Thursday, December 14, 2006
Making Your Own Website
So how many of you guys have favorite websites? Well, now that you understand HTML. It is your chance to make your very own website. The requirements follow:
It must be written entirely in Notepad.
It must have Product Name, Description and Your Company Logo.
You must have at least three pages on this website. (All pages linking to eachother)
Home, About, FAQ (frequently Asked Questions.)
Make sure all pages link to each other.
This product must provide some benefit to the customer.
It must be school appropriate
Must have all information needed to make an actual purchase or download of the product.
(Fictional telephone, address, email is ok)
Please make the website easy to read and make sure you check your spelling and grammar.
Please check with me once you have decided on your product to get it approved.
Have fun with this use Gmail to upload notepad if you wish to take this home over Christmas break.
-Mr. G
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
What is HTML?
Today we are going to be delving into the world of HTML? What is that you ask well it is a language that your web browser speaks (Internet explorer, Safari, and Firefox). Currently, there are many different types of languages they speak. I want to first have you all become aware of these languages, then we will begin to learn this new language. Please go to www.w3schools.com , http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp : and go to the Learn HTML link on the left side. We will begin in class by checking out some examples of how it works. Second, we will begin by learning how this language works. Third, after spending a far amount of time you will need to take the HTML QUIZ and pass it with 90% or higher. When you reach that please print it out and put your name on it and turn it in.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Podcasting? What is it really.
Over the past year the portable media industry has changed the world as we know it. With the Apple Ipod leading the way, we have become a media craving society. This Assignment today asks you to take a look at one of the many new technologies that have taken the market by storm. What is Podcasting? Podcasting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Please write a one page (12 font, double spaced, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins) response on these questions.What is Podcasting? How is it changing the way information is shared? Who is using podcasting? Is Podcasting only available to people with Ipods? Please be complete in your answers. Thank you.
-Mr. G
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Mirror, Mirror on the wall what it the best Portable Media Player of them All?
Thank you for those of you who always do your best and who are working hard to finish your projects! This next project hit close to home. This holiday season there has been a craze for which portable media player is the best! What is a Media Player you ask? Well that is the assignment. We will be making a Table in Word. With 9 columns across and at least 6 rows down. It would best to create this document in with your gmail service. I would like you to fill out the table and them give a final result on which portable media player is the best. At least which one you feel after researching diligently is the best, based on the criteria given. Have fun and please ask any questions.
Media playerName
Storage
SizeFormats it plays(MP3, MPEG, Divx, Quicktime, Wav, ACC, etc. ?)
Display
Communication with Computers
Ease of Use
Battery Life
Cool Factor
Price
Here are a few sites to help with your research.
http://www.cnet.com/
http://www.yahoo.com/
http://www.pricegrabbers.com/
http://www.tigerdirect.com/
http://www.frys.com/
http://www.bestbuys.com/
http://www.mp3player.com/
http://www.newegg.com/
http://www.pcworld.com/
-Mr. G
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Christmas Break Trip
Dec. 20, 2006 - Jan. 2, 2007
Location: Anywhere in the world you want.
You will make a detailed budget of your journey.
I want it in in both Excel and Word Document form.
Excel to have your costs and Word to describe where you are going.
1. Flight airlines departure times and arrivals, total cost.
2. Car rental- type of car, Rental company, time needed to rent, total cost.
3. Hotel- name, location, accommodations, length of stay, total cost.
4. Food, what, and where you are going to eat when you are there. Budget for each day. Total cost.
5. What you are going to do everyday you are there. (Detailed list of each day.)
6. How you are going to get to the airport and get home when you leave and come back.
7. Please organize your report in a clear and understandable way.
Have fun.
This is due on Thursday Next Week. At the beginning of class.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Take a walk down memory lane
You guys have done an incredible Job and I would like to say once again, Thank You for taking this class responsibly.
Please make sure your PowerPoint on What kind of computer should I buy is in the right folder.
\\jr-wxp-svr\Public\Presentations\2006-2007\9thGrade\How to choose a computer\Late
Thank you,
Mr. G
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
What kind of Computer should I buy?
The most common question I get is what kind of computer should I buy? What most people don’t realize is that this is a very loaded question. There are so many variables that come into play. And your assignment is to become competent in answering this question with facts and information. It is an ever changing world, and I want you to become a person who will at least know where to go get the information to make logical and wise decisions in the computer world.
Your assigment is to create a Powerpoint presentation on how to decide on what kind of computer to buy. You will need to know what questions to ask to help the people get the computer they need and want. This is going to be a fairly indepth assignment, so it will take a lot of effort on your part. You might check the internet for Computer Buying guides there are even some videos on the subject. The objective will be for you to produce a simple yet detailed powerpoint on how to choose the right computer.
Some resources are:
http://www.viewz.com/shoppingguide/compbuy.shtml
http://www.css.msu.edu/PC-Guide/
https://helpdesk.its.uiowa.edu/demo/buyingguide/
http://www.laptopadvisor.com/
There are thousands out there. So please use many different resources to create your PowerPoint. Make sure you keep track of where you got your resources you will be adding a bibliograpy slide at the end of your presentation.
