I know many people will very apprehensive about having to take this Computer Skills class next semester, but I can honestly say it has been one of the most beneficial and enjoyable classes that I have taken yet! I have learned so much about the use of computers and I can apply this knowledge to all fields of life from budgeting and graph-constructing on excel, to creating a website and to using word effectively in the college environment. I also learned some very valuable things about copyright and research for academic writing which are things all students should be aware of. I now know so much more than I ever would if I hadn't taken the course, and really, I had a lot of fun at the same time!
My advice to new students is to take this opportunity with an open mind. You'll realize how beneficial the information learned in this course is for college, and life in general- it really is a great class and Ms. Belisle is a wonderful professor who is always willing to help! Good luck and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Creativity of my Classmates
Our artistic and creative abilities were put to the test and we had to create our own websites about ourselves for our 1300 class. As it was my first ever attempt, I felt excited, but at the same time rather apprehensive at this seemingly "huge" task! However, after much hard work, I completed my website and felt somewhat accomplished with my art. Well, only until I viewed my fellow classmates' websites and then I realized how fantastic and creative everyone else's were! I was blown away by most of them-everyone did an excellent job and it only made deciding which were my favorite three even more difficult. However, I did finally manage to make my pick and here are my personal favorites:
1. Brian's website was really well designed and the combinations of colors and fonts were really professional. I especially liked the baseball image at the top of each webpage. I thought he used his space really well and presented all his information clearly- his images were all visible too! I really enjoyed navigating through his website- well done Brian!
2. I thought Jen's website was brilliant! It looked so professionally done and she included such interesting information about herself too. Every aspect of design was almost perfect and I loved the way she incorporated many different colors and fonts but the website still tied together so nicely. I loved your photographs too, I would love to visit Glacier National Park someday!
3. Anna's website was beautiful! I loved her very personal touch and she included some very interesting things about her life that I enjoyed discovering- especially her Europe trips. I think her photographs from her vacation in Italy may have changed my mind about living in Europe after all! Her layout was great, and had some really effective backgrounds and visuals. I also really enjoyed browsing through all her albums. I thought the way she included a google map of the location of her house was creative too- great job Anna!
Once again, I think my classmates truly outdid themselves- all the websites were truly impressive. If you would like to see my website again, feel free to follow this link http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~nkopecky/. After seeing the variations in ideas and artistic abitlities, I felt so inspired to keep practising and creating websites, so hopefully I'll further develop this newly acquired skill!
1. Brian's website was really well designed and the combinations of colors and fonts were really professional. I especially liked the baseball image at the top of each webpage. I thought he used his space really well and presented all his information clearly- his images were all visible too! I really enjoyed navigating through his website- well done Brian!
2. I thought Jen's website was brilliant! It looked so professionally done and she included such interesting information about herself too. Every aspect of design was almost perfect and I loved the way she incorporated many different colors and fonts but the website still tied together so nicely. I loved your photographs too, I would love to visit Glacier National Park someday!
3. Anna's website was beautiful! I loved her very personal touch and she included some very interesting things about her life that I enjoyed discovering- especially her Europe trips. I think her photographs from her vacation in Italy may have changed my mind about living in Europe after all! Her layout was great, and had some really effective backgrounds and visuals. I also really enjoyed browsing through all her albums. I thought the way she included a google map of the location of her house was creative too- great job Anna!
Once again, I think my classmates truly outdid themselves- all the websites were truly impressive. If you would like to see my website again, feel free to follow this link http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~nkopecky/. After seeing the variations in ideas and artistic abitlities, I felt so inspired to keep practising and creating websites, so hopefully I'll further develop this newly acquired skill!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Importance of HTML in Website Design
Although we have been blessed with the innovation of technology and the human pursuit to make thing simpler with web-authoring software, understanding and knowing how to use the standard HTML code is still imperative.
