Professors Teaching Styles and the use of Technology

25 Jan
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So I know that I am spoiled, and come from a very tech savvy environment, where anything and everything that can be done on a computer is.  Also note that I started playing with computers at the age of 3.  I also know that everyone learns and uses technology differently.

For example in my WDMD 346 class, we were reviewing a clients website, and trying to come up with suggestions, and design ideas when its clear that the client either has no idea about web standards, or how to use a computer what so ever.  The challenge here, is finding the right way to describe things specifically, but also in a way that common people can understand.  I believe that this is one of the harder challenges that anyone in the IT or Digital Media field has to deal with.  I will post updates as this progresses throughout the term.  I also will have two more clients for my WDMD 480 class.  It will be a long road to the finish, but the end is in sight and I’m looking forward to getting out.

Now, another example is my Business Law II professor.  He has a few things going for him. He came out and said that his life experience doesn’t make him a good teacher, and that he is a bit rusty in the topic of teaching.  What it seems as though he is short in the area of organization.  He went from one topic to another and back and forth over and over.  My head was spinning just going over the syllabus.  I mean OUCH, how hard is it to just read over it with us?

I do need to figure out, where people have learned to use the Google or Bing search bar as the place to type the URL in.  Watching him try to navigate around even Bing was annoying and frustrating.  I do give him credit, he did figure out the projector easily, and considering that he is actually a lawyer, is quite impressive.

On top of my awesome technologically damaging day, we did have a small fire in my hall today.  Standing outside and waiting for the SPFD to give us an all clear was frustrating.  Not to mention going to class not ready cause I didn’t have the right backpack with me. Ended up getting my old one and a binder out of my car so I had something. General idea, always bring your coat outside for a fire. I ended up giving my coat to a girl who looked like she was freezing.

This ends day one of the new term.  I wonder what tomorrow will bring.

Final Project

19 Jan
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Finding motivation for my final project this term has been slightly frustrating.  I hope to  give a link to my finished project shortly (It is Due Thursday afterall).

Building  a site with a CMS System takes time, and a lot of planning.  My advice for anyone that is looking to build/ or transition to a CMS site, is to plan your content.  If you are not able to have the content ready ahead of time, at least come up with a plan of navigation and structure for how you want to order them.  It makes life easier.

Perhaps one of the better ways to organize content ahead of time, would be to use a program like Visio.  Visio allows you to make different prototypes of things, from websites, to network drawings, to even a good outline program.

Its going to be a few long nights and work ahead to get the project done.  But, once its done, getting more content down the road will be the ongoing project.

Also, plan that everything you want to do, will take a lot longer and will not go as easily as you expect. Because you might end up distracted, maybe by clocks, Thanks Professor Krause, or even just finding the right plugin.

Stupid People

17 Jan
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So, my site focuses mostly on technology, but also on my rants and raves about anything and everything.

I work for an Office Supply company, and have worked in retail for ages.  It is no surprise how stupid people can really be.

When an Ad preprint ends on a Saturday night, when you come in to find a really good deal, and find out that we are out of them, why in the world are you upset about it?  You had 6 and half days to come in and get the idem.  If you thought it was a good deal, odds are that others did as well.  Grrr.  No, we don’t have any left, no we don’t get you one, and no it’s not my fault that you waited so long.

Also, when a store closes at 9pm, don’t ever show up at 8:55 and expect great service.  We all want to get out of work and go on with our lives. Yes we will be pleasant, but we are going to be somewhat short and push you to get what you want, and move on.

Welcome to retail.  I guess I should really get over this fact, as I’ve worked in retail for almost 8 years now, but still stupid people never fail to amaze me.

When I feel that I have seen it all, People of Wal-Mart save the day, and make me realize that I am somewhat normal after all :)

VIP-Quotes

15 Jan
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I found a very simple Quote system for Joomla that shows some promise, and with a little change might end up being the perfect solution for my term. project.

I’ve attached my quick guide of how to install it, and configure it. It goes very quickly, and provides a few things that are nice.  In its presence stage, the random quote module seems to be the best use for it.  It installs easily, but lacks a few features such as sorting by categories and direct linking. But take a peak at the quick install guide and let me know what you think.

VIpQuotes

Joomla! vs Drupal

13 Jan
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Today in CMS Class we moved away from our Joomla! discussion and took a peak at Drupal.  Drupal is a very powerful CMS system.  While I have used Drupal before for class work, it is always interesting to go back and take a second and third look at systems to see how their features actually work.

After spending more time with Joomla, I have found a few things with Joomla that I prefer over Drupal.  Joomla’s administrator access is a completely different backend, and even a separate login system.  Drupal’s system for administrating works, but how you float back and forth from the front end to the back end of the site is weird to me.  I’m sure I would get used to it over time, however at the time being, I prefer having them be separate.  Perhaps it is a false sense of security, but by keeping everything separate and hidden it seems more secure to me.

Drupal does have a few more pieces of a site that I like that are built in, such as the forum feature.  The reason that I like this better than Joomla, is that by being in the core functions, it’s more likely to get updated and be kept up-to-date.  With Joomla, most plugins are written by 3rd parties, which this is true of Drupal, because more core features are included with Drupal. It’s likely to be more secure than adding in more plugins.

Overall, I think that for most people, Joomla will be a better option than Drupal for ease of use, and configuration.   I’m open to suggestions and am curious as to what others have thought about Drupal and or Joomla and other CMS systems that they have played with.

If you are curious as to how the CMS systems work, but don’t have a working install, It would be worth checking out http://php.opensourcecms.com/ you can play with most Open CMS systems for free and usually a fast option to play before you install.

Corey's Rants

A Web Developer's rants, raves and randomness.