Merry, Merry, Merry, What's that word again? Right! Merry Christmas

27/12/06

Merry Christmas! Well, it's kind of a late wish but I wanted to write a blog entry after Christmas and Boxing Day. Christmas wasn't a big deal this year, we had gift exchange but no such things like parties because every one was busy. But Boxing Day was great. My dad got me a pair of speaker set which also came with a microphone set. Great, some thing useful for the pod cast assignment. My mom told me and my brother that we have to clean and mop our rooms and rest of the house before the end of Dec. 31. That gives us about 4 days. Great, more homework. This time I mean the sarcastic GREAT! I have to go for my cousin's birthday party on Dec.30 that leaves us only three days to clean up. In the past years I always have left my cleaning to the last minute and suffered but I am hoping this year will be different but again what are the chances of that???? At least I only have to clean my HUGE room unlike my brother who has to clean the whole house. Guess, its worth to be the pet of the house. This is the only time I'm happy to be the youngest of the home. Go me, Go me, It's my birthday!!! It sucks to be my brother. I feel so sorry for him. NOT! That's pretty much how the holidays went. See you in school! Happy New Year!!! Whoopee, 2007!!!!!!!!!

Microsoft Test!!!! Did I fail????????????

22/12/06

Today was the last school day of the year 2006. YAHOO!!!!!!!! But it wasn't a very enjoying day because we had a test, not the best thing to have on the last day of school. The test was pretty easy but I messed up the labeling part terribly. It wasn't just me, couple of other people messed it up too. I haven't even heard of most of the tools that were on the labeling part of the test. I just studied the basic tools, the one's that were there are tools that came from Mr. Case's made up toolbar. Guess, I have to study harder for the next test. How hard? GOK ( god only knows) Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year for all the folks that are reading my blog right now. See you after the break.

Test Posponed.......... Is this good or bad???????

20/12/06

The test was postponed today. God knows if it's good or bad because last time the test was postponed we were given more topics to study. But nothing like that happened today. I rather do the test today because I don't want to have a test on the last day of school of the year 2006. 2 more days until the break. BTT was such a stress this week with the tutorials and test. I feel sorry for the editors writing 2 tutorials took a lot out of me imagine how the editors will feel editing 60 of them. Writing the tutorials wasn't hard work but finding the topic was annoying because most of the topics that we have heard of have been taken. But I guess that's a good thing because it will be a great opportunity to learn stuff. I already handed both of my tutorials yesterday so now I don't have to worry about it. I spent rest of the period doing ALL THE RIGHT TYPE. Bell is probably going to ring in a while. Yeah, we're watching a movie in science.

Supply Teacher, THE HORROR

19/12/06

Today all of our tutorials were due. Thank god it's finished. My first tutorial was on Setting another language and my second one was on Sort. Both of them were pretty easy. Apart from this happiness there's sad news. The news is that we have a test tomorrow. Things that's going to be on the test Macros, Inserting Auto Text, Symbols, Footnotes, Headers and footers, Summarizing, Inserting comments, Setting another language, Bullets, arrows and other symbols, Print preview, Compatibility, Thesaurus, Overtype, Passwords, Mail shortcuts, Columns, Envelopes and address labels, Backgrounds Source: All of these topics were taken from Ms. Griffiths BTT pick-up folder Ms. Griffiths said that these just some of the things that are going to be on the test. I think Macros and Mail Merge are definitely going to be on the test because Mr. Case took a class explaining those features. Good luck for me and all the people writing the test. Study hard!!!!

LONG TIME NO SEE

18/12/06

Wow! Long time no see. Our last BTT class was on Dec.13. That was a long time ago. I didn't write in my blog for such a long time. Sorry about that. Today Mr. Case said that we have to hand in all three of our tutorials by Wednesday but Ms. Griffiths said that we have to hand in 2 of our tutorials by Tuesday. Which one? Hand in 2 tutorials by Tuesday (Ms.Griffiths) Or Hand in 3 tutorials by Wednesday (Mr.Case) I guess it's better to listen to Ms. Griffiths because she's the teacher that marks us. I'm finished one of my tutorial and now I better get started on my second one. Wish me good luck. We also have a test on Wednesday. Oh man. Let's take it one step at a time. See you at my next blog if I don't die.

Supply Teacher, THE HORROR

13/12/06

Today Ms. Griffiths was absent so we had a supply teacher. The HORROR!!!!!!!!!!! She is the worst supply teacher I ever had in my history of school years. I'm exaggerating aren't I? Well, she is really strict and mean. She wants everything to be perfect. Out of all the supply teachers we had to have her. Mr. Case (one of the other BTT teachers) told us to work on our second tutorial but our editors told us not to start on the next tutorial because they haven't finished sorting out the fist ones. So they don't know if there's any doubles on the first tutorials. Since the editors told us not to work on the second tutorials we were doing ALL THE RIGHT TYPE but the supply teacher kept screaming at us because we weren't doing what we were supposed to do. When we tried to explain to her that we weren't doing our work for a reason, she kept telling us not to talk back to the teacher. I HATE HER!!!! Thankfully after a while the bell rang and we all left to our fifth period class. YAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting back to life................ Oh no.................

12/12/06

Today I was back in life. Oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!! I found out that yesterday the class learned about "Mail Merge" God knows what they mean. After a moment of trembling one of my friends explained to me what it means and how to use it. Mail merge are letters that have the same body text but different names, addresses, dates, etc.

Steps to use Mail Merge

• Go to tools
• Click on mail merge
• On the pop-up window click on create and click on form letters
• Under data click on create data source
• When you go to create data source add the fields (fields can be such as first name, last name, address, date, or holiday) that you need
• Make sure that you delete the fields that you don't need
• Save it
• Click on edit data source
• Put the information into the pop-up window
• Go back and type your letter
• Then go back to tools, mail merge and click on merge

We were assigned a project as well. The project was to write a mail merged letter to five people in the class or either some one we know. After we were done we were supposed to drop it in the drop off folder. That's pretty much what was going on yesterday. We spent today's class finishing the mail merge. That all for now.