As complex as it may seem, it is still the fundamental basis of the World Wide Web. Every single web page, image, sound, even details down to the color of the background of the page are coded for in the Hypertext Markup Language code. Thus, whatever we may see on the webpage is guaranteed to have a specific code in the HTML sequence that dictates the format of webpage. If a problem is ever encountered in the design of the wepbage, and it cannot be rectified by the sophisticated web-authoring software, the HTML form of the document can always be retrieved. Errors that occur on websites can never be detected while viewing the actual page because browsers are designed to recover from an author's errors in the HTML code. Once the HTML code for the webpage is displayed, the entire framework is available to us, and by knowing how to correctly code different elements of the webpage, the problem can be identified and rectified. This is just one example of why knowledge of the HTML code is really important and should be understood by anyone wanting to design a webpage- similarly, you cannot run before you are able to walk. Another reason the HTML code is really useful, is because it is a universal code, webpages may be viewed and manipulated by any operating system.
As complex as it may seem, it is still the fundamental basis of the World Wide Web. Every single web page, image, sound, even details down to the color of the background of the page are coded for in the Hypertext Markup Language code. Thus, whatever we may see on the webpage is guaranteed to have a specific code in the HTML sequence that dictates the format of webpage. If a problem is ever encountered in the design of the wepbage, and it cannot be rectified by the sophisticated web-authoring software, the HTML form of the document can always be retrieved. Errors that occur on websites can never be detected while viewing the actual page because browsers are designed to recover from an author's errors in the HTML code. Once the HTML code for the webpage is displayed, the entire framework is available to us, and by knowing how to correctly code different elements of the webpage, the problem can be identified and rectified. This is just one example of why knowledge of the HTML code is really important and should be understood by anyone wanting to design a webpage- similarly, you cannot run before you are able to walk. Another reason the HTML code is really useful, is because it is a universal code, webpages may be viewed and manipulated by any operating system.
Monday, November 10, 2008
My Personal Favorite Presentations for 1300
Firstly, I thought that all the presentations were done exceptionally well and reflected the creativity possessed by each individual in the class. I found it really difficult to choose only two favorites, but I managed to narrow my choices down and selected the following two: Jordan's presentation on Alexander the Great and Anna Kern's presentation on Petit Hameau. It was such a close decision between Jordan's and Reuben's though !
Jordan's presentation was appealing in many ways, he spoke very well and knew all the facts and the general layout of his slides was very professional and relevant too. He seemed to have spent a lot of time on the research and sourcing good images for the presentation. I thought his animated GIF file was good and the use of appropriate fonts and color combinations were effective as well. His slide transition and image stacking was good and the whole presentation seemed to flow and came together well. Good job!
Anna's presentation really illustrated her artistic and design abilities, and I was especially impressed by the appropriate background theme and general slide layout. The title slide really grabbed the audience's attention. It was so relevant to her topic and I also thought she spoke well and on a personal level throughout the presentation. She was able to play the background music during her slide which no one had managed to achieve before that and she also had a very well designed animated GIF. I thought she used the space very effectively in her slides and also had steady transitions from slide to slide making the presentation enjoyable to watch. I also found the facts in Anna's presentation very interesting. Well done Anna!
My presentation may be found at the following location : \\Tucc-tiger\groups\computerskills\Belisle\nkopecky\19present\Presentation
Jordan's presentation was appealing in many ways, he spoke very well and knew all the facts and the general layout of his slides was very professional and relevant too. He seemed to have spent a lot of time on the research and sourcing good images for the presentation. I thought his animated GIF file was good and the use of appropriate fonts and color combinations were effective as well. His slide transition and image stacking was good and the whole presentation seemed to flow and came together well. Good job!
Anna's presentation really illustrated her artistic and design abilities, and I was especially impressed by the appropriate background theme and general slide layout. The title slide really grabbed the audience's attention. It was so relevant to her topic and I also thought she spoke well and on a personal level throughout the presentation. She was able to play the background music during her slide which no one had managed to achieve before that and she also had a very well designed animated GIF. I thought she used the space very effectively in her slides and also had steady transitions from slide to slide making the presentation enjoyable to watch. I also found the facts in Anna's presentation very interesting. Well done Anna!
