advice for next semester

A piece of advise for next semester is to truly pay attention and learn excel and word things, because you will use them for your internships/jobs/ classes and its actually pretty cool that these programs can do this. goodluck!

My Fave Webpages

Some of my favorite webpages are Rebecca's, Katy's and Riley's. All of these were very organized and simple, which made them stand out. I really enjoyed seeing Katy's art interests and her influences as well as seeing her actual art, which is beautiful. On Rebbeca's I truly enjoyed seeing the places shes lived and visited as well as where her next trips will hopefully be, I completely agree and one of my next trips is to Peru as well. Riley's was very well organized and she got it to be completely centered, unlike mine. It was interesting to see that she played lacross in highschool on a boys team.

My webpage

Please Visit my Webpage at www.cs.trinity.edu/~mbecerra

Making this website, was more of a challenge than I originally thought it would be. To be honest, I thought it would be much more simpler knowing that I was going to use Microsoft Expression Web. The page I am most proud of is the description page because it included many new thigns i learned such as the thumbnail, hyperlinks, background picture and the nav bar as well. If I could change something it would have been to fix the really cool collage I had made in photoshop for the pictures section but for some reason it refused to work so I had to insert each picture individually and it doesnt look nearly as good as it would have. The biggest design challenge was the nav bar, and the biggest technical one was making everything line up on the tables. Hopefully I can make this site better and make it the official Latino Exchange website, because ours is not updated. After learning this, there is definitely a possibility that someone will ask me to make a site for another class, and I would be up for it.

Larry Hechler Visit

During the last class we were honored to have Larry Hechler come and visit and explain to us a few things about computers. Something really interesting that I didnt know, and is useful for any computer or battery charged electronic is how to maintain a battery. For this Larry gave us four useful notes on computer batteries:

o   Don’t use it for 20 min and then plug it in

o   Run all the way down then charge it back up

o   Lithium ion batteries still get short cycle

o   Once a month run it all the way down and then charge it all the way up

After this talk I have already started to not charge my computer until the battery is run all the way down, not only for my computer but for my iphone as well. And i think it has actually helped!

Pictures that Lie

For this project I decided to use photographs i had previously taken to create a false image.These three photographs were taken this summer in various places. The background is of San Miguel de Allende, the llama is stuffed and was outside the Peru stand at a World's Fair in Mexico City, and the guy holding a fish was one I took of a friend's brother after he caught a fish this summer. In order to get this result I basically used the magic extractor to extract both the llama from the background and the guy from the boat and the ocean. I then placed them into the background image and continued editing from there. Other tools I used are the erase tool, the clone stamp tool and lighting and color saturation.
     This image was manipulated because I had this picture of the llama and I thought at first it would be interesting to put it in a setting where llamas don't usually roam around. After doing so I thought well this is too plain, I should add something to it to look even more false, so then the idea of a centurion came about. I looked around my photographs for the perfect image, and this is what I chose to add as the human part of the animal. In the end, I think it is quite comical, but it truly doesn't hurt anyone.
The article I researched was an interesting view on images from the Afghanistan and Iraq War, questioning whether they were real or fake in important publications such as the New York Times and Time. This article suggests that magazines and newspapers are not the only ones to falsify images, but terrorists themselves do so aswell. It is important that these images are not falsified because it truly gives a false sense of what is happening in the war and is so easy to believe since it is so far away from our reality.It is quite unfortunate to know that you can easily falsify a photograph solely by using photo shop. Although my photograph does not harm anyone and is obviously false, using photoshop and such programs to change a photograph can truly do much harm.

Munro, Neil. "Real or Fake?." National Journal 38.14 (2006): 26-32. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 11 Nov. 2010.

