD because it can destroy the monitor’s external membrane. Mr. Hechler suggested using either techspray or springcleaner. Moreover, he mentioned that you should never spray anything directly onto the monitor itself, but only on a cleaning cloth that is lint free and non-abrasive. One small drop of cleaner on the system board can result in one large investment in a new computer. Mr. Hechler also revealed that Dells are probably the preferred choice when making a computer purchase because the Dell company offers a four-year care package and in general, Dells are much less expensive to repair. Apparently, any computer hardware with an apple on it (i.e. Macs) is much more expensive when it comes to making repairs. In addition, Macs are harder to repair because they have special screws that require a special screwdriver. Another useful  tip Mr. Hechler shared was how to maintain a laptop’s battery life. Particularly, when your computer is detached from its power cord, you should run the laptop all the way down until a message appears, warning of low battery, which is usually at 5 %.  I will be sure to do this with my laptop from now on. Lastly, Mr. Hechler ended with an incredibly crucial tip, which was that you should always back up your data. You never know when something could go wrong and everything on your computer could be permanently lost. That is a situation nobody should experience, and so it is best to have some type of backup system. Ultimately, I am glad I was able to obtain insight from Mr. Hechler’s talk and will surely apply all of these great tips.  

PowerPoint Critique

I believe all the PowerPoint presentations given in class were unique and incredibly informative. I learned something new from every single presentation, and there were often times when I wanted to know more about the subject.  Personally, I chose a topic within the subject of neuroscience because I find neuroscience extremely fascinating. The complexities of the nervous system and specifically the brain are really intriguing to me and I always want to discover more.  Particularly, I decided to discuss the medical case study of Phineas Gage not only because it was an interesting story to share, but also because of the significant impacts it had on neuroscience research regarding the brain’s role in behavior. Certain aspects of my PowerPoint I admired included the overall setup of the title slide, my use of images, and my transitions and animations. I actually worked hard on my title slide because it involved the incorporation of sound, animations with the words, and an animated graphic. It took some time for me to first choose an appropriate sound and then coordinate the sound with the exact timing of the title words animation. Moreover, I spent a good amount of time creating the animated graphic and was ultimately proud that I did it successfully. Creation of animated graphics with Photoshop is a new skill that I learned and will continue to apply in future presentations. Finally, I liked the images I chose because I believe they communicated my message clearly; I also enjoyed the animations and transitions I used throughout the presentation because they created a sense of unity and flow between the slides. Another skill I learned was how to embed a YouTube video into the presentation, which was very helpful to know. If I had to change anything, I would probably include another video to express my point and possibly add subtle background music during my presentation.

Although all of the presentations were wonderful, my two favorite ones were Kayleigh’s on Mutualisms and Coevolution and Arielle’s on Monsanto. Kayleigh had amazing animations and transitions all throughout her presentation, enhancing its overall quality. I loved how she explained the process of pollination and the development of mutualisms by using a series of images with transitions. It was a smart idea because most people are visual learners and thus they are more likely to absorb the information if it is presented through images and graphics. In addition, her topic was really interesting and made me realize the importance of the relationship many plants and their pollinators share. Arielle had an awesome presentation layout and presented her topic equally well. She spoke clearly and her knowledge of the subject revealed how much she cared about it. Specifically, I loved the title slide because it embodied a perfect combination of music, animation, transition, and images. It had such a powerful impact. Furthermore, I enjoyed the videos Arielle showed and felt they conveyed her point successfully. At the end of her presentation I wanted to go and research more on Monsanto and other companies that exhibited similar roles.  After witnessing all these great presentations in class, I have much more faith in PowerPoint as a presentation tool and believe that it can truly be effective if utilized correctly.       