My presentation may be found at the following location : \\Tucc-tiger\groups\computerskills\Belisle\nkopecky\19present\Presentation
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Searching the Internet
Although an infinite amount of information is just a click away from us on the internet, there are a few precautions that should be taken when trusting the sources of this information. Chris Nolan, the assistant university librarian at Trinity, had plenty of valuable information to offer us during his presentation and I definitely learned some interesting and useful things about how to use the internet wisely as a student.
It was interesting to note that Google is used by 58.80% of the population in America, and I believe this search engine has the most user-friendly and reliable system. As a student, the main purpose of searching the internet is usually for research papers so although Google is useful in retrieving a broad range of websites on a particular search, it is unlikely that the necessary academic journal articles will be near the top of the search list. Websites that are found at the top of the list are usually the popular sites that are heavily cited and contain many links to other related websites. These websites are not usually trusted sources of information for academic purposes, so Google have provided us with the option of using Google Scholar. This search engine was specifically created to help students narrow down their topic search to academic sources alone. The Advanced Search option was also something that I was enlightened about; it has elaborate ways of narrowing your search, such as finding information within a specific domain or institution for example. This really helps to focus your searching into the specific area of interest and will more than likely result in more valuble research sources.
We were also informed on how to write information in the search bar more effectively by using the +, _ and " " signs to highlight, include or exclude specific aspects of your search. I never realized that this was possible, so knowing this useful shortcut now will definitely help save time searching the internet. Another interesting fact learned is that some webpages that Google have indexed can be viewed without having an active internet connection by selecting the "cached" link for the searched item. This feature further highlights the extent to which Google have gone to provide their clients with great internet searching options. Contrary to the general belief that sources such as the National Geographic Magazine and governmental websites are credible, these actually have to be dealt with carefully. Articles in National Geographic are most often written by a reporter, thus making the article a secondary, possibly distorted source and governmental websites may possess biases because of their political affiliation.
I felt that I definitely gained a lot of useful knowledge about using the Internet to enhance my academics at Trinity and have acquired more useful methods of searching information efficiently.
It was interesting to note that Google is used by 58.80% of the population in America, and I believe this search engine has the most user-friendly and reliable system. As a student, the main purpose of searching the internet is usually for research papers so although Google is useful in retrieving a broad range of websites on a particular search, it is unlikely that the necessary academic journal articles will be near the top of the search list. Websites that are found at the top of the list are usually the popular sites that are heavily cited and contain many links to other related websites. These websites are not usually trusted sources of information for academic purposes, so Google have provided us with the option of using Google Scholar. This search engine was specifically created to help students narrow down their topic search to academic sources alone. The Advanced Search option was also something that I was enlightened about; it has elaborate ways of narrowing your search, such as finding information within a specific domain or institution for example. This really helps to focus your searching into the specific area of interest and will more than likely result in more valuble research sources.
We were also informed on how to write information in the search bar more effectively by using the +, _ and " " signs to highlight, include or exclude specific aspects of your search. I never realized that this was possible, so knowing this useful shortcut now will definitely help save time searching the internet. Another interesting fact learned is that some webpages that Google have indexed can be viewed without having an active internet connection by selecting the "cached" link for the searched item. This feature further highlights the extent to which Google have gone to provide their clients with great internet searching options. Contrary to the general belief that sources such as the National Geographic Magazine and governmental websites are credible, these actually have to be dealt with carefully. Articles in National Geographic are most often written by a reporter, thus making the article a secondary, possibly distorted source and governmental websites may possess biases because of their political affiliation.
I felt that I definitely gained a lot of useful knowledge about using the Internet to enhance my academics at Trinity and have acquired more useful methods of searching information efficiently.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Powerful Powerpoints
After having read the articles discussing the best and worst methods used in presenting powerpoint slides, I realized how important even the finest details are in ensuring effectiveness. I also discovered the reasons why some powerpoint presentations have been so easy to follow, while others have left me feeling slightly overwhelmed,confused or just simply unaffected. In my opinion, powerpoints that contain lengthy paragraphs with no bullet points or pictures are the most tedious to follow and will guarantee that little information will be learned! I also find that it's visually displeasing when a really well created background and body of text on a slide are destroyed by a cheesy, badly designed image that is inserted randomly onto the slide. Probably my top powerpoint pet-peeve is when the speaker fails to follow the order of supporting information on the slides in the presentation and talks ahead of the slides or backtracks to speak about information that was omitted. This becomes confusing and the meaning of the presentation becomes vague.
