Week 10: Database/Clear

Everyone works with data and information. Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with information, either from work or school, that it becomes unorganized. Databases are a good way to organize that information.

A database is an organized collection of related information. It provides functionality, so one can add, delete, find, sort, limit access, control formatting, validate, compare, convert, collect, or even distribute data.  A database management system (DBMS), programs to manage the database. The data stored in the database is separate from the management tools. 

Image taken from www.blurtit.com/q8258852.html

A database is useful for the business world. Businesses have tons of information that may be hard to keep track of. Databases will organize and manage information in a structured and controlled manner. This will keep the business running smoothly and professionally. 

Here is a link to a blog that will explain the benefits of a database and the difference between DBMS and a database: http://www.blurtit.com/q8258852.html

Web 2.0 presentation/project-Girl Effect

http://www.slideboom.com/presentations/225508/Girl-Effect 


Web 2.0 presentation project has taught me how to create successful presentations for school and for my career. There are many tools to take away from this assignment. The link above will take you to a the presentation I created about a non-profit organization, Girl Effect, which helps adolescent girls stay in school and create a better life for them and their families.

After watching my presentation many times and critiquing myself, I believe the project had an excellent logical flow and sequence of content. I answered questions that viewers would have anticipated. I did an excellent job at grabbing the viewers attention in the first 30-60 seconds, by showing an inspiring video. I could have done better about asking questions to spark the viewers curiosity. I set the context with concise explanation and it was clear what I was trying to share with the audience.  I did a good job at clearing up any questions that the audience might have had. I avoided clutter by putting limited text and only one photo per page. I did not just read what was on the slides, but explained in depth each bullet point, that viewers would listen to. By avoiding clutter, I ensured that the audience was able to read the slides thoroughly before moving on to the next point or slide.

One of the tools learned from this project is not to clutter a presentation. Another tool, is to elaborate beyond what is written on the slides. Add enthusiasm and explain in depth each point and the interesting facts. Grabbing the audience's attention in the first 30-60 seconds is crucial to keeping them engaged throughout the entire presentation. As an advertising major, I will use these tips to create presentations to show ideas to clients. These tools will result in effective and powerful presentations.

Weel 9: Clear/ Internet vs. the Web

Many people use the Internet and the Web interchangeably; the truth is, they are two separate things. I have done this many times in school papers and previous blog posts. It was good to learn that these two things, were in fact, not the same.

Image is taken from notarealdoman.com

 The Internet connects computers together all over the globe, this forms a network that allows one computer to communicate with any other computer, as long as they are connected to the Internet.

The World Wide Web (WWW) is a way to recover information over a medium of the Internet. The Web uses HTTP protocol (one of the languages spoken over the Internet to transmit data) to allow users to exchange and share information. Browers are used to access Web pages. For example,  Firefox is one browser out of many.

The graphic is taken from clipartof.com

The Internet and the Web are useful tools to the business world. Businesses are able to expand their companies globally with the connection of the Internet. The WWW allows them to research data for their client and for their business. It also allows them to gain information on the competition in that particular industry. The Internet and the WWW are important for the business world, helping them succeed and grow stronger. Without the Internet and the WWW, I feel our economy and the business world would not be as advanced as we are today.

The link below will explain the differences of the Internet and the WWW.
http://internet.linkular.com/other/internet-vs-www/  

Extra Credit/ Creating an Avatar

Creating an avatar sounds difficult, but once you have found the right tools, it's actually very simple. There are many Web sites to choose from that will help you create your very own avatar. One in particular is: http://www.buildyourwildself.com/. This Web site allows you create your own avatar with animal parts. I chose to create an avatar that looked like me and included my favorite animal, a shark.

This assignment was very interesting and fun to learn about. I now know how to create an avatar, something that will be very useful for the business world. This can assist with building Web sites, and brand recognition for your company.

Here you can see the avatar I created!

Week 7: Clear/ "Takahashi Method"

Up until these lectures, I thought I had presentations under control. As an advertising major I will have to present many ideas to future employees and companies. Through this lesson I was able to understand what I am doing wrong and how to fix my presentations. I was putting too much information on my slides, whereas one should really put at least as possible. The "Takahashi Method" really stood out to me. When there is less on the slides, one is able to read it, then pay attention to the speaker. Even though the idea of having all eyes and ears on you is a scary thought, it will help you to become a better speaker.

"Living large: "Takahashi Method" uses king-sized text as a visual," is an article written in a Japanese newspaper about Mr. Masayoshi Takahashi. He uses short words instead of complicated words or phrases, although the interesting part about his presentations is that all the text is BIG. This method gives the audience a clear message in a shorter amount of time. It helps people remember and understand Mr. Masayoshi Takahashi's presentation.

This method is very useful within the business world. By using the "Takahashi Method," businesses and employees will become more interested in presentations and more appreciative of presenters. As someone going into the business world, I feel that this technique will give me confidence in gaining the respect of employers and colleagues as young professional.

Below is the link to the article which will show what Mr. Masayoshi Takahashi's slides look like. It will also provide tips to why his presentation style works best:
http://presentationzen.blogs.com/presentationzen/2005/09/living_large_ta.html

Here is another link that shows a simple yet powerful presentation.  Girl Effect uses this presentation to share a meaningful message with others. The video shows how we can help young girls raise the standard of living not only for themselves but for their families as well. I encourage you to visit the Web site and see how effective this message is. It shows that fewer words can mean more!
http://www.girleffect.org/video

Excel Project

The Excel Project was to do a variety of analyses for a particular workout for our fitness center that we work at. The center’s owner collected data from 500 subjects. The data consisted of the subject’s starting heart rate. Their starting heart rate was measured each minute through a 15-minute workout, and continued to be measured each minute during a 5-minute cool down. We were provided with an Excel spreadsheet that contained the raw data for the 500 subjects, which included their age, sex, and 21 heart rate measurements, starting from time 0:00 to time 20:00. To accomplish these analyses, we are to work in the Excel program and complete different steps, where we will learn how to use tools within Excel.

Excel is tricky software to get the hang of. There are so many specific details that one must learn to be able to successfully use Excel. This project has taught me tools for my future career that is essential for the business world. Three tools in particular that I learned through this project were formulas, pivot tables and printing excel documents. 

Formulas are something that I never used before the Excel project. This tool is very useful for applying a mathematical equation to large amounts of data. Every formula must start with an = sign. After typing in your formula Excel using PEMDAS (please excuse my dear aunt sally) to solve the equation. One can also copy and paste this formula to different columns, same formula different data and answer. 

Another tool that I learned that will be very useful for my career is a pivot table. To create a pivot table one must click the pivot table and pivot chart wizard. To configure a pivot table, to give you a "count" of items instead of a sum, double click the field button on the Pivot Table, under Summarize By, select count, and then click OK. Also an important tool to learn working with Pivot Tables is setting the number format of data in a Pivot Table. To do this click a cell in the data area. On the PivotTable toolbar, click Field Settings. Click Number. In the Category list, click the format category you want. Select the options you want for the format, and then click OK twice. If the report has more than one data field, repeat these steps for each one. Below is the pivot table I created for the Excel Project, which shows the average of percent increase in heart rate for males and females of different ages.

Printing Excel documents may be common sense to some, but took me a few minutes to get the hang of every part of successfully printing the document. One lesson in particular that I learned with printing Excel documents were to automatically scale a printout to fit within a certain number of pages wide. I also learned how to print on the top of every page the display of the set of column headings. This is very handy for lengthy documents consisting of multiple pages.