MR. G
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Hola Peoples!
When you are done please go to www.slashdot.org and pick any three articles and write a 200 word+ response to each of them. Print them and turn them in this will be due at the end of our next class period. Label it Slashdot response #1
-Mr. G
Sunday, October 08, 2006
We will hold off for a few days on Helping your Parents.
We are going to learn specifically what does what inside a computer. You are going to copy the document from the link below to your My Documents folder. Please do not open it from the server, instead copy and paste it before opening it.
Copy and paste this link in "Run" and go to the document in that folder.
\\jr-wxp-svr\Public\Help-For-Students\9th Grade Computer Class\Learning What a Computer Does
I would advise to open a new document and copy the questions, and write your own answers. This is instead of writing it in the Oringal document itself.
Please save the new document as: Yourname-learning what a computer does.doc
This will should take you the whole class period, if you finish early please begin researching how to help your parents with what they want to learn regarding computers. Now that you are better googler's I trust you should be able to find at least relevent info regarding whatever topic your parents quesitoned you on.
We will be working on that after we finish this worksheet.
Have a great day!
-Mr. G
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Students Helping their Parents...
Your homework this weekend is going to be fairly simple. You are going to ask your parents what they would like to learn, "how to do better with" or "on their computer." You will then bring that info back to class and begin to research and create a short video on how to do, what ever it is they would like to learn about... better.
-Mr. G
Friday, September 29, 2006
Hello Sierra!
Hope you are having fun. We have been finishing our "How to Better Google" presentations this week. We will be watching them in class today. We will see you next week.
Mr. G
Sierra Please Read Comments from your classmates. :)
Thursday, September 21, 2006
How To Google...
Very Nice Job on your PowerPoint presentations!
Today I want to help you with something that almost everyone uses, but very few use it as well as they could.
We will Be learning How To Google...
http://www.google.com/help/basics.html
Please read through these pages and when we come back to class you will be making a Basic presentation on what you learned. The homework is to read and test your new knowledge in google. I will give you time to make the presentation in class.
Have a great Weekend.-Mr. G
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Great September 5th!
Monday, August 28, 2006
Welcome TVJA 9th Grade 2006-07
http://www.public.asu.edu/~ljkelly/portfolio/etc667/final_project/index.html
After you read through that website please open and read this PowerPoint presentation.
\\jr-wxp-svr\Public\Help-For-Students\9th Grade Computer Class\Basic Components
Have a great Day.
-Mr. G
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
8th Grade Bible for Music tour Friday
Please download and run this link on your computer. Please make sure you have a pair of head phones. Make sure your computers sound is not muted
Now I lay me down...
http://www.iiw.org/media/iiw2006-04-30_256k.asx
“Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.”—Mark 1:35 (NKJV)
“Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.’ So He said to them, ‘When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’”—Luke 11:1-4 (NKJV)
7th Bible during Music Tour Thursday
Please download and run this link on your computer. Please make sure you have a pair of head phones. Make sure your computers sound is not muted
Something is Slippin...
http://www.iiw.org/media/iiw2006-05-07_256k.asx
it is 28 minutes.
“They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”—Isaiah 65:21, 22 NKJV
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”—Deuteronomy 6:6-9 NKJV
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”—Hebrews 10:16, 17 NKJV
8th Bible during Music Tour Wednesday
Please download and run this link on your computer. Please make sure you have a pair of head phones. Make sure your computers sound is not muted
Something is Slippin...
http://www.iiw.org/media/iiw2006-05-07_256k.asx
it is 28 minutes.
“They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.”—Isaiah 65:21, 22 NKJV
“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”—Deuteronomy 6:6-9 NKJV
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,” then He adds, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”—Hebrews 10:16, 17 NKJV
Wednesday, April 05, 2006
How to Podcast
From Corey Deitz,Your Guide to Radio.FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
So, What Exactly is a Podcast?(Suggestion: Bookmark this page so that you can absorb each step at your own pace and easily come back here to refer to any portion of this tutorial.)
First: Why is the Radio Guide writing about Podcasting? Because it's very clear to me the Internet coupled with pesonal technology like iPods and MP3 players have empowered everyone with a new voice while redefining what "Radio" is in the 2000s from both a technical and distribution sense. Although I love traditional Radio, I'm also willing to embrace new paradigms. If you're reading this, then apparently you are, too.
A Pocast is:
1. An audio file you create in .mp3 format... 2. Which contains your own radio show or any audio you wish others to have...3. That you upload along with an RSS (Really Simple Syndication) file to a server (your website for instance)...4. That your intended listeners download using one of several programs that have been created to retrieve your audio file automatically...5. So they can listen to it at their convenience on their own iPod or .mp3 player.
That’s it. Now, don’t let things like “RSS file”, “server” or “.mp3 format” scare you.