From color to layout to spacial proportions and even to fonts, there are so many factors to look out for when designing your powerpoint slides. Here are a few precautions that I felt were the most interesting to learn about and will create a good presentation.
1. Speaking with interesting examples that support the information on the slides and also using body language and varying tones in your voice.
2. Using professional images and good quality sounds to reinforce your topic. Make sure that the images are placed aesthetically in the slide.
3. Always ensure that the writing in your slides are visible in the lighting conditions- there's nothing worse than having to squint to see the presentation!
4. Never make the background too colourful or distinct as this will distract the audience from the speaker and also from the information on the slide.
5. Avoid using the default slides found on powerpoint so as to create interest of the audience by using a presentation format is presented that has never been seen before. Make the slide personal and relevant to the topi
I look forward to our class presentations on Thursday and seeing the variations in creativity and interests among us.
From color to layout to spacial proportions and even to fonts, there are so many factors to look out for when designing your powerpoint slides. Here are a few precautions that I felt were the most interesting to learn about and will create a good presentation.
1. Speaking with interesting examples that support the information on the slides and also using body language and varying tones in your voice.
2. Using professional images and good quality sounds to reinforce your topic. Make sure that the images are placed aesthetically in the slide.
3. Always ensure that the writing in your slides are visible in the lighting conditions- there's nothing worse than having to squint to see the presentation!
4. Never make the background too colourful or distinct as this will distract the audience from the speaker and also from the information on the slide.
5. Avoid using the default slides found on powerpoint so as to create interest of the audience by using a presentation format is presented that has never been seen before. Make the slide personal and relevant to the topi
I look forward to our class presentations on Thursday and seeing the variations in creativity and interests among us.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Excellence of Excel!
Well, I must admit that I never would've agreed with my blog title a month or two ago- in fact, the thought of using excel terrified me! I greatly underestimated it's potential, and never realized just how many useful tools it offered for so many varied tasks. What I have learned through completing this course will carry me well through the rest of my college career and life in general.
In Biology Laboratory, we're required to construct graphs using Excel based on our weekly experimental results. The first few graph-constructing weeks were miserable for me, as I'd never dreamed that such a daunting task was possible on excel and didn't even know where to begin! I had no clue what I was doing and probably spent hours trying to figure out a simple process that should've taken 5 minutes! Then CSCI came to the rescue and I realized how simple and comprehensive Excel graph-making could be. I have learned some really invaluable things that will undoubtedly be of great help to me in the future for my science major.
I also found creating budgets interesting, and learning all the different functions and formulae involved was so helpful too. I used to think that all the data in each individual cell had to be entered separately- no wonder I thought it was such a tedious and intimidating program! Now I'm able to keep track of my monetary budgets more easily in the future and collaborate data more efficiently and quickly. I especially found the "if" function and the absolute cell references useful to have in hand.
As many of my classes have presentations as part of the syllabus, I'm so grateful to have learned about the "link" feature between excel documents and powerpoint slides. I was dumbfounded we I realized that this was possible and will definitely be making use of this very often.
I would recommend the course we took on Excel to any freshman student, as I really found the information we covered so useful and surprisingly interesting! I also couldn't believe just how many features Excel has- there are unlimited possibilities for creating almost anything you desire with data. Making a graph, calendar, table or pie-chart doesn't have to be so boring and tedious anymore! It is also very user-friendly and has great trouble-shooting options and online tutorials. So if you cringe just at hearing the word "Excel," I challenge you to leap out of your comfort zone and discover this great program. I did and it has certainly been one of the most beneficial and rewarding things I could have done!