    

Pictures that Lie

Photograph manipulation has not only transformed images themselves, but also the views and actions of modern society. Usually, what we see on magazine covers, billboards, and various other publication types, is only refurbished reality, in other words, a non-existent ideal. Specifically, fashion magazines tend to utilize photo alteration, making models look thinner or perfecting other forms of their outlook. Readers of these fashion magazines, especially young women, are constantly exposed to these images, ultimately considering themselves far from the ideal look. For this reason, numerous young women experience eating disorders that stem from their desire to portray this idealistic version of beauty. However, some may contend that this form of image manipulation is an artist’s way of expressing imaginative notions, liberated from the dullness of reality. The article I selected examines this very issue, claiming how the technology responsible for digital photo manipulation “pits the moral principle of protecting artistic freedom against the moral principle of protecting public health” (Yun, 2004). Where can we draw the line between the two?

Particularly, the article discusses a research study conducted to evaluate magazine readers’ opinions regarding photo manipulation. The results of the study suggest that “although aware of the prevalence of digital editing, readers disapprove of its use in rendering models thinner, and judge it to be unethical and unfair” (Yun, 2004). Hence, there is substantial evidence that the majority of readers disapprove of major image modifications; however, shouldn’t we also respect the artistic whim of the magazine and its photo editor? Personally, I believe that the psychological and medical consequences experienced by readers outweigh the chosen modes of expression by the photo editor. It is true that artistic expression should not be restricted; nevertheless, there should be some limits when considering public health.  

For my specific photo manipulation project, I began by selecting a picture of the Golden Gate Bridge as a background because it is one of my favorite attraction sites in San Francisco. Moreover, I not only admire its commanding structure, but also the combination of natural and industrial scenery that encapsulate it. After staring at the image for some time, I realized it would be interesting to show someone sliding down the bridge’s main cables, or even better, skate boarding down them. Thus, I found an image of a skateboarder, slightly cropped it, and then used the magic wand tool to extract the background. I meticulously placed the skateboarder on top of the cable, creating the illusion of him sliding down. I obtained both photos from Stock Exchange.

In terms of manipulation, I adjusted the hue, saturation, and brightness of each individual image. After manipulating the skateboarder image (which I already described) and placing it onto the bridge, I decided to change the overall picture to make it more interesting. I scanned through the numerous photo effects possible under the edit tab (examples include distort, noise, sketch), trying many along the way. None of them truly made the image special. Eventually, I reached the stylize category and selected the glowing edges option, applying it to the skateboarder and the background. I liked this transformation that best because it completely altered the atmosphere of the picture and the skateboarder truly stood out. After these modifications, I adjusted the hue, saturation, and lighting as the final touch. Hence, all the photo manipulations were based off my personal artistic whim, and were not used to alter the outlook of a person. For this reason, I believe the manipulations are not harmful in any way because they are the result of pure artistic expression. There are no alterations of people like those seen in several magazines and so there is no promotion of the non-existent ideal. I did not make the skateboarder extremely thin or modify his looks in any manner, but rather I just altered hue, saturation, and lighting of the entire image and added an effect.  

My Photo Manipulation: 

        

In relation to the article, my photo manipulation serves as an example of artistic expression with certain restrictions to protect public health. More specifically, this photo manipulation exemplifies the compromise I earlier proposed that photo editors should make when digitally altering images. Basically, they can still express their creativity, but they should keep the psychological consequences of their image changes in mind. Therefore, when I was manipulating this image, I expressed my creativity in terms of the placement of the skateboarder, addition of an effect, and changes in hue, saturation, and lighting of the skateboarder and background; however, I did not manipulate the skateboarder’s outlook in any way.

If only magazines truly realized the impact their photo manipulations had on people, especially photo manipulations of celebrities and models. If only they realized that “exposure to the thin ideal tends to reduce body satisfaction, increase self-consciousness, and reduce self-esteem” (Yun, 2004). If only.    

Reference:

Gi Woong Yun, et al. "If Looks Could Kill: Digital Manipulation of Fashion Models." Journal of Mass Media Ethics 19.1 (2004): 56-71. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Apr. 2011.