Not in..................Don't know what to do

11/12/06

I was away today so I don't know what the other people in class learned or did. Well, tomorrow I have to go ask my friends about what I have missed. Until then BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Making a book is soooooooo much work!!!!! Can we do it????

06/12/06

We had an ELECTION today. Yah!!!!!! It was to pick people to be the editors for the book. Mr. Case said that we needed 2 people from each class to be the editors. There were six people who tried out. The results were.................... hmm, should I say???????????? O.K. Fine, the two people who got picked was Madeeha and Ha Eun. I also wanted to be an editor but that's o.k. they'll be just as great. After that we were supposed to finish our first tutorial which we started doing yesterday. Mr. Case also said if your first tutorial was on a easy topic then next do it on a hard topic and vice versa. Since my first topic was easy, I had to choose a harder topic. I already started on a topic but I'm not going to tell you until I'm finish because it's first come, first served. After we were done the tutorial we were supposed to let some one else proof read then give it the editor. That's about it.

Microsoft Word Tutorials

05/12/06

Today we started doing tutorials for the book we're planning to publish. We were supposed to do it on the topic that we presented to the class. My topic is how to set another language in Microsoft Word. Most people couldn't finish so Ms. Griffiths said that we were going to get the next class to work on it. After the bell rang and we all left to our next class. That's pretty much how the class went.

Making a book, do you have the guts????????

04/12/06

Today Mr. Case assigned the due dates for the pod cast project. The first is going to be some one from the other BTT class, then the following week it will be us. It's going to rotate like that. We have to make two pod casts. The first one on what we did in Info. Tech class that week and the second one is on your choice. Me, and my partner's project is due on Feb.09. That gives us plenty of time to finish it.

The second thing we discussed about is publishing a book. Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!! Isn't it exciting? Mr. Case said that he tried doing this for couple of years and it didn't work out for two reasons. One some one plagarized, two some one didn't do the work. We're doing a book on Microsoft word that's going to have tips and tricks on Microsoft word for grades from 7-9. If we get the book published, Mr. Case said that our marks are definitely going to go up and we will probably have a pizza party at the end of the year with the money that we make.

Every one in the BTT class is going to write about 3 pages each which would make the book at least 60 pages long. All of the people's names who write the book are going to be in the author's section. There are also going to be couple of people from each class who's going to editing the book. Those people's names are going to go in the cover of the book.

So when you go to an interview and they ask you "Do you know anything about Microsoft Word?" You can say that you have written a book about it. That's about it for now.

Making our own pod cast.............Noooooooo

01/12/06

This is my first official post of December. It's almost close to the Christmas break. Yah!!!!!!!!!!!!

First each of the people in the class was asked to come up to the front and say something that they have learned about Microsoft word. As usual every one including me was nervous because every one thought that you were only supposed to write it in your blog; no one knew that you were supposed to present it. So one by one every one we got up and said one thing that we learned about Microsoft word.

We were assigned another pod cast assignment. The assignment was that we have to make our own pod cast. We were supposed to do that in either groups of two or by our self. Right now we're facing a lot of problems with groups, but if this problem continues then I'm going do the project by my self because I rather do it by my self than working with some one that you don't get along with. Right?????

After that Mr. Case showed us a site about Audacity. Audacity is a sound editing program. This is the program that we will be using in order to make our pod cast. You can download Audacity for free.

The site for downloading Audacity: http://www.sourceforge.org

Most of the school computers already have this program. Each group is going to create 1 episode of the BTT pod cast. Because of that the due date is going to be different for each of the groups. I feel sorry for the group that's going to go first. I hope it's not me!!!!! Pray for me, Please!!!!

Nothing much.......... Just hanging out

29/11/06

Ms. Griffiths was absent and we had a horrible supply teacher. Mr. Case disappeared some where, so we had to put up with her. Today our in class assignment was to post the link for the first pod cast assignment. We had to post it in Mr. Case's blog in the comments section. We were also given 2 websites to explore which had information about the history of word processing. Thankfully, we didn't have to do any work about the site but I have a felling that we would get some.

The Website:

• http://www.gooddocuments.com/philosophy/wphistory_m.htm
• http://inventors.about.com/od/wstartinventions/a/WordStar.htm

That's pretty much what we did in today's class. I spent the rest of the time doing All The Right Type.

Microsoft Word

28/11/06

We finally dropped the chapter "Pod Cast unit" and moved on to something else. Today we learned about Microsoft Word. In your head, you might be thinking "Microsoft word is so easy and I'm so good at". But there are lots of other things which you don't know about Microsoft Word. Today I learned three new thing thing.

The first thing that I learned is docking. Docking is just opening up a toolbar that you use often and dragging it to the top of the window, so the short cut will be there whenever you need it.

The second thing is to make our own toolbar. That tool bar will have everything that we use regularly. To do this you have to go to tools, click on Customize and go the toolbars section. In the toolbars section select New. Then name your toolbar. After that go to the commands section and drag the icons you need to your toolar.

Finally the last that I learned is the most useful to me. I'm not sure how exactly to explain this but I will try my best. This may annoy you so much: when you go to file, edit, tools, etc. You don't see the all of the entire options, you only see the main one. Then you have to click on the arrow each time to see the full menu. In order to prevent this, you can go to tools, customize and in the options section click on "always show full menu".