In Biology Laboratory, we're required to construct graphs using Excel based on our weekly experimental results. The first few graph-constructing weeks were miserable for me, as I'd never dreamed that such a daunting task was possible on excel and didn't even know where to begin! I had no clue what I was doing and probably spent hours trying to figure out a simple process that should've taken 5 minutes! Then CSCI came to the rescue and I realized how simple and comprehensive Excel graph-making could be. I have learned some really invaluable things that will undoubtedly be of great help to me in the future for my science major.
I also found creating budgets interesting, and learning all the different functions and formulae involved was so helpful too. I used to think that all the data in each individual cell had to be entered separately- no wonder I thought it was such a tedious and intimidating program! Now I'm able to keep track of my monetary budgets more easily in the future and collaborate data more efficiently and quickly. I especially found the "if" function and the absolute cell references useful to have in hand.
As many of my classes have presentations as part of the syllabus, I'm so grateful to have learned about the "link" feature between excel documents and powerpoint slides. I was dumbfounded we I realized that this was possible and will definitely be making use of this very often.
I would recommend the course we took on Excel to any freshman student, as I really found the information we covered so useful and surprisingly interesting! I also couldn't believe just how many features Excel has- there are unlimited possibilities for creating almost anything you desire with data. Making a graph, calendar, table or pie-chart doesn't have to be so boring and tedious anymore! It is also very user-friendly and has great trouble-shooting options and online tutorials. So if you cringe just at hearing the word "Excel," I challenge you to leap out of your comfort zone and discover this great program. I did and it has certainly been one of the most beneficial and rewarding things I could have done!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Should we Believe Everything we See?
I was really interested in the tampered photo of Oprah Winfrey because of all the women celebrities you could physically edit in a photograph, Oprah would definitely be the one to appreciate it the least! She has always been very vocal about being against the way the media create unrealistic stereotypical images of the way women "should" be, so I'm sure she really took this case seriously. I believe that the way adverts create "perfect" images of women really affect women in society today; we believe that having that specific look must be a trend and so we feel pressured to conform to these often unrealistic images. It is a very serious issue in the world at the moment, and defies the meaning of integrity- how will we ever know what to believe?
This picture was created by Hany Farid at Dartmouth College, and Winfrey's head was spliced onto another body, which happened to be that of actress Ann-Margret. Despite the fact that this whole procedure was morally wrong, what made it even worse was the fact that permission wasn't requested from either Winfrey or Ann-Margret. I'm sure this tampering would have been very offensive towards Winfrey, as the likely reason the photo was edited was because she didn't have the body type that the photographer thought would look adequate on the cover. It was probably believed that more copies of the magazine would be sold if Winfrey looked extra "perfect" on the cover.
This manipulation is harmful in many ways, as both Oprah Winfrey and Ann-Margret would feel violated and judged, and it is unfair use of someone else's property. It is also unfair for the customers buying the magazine, as it is untruthful information that is likely to have been paid for- why should we pay for lies? Society is becoming more and more immune to tampered media, and soon we aren't going to be able to differentiate between the "real" and "unreal" information.
This picture was created by Hany Farid at Dartmouth College, and Winfrey's head was spliced onto another body, which happened to be that of actress Ann-Margret. Despite the fact that this whole procedure was morally wrong, what made it even worse was the fact that permission wasn't requested from either Winfrey or Ann-Margret. I'm sure this tampering would have been very offensive towards Winfrey, as the likely reason the photo was edited was because she didn't have the body type that the photographer thought would look adequate on the cover. It was probably believed that more copies of the magazine would be sold if Winfrey looked extra "perfect" on the cover.
This manipulation is harmful in many ways, as both Oprah Winfrey and Ann-Margret would feel violated and judged, and it is unfair use of someone else's property. It is also unfair for the customers buying the magazine, as it is untruthful information that is likely to have been paid for- why should we pay for lies? Society is becoming more and more immune to tampered media, and soon we aren't going to be able to differentiate between the "real" and "unreal" information.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Technology and Learning on a Whole New Level
Wow, I really thought the AT&T center for learning was fascinating-in fact, I even had thoughts of changing my major to something like Media Production, just so I could spend more time in there! I couldn't believe how much effort has been put into producing a center as advanced and as educational as this, and I had so many creative ideas of what I could actually produce using this facility.