My Presentation

As a Spanish major, and having lived in Mexico for the first half of my life I chose to do my presentation on 3 places to visit in Mexico. I liked the fact that I was able to upload a video, except that when it came time to do my presentation it stopped working. Not only did I learn this, but I learned how to put multiple pictures and order their entrance on a slide. If I could change something I would change the fact that my video didn't work and possibly have added music to the powerpoint. Two blogs I quite enjoyed were Katy's about being a curator and Kayvon's about being a multilingual doctor. I thought Katy's was really interesting because I feel that before it I knew very little about being a curator and what  you can do with an art major now a days. Also I really enjoyed her video that showed how you can use technology to put together an art show. I enjoyed Kayvon's because wanting to go into the medical field myself I know the importance of being at least bilingual, especially in the US and in Texas. I feel that the more languages  you learn the more you will truly be able to help your patients. Although his topic was a bit on the sad side, it was very informative and I appreciate the fact that he kept his graphics simple but tasteful. Overall, I believe I learned some new things not only from my two favorites, but from all who presented.

Chris Nolan Visit

When Chris came to class last week I truly had no idea of all the features Google had. I knew it had google scholar, because for my internship this past summer I used it in order to do research on my topic, and I knew about google books and earth. However, I did not know that you could refine your search by clicking advanced search and do so by so many different factors. Since I only knew the main differences between .edu, .org, and .com its nice to know that using advanced search I can refine my search as to where it only searches for one of these. Overall I think Chris' talk was quite benefitial, and I know I will be using advanced search from now on.

Powerpoint

Although throughout my education and any jobs or internships powerpoint has been very useful to me, it does have its annoying parts. These annoying parts are not from the technology itself, I wouldn't touch on these since I myself don't know any more than the next person. I believe the people who use powerpoint sometimes are what cause such annoyances. I believe that powerpoints should look professional and be to the point. For this reason I dislike when professors clump too much information into little parts of a slide. I would much rather have, say a topic, be divided into two well organized slides than crunched all into one. Another pet peeve of mine is when people use pictures as they're background, I truly believe this is an abuse of our ability to do so. I feel as if pictures are there for when you need to show something specific, not have writing all over it.  When showing the slideshow itself I like things to be presented to me straight forward, not flying in or disappearing, this way you can write down whats needed instead of getting confused on graphics and designs. It truly bothers me when people write down everything they're going to say on their powerpoint, this just makes them seem disorganized and as if they truly did not research the subject well enough. Along with this is people who just use up space on the slides to make it look like they have more information, I believe a narrow summary on a bulletpoint followed by explanation has a much better affect. With all these dislikes about powerpoint there is one thing I truly have come to appreciate. Being a scientist and working in research labs, the ability to use powerpoint to create a professional poster for a conference is an amazing ability, and it is pretty easy to use also. You can fit all your work into this nicely organized poster and have it designed the way you want it, including the sizing. Having done two of these myself, I find this a great incentive to use powerpoint.

A trip to CLT

Until our fieldtrip to the CLT last week I had never even heard of, much less know where or what amazing things one can find there. Being a transfer student, this isn't appalling since I still dont know where most things are located. I guess it's an advantage to me that I can always respond, eh I dont know I'm a transfer. Robert Chapman was very helpful in describing and showing to us all the neat things that we can find and use there. I found it very cool that we had a room set up to do video conferences. Although cameras and all that type of technology is quite over my head, it is nice to know that If i ever need to do something such as have a conference for an interview we have the resources to do so. Its also pretty sweet that we not only have PCs down there, but for the Mac users a good number of those are available as well. Using the scanner was pretty easy as well. I know I have a scanner in my room, and its a pretty nice one If I must say so myself, but if I am ever in the library and in need for one its good to know I can just pop down to CLT on the first floor and use theirs.Overall it was a good trip, and I am glad I now know the resources available, that I will for sure be using in the future.