Ten things that I learned:

1. Drop Cap: Drop cap makes the first letter of your writing big. Remember the times that you read a book and first letter of the first sentence had always been so huge. That's how most stories work, in order to do that for your story or writing, go to format then drop cap. Example: Example:Bavithra Rajendran.
2. Formula: This is kind of like a calculator. You put in a formula (25-5+16) and it will tell you that the answer (36). Go to table then click on formula.
3. Sort: This toolbar will sort your writing in either ascending or decending order of the alphabats or numbers. Go to table and choose sort.
4. Language: Say if you want to type in another language and don't want the computer to say that you're typing the wrong thing. Then you can choose another language by going to tools, language and set language.
5. Change Case: Using this you can change your writing to either UPPER CASE, or lower case. To do this you have to go to format and then Change case.
6. Research: This will give you the definition and some facts about the word that you want to about a certain word. Highlight the word that you want to research. Go to tool, then research.
7. Comment: You can either comment on your work or other people's work without printing it out and writing it by hand. Go to insert, then comment and type in your comment.
8. Find: Say that you wrote pages of information for a report and you want to find what you wrote about one word. Instead of reading the whole document you can go to edit and find. Then the find will find the word that you're looking for.
9. Paragraph: You can use this tool to change the alignment, identation, and spacing of your writing. Do this by going format, then paragraph. For example, if you want your writing to be double spaced.
10. Protect Document: You can put a editing restriction which makes the file a read only file. Meaning you can only read the document the not change anything on it. So other people won't be able to change your writing. Do this by going to tools, then protect document.

Pod Cast #4

27/11/06

My last and final pod cast is on dowry. The pod cast is called Dowry Tradition Suffers in Drought-Stricken East Africa. It is from the site http://podcasts.yahoo.com/search?p=dowry&c=b. The author of this pod cast is washingtonpost.com.

This pod cast about 28 year old guy who is a cattle herter and knows 5 languages. He was engaged to a 22 years old, high school graduate girl. He was going to give the bride's family his best bulls and dairy cows as a dowry. Because of the harsh climate in East Africa, all of his cattles died. That made $10,000 dollars of damege. This news forced him to move into the city and find a job. When he phoned his girl friends from the city, she said that her mom want her to marry a richer and older guy because her mom doesn't want her waste her youth. After Somanto moved into the city, his parents forced him to get a college education. When he finally got enough money to get a college education he got robbed. So Somanto went back to his village to raise cattle and and get enough money for the tuition. When he came back to the city he got robbed again. But this time he actually caught the thief. When he was fighting with the theif both of them got put into jail. So Somanto with the help of his frined bribed the police to get out of jail. This is what the pod cast is mostly about.

One thing that I liked about this pod cast was that it was different because usually the bride is the one who gives the dowry but this story it is the other way around.

Pod Cast #3

27/11/06

I choose to do my 3rd pod cast about Indian cooking since I like it so much. I got the pod cast from the site http://www.podcast.net/show/69631. The host is Suresh. The pod cast is called How to Cook Onion Bhaji. This pod cast is basically showing the steps to make Onion Bhaji. Down below you can see the ingredients and methods of making this dish.

Ingredients to make Bhaji for 2-4 people

* 2 onion sliced
** 10 spoons of ground flour
*** chilly powder (optional)
**** green chilly (optional)
***** 1 spoon of fresh chopped ginger

Method

1. put the flour into the bowl
2. add a pinch of salt
3. add baking spoon (little)
4. add the option stuff
5. mixed it all
6. make into to a batter
7. make the batter into to a ball
8. deep fry to 160 degrees
9. let it rest for a while and eat it hot

This pod cast would even been better if it was a video file because then the audience would have been able to watch it and it would look like a real cooking show.

Pod Cast #2

27/11/06

My second pod cast is on a series called "Ask A Ninja". I got this pod cast from the website http://askaninja.com/taxonomy/term/20/0. This show is basically about people asking this weird guy wearing a ninja costume a question and he answers it. For the pod cast that I watched, the question was that this kid named Brian asks the ninja what's his least favourite way to kill someone.

One thing that I liked about this pod cast is that it was funny and not boring. Also, since it was a audio file, I was able to see the actions that he was doing insead of just listening to the tone of his voice.

One thing that I didn't like about it is that it didn't stay on the topic, the ninja started talking about things that weren't even connected to the topic. To make this show even better they should try to stay on the topic more often. Instead saying his favourite way to kill someone, he kept saying the people or things that he wanted to kill. Even though it was funny, it was also kind of annoying.

Pod Cast #1

27/11/06

After listening to Madeeha’s pod cast, I became interested in Photoshop. So I decided to do my first pod cast on Photoshop. I got my pod cast from the site: http://podcasts.yahoo.com/series?s=ac699f9a5f53f52949b8ec5e26bc3c54. This pod cast is broke up into 2 parts. You find both of the parts on the site listed above. The host of this pod cast is Kent Conklin. The series is called 2 Minute Photoshop Tricks and the episode that I watched is called Aged Photos (Pt. 1). This pod cast tells us the steps to make a new picture look like an old picture. Some of the steps are listed below but again they're just the begenning steps. You have to look at the pod cast for the rest of the steps. It will be a good idea to pause after each step and try them out because they explain really fast.

Steps:

• Open up the image that you want to change from Photoshop
• Go to layer pallet and look at the image layer
• If the layer is locked then unlock it
• You have to make a new layer for the backround
• Go to image, click on canvas size, on the pop menu click on the percent bar
• Make sure that the relative bar is clicked
• Change the width and height to 10 and press o.k
• To fill colour for the backround go to edit and press fill menu
• Click on use and select colour
• Put 0 for H,S box and 95 on B then press o.k

For more steps look at the pod cast.

One thing that I liked about this pod cast is that is goes into details about each of the steps that you must take in order to change a new picture to look like an old aged picture. It's really infomative.

This pod cast would have even been better if it was a video file instead of an audio file. It would have been better because then the audience would have gotten a chance to see the process instead of hearing it. For some people it might of been confusing to listen to the steps.

More And More Pod Cast!!!!!!!!!!!!!

24/11/06

Today we were assignment another pod cast project. The project is to find four pod casts and write about them on our blogs. Ms. Griffiths told us that not to do on the same type of pod cast. So, for example if your last pod cast was on comedy then do this one on entertainment, music, or sports. We have to write at least a paragraph for each of the pod casts that we saw. We got the reminder of the class to find the pod casts. I don't know when this project is due. But I hope it's not due on Tuesday because I have a big geography unit test that's made up of 5 chapters on Tuesday. My geography marks so far are not that great, so I have to study extra hard. Good luck for me on the test.

