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

Articles on Powerpoint

The articles giving tips about powerpoint were interesting and informative. I liked the structure of many of them because it is easier to learn about something if you are learning about it in a fun way. My guidline for keeping your powerpoint interesting is
1) Slide transitions! Make it interesting!
2) Sounds! Nobody only wants to hear your voice.
3) Pictures! Color color color, the more there is for the eyes to see the better!
4) Quality Information! It is always annoying when people have a great slideshow but nothing of actual relevance in the show.
5) Keep it fun! Remember, powerpoint can be a fun tool!

Life as a Ladybug

My photoshopped image is of Rory Davidson, a freshman at Trinity University, imposed onto a ladybug. There is an overlay of roses that is opaque as to show the background. The story of my picture is that Rory, once a mighty human, sinned one too many times by continuously disrespecting the Great Lauren Wilks. Zeus, seeing this debauchery, decided to turn Rory into a ladybug. The image is a snapshot of the middle of Rory's epic adventure to find Ladybug love. Far from the human world, Rory must attempt to live like the critters that he once killed for sick sport. Rory must learn the Ladybug language (he is quite bad at spelling) while still retaining his human schooling.

Cheers Rory.
To Be Continued,
Travis "She is my girlfriend" Halff




Milo.

Let's Get Googled Up

During our last class, Chris Nolan (The Assistant University Librarian) came to talk to us about finding high quality information on the web. The concentration of his presentation was Google. But the Google that Mr. Nolan showed us was far different than the Google I was expecting. Right off the bat I was introduced to new information, as I found out that Google does not retrieve information from everyone on the web; databases protected by passwords hold their information out from Google. I was most suprised by the Timeline feature, which shows users when the term they are looking up was most searched. This feature has a lot of potential and I am excited to look up some terms whenever I get free time. Overall the presentation took the most commonly used search engine and revealed features and facts about it that so many people don't know.
Sincerely,
Travis

Pictures With Their Pants on Fire

I chose to analyse the CBS New Years Eve photograph because I found it particularly interesting. I am interested in advertising and marketing and the tactics employed in this photoshop certainly deal with that concept. The picture originated on New Years Eve, December 2000. During a video clip of a CBS anchor reporting on the event, CBS photoshopped an NBC logo in the background out and replaced it with a CBS logo instead. This photo was manipulated in an attempt to not do any inadvertent advertising for a rival network, NBC. I do not believe the manipulation was harmful at all; however I can see how some people think it is. I personally feel that they are simply making their broadcast look slightly better, not making any permanent or significant changes. I understand that some people would be irritated that advertising space NBC bought was taken away by CBS on their broadcast but in my opinion it was CBS's broadcast so they have the right to do whatever they want with it.
Merry blogging,
Travis "You know you want me" Halff

CLT (Cool Legit Techplace)

Last class during Computer Skills we ventured to the depths of the Trinity University Library to visit the Center for Learning and Technology. What I saw and what I expected were completely different things. I did not expect the center to be equipped with Macs and PCs (both filled with software that can be very costly yet very useful), I did not expect for there to be specific areas designated to specific tasks such as editing film, and I certainly did not expect to find a fully equipped classroom available for students to use any time they need it. After reflecting on the uses of the CLT (which I have come to call the Cool Legit Techplace as I feel that describes it quite well) I can see how it would be an extremely useful asset with many of my classes, especially Computer Skills. The center has multiple computers, Macs and PCs, with Photoshop installed and ready to use. As we are just starting to deal with Photoshop in class, I predict that this center will become a very familiar location to me. It also is a quite place to do work and to use computers for projects in my other classes that may require specific software. I am very excited about all of the possible scenarios when I will get to use this useful, peaceful, and complete tech center.
See you in the CLT,
Travis "Computer Wizard" Halff