The effect of manipulating pictures and society

I chose this picture because it precisely prooves how people in magazines are not exactly what they seem. The use of photoshop has allowed magazines and newspapers to be able to manipulate the way people look in order to make them look more attractive and thus to sell more. By doing this they don't realize how it affects those who see these images, for it is the little girls that see these pictures in magazines that want to be skinny and pretty just like the model in the pictures. This picture of the news anchorwoman, Katie Curic, shows how the original photo, in the left, and the edited photo that appeared in Watch magazine on the right. Not only does photoshop change the quality of the photo, but it whitens Katie's teeth and reduces her weight by a significant 10 pounds. This manipulation is done to make her look better and so she better appeals to her fans, but by doing so it gives a false impression of what and who she really is and raises the standards on what women should look like. On YouTube i found a video that demonstrates this sort of manipulation of a model using photoshop, showing us that models truly do not look like this and to appreciate our own beauty.

The great things about Excel

Coming into this class I thought I was pretty comfortable with Excel, due to the amount of time I spent using it this summer for my internship, yet I have been proven quite wrong. I am completely amazed at the new functions and design parts I keep learning in class every time. For example, I had no idea how to use conditional formatting, or even something as simple as themes. Although I already knew this, it is so convenient to be able to copy a function down a column or across a row just by scrolling down/across a cross. It is also easy how it can guess what you will put next sometimes, like the dates. I only wish that the excel program was as simple on a mac as it is on a pc,but maybe its just that I haven't become as comfortable with it on my mac as i have on the school pcs. I truly believe that any type of excel exercise in class will be helpful for the future. I know that I can, and will, use what I have learned in excel for future internships and jobs, even for class presentations.

Copy Right Laws

Before Jason Hardin's talk I knew as much about copyright law as any other kid my age. Just the basics, and the horror stories of those sued for copyright infringement and downloading music illegally. He brought up many interesting facts, like the difference between plagiarism and copyright law. Jason also introduced Fair Use Act, which I was unaware of. I also was unaware that Copyright Law lasted for all of the author's life plus 70 years after, thanks to Disney's demand for more time.

It does not fully seem right to me that a large and powerful corporation, such as Disney, could control copyright law so that it favors them. I understand that losing the copyrights to the original Disney characters would mean losing significant money, and it would now be public domain, but what about those authors who lost their copyrights before after 50 years of the author's death? It does not truly seem fair for those that already lost their resource when it is due. Eventually Disney will lose copyrights, because as long as they exist as a company they will keep fighting to elongate the end date. I guess all could favor from this in the end.  

Mariana's Copy Right Blog by Mariana Becerra is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

The in's and out's of the Trinity Network

To draw my network diagram, I traced the route from how it would connect from your computer in your dorm to all the buildings it connects to. This assignment, and seeing the server room in halsell last friday opened my eyes to what goes on when you connect to the internet from your computer, I had no idea! Its truly complicated, and those who are in charge do a great job to allow us access.

Trinity Mystery Location

Can you guess where this place is? If you live in north or sophomore college it is likely that you pass this every day, I know I pass it every day on my way to and from Lightner. I added a boarder and played around with heat wave in order to give it an artsy kick.

Tech tip from the wise

If you ever need technical help, Joe Hatch is your man. Not only is he very personable but he is most likely one of the most tech-savvy people I have heard speak on campus. Joe explained the importance of Trintity's use of Clear Access. I know it probably seems annoying that you must log on every time you re-open your computer, but lets get real, it could save you from viruses or anyone hacking in. He also explained why most viruses are keyed in to PCs, because over 90% of computers are actually controlled by Windows. Thus there are not as many viruses directed towards macs, lucky for me I suppose. The main thing I learned form this wise man was to keep junk out of your computers and to clean them up every so often, this way you will have a fast running computer.

Welcome!

Hi! I'm Mariana Becerra and I am a junior transfer student from here in San Antonio. I previously attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina, alma mater of Tim Duncan. I am a Spanish major and a Biology and Latin American Studies double minor here at Trinity, and I am also on the track to attend Physician's Assistant school after graduation. I lived Cuernavaca, Mexico until I was 9 and am the eldest of three girls. I love to dance, eat, travel, and absolutely love anything that has to do with a spanish speaking country. I am a proud owner of a mac, and this past summer I had to use many different programs for my internship, so I feel as Im up to speed on excel and powerpoint. If you have any questions or comments my email is mbecerra@trinity.edu.