Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:30:47 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/ Scorched Silicon en-us http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/images/logo.gif http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/ matthewp@southern.wvnet.edu http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1251.html OMG longest XP install ever! We managed to take 2 hours and 15 minutes to get a working copy of windows xp installed and then attempt the service pack install. Folks you had better start practicing this kind of thing at home. I was going to lecture from chapter 12 but seeing as the install took so long we ran out of time. Next week it looks like will be a lecture week. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:30:47 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1250.html To give everyone a little more practice with using variables and basic math operations I assigned the infamous hot rod calculator! Just keep it simple guys. You can follow what I have done with my handout program or if you're feelin' froggy go ahead and create your own design. Just make sure it is functional. Also take note of my Try and Catch procedure. If you use this method any errors generated will exit gracefully and not wreck the program. We are going to use this method from now on to prevent failure. See if you can have the calculator done by Tues. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:23:05 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1249.html Yay we manged to get through the worst of the book and come out unscathed! I finished up the remaining parts of chapter 3 and for 4 I just could not find myself lecturing on it. It puts everyone to sleep, so I found videos! Yay for videos. YouTube is great when it comes to teaching about network packets, because there are just so many cool animations and informative videos. There are just a few things I would like to finish on the chapter so I'm not calling it quite done.We will move on to a little bit more social networking in the next class and for Thursday of next week there will be a test on chapters 1-3. Use your Blackboard question sets for the study guide. Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:02:20 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1248.html So I finally got my videos organized and put up on Youtube and entered into Blackboard. I'm going to try and continue doing this as best I can. We covered the free transform tool, healing brush and spot healing brush more in depth. To help you with getting the angle right when placing one picture into another I also posted a video on using the vanishing point filter in conjunction with the free transform tool. Remember to post your pics to Google Docs Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:51:21 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1247.html So I've decided to skip around a bit from last semester and begin media days a little early. I may have a media day about every other class just to mix things up. We hit Pandora first which most folks knew about. Then we learned about Grooveshark, and Slacker Radio. Those are by far the best! Lastly we checked out Live365.com and Shoutcast radio. For homework I want you to blog about each site. Give a brief review of them. What are the pluses and minuses of each. Do they offer any paid services? Throw in a few pictures here and there to spice up your review. Also see if you can find a local radio station or two online. Who are they and what does their site offer? Sun, 05 Feb 2012 12:36:57 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1246.html Arrrgg shiver me processor we be download'n youtube videos! Lots and lots to lecture on this evening. We went over a ton of tools. Instead of just giving a long winded blog entry I'm just going to list what tools we covered. Handbrake - 2 versions Saving Videos off Youtube and Hulu using Stream Transport Converting videos and audio using SUPER Ripping CD's to mp3 with CDex and the CDDB online cd database Installing and using AnyDVD (for research/class purposes only!) We spent a majority of time talking about codecs The major event of the evening was making our audio sound better using The Levelator in conjunction with Camtasia. There is so much more that I wanted to cover but we just ran out of time. Next class we will watch your first videos. For homework I want you to be gathering the raw video and music for your next assignment, a music video. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:45:24 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1245.html I only lectured for about half the class today. I talked about option explicit and option strict. I also showed you how a radio button and a check box works. Remember when you group controls that if you don't want the border line around the group you have to use the panel tool. For the rest of the class and for homework I had you do the project from the text file on the z: drive. In class anyone forgot it, here it is: Based upon in class exercises that we have been doing. This is a shopping cart type of system. You are to have 6 items of your choice listed. Users can input prices into text boxes beside the item. You are to calculate subtotal, tax (6%), be able to give a discount, the total and display the output to the screen. I also want you to be able to change the color of the answer. To do so just add a few radio buttons to give the user color choices. Bonus: Input the user name and then once the purchase has been made you are to use a msgbox command to thank them. Their name is to be used in the msgbox. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:36:31 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1244.html Ahh the gaming trend continues in my classroom today with the networking game. I know it isn't the most fun but I want you to take away from the experience how a packet is formed and addressed and moved around the network. I think fro all the laughing going on at least you had a good time if nothing else. We will finish up chapter 3 and begin 4 next class. Begin working on chapter 3 and 4 questions online. We will have a test on chapters 1,2,and 3 next Thursday. No study guide. Use your online questions. Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:28:57 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1243.html Here is your work for this week. It will be due next Tues. Read Chapter 2 Work though chapter 2 questions on Blackboard Case Project 2-5 from the end of the chapter And as a special treat I want you to research the recent case of MegaUpload/MegaVideo/all of the other sites they ran. Who are they? What did they do? Who is Kim Dotcom? Research this and give me some facts. What is your opinion on what is going down? Remember to give me the links as to where you got your data from. This should easily be a full page but no less (there is A LOT of material on this case + some of your opinion). Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:23:35 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1242.html Wow there was a whole lot of zombie killin' going on in our classroom today. At first I didn't think we were even going to get to play. Please make it a point to be on time. :) I'm a much happier camper when I don't have to wait or explain myself multiple times. That being said I'm very impressed by both teams' games. You all put a lot of effort into them and I couldn't be happier. For homework I want a blog entry out of you. Blog about your gaming experience. What could you have done better? What did you think of the game that your team created? What did you think of the other team's game after playing it? What changes could you suggest? Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:20:47 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1241.html Tonight we got Virtual Box up and running and installed a fresh copy of Windows 7 Fire Edition. You gotta love custom roms. It has some sweet tweaks and some that I think kinda suck. None the less the added functionality is awesome. For homework I want you to research the new features in Windows 8 including the new file system that it will offer. Focus on how the OS integrates devices such as tablets/phones/normal pc's/etc. What are we to expect from the beta due out in Feb? Send me the word doc in an email. Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:43:31 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1240.html Today we went back over what variables are, as if you couldn't guess from math class. I showed everyone how to output data to a label and then how to read in data from a text box. Remember you must DIM your variable the correct way otherwise it will be like mixing apples and oranges. Don't forget to get the couple of images off the z: drive. One is your assignment and the other is a list of data types. For homework you are to do page 100 #1 in the book and 2.1 from the hand out. Just make 2 separate folders and we will turn both in on Tues. Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:39:56 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1239.html Well since the female contingent of our class decided not to show up we watched a video on Facebook. It was a BBC story that aired in Dec of 2011 called Inside Facebook. It showed a glimpse of how Facebook works and even a few of the problems that can be had with social networking. For homework I want you to write at least a 2 page paper on the benefits and pitfalls of social networking when using sites such as Facebook. I don't want you to recycle last semester's paper on the similar subject. I want you to really do some research on this topic. Give me some stats and facts. I don't want a lot of opinion on this. List where you got your information from at the end of your paper. Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:11:13 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1238.html Yay! The train is back on its tracks. I finished up the few odds and ends that didn't get taken care of on the first day of class and we went over the material for this week. We made things disappear (groundhog and a dog, and we made things go fast (key word fast - not falling from the sky or breaking the speed of light). Remember subtly is key. We want things to look natural and not like they were cut out with scissors and pasted into place. For this coming week we will have the following due: Assignment #1: Extract the 4 wheeler Move the food away from the bowl Move the fruits away from each other Assignment #2: Remove the fence from behind the giraffe Perspective crop a photo Motion blur a car, truck, or other object Select the jigsaw pieces and arrange them PS Contest #1 Slow Girl Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:05:11 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1237.html Nice to see the majority of the class show up! Easy day today with everyone making awesome progress on their games. They are looking great guys! We will swap games between teams on Tues and check out the play-ability. Sun, 29 Jan 2012 22:04:57 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1236.html Yay! More on Creative Commons. This was a refresher for some and new to others, but I like to go over it because I feel it is so useful. We spent the rest of the night learning about Camtasia Studio. I know it isn't Elements 10, but like I said in the first class you use a lot of tools in editing video not just one. Camtasia gives you a taste of what is to come since it is such an easy editor to use. For next class I want the following: 2 minute video on showing me how to do something on the computer using Camtasia as the editor. This is a very open assignment so just about anything goes. I don't care what format you turn it in as. Answer the following: 1) What do you think about CC now that you have heard about it? 2)How might CC affect you in some way? 3)Would you license any of your work under CC? Why or why not? 4)Which license would you use if you had to release a work and why? 5) Find 5 CC sites for Music/Sound effects, 3 CC video sites, and 3 CC photo sites. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:57:30 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1235.html I spoke at length about how to put remarks in your code. I also gave you a document that gives you some guidelines to go by when writing your programs. From now on I want you to put in that little remarks header that I gave you so it will identify the programmer, what the code does, and when it got written. We then talked about tab index and proper use of controls when coding. The visible property was also demonstrated as well as the picture box control. For homework I want you to do exercise 2.2 1-24 for next class. