PowerPoint Presentations

I recognized that all the articles emphasized the key idea of keeping it simple. I undoubtedly agree. The focus of any presentation, including a PowerPoint presentation, should be the speaker. Thus, when the PowerPoint has frivolous animation, picture, information, it all detracts from the speaker, making the PowerPoint presentation less effective. A PowerPoint is simply a means to get your message across; it should not the focus of the presentation.

Guidelines to a good PowerPoint presentation:
-Be clear and precise
-Do not have unnecessary distractors
-Be in control of the presentation; don't let the PowerPoint take over
-Keep it SIMPLE but engaging
-Make it easy to read and follow; the audience loose interest and get annoyed if they have to strain to read the PowerPoint

Chris Nolan

I didn't realize that the search engines only reveals portions of the information online. I've never really put any thought into it. But I guess that makes a lot of sense; otherwise, we wouldn't have online archives in which users have to sign in. I find it really useful that there's google scholar and google books etc. I never really explored the other applications of google and after Chris Nolan's presentation, I feel more compelled to go explore google and all that it provides. Additionally, now that I know that I can just type "define" and a word after it in google's search, I won't ever have to go to dictionary.com ever again! That will save me sometime. The other thing that really interested me was the "cache" button. It's neat that I will still be able to access webpages even if they no longer exist.

Copyright Issue

When I learned that it is a felony to commit a copyright infringement involving more than 10 copies and a value of more than $2500, I was really surprised. I didn't realize that copying something can become so serious as to become a felony. I think this law is a bit ridiculous because it's taking something that is purely a civil case and making it a criminal act. Additionally, I'm sure many people copy music-a lot of music- on a daily basis. We all know that it violates copyrights to download and share music, but to sued for thousands and thousands of dollar for downloaded music is simply ridiculous. I understand that record labels lose money when people download, but I feel that they make so much by the high pricing of CDs that it compensates. Perhaps the solution should be that for music that has been made prior to a decade ago, then it should be legal to share these music files. However, for recently made music, then copyright laws apply. This way, people are still able to enjoy their music and record companies can still make money off of their more recent songs.

My Excel Experience

I've never been a big Excel user. In fact, it is rare if I ever even think about using Excel for any reason. However, I have recently discovered a love for the functionality of Excel. I am majoring in international business and I can definitely see how Excel will make my life exponentially easier. First off, the tables are easy to work with, and the functions available make calculations quick and simple. The simplicity of creating charts on Excel makes it great to compare data. I didn't know how to insert the graphs and insert functions before, but I am glad to have learned them because I am sure I will have to work with tables and charts in the field of business. I can see myself using Excel in the near future for an accounting or statistics class or for maybe making personal budgets.