Continuation of Presentation

22/11/06

Today the people who didn't do the presentation did it. Just like yesterday some of the podcasts couldn't open. I'am not sure if Ms. Griffiths is going to take off marks because including me, alot people's podcast didn't open. I don't think it's a good idea to take off marks. God knows whats going to happen.

Feedback On Presentation

Most of the presentations were good. I think some people need to spend some more time on it. I hope we're done the podcast unit because I hated it. It was pretty easy but it was boring. I really really really want to start a new unit.

Pod cast Project & Presentation

21/11/06

Today the pod cast assignment was due. I was really scared because I didn't know what you're supposed to say in the presentation. But I asked some of my friends and they told me what you're supposed to say on the presentation.

What To Include On The Presentation

• Summary of your pod cast
• What you liked about it
• What you didn't like about it
• You have to show part of your pod cast to your class

After hearing what we were supposed to include on our presentation, I was relieved.

Presentations

After a while, I was asked to go up and present my pod cast. Even though I was nervous, I was also kind of happy because I wanted to get it over with. So I went up and did my presentation. Then came the horrible moment. You might be wondering what the horrible moment was. The horrible moment was that my pod cast didn't open. But I was kind of okay with it because a lot of people's pod cast didn't also work. But I don't know why it didn't work because it worked on my computer.

Working on Pod cast

20/11/06

Today we worked on our pod cast assignment which is due tomorrow. I looked at the site www.podcast.net. Most of the pod cast that are under are not even funny. I don't why they're under the comedy section. That's pretty much all for now. I'm going to go work on my pod cast assignment.

Test

15/11/06

We had our Powerpoint test today. It was easy but I'm pretty sure that I made couple of silly mistakes. Up to me, this test was easier than the last test we've had.

New Assignment

Today we were also assigned a new project. It was something about pod cast. But I'm not really sure what the project is exactly about. Mr. Case said that he's going to explain more about the project the next class. You will be able to find out about what we're expected to complete for the presentation on my next blog entry.

Pod Cast Project & Presentation

17/11/06

Mr. Case explained to us about what we're supposed to do for the project. I not scared any more. I'm relieved.

What you're supposed to do for the project:

• Find a pod cast on any site
• Explain the pod cast to the class
• Say one thing you like about the pod cast
• Say one thing that you didn't like about it
• Show a part of the pod cast to the class
  

Common sites that you can find pod casts

• www.podcast.net
• www.podshow.comi
• Tunes: http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/
  

You don't have to find your pod casts on these sites but they're good sites. Mr. Case said that he wouldn't recommend you to find pod casts on You Tube. Pod cast is not something that people just up load for other people to see, it is something that is updated every week, month, or year.

Podcast

14/11/06

We were also supposed to a blog entry on Podcast. We have to mention what podcast is, and what it does. I'm pretty sure that most of you, including my self don't know what Podcast mean. Don't worry I'll fill your knowledge by telling you what it means. Podast is a multimedia file which you can subscribe over the internet. You can download it to your computer using RSS feed. The idea of a Podcast was suggested in 2000, but the parts that was needed to make this was only available in 2001. In 2003, Podcast was famous and most people knew about it.

Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/podcast
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

Test Postponed Again

14/11/06

Once again the test was postponed to tomorrow. YEAH!!!!!! But the bad news is that we have to study both of the sites that's mentioned in Mr. Case's blog. Each of the sites contain 10 tips each. Instead of just meomorizing them, you should try them out. Because it's kind of fun.You should look at the tips under powerpoint 2000. Down below you can the site's addresses which you were suppossed to look at.

1. http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,1874,2146,00.asp
2. http://www.123ppt.com/powerpoint-tutorials/index.asp

Test Postponed

13/11/06

YEAH! I'm so happy. You might be wondering why. I'm happy because the test was postponed to tomorrow. Today we continued to work on marking other people's interactive presentations. After we were done, on the back of the paper we were supposed to write about the presentation that you liked the best and why. That's basically all we did today. Tomorrow we have the test. The test is going to be based on everything we learned about powerpoint. Such as the types of powerpoint, types of saving powerpoint, and tools that are included in powerpoint. You also have two study the two websites that are included in Mr. Case's blog. The test sounds easy but I' am not sure how it's going to look like. I HOPE IT'S EASY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I REALLY DO!!!!!!!!!

TEST

08/11/06

WE HAVE A TEST ON MONDAY ON POWERPOINT! I DON'T KNOW WHAT EXACTLY TO STUDY BUT I'AM GUESSING "THE POWERPOINT ARCTICLE". BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE WHO'S WRITING THE TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Updating Blog

08/11/06

Today Ms. Griffiths told us that not much people were updating their blog regularly even that's one of the main things you get marked on in Business Tech. She also said that now we only need to update our blogs on day 1 and day 3 which is Monday and Wednesday. Unless Friday is either Day 1 or Day 3. The people who update their blog every day will get extra marks. I want to do that. Also today we marked other people's interactive presentations. There were four different catogeries. Navigation, Creativity/Originality, Technical Expertise, and Effort they put into the project. We were supposed to mark them at a scale of 1 to 5. We are continuing to do this next class.

Two Projects Due Today

07/11/06

Today two of the projects were due. We were supposed to put our projects in the Student Share Folder. But the home drive on the computers weren't there so people couldn't download their work and save it. Only the people who had USB keys were able to submit the work. Good thing, I was one of them. Ms. Griffiths told us that the people with USB keys can submit the work first, then the people who don't have it can borrow a USB key and then submit their own work. That's basically how the class went today.

Working on Projects

06/11/06

Today we got a chance to either work on our project or check out anybody else's Interactive projects. I took a look at other people's projects today. They looked pretty good. The projects are due tomorrow.

Two More Presentations

03/11/06

Today we got two new projects. But they don't look like project, they look fun. I can't wait to get started. The first project is to create an Interactive Presentation of our own. The next project is to create a links page. The links page is basically a page with all the websites that you usually visit every day. You hyperlink them to the site's address. So each time you want to go the website, you can just click on it instead of typing the address each time. Both of those projects are really easy and fun.