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:57:24 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1234.html I get carried away in the moment sometimes when lecturing. :) I managed to get though chapter 2 and the majority of 3. Chapter 2 was on the OSI model which is a bit dry and boring. At least chapter 3 was enough to make me forget what time it was and I just kept on blabbing. Here is what you are to have done by Tues. Project 1-4 Find a networking job. Remember I want them as close to home as possible. Turn in the 15 questions in the doc file that I put on the z: drive. You are to knock out question sets for chapters 1 & 2 in Blackboard. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:56:54 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1233.html No class meeting today. Your work for the week is as follows. Read the 1st chapter in the book. Login to Blackboard and finish the question set for chapter 1. You will get 2 attempts, unlimited time, highest score counts. Send the following in a word document to my email by next class: From the book: Project 1-3. You only have to answer #17 & 18. From the book: Case Project 1-5. You are to use the given sites to find at least 5 network security jobs. I want this info for each: Job Title: Job Location: URL Link: Brief Job Description: Check out securitytube.net ; Find a video that interests you and send me the link and a brief summary of the video. Lastly: Answer this: Who/What is the group Anonymous? What is their agenda? Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:55:57 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1232.html After spending just a little bit of time on Blogger I broke the class into 2 groups and let everyone have the rest of the hour to begin planning out their games. It looks like we are short on people so if more show up I will assign them a group to join in. Thursday we will spend the entire time working on the games. Hopefully by the end of the class you have a rough draft that might even be playable. Remember to use Google Docs in order to collaborate. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:55:48 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1231.html I'll update first thing in the morning. I've had a heck of a day. Between physical therapy, trying to get the washing machine fixed, and then rearranging everything in my kitchen I haven't hardy had time to catch up. I'll get updated before class tomorrow. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:10:26 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1230.html Click the link for a good laugh! We picked up right where we left off last semester with a pre-test and then a lecture on printers. We hit the lab (which is going to need some work) and I hope everyone got a little better idea of how a laser printer actually prints. For your running homework assignment that will be due every class from now on I want a 1-2 page (1 minimum) magazine article style review of a piece of software or online storage/tool. I want a few screen shots in there as well. I want well written, complete thoughts. You will need to install and evaluate the software not just give me some copy of a BS review you read somewhere. I will have more online question sets up asap and will let you know when they will be due. Please check your Blackboard to see if the IT180 class is still open since I extended the dates on it. Everyone should still be in there and be able to view the assignments. Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:47:53 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1229.html Man PB&J's are good. I'm hungry just thinking about it now. I used the making of a sandwich as a representation of the top down methodology that you must think in, in order to code. Once you start learning to think this way your coding will become much easier. I showed everyone the best way of saving their work. REMEMBER there is no good reason why you are messing with the file structure of what was saved. Do not go back and try and rename things on your own. If you do the compiler will not know where to look for important stuff....like your homework. Set it and forget it. With that out of the way we tried out the hello world project. For homework I want you to create a project that tells me hello in 6 different languages, has a clear label button, and a way to exit the program other than using the X in the upper right hand corner. Do not try and turn this in via email. I will collect it from you on Tues. Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:34:43 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1228.html Now we are getting down to business. We had to get some of the boring stuff out of the way first so I lectured on chapter 1. Mostly just definitions but they take a while and yes you have to know them. I will have questions setup online this weekend and will let you know which ones to do on tues, so for now the only homework are the 15 questions that I placed on the z: drive in the doc file. Hoave those emailed to me by next class. Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:24:47 -0500 http://www.scorchedsilicon.com/Article1227.html YES! One of my all time favorite classes to teach, Photoshop! This time around we will be doing a hybrid version of the class so most of everything will be online. We did a little meet and greet along with going over the syllabus and getting everyone signed up to Gmail. I have the Photoshop CS5 Extended trial edition on the z: drive however you can download it directly from Adobe if you didn't get a copy of it today. We had just enough time to not get through everything. :( So I will get videos and links up asap and email everyone. As I write this it is Sunday night. I am hoping that all of my work will be complete by Monday morning. No worries about getting things turned in. I will always give everyone enough time. Online classes are usually a little slow to get started anyway as there is soooooo much to do to get them prepped. Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:12:39 -0500