I have never really extensively gone into media production, but I know the basics, so hopefully with these I'll be able to extend my knowledge and have fun when using the AT&T center for various projects. I was really impressed by the advanced computer labs in the studios that offer the latest technological gadgets, which can be used to create and work with all types of digital media. For our benefits while working with Photoshop, there are advanced flatbed scanners and top-of-the-range printers, which would definitely come in handy, as well as the advanced computers and software themselves. There are extensive programs and facilities available to us that will enable help us use Photoshop to it's full potential. There is actually a whole section that is designated to photographic and graphic design, so I look forward to making use of these great facilities for at Trinity from now onwards. After the class has all completed a project on Photoshop, we would even have the opportunity to utilize the advanced Media Presentation Lab to display our work and use interactive media to evaluate each others' art. I would also be able to benefit from many other areas of this center ,such as the Video Conference facilities which would allow me to video conference with other institutions over ISDN lines or over the Internet. There is also a service offered whereby students and faculty are able to checkout various equipment such as Microphones, DVD players, Computer Data Projectors, or even have them delivered to you. These may be used for University-related projects, so I'm sure most of us will find this useful sometime in our careers here.
For those who are interested in film or music production at Trinity, there are amazing video/audio facilities available at the center too. In fact, we all love the fact that Trinity had Cable TV, and we actually have the AT&T center to thank for making this all possible! They oversee contracts with the commercial cable service providers and perform maintenance or organize repairs to ensure that the campus-wide coaxial distribution system is in order. This is also the home of the University's own TV Station TriniTV as well.
I really look forward to starting our section on Photoshop,as I've always enjoyed working with cameras, images and photography- plus, I'm really not the most avid fan of spreadsheets!
I have never really extensively gone into media production, but I know the basics, so hopefully with these I'll be able to extend my knowledge and have fun when using the AT&T center for various projects. I was really impressed by the advanced computer labs in the studios that offer the latest technological gadgets, which can be used to create and work with all types of digital media. For our benefits while working with Photoshop, there are advanced flatbed scanners and top-of-the-range printers, which would definitely come in handy, as well as the advanced computers and software themselves. There are extensive programs and facilities available to us that will enable help us use Photoshop to it's full potential. There is actually a whole section that is designated to photographic and graphic design, so I look forward to making use of these great facilities for at Trinity from now onwards. After the class has all completed a project on Photoshop, we would even have the opportunity to utilize the advanced Media Presentation Lab to display our work and use interactive media to evaluate each others' art. I would also be able to benefit from many other areas of this center ,such as the Video Conference facilities which would allow me to video conference with other institutions over ISDN lines or over the Internet. There is also a service offered whereby students and faculty are able to checkout various equipment such as Microphones, DVD players, Computer Data Projectors, or even have them delivered to you. These may be used for University-related projects, so I'm sure most of us will find this useful sometime in our careers here.
For those who are interested in film or music production at Trinity, there are amazing video/audio facilities available at the center too. In fact, we all love the fact that Trinity had Cable TV, and we actually have the AT&T center to thank for making this all possible! They oversee contracts with the commercial cable service providers and perform maintenance or organize repairs to ensure that the campus-wide coaxial distribution system is in order. This is also the home of the University's own TV Station TriniTV as well.
I really look forward to starting our section on Photoshop,as I've always enjoyed working with cameras, images and photography- plus, I'm really not the most avid fan of spreadsheets!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Catching the Music Pirate on Campus.
Although copyright has been around since 1790, there are still severe cases of infringement occurring on a daily basis today- sometimes we don't even know that we are violating a copyright law.