Copyright and Its Importance to the Art of Writing

Fellow computer enthusiasts, while I was not in class during the presentation about Copyright Violation, I read over the fabulous and marvelous Abby Talley's notes and feel that I have a fairly solid understanding of the lecture. I did not know very much at all about the details of Copyright and the violations that come with breaking it, until I read over Abby’s Pulitzer Prize worthy notes. Essentially, a Copyright is a right to make copies, a right recognized by the United States government. Copyright began in 1790 and says that anything that you write is copyrightable and stays that way for the your entire life plus 70 years. While I did not know much of the information about Copyright, the most interesting information to me was that colleges and universities that have computer networks are required by the Higher Education Oppurtunity Act to provide alternatives to illegal file sharing. I found this intriguing because it was a very direct and smart approach to the issues regarded Copyright and illegal file sharing. There is some controversy about the idea of copywriting things. Some people believe that it is putting too much of a restriction on writers, while others feel very strongly that it is a neccesary protection of author’s work. I believe that while it may cause some writers difficulty, it is a neccesary sanction. Without the fear of one’s work being copied, one is likely to feel completely unrestricted and free when it comes to their work. There is no fear of one’s time and efforts being discounted because their work is stolen.
Until next time,
Your Computer "Big Papa"
Travis


Copyright and Its Importance to the Art of Writing by Travis Halff is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 United States License.

My Trinity Network Diagram (all you will ever need to do anything you want on the internet)

Here is a diagram of how the internet works at Trinity University. I created it based off information that I got during a tour in Computer Technology Class. The tour was very interesting and seeing the actual objects (servers, wires and all) that made connecting to the internet at Trinity possible was really eye opening. One never thinks about how the internet works or why accessing the school drives is so easy and pain free but there is actually quite a bit (understatement of the year) behind it. I was very fortunate to be a part of the tour and by diagraming it all out I feel that I have a much better understanding of how we connect to the internet.

Sincerely,

Your blogger bro,

Travis

Travis' Top Tech Tip

Hello there fellow computer users! After listening to Joe Hatch talk to our class about computers I thought about all of the information he told us and I have decided that his tip about cleaning Macs with Thexlab will be the most useful longterm. I didn't know about Thexlab until he spoke to us about it and the though of cleaning my computer is quite excited as it has gotten rather slow recently! Thexlab is a website that cleans out your Mac's data sectors which will increase the startup speed of your applications and increase overall performance. While there is no particular software that cleans a Mac's cache, it is a good idea to go into your browsers menu and clean the cache yourself (there will usually be a button that erases it all) as this can free up quite a bit of space. So Mac users, remember to try out Thexlab, it will get rid of your computer's excess flab!
Sincerely,
Your main Mac (get it... its a play on man... Hilarious, I know)
Travis Halff

Hello, lets be friends!

Well hello there, my name is Travis Halff and I am from San Antonio, Texas. I was born January 21, 1991 and my email is thalff@trinity.edu . I went to Saint Mary’s Hall high school here in town and applied Early Decision to the University of Richmond. I went to the University of Richmond for a week, however I had to come back to San Antonio because I was having problems with my medical equipment. What medical equipment? Well now that I have drawn you in, I have Type 1 diabetes. I have had the disease since I was nine years old and have learned how to manage it over the years.

I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend Lauren, who goes to NYU, and we have been dating nearly 13 months. Other than spending time with my girlfriend, I enjoy playing tennis and basketball and am currently learning how to fence. I hope to one-day fence with swords similar to the ones used in James Bond (they electrocute you upon contact). I have a fondness for Gossip Girl and plan to model much of my adult life after that of Chuck Bass.

I’ve always been interested in computers and do not have many problems working with them. I am very interested in graphic design and was very glad to hear that it was the concentration of this class. I was in digital photography for three years at SMH and worked with Photoshop on a daily basis. I am not terribly familiar with Excel and I believe that I will have the most trouble with that. While I have not worked with Photoshop in over a year I am fairly confident that after I use it for a day or two I will be back to where I was.