PowerPoint

“Nearly all engineering presentations at NASA are made in PowerPoint.” This adds a new dimension to my conception of PowerPoint as a useful presentation tool. However, as Tufte argues, PowerPoint is still not a very serious tool. It is basically a dumbed-down, idiot-proof presentation software for those with little technical skills. PowerPoint is not appropriate for engineering and scientific communication.

Power Point still has potential to be a useful tool, but it is so often misused. A presentation aid, such as PowerPoint, is not meant to provide the entire presentation. It is meant to guide the presenter through a complex discussion with multiple dimensions of critical thinking, and to highlight key points and ideas.

I was always taught the 3-7 rule. This requires that on any one PowerPoint slide, there are either 3 lines of text with 7 words each, or 7 lines with 3 words each. This keeps things simple and does not bog the viewer down with too much reading. Viewers of a presentation are supposed to be engaged in a topic, not reading it off of a screen.

Hurricanes

Global warming, regardless of its causes, will certainly have an effect on the intensity and frequency of hurricanes. As others argue that global warming prduces dangers beyond number, the effect on hurricanes is unknown. Scientists debate this today, whether global warming will add to the disastrous nature of hurricanes, or even eliminate their existence. Very few knowledgeable thinkers claim that global warming has no effect on hurricanes, but their views are easily refuted by simple observation of recent weather happenings. This topic is important to many scientists as they seek to gain further understanding about global warming in general, and to the people who have been or will be affected by hurricanes. Certainly no one located near the University of Miami can ignore the possibility of a change in hurricanes.

Annotation

http://www.georgieproject.com/new/updates/updates.html

This site is the main page for the Georgie Project, a research initiative dealing with the genetic makeup of Portugese Water Dogs. This research is the foundation for many of the advances in understanding related to the differing size of canines. It is possible to study the genes of the water dogs because the entire breed spawned from just a few original pets not too long ago, which limits the number of genetic variations between the different dogs.

This site is full of information and the main portal to the research of a very powerfl study in today's scientific world. However, the website is not very user friendly and the design impedes its overall effectiveness. The same information and links could be presented in a much more impactful way with the help of some one versed in website architecture and design. The improvement of the site would be a reasonable and important investment to help produce more interest in the project.

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Audio Engineering 101

Audio Engineering Discussion

Audio engineering is a branch of electrical engineering that seeks to connect the world of music with the technology used to capture and reproduce it. Graduates of such a degree are trained to be knowledgeable, and therefore valuable industry professionals. Combining theoretical knowledge with real-world skills, audio engineers bridge the gap between professional musician and those who design their equipment. They are especially well-versed in all technical aspects of music production, from recording and digital audio to acoustics.

Peter Siegmann, fellow classmate and aspiring audio engineer, recognizes the benefits of thoroughly understanding multiple aspects of music production. Because of this appreciation for what he will learn as an audio engineer, Peter decided to first work toward this degree, before pursuing his true passion for music engineering. Music engineering is much more focused on the musical aspect of production than audio engineering, but still study the software and hardware design of audio components in detail.

As a professional, Peter hopes to work in a studio, possibly for SONY, a current media giant. SONY, along with the entire music industry is constantly growing and adapting as the public’s taste in music continuous to change. Also, thanks to audio engineers such as Peter, the technology used in the music industry is being continuously advanced.

For instance, headphone technology has made significant leaps in recent years. One of the most widely discussed advances is the ability to proactively cancel out background noise. BOSE has the leader in marketing such headphones, but many other companies have released their own models, some of which are much higher quality and more effective. There are also studio quality headphones that only produce sound when the headphones are actively being worn, so that when they are taken off in a studio, the acoustically controlled environment is not polluted with background noise.

Headphones have also been made increasingly small in size. Specifically for portable music players and hand held video games, ear bud headphones are commonplace. They have head phones that fit inside the ear canal exactly like foam ear plugs. To insert them, the wearer twists the ear phone to make compact the foam, and then inserts the device in the ear. The foam then expands and completely fills the ear canal, thereby completely blocking all excess sound. This is all closely related to hearing aid technology as well, which is another industry taking advantage of the skills offered by audio engineers.


However, headphone technology is only one of many recent developments in the industry. The IPOD, for instance, has completely taken over its field, and changed the way most people think about portable music. The days of compacts discs are soon days of the past. When CDs first became popular, that too was the result of the work of audio engineers such as Peter. With the demand always growing and music lovers needs always changing, new and improved technology is still sure to be seen constantly in the future.

As previously mentioned, Peter is pursuing audio engineering to develop a thorough knowledge of all aspects of the studio happenings, but his real passion is for the creative side of sound mixing and actually working with the sound equipment in the studios. Unsure of exactly how he will get there, Peter is confident that his current path with help him develop the skills necessary to reach his goals.

yay! blog number 1.