Take Your Kids To Work Day

01/11/06

Today there was computer class but I wasn't there. Today was "Take Your Kids To Work Day", I was at my mom's lawyer's office. I did some work there. Even though it was work, it was still fun. The work that I did was connected to computers. How? You may ask. It was connected to computers because I did some typing. I actually got paid. I was so happy. I'm not really sure what the other people did in computer class today, because all of my friends were at "Take Your Kids To Work Day"

Powerpoint Again

31/10/06

Today we learned more great things about Powerpoint.

* Mr. Case also told about the things that really hates about presentaion such as doing animations for each letter and sound affects as your're talking.
** Another thing that you can do powerpoint is save your file as a pps file. Saving as a pps file opens right it to the slide show.
*** If you save your presentation as "Pack and Go" then your fancy letters and slide transitions would still be there even though the computer that your opening your presentation on doesn't have it.

Interactive Presentations

Mr. Case said that by the end of this course we will be creating a portfolio with all of our best works. One of the things that we can put into it is this Interactive Presentation because it is so easy to create and get good marks. Interactive presentation can either be a story or a lesson. But you don't have to be there to present it. This is an easy thing to create. How do we create it? Well, that's a very good question. Basically it's a just a few slide that are linked together. For example on the first slide, you may ask a question and give the audience two options. If they click on it then it takes them to a different slide which tells them more about it. You can do this by going to Action Buttons on the bottom of your window. They'll give you an option of next slide, previous slide or home. You can insert one of those and insert hyperlink to the specific page that you want. That's basically it. Try creating one at home. It's really cool. Trust me.

Reflecting on presentations.........

27/10/06

To be honest I liked MOST of the presentations. I liked the presentations of Heinz, Dole, and Coca-Cola. I'm not saying that I hated all the rest of the presentations. But I think they need some improvements. Some presentations were so colourful that it grabbed attention away from the presenter. Few people were reading right off a piece of paper and others wrote a tone of information on the powerpoint. To improve the presentations, I think that they should put the main facts on the powerpoint and elaborate as you speak. One of my classmate did a question and answer session which was creative. I liked it a lot.

Catching Up & Reflecting On Presentations

27/10/06

Today we had a catching up class. Which means we could work on any of our outstanding assignments or on All The Right Type. Ms. Girffiths also told us that we had to write something we liked about about the presentations and something we learned from it on our blogs. You can find those items on my next blog entry. That's it for now. I'm going to go and work on All The Right Type now.

Still continuing presentations..... ahhhhhhh

25/10/06

Including the people who were absent for Eid, everybody else presented today. Well I did my presentations yesterday. In my opinion me and my friend's presentations were good. I really liked Madeeha's presentation. It was short and sweet. Mr. Case said that copy then paste and changing a few words are still plagiarizing. I liked most of the presentation. One thing that I liked about the presentation is that it was short and sweet. But one thing that I didn't like about the presentation is that a lot of people were reading right of a piece of paper. I think that made a lot of people's mind wander off. We should be starting something new on Friday. At least I hope so. But one of my friend said that one person still need to do their presentation.

Continuation of the Presentations

24/10/06

I presented my project about McDonalds today. Yah! I am so happy that I got it over with. Including me, 7 people presented today. We didn't have any more time for other people to go. So Ms. Griffiths that we will continue the presentations tomorrow. In the beginning of the class when I was going to download my project, my USB didn't work. I got so freaked out. Good thing that I saved another copy in my yahoo mail. Other than that everything else went smoothly. That's about it, we didn't do anything else today. Well, I better pack up now because the bell is about to ring.

Presentations

23/10/06

The projects were actually due today! But since there were a lot of people absent for Eid, Ms. Griffiths and Mr. Case extended it to Tuesday. But they said if we were ready to present then we go head. Three people presented today. We got rest of the class to work on our project. Some people worked on their project and others practiced for their presentation. I was adding some more pictures to my project because I thought it had a lot of words. That's all we did this class.

Test & Project

20/10/06

Today was the big day. For the first part of the class we did the test and then the teacher gave the rest of the class to work on our project which is due on Monday. That's it. I hope I have a good weekend even though I have a ton of homework.

Working on Project

18/10/06

Ms. Griffiths was absent today so we had a supply teacher. We got the end of last class and today's entire class to work on our project. By the end of last class, I have already decided on my brand. The brand that I have chosen is the good old McDonalds because I was pretty sure that you can find a lot of information on McDonalds. Today's class I ended up finishing some facts and history of McDonalds. We also have a test on computer parts and binary numbers next class which is Friday October 20, 2006. So I have to finish the project by today and study for the test. Well that's it for now.

PowerPoint & Project #3

17/10/06

Today in class, Mr. Case thought us a lesson on PowerPoint. He said that it would be better if we use blank presentation to start with instead of using going to design a template. If you go to design a template then everyone would know that you just started using PowerPoint. Today we just learned the basic stuff in PowerPoint. For example making and coloring circles and inserting pictures. After we have learned about PowerPoint, the teacher assigned our project #3. This project isn't as hard as the 1st or 2nd one, this project is quite easy.

Expectation of the PROJECT

Project is supposed to be on a BRAND such as McDonalds, Nike, Reebok, Coca-Cola or Dole

* 4 slides in total
** 3 minutes presentation
*** the audience should be paying attention to you not to your PowerPoint
**** you should know your material
***** you should not be reading of a piece of paper
****** more pictures AND less words
******* not supposed to look at the screen
******* each time you look at the screen, you loose marks
******** you should only put the brief facts on the screen such as dates
********* you should tell the audience rest of the information

Project/ Presentation due: Monday October 23, 2006

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Summaries

17/10/06

Today in class we got time to work on our "Stop death by PowerPoint" article and an article of our choice. By the end of the class the summaries were due. I worked hard getting my summaries done. Not much people got it done though. Well that's all for now.

2nd Article

16/10/06

Title: "BRIDE GROOM SENT TO JAIL FOR DOWRY DEMANDS"

This is an event that took place in India. In India, there are a lot of bad thing happening to girls because their parents didn't give the dowry that the groom's side asked for. First of all, what is a dowry? Well dowry is any money or goods given to the groom by the bride's family. Down below you can read about an incident that took place in India regarding a dowry problem.