I never realized how easily university networks can be caught for illegal file sharing, so I found this process of identifying pirates on college campuses really fascinating. The Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA) is able to catch the culprits by keeping a list of songs which are copyrighted, and hiring a company by the name of Media Sentry to search for the illegal downloaders using the peer-to-peer network Limewire. Media Sentry searches for the copyrighted songs found on the list and is able to see how many computers are connected to limewire that are offering these songs to the network. Once they have this information, they are able to see how many other files this user is offering for others to download, and all the IP addresses of all the active file sharers. So the IP address can be used to find the address of Internet Service Provider, and in our case, that would be Trinity University as we have our own ISP. Once the name of the ISP has been located, Media Sentry determines which users are on campus and asks that they be identified. This process is automated so it identifies the infringements quickly, then the information of the violators is sent to RIAA who determine if it is indeed a campus piracy. If it is, they send a take-down notice to the university, asking them to clear the network of infringing files. This notice even contains the minor details such as, the name of the file and the date and time it was discovered online by Media Sentry. In serious cases, prelitigation settlement letters are sent to universities and require the infringers to pay tens of thousands of dollars, instead of having to go to court and facing an even worse consequence. When you consider that all of this could happen to an ignorant one-time user of limewire, who wasn't aware that the files being downloaded were copyrighted, it's scary! Although the investigators can only tell when a song is being illegally offered for downloading, and not when a person actually downloads the song, they still acquire enough information to be able to terminate the infringement. Before I came to Trinity, I never knew just how serious the issue of illegal peer-to-peer sharing had become. In some ways, I feel that the fact that society has had to resort to this kind of snooping and interrogation to end copyright infringement is quite sad.
I believe that copyright laws are vital, and it's only fair that the owners of works are protected by such laws. Quite ignorantly, I used to utilize P2P networks such as Limewire at home, never realizing how illegal it actually was. Thank goodness the chances of ever being caught in little Zimbabwe were really slim! I had become a thief without even knowing it and I know that if it was my own song that was being downloaded in great amounts everyday for free, I'd feel robbed too. If every college campus could get away with obtaining and distributing files for free, imagine the financial losses that would be experienced by the owners of these files? That's something we should consider before feeling annoyed about having to pay to download songs on campus.
I never realized how easily university networks can be caught for illegal file sharing, so I found this process of identifying pirates on college campuses really fascinating. The Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA) is able to catch the culprits by keeping a list of songs which are copyrighted, and hiring a company by the name of Media Sentry to search for the illegal downloaders using the peer-to-peer network Limewire. Media Sentry searches for the copyrighted songs found on the list and is able to see how many computers are connected to limewire that are offering these songs to the network. Once they have this information, they are able to see how many other files this user is offering for others to download, and all the IP addresses of all the active file sharers. So the IP address can be used to find the address of Internet Service Provider, and in our case, that would be Trinity University as we have our own ISP. Once the name of the ISP has been located, Media Sentry determines which users are on campus and asks that they be identified. This process is automated so it identifies the infringements quickly, then the information of the violators is sent to RIAA who determine if it is indeed a campus piracy. If it is, they send a take-down notice to the university, asking them to clear the network of infringing files. This notice even contains the minor details such as, the name of the file and the date and time it was discovered online by Media Sentry. In serious cases, prelitigation settlement letters are sent to universities and require the infringers to pay tens of thousands of dollars, instead of having to go to court and facing an even worse consequence. When you consider that all of this could happen to an ignorant one-time user of limewire, who wasn't aware that the files being downloaded were copyrighted, it's scary! Although the investigators can only tell when a song is being illegally offered for downloading, and not when a person actually downloads the song, they still acquire enough information to be able to terminate the infringement. Before I came to Trinity, I never knew just how serious the issue of illegal peer-to-peer sharing had become. In some ways, I feel that the fact that society has had to resort to this kind of snooping and interrogation to end copyright infringement is quite sad.
I believe that copyright laws are vital, and it's only fair that the owners of works are protected by such laws. Quite ignorantly, I used to utilize P2P networks such as Limewire at home, never realizing how illegal it actually was. Thank goodness the chances of ever being caught in little Zimbabwe were really slim! I had become a thief without even knowing it and I know that if it was my own song that was being downloaded in great amounts everyday for free, I'd feel robbed too. If every college campus could get away with obtaining and distributing files for free, imagine the financial losses that would be experienced by the owners of these files? That's something we should consider before feeling annoyed about having to pay to download songs on campus.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Joys of Having a Wireless Network at Trinity.
