Week 6: CLEAR: Raster vs. Vector Graphics

A topic that was very clear to me this week was the difference between Raster and Vector graphics. 


There are 2 main types of multimedia images. The first is Raster images. Raster images are composed of pixels and are more commonly referred to as bitmap images. Raster images use a grid of individual pixels. Each pixel can be different shades and colors. Raster images need higher resolutions and for a smooth appearance must use the anti-aliasing function. Raster images are best used for photographs.


Vector graphics, on the other hand, use mathematical relationships between points and the paths connecting them to describe an image. Where Raster images are composed of pixels, Vector images are composed of paths. Since Vector graphics are mathematically formed they will appear smooth at any size. This is one of the main differences between Raster and Vector Graphics. 


Basically, you should use Raster graphics for photos with complex shading and use Vector graphics for all type, line art and illustrations.


Below is a basic showing a Vector versus a Raster graphic:

http://designwashere.com/design-battle-vector-vs-raster/




Until Next Time,
Zack

Excel Project

I found this project to be very difficult and confusing. After watching the lectures I felt that I would be able to easily complete the tasks in the Excel project. However, after starting I realized that the most beneficial tool for me was the scavenger hunt assignment. This is where I was able to find most of the formulas needed to complete the project.

The first columns that we had to make including MaxHR, TgtHR, Highest HR, Tgt Achieved and PctIncreaseHR didn't give me to many problems. I was able to find the correct formulas for these through the Excel scavenger hunt. Out of these columns, I thought the most difficult to fully understand was the logic formulas needed to get the "Yes" or "No" answers for the "Tgt Achieved" column. Now that I have done this project I feel I have a much better understanding of logic function formulas and how they work.

The most difficult part of this project for me was the pivot tables. I think part of my difficulty with the pivot tables came from the fact that I was using a Mac instead of a PC. I think the Windows Powerpoint for PC's is much easier to operate than it is on Macs. I spent a good 30 minutes trying to find how to even make a pivot table. Once I searched "Pivot Table" in the search bar I was able to find the function and figure it out. This project taught me many things including how to use formulas to get useful data, how to use pivot tables and how to properly scale the print page setup so that all of the columns will be on the same page.

Until Next Time,
Zack

Week 5: Clear: Columns VS. Rows

Since the first time I ever learned about Excel spreadsheets, a topic that has been very clear and understandable to me is the difference between columns and rows and the functions of each. This is something that confuses a lot of people so I think its a good subject to clarify for people.

When someone first opens an Excel spreadsheet, they see a grid of rows and columns. On the left side of the spreadsheet, in the gray boxes, you will see numbers starting with 1 and going up. These numbers represent the ROWS. Each row goes across the screen. Columns, on the other hand are at the top of the grid. The columns are labeled with letters A-Z and they represent the different columns going down.

Basically, Rows go ACROSS and are labeled with numbers and Columns go DOWN and are labeled with letters. The intersection of a row and a column is called a  CELL. A cell is named starting with the Column letter and followed by the row number. Therefore, the top left column of a spreadsheet would be labeled as Cell A1. The cell under this would be A2 and the cell to the right of it would be B1. Hopefully this clarifies the difference between Cells and Rows for everyone.

Until Next time,

Zack

WEEK 4: CLEAR: Horizontal Vs. Vertical Applications

This week something that was very clear to me was the difference between Horizontal and Vertical applications. While both are applications created to help people do specific things on the computer, they are different in the amount of people and industries they help.

Horizontal applications are software programs that are used across many different industries for many different people. Some good examples of these are applications like adobe photoshop and Microsoft word. Photoshop is used by people in many different industries for many different tasks. The same is true of Microsoft word.

On the other hand, Vertical applications are software programs that are designed to meet specific needs of one specific business marker. Some good examples of vertical applications are restaurant ordering systems. An application that is made for a specific restaurant will not work anywhere but in that specific restaurant. This is why it is a vertical application. Another example of this is GRU, gainesville's utility companies, software that checks meters and takes service requests. This application was created specifically for GRU.

Until Next Time,
Zack

Week 3: MUDDY: Cold VS. Hot Reboots

This section discussed a problem I have struggled with for years. Since the time I recieved my first computer I have always wondered what was the best way to turn it off. This section talked about cold boots versus hard boots. I have always thought that turning off your computer is turning off your computer. What is the difference whether you press the power button, hold the power button or press control, alt, delete.

I realize that each one of these ways causes the computer to turn off in a different way. Holding the power button makes it go off quickly and automatically, while pressing control, alt, delete does it in a slower way. When I am in a time crunch I always just go with the fast solution, but is this hurting my computer? What is the best way to turn your computer on and off without causing damage to the computer?

Also,  I used to have a PC and now I have a Mac. Does this change anything? Are there better ways of turning of a Mac versus turning off a PC? I am very interested to learn the correct ways to turn my computer on and off without causing damage.

Until next time,
Z

Week 2: MUDDY

One computer topic that has always been very confusing to me is the use of computer memory. It seems there are a million different names for computer memory related parts. With so many different names like RAM, ROM, DIMM, DDR2, DDR3 and Flash, how can anyone keep up with what it all means?

In my mind, memory is memory. Why are there so many different names and types of memory? I know that they all do different things but isnt there a way to make ONE STANDARD type of memory so that we can all just understand it easily?

Week 1: CLEAR

In these times of ever increasing technological advancements, it is more important than ever to make sure that information you are receiving over the internet is credible. The world wide web is growing larger and larger every day and while there is a lot of great information being put out there, there is an equal amount of false information being spread. In order to accurately evaluated the quality of information you are reading there are a series of things to look at.

The most important thing to examine is the author. Who are they? Why are they credible? There are no limitations on who can post things on the internet and who cant, and for this reason it is very important do determine the credibility of the author. If the person writing an article is an expert in the field, they will offer much better and more credible information than a person who is just writing for fun on the internet. Many people mistakenly believe that anything they read on the internet is truth and they do not realize how easy it is to put false information on the internet. Also, is the author providing evidence to back up their claims? Most of the time if someone has a lot of evidence, they are probably more credible than someone who is just saying something without any backing.

Another very important thing to look at is the location of the website. Is it a personal website, a government website or an educational website? Each of these offer very different types of information and they all have different levels of credibility. Depending on what kind of information you are searching for, the site location is extremely important when determining credibility.

Until next time,
Zack