Abby, I am very sorry. The way that I reacted was not appropriate and I do really feel bad about it. I am excited to move past it with the help of cheap wine and inappropriate jokes about this situation. All praise the Holy Belisle.

The Talk

Hello there future students (I know you are out there Cody). I would like to give you some advice about protection. It is very important to make sure you ALWAYS use protection, if you don't save your work constantly it could turn out terribly for you. If you would like to learn more about me please read my previous blog updates before Mrs. Belisle takes down the link to make room for you young ones. This class will be an awakening for you, a birth into the world of knowledge. Leave your ignorance behind, for when you enter the doors of the computer lab your world changes. Respect the Tucc-Tiger.
Goodbye my children,
don't cry for me
let your wings spread
and make me proud.

Travis "it's been a pleasure" Halff

WILV (Websites I'd Love to View)

All of the websites presented were quite impressive, it is hard to narrow down my love to only three. Abby Talley's website was spectacular. It looks like it was made by Chanel it is so well done. The layout is clear and professional yet unique in a clearly high fashion way. Larissa Lozano's website was also excellent. The navbar was so good I honestly thought she used a program to make it. Her color combinations were perfect and the website looked ever inviting. It was a joy to watch her present as you could tell how well her website represented her. To top off this parfait of website goodness, I would like to laud the work of Moira Allen. Moira went with a very kooky yet riveting layout for her website. Without using too many words, Moira showed us her essence. Her url was a peek into her soul and I like what I saw. My favorite part was the way she arranged her default page. Just one simple pictures and a couple of words went so far for her page. Overall I was ridiculously impressed with what I saw and can't wait to see how the students in our class use their newly acquired website building talents to help make the www a better place!

Call Me Beep Me If You Want To Reach Me

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

Making my website was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. I will admit, I have a fair ego when it comes to computers and technology so when I ran into numerous problems while making my website I was slightly baffled. I used Expression Web to create my website as I found it to be the easiest and best program to use. The page I am most proud of is my page on Television. I enjoyed using the special box tool to add an interesting dynamic to that page. I would change the overall layout of my website. It was hard to align things and make them look neat- this is what I would state as my biggest weakness. My biggest technical challenge was the saving problem that we encountered during class, I was confused about where I saved various things due to the multiple folders. My biggest design challenge was certainly keeping things aligned. That was so hard! Even now my website is not at its fullest unless on Internet Explorer. I will show my site to my girlfriend and my friends. I will taunt Rory with its greatness and use it to further my case that I am a more excellent human being than him. I can't think of a class that would require me to make one but if they do I am very confident I will be able to. Might even be able to teach them a thing or two!

Sincerely,

Travis "www.me!" Halff

Why You Should Be More Like Me

I speak html. After my work in class I have learned html enough to spend a week in html land and get by fine. It is important for pretty much everyone to at least know some html because even though there is software to help make websites and the such there are still situations where knowing how to read and write html could come in handy. For example, if you do not like the way that one of the programs makes websites you can always just go into a basic writing program and make some code yourself. The most important reason one should know html is in case something is wrong with your website. If you know html you can look at how the page is written and quickly spot the error. (You can also copy anything you like from different websites!).

I am the best,

Travis "Toasted to Perfection" Halff

Raised by Tucc-Tigers

I chose to alter a picture of two tigers alone in the grass. I added in a picture of a child sitting down wearing only a diaper. The picture of the tigers came from a simple google search while the picture of the baby came from Stock Exchange. I manipulated the pictures by first cutting the baby out of its original photograph, using the magnetic lasso tool, and then moving him into the photograph of the tigers. I then changed the saturation of the grass (decreased) and the tiger's fur (increased). I changed the lighting on the baby so that it would look more natural next to the tigers and then sharpened the image. I did this manipulation to send a message. In the photograph, the baby is being raised by a Tucc-Tiger family. It is a metaphor for how in modern times children are often raised by technology almost more than their parents. Parents need to make sure that they stay involved in their children's lives and do not simply let technology raise their children. Sticking your kid in front of a computer screen is not raising them. I do not believe that the manipulation was harmful because the message that the new picture conveys is very important and my picture is not outwardly claiming to be real by any means. This relates to the article I read, "True Lies" because in the article I chose, the author argues that editing pictures for a message or other purpose is not wrong. The author, Suzanne Salvo, points out that by changing a camera angle or focal point one is editing a picture almost as much as someone is by using photoshop. It was a very interesting article and while her view is by no means rare she expressed her view very well and fluently. I would like to end with a quote from the article that stuck with me. "Ask 10 photographers to photograph the same thing. You will get 10 different versions of 'the truth'" (Salvo 1).

Spread the truth,

Travis "HTML Homie" Halff

Work Cited

Salvo, Suzanne. "True Lies." Communication World 25.5 (2008): 26-30. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 13. Apr. 2010.

http://libproxy.trinity.edu:80/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=34467927&site=ehost-live

Now that's what I call Powerpoint 17!

Hello loyal followers,

During the past couple of days in class we have been presenting Powerpoints to each other and there were a couple that I took a particular liking to. Abby Talley's presentation on radiation warning levels was extremely impressive in that it not only kept the attention of the audience but also was quite informative. It showed off Abby's future presentation which to many would be hard to present due to its depth but not to Abby! Despite never liking to have fun, Abby brought a detailed subject matter to life, blooming with excitement and clarity. Another presentation that knocked my socks off was that of Moira Allen. Moira presented on being a museum curator, speaking specifically of The McNay and Witte museums in San Antonio. Moira's presentation stood out for its awesome animations and inviting colors. Moira was Steve Jobs to an audience of eager fans. Lush colors kept everyone's eyes glued to the screen as Moira serenaded us with words of exhibits and the such. Well done ladies, you're making me proud.

Shake on my children,

Travis "why does Abby look at me like that, doesn't she know I have a girlfriend?" Halff