The bride's name is Nisha Sharma. She is a 21 year old computer student. On the day of her marriage, everyone from the bride's side said that the dowry was too much. The groom's side asked for two televisions, two home theater systems, two refrigerators, two air conditioners, 1 car, and 25,000 rupees in cash. They wanted all of these items before the marriage happens. Nisha Sharma was 100% sure that this was ridiculous, so picked up her cell phone and called 100. 100 is the emergency police number kind of like 911 in Canada. In couple of minutes after she had called the police, the groom was put in jail for "dowry demands". After that she became the top news. She was in every single news paper. Every girl said that Nisha Sharma was their role model. Nisha said that she have received calls from over 20-25 people that wanted to marry her from cell phones, emails, and letters after hearing the news.

Sources:

http://web.ebscohost.com/src/pdf?vid=31&hid=108&sid=cecd899a-7af3-425d-8ccf-26d1bd2e27e7%40sessionmgr102

Summary of "Stop death by PowerPoint"

16/10/06 PowerPoint might have helped you make colourful presentations but 95% of time it bores the audience to death. I mean think about the time when you have sat on a presentation looking at the pretty colours on the screen. PowerPoint is not the best idea to do presentations. Down below you can see 5 tips on how to improve your next PowerPoint presentation. If you follow these tips, guarantee that you will have a much better presentation. 1. Most of the presentation have a title and some information about the topic under it. But you don't do that because that's what the audience already expects from you. Instead you can change the usual layout of the presentation so it will be unexpected and amusing for the audience to look at. 2. If it's hard for you to memorize the entire presentation, then you can just summarize the main facts instead of reading word for word. You can look at the paper for reference but for the most part look at the audience. 3. You don't have to tell them every single information that collected about your topic. Just tell them the brief and most important facts. That keeps the audience from not being bored. Divide your time wisely for each of the slide. For example if your project is 5 minutes long and you have 10 slides, then it's 30 seconds for each slide. 4. Do not read right off of your powerpoint presentation. Instead write the brief facts on a little paper and talk more about it. Try not to look at the screen instead look at the audience. 5. Listen to what the audience is talking about before your presentation. So you can get an idea of what they're expectations are. For example: How long should the presentation be?, Do they want the speaker to have eye context instead of staring at a piece of paper. Also in the question and answer sessions, it might be a good idea to delete some of the main details on the presentation. So when someone asks about it, you can explain it to them more clearly. Sources: T+D; Mar2006, Vol. 60 Issue 3, p20-22, 2p

Do you know Powerpoint???????

16/10/06

The first part of class we did All The Right Type. Then Mr. Case asked us to come to the middle of the room for a discussion. We discussed about the disadvantages of PowerPoint. Until today a lot of people including myself were thinking that PowerPoint is the best and everything but it has many falling points.

"What's the most important part of a PowerPoint presentation?" Some people said picture, information and others said getting the main point across, and slide transitions. But the main part of the PowerPoint presentation is YOU!

Well some people put all these fancy looking slide transition, and pretty colours on their presentation at home, but the school's computer might not have the same technology so the fancy stuff you did won't open. Then everyone will just laugh at you.

Also the teacher said hotmail attachment won't open at the school's computer because they blocked the window. So your presentation might not open at all but that doesn't matter to you because you already have all of the information in you. That’s why people say that the most important part of the information is YOU.

Finally finished the project....... YAH!!!!!!

13/10/06

Today the project is due!!!!!! I finally finished my project yesterday, and the presentation looks good but I am not sure about the information in it. Well, I handed it to Ms. Griffiths today. Many people emailed their project to Mr. Case but the teacher said that the projects have to be in a printed form. Good thing I printed my project. I am soooooooooooo relieved that now the project is done. Mr. Case said that this project is going to weigh heavily on your first term report card, so I hope I do a good job. Well, we didn't do much this class, some people were finishing their project, some were doing All The Right Type, some working on their blogs, and others just fooled around. I was doing my blog. Well that's all for now. I am going to go and check other people's project now.

Still working on project

10/10/06

I FEEL TERRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!! I was hoping to finish at least 3/4 of the project by the weekend, but I didn't accomplish my goal. I can't believe that the project is due on friday. Because we have soooooooo much work due this week I mean I have math, and science test on thursday. English story due wednesday, french and geography test on friday. The this big project is due on FRIDAY! We only got 1 week to work on it. THAT'S NOT ENOUGH!!!!! This is kind of a hard project.

I DON'T KNOW HOW I' AM GOING TO FINISH THIS PROJECT!!!!!!!!!

Well that's all for now.

Working on project

04/10/06

Today Mr. Case and Ms. Griffiths were absent so we had supply-teacher. The supply-teacher was Ms. Jacobs. Ms. Jacobs also gave us the whole period to work on our project. This class I couldn’t find a computer for one of the clients but I got half way through. I’ll hopefully finish at least half of the project by the end of the long weekend. HOPEFULLY!!!!!!!!!

Working on the project

03/10/06

Today Mr. Case gave us the whole period to work on our gigantic project. This class I checked both the future shop and the tiger direct website. I ended up finding the perfect computer for the third client. In my opinion I liked the tiger direct website better because it was more informative and it gave more choices. But again that’s just my opinion. I hope that the teacher is going to give us some more time to work on the project. Well, that’s all for now.

Computer Project #2

02/10/06

What you're supposed to do:

Basically the point of the project is to pretend like computer consultants and convey the three clients to buy the types of computers that they’re looking for. Down below you can see each of the three client's expectations. All of this information was taken from Mr. Case's blog which is (http://www.g9computes.blogspot.com/). You have to give them a choice of low, medium and high priced computers. You also have to explain to them why this computer would benefit them compare to all the other computers. This in an individual project and it’s due on October 13, 2006.

The clients

Client One: A high school student is looking for a computer to do homework, listen to music and to play games. They don’t have much money.

Client Two: A teacher wants a computer for marking and email. They don’t want to spend much money.