Twenty-four hour access, fast connection speed, and accessible from any location on campus- what more could you possibly wish for in an internet connection? I thoroughly enjoy using the wireless internet on campus, and use it to it's full, whether it be for social networking, or for academic purposes(at the moment it seems more for the latter purpose!)
Besides using the internet a lot for assignments and other academic issues, I really depend on the connection for maintaining communication with my family through Skype almost every other day. Skype is an amazing facility, and having such a great wireless connection means that I can take my computer and headset anywhere on campus and talk to people all over the world for really reasonable prices, or even for free! This, as well as email, has really been a huge help in keeping home-sickness at bay, and keeping communications flowing. I love the fact that internet can bring people in other parts of the world so much closer.
I also really appreciate being able to log onto any relevant website or to review online lecture notes during a class, instead of having to wait until returning to your dorm or going to a computer lab. I feel that having such a connection on campus really is an academic advantage and a blessing, and of course that is why Trinity is ranked as highly tenth in the "top 50 wireless college campus'" category.
There is no doubt that the great technology of today is helpful to universities in many ways, and I found a particularly interesting article in a communications publication, which involves extensive wireless internet and the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. View this article here: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=108&sid=43275f19-48ee-4430-9b9c-e432b5acda24%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d
Besides using the internet a lot for assignments and other academic issues, I really depend on the connection for maintaining communication with my family through Skype almost every other day. Skype is an amazing facility, and having such a great wireless connection means that I can take my computer and headset anywhere on campus and talk to people all over the world for really reasonable prices, or even for free! This, as well as email, has really been a huge help in keeping home-sickness at bay, and keeping communications flowing. I love the fact that internet can bring people in other parts of the world so much closer.
I also really appreciate being able to log onto any relevant website or to review online lecture notes during a class, instead of having to wait until returning to your dorm or going to a computer lab. I feel that having such a connection on campus really is an academic advantage and a blessing, and of course that is why Trinity is ranked as highly tenth in the "top 50 wireless college campus'" category.
There is no doubt that the great technology of today is helpful to universities in many ways, and I found a particularly interesting article in a communications publication, which involves extensive wireless internet and the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. View this article here: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=108&sid=43275f19-48ee-4430-9b9c-e432b5acda24%40sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Me, Myself and I
Hi, I'm Tash and I'm really excited to be a part of this class, especially because I'm aware of the fact that I still have a lot to learn about computers. I have a rather interesting background as I'm from a beautiful little country called Zimbabwe in Africa- now that's something different! I'm actually second-generation Zimbabwean, and was born and raised in the capital city Harare. See the following link to my hometown on Google Earth here : http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-17.828912,31.040572&z=10&t=h&hl=en
Despite this, my very unusual surname is actually Czech, as my grandfather was born there. I come from a family of four, consisting of my parents, myself and my younger sister Meghann. I am twenty years old, I finished high school in December 2006, then had the most fantastic gap year in 2007 before commencing my studies at Trinity University this Fall. Hence, one of my many interests includes travelling and experiencing different cultures, and I also love to be outdoors in beautiful warm weather. I enjoy interacting with other people, especially in a sporting environment, and have been a competitive swimmer since the age of five. I'm currently out of shape, but am hoping to join the intramural swim team to begin with this semester. I intend to major in Biology and pursue a career in Physical Therapy, and then one day return to my beautiful home country. I also hope to volunteer with TUVAC at Trinity, study abroad and perhaps join the leadership club too.
My secret for the scavenger hunt is actually the fact that I'm from Zimbabwe, as most people don't recognise my accent, or believe that I'm from Africa, so I thought it would make a good secret! As far as my experience with computers goes, I've taken a few basic classes in high school and have completed some modules, but I'll admit that many of the things I've learned about computers have been by "trial and error!" ( Thus the reason I feel I do indeed belong in this class!) There isn't as much emphasis on the use of computers for academics yet in third-world Africa, so I'm really excited to have this opportunity to learn more about them now.
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