Excel Project

When I first sat down and read through the 5 full pages of instructions it was a bit daunting thinking about starting this project. After re-watching the Excel lectures and opening up my Excel Bible I was ready to jump in head first and to my surprise this project was really fun and educational. The two steps which I think I learned the most from, and will use most in work life, were the use of formulas and the use of pivot tables.
Working with the formula functions while completing this project gave me a glimpse into the endless amount of formulas Excel has to offer. I was very surprised to learn that the formulas are not difficult to use. After playing around with manually entering the formulas, I met my new best friend; the formula wizard in the task bar. This made the formula process very simple and almost error proof.

In addition to the formulas, I also learned a great deal about the PivotTables. This is a feature I have never heard about prior to this class. Once I was able to grasp which data fields to drag where, it really was an easy task. This is a function which I feel will be used a great deal in my professional life. It really simplified the process of analyzing large amounts of data.

In my opinion this has been a very useful project which I think will carry over to my professional career. Thanks for making it fun.

Week 9 - Clear

This week we focused on Excel, which is a program that has always fascinated me. To me it is mind boggling to think about all of the different functions which are available within the software. The part of the discussions which I was able to grasp the best was Pivot Tables. Pivot Tables is a great function which allows the user to select a large group of data and import it into specialized tables. This allows the user to analyze data very quickly and with very little effort.

Pivot tables would be very useful for businesses because it would allow them to sort large amounts of data down to a very specific report. This would allow them to focus on certain areas of the business and to know how to improve  with out commiting large amounts of time. In addition it helps reduce errors which could be made when trying to manually input formulas.

Microsoft Office website has some good tutorials on how to use Pivot Tables. One which I found very helpful is PivotTable Reports 101 located at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA010346321033.aspx . In addition to the written version, I also found a video tutorial of PivotTable Reports 101 which I have attached for your viewing pleasure.

Excel 2003 Pivot Table 101 - Click here for more amazing videos

Week 7: Clear

This week we learned about chapter 8 Operating Systems and Utility Programs. The topic which I found to me most useful was the section on Disk Utilities. Prior to watching this lecture I had heard about Disk Defragmentation but I did not understand how files were stored on the disk and the impact this could have on the performance of the computer. I know know how to perform a defrag and allow my system to run smoother.

I believe that Operating Systems and Utility Programs are important in the business environment because computers are the life blood of business. By having a basic understanding of how the ststems work and the maintenace required to keep them running smoothly, a business will be able to avoid unnecessary down time.

While doing additional research on this topic I came across a video which shows how to perform a defrag on your computers drive. Please view the attached video for a detailed explaination.


How to Defrag a Computer -- powered by eHow.com

Second Life Extra Credit

I have heard many things about Second Life but never in my wildest dreams would I have been able to truly comprehend the magnitude of Second Life. As my first experience using a virtual world environment, it was almost overwhelming. After playing around for a while, I was able to begin navigating this vast virtual world and discovering all that it has to offer. One thing I was surprised to encounter was the number of people I met who were using the software as part of a college course requirement, both undergrad and graduate level. My first day I think I met 3 different people at Orientation Island. Of all the place I visited, I think my favorite was Costa Rica. I really enjoyed wondering the ocean, exploring the island, and just hanging around in the hammock (as you can see from my screen shot). If I were to offer any advice to future users, I will tell them that the easiest way I found to walk around is to click and hold the forward arrow then just move the mouse in the direction you wish to move. It took me awhile to figure this out but it is much easier than click each arrow individually. All in all I found Second Life to be very entertaining, but I can certainly see how people could easily become engulfed in this virtual world.

Avatar

This was really a fun process creating an Avatar. I tried a few different programs but ended up using TizMe. Before deciding on TizMe, I also tried SimpsonizeMe but the service was unavailable at the time I tried it. Face Your Manga was another software I tried but I did not like that it gave me a warning message that once I submited it I was unable to change it. All things considered I think I will use this sort of software again.

Week 6: Clear

This week I really enjoyed learning about The Processor. Before watching this lecture I was unaware of all the items inside of the processor and how each piece contrubuted to the process. I must admit that I was one of those people who thought the the speed of a computer was determined clock speed, although prior to watching this it was not clock speed to me but mearly a number. In addition to the closk speed I found the multicore processors to be very interesting, the video did a great job of visualizing the process.

This information will be extremely useful in the business world. It will allow me to make an educated decision about when it is time to consider replacing systems and what the best units to purchase are. The process of how to pick a system is valuable information.

While researching the processor, I came across an article published by Computer Shooper which explains the clock speed, cache, bus speed, etc. This article can be located at http://computershopper.com/feature/cpu-cache-clock-speed-and-bus-explained

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV6CReLELwU

Web 2.0 Project

At the beginning of the semester I read through the instructions for this project and I must admit that I thought is was going to be a quick project to be completed one evening after work. That statement could not have been more false once I began. Initially this project had me very confused, I really had no idea where to start. This lead to massive procrastination on my part. Eventually, after reading pages of posts on the discussion boards, I was able to muster up the courage to begin. Once I got rolling I really enjoyed this project and using the software to create a montage.

I chose to use One True Media for my Web 2.0 tool and found it to be very user friendly. I feel that this skill will come in handy, both in the work environment and in my personal life. In fact after sharing it with my family I have been officially nominated to document all future vacations and events. This software also holds a place in the corporate world as it could really help demonstrate and personalize a product or service.

For my interaction method I chose to use the comments section and embed a poll. Please feel free to leave comments and complete the poll so that I am able to improve on my Web 2.0 skills.

I received very positive feedback from my peers. They all seem to think the story flowed nicely and made them want to go back to the keys. Thank you to everyone who left comments.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Week 5 - Clear

This week I really enjoyed learning all about the different hardware associated with computers. The piece which I found most interesting was the Voice Input. Wow is this cool, I never thought that in my lifetime we would see software that is able to recognize your voice and translate it to the computer. It was fascinating to watch the Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 video and seeing all of the different functions associated with this advanced program.

This software would be extremely useful in the business world. It would virtually eliminate the need for dictation machines and free up the time of the person responsible for transposing the information. I also feel that the hands free capabilities would allow for more efficient work time.

While doing additional research on this topic I came across a valuable website located at http://www.cforat.org/assistive_technology_information/voice_input.htm. This website did a great job of describing other uses for this advanced software such as handicapped individuals.