Client Three: “An artist wants a computer for creating video and photographs. They also want to be able to play the latest games and use the internet for VOIP.”

* In order to find information and prices of the computer you have to use either the future shop site (http://www.futureshop.ca/) or tiger direct (www.tigerdirect.ca)

** After you have found information about each of the topics, then using the information you have to prepare a written project with all of the three clients expectations using Microsoft word.

*** Make sure that the project you create is clear, creative, and neat.

**** Remember that the entire project has to be in your own words.

**** Mr. Case said that plagiarism will result 0. Also that you won’t be getting a second chance.

GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Web Site

29/09/06

Today in class Mr. Case gave us a website which really gives us descriptive information and how it works about the each of the computer components.

The Website is:

http://www.kids-online.net/learn/c_n_l.html

* there are four different categories but we're only supposed to use Click-N-Learn Junior and Click-N-Learn Master

If you can't open the website from your computer, then you can go to Mr. Case's blog and go from there

Mr. Case's blog:

g9computes.blogspot.com

CD-ROM

27/09/06

* a CD-ROM is an item which you can store information onto
** just like light bouncing off shiny surfaces, a so called laser inside the CD player bounces off the shiny parts of a CD
*** a CD can hold about 700 mega bytes of data
**** while a DVD can hold up to 4.7 to 8 giga bytes of data
***** both CD and DVD are both of optical media

Three layers of a CD

* shiny layer
** plastic layer
*** metallic layer

^-^ Metallic layer is the part which all the data is stored as a pit
^-^ once again the computer uses binary to read data from the CD
^-^ binary numbers are 0 and 1's, there is a pit then it's 1, and if there's not then it's 0

Scratching a CD

* you should be really careful not to scratch your CD, because when you do that it defuses light
** when it defuses light it makes hard for the computer to read the data stored onto the CD
*** but Mr. Case taught us a way to fix the scratch
***** you can fill in the scratch by rubbing toothpaste on it starting at the middle and doing it outward
****** I don't know if it actually works but I' am going to try it on my brother's CD, so even if it doesn't work I won't really care

ROM

* stands for read-only-memory
** that means you can only read it and cannot write anything on it
*** also means that after you have saved something on it, you can't edit it
**** CD's and DVD's are some of the common examples of ROM

Ways to save data

* CD
** Floppy Disk
*** USB Key

Facts

* When you remove the battery from the motherboard and put it back on, all the settings in the BIOS chip will change (battery in the motherboard is what makes the BIOS work)
** But if you pull the battery off of some of the new PDA's the settings won't change
*** when your CPU becomes really hot, the computer will immediately shut off.
**** so it will be better if you have a fan in your CPU (Central Processing Unit)
***** a hard drive is a magnetical media

Sound Card, Video Card, Modem and MORE

26/09/06

Once again we did some typing, and we went to the table for a lesson. Today in class we learned about Sound Card, Video Card, and Modem.

Modem

* two types: one of them comes in the expansion board, and the other one is connected or fixed externally.
** stands to "Modulator demodulator" which is a funny thing to pronounce
*** allows you to link to the internet
**** in my country my family and relatives used the dial-up connection to connect to the internet

Sound Card

* is what brings the sound from the computer to the speaker
** most computers already have one
*** so most times you don't have to put one in
**** it's connected to the motherboard

Video Card

* it allows the computer to show picture, images, and videos
** just like the sound card, this is also connected to the motherboard
*** the video card is responsible for everything you see in a screen
****you do not need a really good quality video card if you just need a computer for homework

Expansion Slots

Say that your computer doesn't contain a video card or a sound card and you're going to put one in, these are some of the slots that you may need.

1. PCI:
* stands for Peripheral Component Interconnect
2. PCI Express
3. AGP
* stands for Accelerated Graphics Port

BIOS, RAM, Motherboard

25/09/06

First we did some typing, then Mr. Case took us to the table to teach us a lesson about BIOS, RAM, and Motherboard. Down below you can find some major information about each of the topics. Since I already did some blog entries on RAM, you won't be able to find any information about RAM on this entry.

BIOS



* stands for basic input/output system
It's a very important part of the computer. When the computer is on, the BIOS makes sure that every computer component knows what it's supposed to do. Without the BIOS the computer would be nothing.

Motherboard

* Motherboard is one of the main part of the computer.
** Motherboard is where everything is connected.
*** The more items connected to the motherboard the faster it will work.

Down below you can see a brief diagram of the motherboard.

Computer History...... huh????????

22/09/06

COMPUTER HISTORY

You might be wondering what a computer is and when was it invented. Well computer is something that you put information and get information back.
Abacus (the first type of computer) was invented 10 000 years while the digital computer was invented about 100 years ago.

INPUT & OUTPUT DEVICES

Input devices- keyboard, mouse, scanner, camera, graphic tablet
Output devices- monitor, speakers, printer

BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM (Computer's number system) Computers number system consists of two numbers: 0 and 1. 1 means on and 0 means off.

BITS AND BYTES

Every piece of information is a bit.

8 bits= a byte.
1000 bytes= kilobyte
8000 bytes= megabytes
Million bytes= gigabyte
Floppy disk= million and a half bytes
USB Keys= 32 mega bytes
Kilobyte= 1000(rounded up) but 1024 as binary numbers
Terabyte= 1000 gigabyte

Monitor.......... screen right?

20/09/06

As usual we did All The Right Type, but the teacher told us that our files on All The Right Type have been erased due to a problem. After that Mr. Case taught us a lesson about monitors.

MONITORS

* Well monitors are an important part of the computer because it is used to view the items that we put in to the computer.

** There two types of monitors. The first one is CRT and the other one is LCD. CRT stands for Cathode Ray Tube and LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display.

*** Usually when we measure things we either measure from top to bottom or from left to right but for monitors you have to measure diagonally.

**** In LCD monitor, there's liquid in between two glasses. That's why when you press a LCD monitor, the picture on the screen goes all wiggly.

***** If you compare the prices of CRT and LCD monitor then CRT will definitely be cheaper because the CRT monitor is a lot bigger in size than the LCD monitor.

****** Let's say that CRT monitor is 25 inches but when you meausure the screen probably only 20 inches are going to show bacause the rest of the glass is behind the frame.

Well I hope you learned some great information about the monitor because I sure did. If you have any questions or doubts then just mention it in the comment box and I will be glad to clear it.

PRESENTATIONS

20/09/06

On 19/09/06 and 20/09/06 we did our presentations on our computer component projects. Down below you can see some of the topics that people presented.

TOPICS

* Sound Card
* RAM
* CPU
* Memory Disk
* Keyboard
* Mouse
* Monitor (Mr. Case did this one)

INTRESTING FACTS

18/09/06

* when the computer is turned off all the data that is stored in the RAM is lost.
* Some of the new developed chips are designed to hang on some of the information even when the computer is turned off.

CREDITS

* http://computer.howstuffworks.com/ram.htm
* http://www.ramprocess.com/Articles/history.htm
* http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/R/RAM.html
* Book:
* Title: How Computers Work
* Author: Ron White (pg.31-35)

Writing data to RAM

15/09/06

* When you read the information that is stored in the RAM once again the electrical pulse goes through the address line which closes the transistor that are connected to it.
* In the address line there is a capacitor that contains the electric pulse which will be discharged when the transistors are closed.
* The software can tell which data line the pulse came from. Based on that a pulse that runs on the data line is known as 1.

HISTORY OF RAM

* RAM was invented in by Keith Blackburn and Richard Steel in 1940.
* Both engineering graduates from Ohio State University.
* Keith Blackburn continued to make the press for RAM until he retired in 1979.
* RAM Products, Inc. was organized in 1979.

How does RAM work?

13/09/06

HOW DOES RAM WORK?

* Doesn't matter the type of PC you have for when it comes to a PC data exists only as binary numbers meaning o and 1.
* For a computer binary numbers would be its language for even the most powerful and biggest computer is nothing but a bunch of switches with out binary numbers.
* Each key you hit has a code.
* When you hit a key the computer accesses a certain code that allows you to view the key you desire.
*Example:
* A has the decimal code number of 65.
* B:66 C:67 and so on.

WRITING DATA TO RAM

* Software and operating system sends a lot of electric pulse through the address line where it decides where to record data within many address lines in the RAM.
* In each memory location the electricity turns on the transistor ( which is a tiny electrical switch) that's connected to the data line.
* Transistor needs to be on, in order for the electrical pulse to pass and get to the capacitor.
When it reaches the capacitor, it gets stored and capacitor gets charged. The capacitor represents one bit. When the capacitor is charges it equals 1 but when it is not charges it equals 0.

What is RAM?.............. huh?

12/09/06

Today the class got an opportunity to work on our computer component project. Down below you can see all the research me, Basant and Monjoini did today.

WHAT IS RAM?

* stands for “Random Access Memory”
* Type of computer memory
* Best recommended
* Accessed randomly
* Most common type found in many computers.

Types of RAM

* DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) which is the most common form of energy memory. In the DRAM there is a combination of the transistor and the capacitor, which creates the memory cell. The transistor is designed like the switch that’s controls and allows the circuitry on the memory chip to read or change the capacitor (which stores electrical energy.)

* SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) The static Ram is faster and more expensive then the dynamic Ram. Static ram is used to create the CPU’s cache function faster, while on the other hand the dynamic Ram can store more space.

Static Ram is a lot faster than Dynamic Random Access memory, but is a lot more expensive.

Hardware and Software

11/09/06

DEFINITIONS

Hardware: Any part of the computer that you can touch. Ex: Floppy Disk

Software: Any part of the computer that you can't touch. Ex: Programs (Microsoft Word)

COMPUTER COMPONENT PROJECT

Today in class, the teacher assigned us our first project which is a group project. The basic idea of the project is to teach the basic ideas of a computer part to the class. The teacher will first assign a computer part, for that you have a chioce of picking easy part or a hard part. If you pick a hard part then you will recieve more marks. To present the project, you have a chioce of doing a powerpoint presentation. The project is due on Tuesday September 19,2005

Emails....... YAHOO, HOTMAIL AND MORE........

08/09/06

Today in business computers, we learned about the features in email. Some examples can be Cc, and Bcc.

First of all I'm going to tell you what these symbols mean, then I’ll you what they do. Cc means carbon copy, and Bcc means blind carbon copy.

These are just some of the main ones; there are many more features in emails. For example subject, attachment files, junk mail, compose and many more.

The Cc button sends copy of the email you're getting to a different person at the same time as you. While the Bcc button sends the copy of the email you're getting to a different person without you knowing it.

You might be wondering what subject and compose mean. Compose means to type and send email. Subject is just the title of your email.

By the way, there’s also forward mail and it means to send the mail you got to a different person.

These are just some of the main features in emails. You could easily get an email address without even spending a penny.

Who am I??????....... Just wondering.......

06/09/06

ABOUT MY SELF

Hi! My name is Bavithra Rajendran. I am 14 years old. I was born in Sri Lanka on April 6th 1992. My dad's name is Rajendran, and mom's name is Uma. I have one older brother.

My all time favourite movies are "Back to the future" and "Harry Potter." My favourite subjects are math, science and computer.

I love making friends. Lucy is my best friend, and my some of my other friends are Ashlee, Ritika, Jyoti, and Basant.

One of my favourite hobbies is watching TV. Some of my favourite TV shows are Friends, Passions, and Spongebob Squarepants. I also really enjoy exploring the internet, go shopping, talking on the phone, reading and hanging out with my friends.

Like some people, I hate doing chores, homework and getting disturbed when I’m doing something really important.

By the way I love little kids and petting animals. My most favourite animals are dogs, hamsters, rabbits, and fish. I most certainly hate cats, and birds. I just can't stand these animals.

I can play the keyboard and the flute. My ambition and goal is to become a doctor. I love to learn new things and I always have a positive attitude towards learning. So this is just some brief facts about me, don’t worry there’s a lot more.