I’m going to show you exactly how to do all of this in the simplest of terms. By the time we’re done, you’ll be podcasting to the world. Kind of exciting, huh?
Before we get into the mechanics of podcasting, let’s think about just some of the reasons you might want to create your own podcast:
1. You always wanted your own talk show but you don’t own a radio station or work at one.2. You’re a musician and you want to build up a fan base by providing some of your music to potential fans.3. You’re a speaker and you want to sell a multi-part audio seminar but don’t want to create CDs, labels, mail them, etc. (Yes, you can use podcasting for profit, too.)4. You already have a radio show but you want to make certain segments available to the world to increase your reputation and reach.5. You’re a book author and you want to interest people in buying it by offering a few spoken pages each week to entice them.6. You’re a school Principal and you want to create your own weekly message to the students.7. You’re a raving lunatic and you want to rant to the world about conspiracies, UFOs and Men in Black.
Podcasting is for anyone for any reason. It empowers you with a voice that can literally reach around the world.
In order to podcast you will need to learn a few skills in this order:
1. How to record your audio and save it to an .mp3 file.2. How to create an RSS file which holds the “directions” for sending your file when a user’s program like iPodder requests it3. How to write the “directions” that are inside the RSS file4. How to upload the RSS “feed” and your .mp3 file5. How to validate that the file is written correctly and will send the file correctly.
Recording Your Audio and Creating Your MP3 File
Many podcasters naturally are choosing a program called Audacity for many reasons:
1. It has an easy learning curve. 2. It has advanced features for those who want them.3. It is free.
Download Audacity here:http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=radio&zu=http%3A%2F%2Faudacity.sourceforge.net%2F
There are Windows, Mac OS 9 or X, and Linux/Unix versions available. You will also have to download the LAME MP3 encoder which allows Audacity to export MP3 files. You will see the download link for that on the same page as the Audacity download.
Recording your voice with Audacity is very simple and the website provides easy tutorials here.
zSB(3,3);if(!z336){var zIsb=gEI("adsb");if(zIsb){zIsb.style.display="inline";zIsb.style.height="0px";zIsb.style.width="0px";}var zIss=gEI("adss");if(zIss){zIss.style.display="inline";zIss.style.height="0px";zIss.style.width="0px";}}
I won't re-invent the wheel on this aspect of your podcasting. Download the program and review the clearly written help information.
(As a sidenote: for those interested, I have already created a free online course entitled, Learn To Edit Audio Like A Radio Pro” which will teach you how to use audacity for advanced editing. You can sign up here for the course and lessons will be emailed to you separately)
If, after you have downloaded and tried Audacity you think it is still too complicated for your situation, there is another alternative. Windows has its own recording utility called Sound Recorder which is just about the easiest way I know to record just voice. The Windows help file says:
Using Sound Recorder, you can record, mix, play, and edit sounds. You can also link or insert sounds into another document. You can modify an uncompressed sound file by: Adding sounds to a file. Deleting part of the sound file. Changing the playback speed. Changing the playback volume. Changing the playback direction. Changing or converting the sound file type. Adding an echo.
To access this utility...Click: StartProgramsAccessoriesEntertainmentSound Recorder.
Sound Recorder will only save files in .wav format which means you will still have to convert your final recording into an .mp3 file. MusicMatch Jukebox can also do this for you. There's a free version and an enhanced version.
Now, you will also need a microphone. There are many types which range in quality and price. For affordable voice recording, I recommend a unidirectional, dynamic-type microphone. Radio shack sells inexpensive ones and you’ll also find a good selection of higher quality mikes at most music stores. In addition, I have created an easy list of microphones you can compare by price here.
Shure makes several models that are versatile and affordable for voice but there are higher quality choices from companies such as Sennheiser, audio-technica, Neumann and more. How much you spend on a microphone is a personal matter between you and your budget. Remember: ebay is a good place to search for bargains if you know what you’re looking for.
When you are ready to record, plug your microphone into your soundcard's mike input and open up Windows's Volume Control. (Mac users use the equivalent. Sorry, I can't provide those specifics.) In Windows here's how:
Click: Start Navigate to: ProgramsAccessoriesEntertainmentVolume ControlOn Volume Control in the upper left hand corner Click: Options and highlight PropertiesSelect: RecordingPress: OKMake sure you put a check in the Select box under where it says MICThe Volume switch can be adjusted using the slider control as you begin to do your recording
Start a new recording using Audacity, check your levels and begin your program. Edit test audio or other glitches when you are finished.
When your audio is done and saved, you will need to remember to write down:
1. Where you saved it so you can upload it later2. What the exact file size is.
To ascertain that, just:
1. Right click on the .mp3 file you created2. Click “properties” and note the size. As an example, it will look like this:
Size: 4.61 MB (4,834,743 bytes)
What you want to write down is 4834743 without the commas.
Creating Your RSS Feed File
An RSS feed is actually a text file with the extension .rss . You can name it anything you like as long as it ends with .rss . As an example, we’ll call the one we’re going to create MyPodcast.rss.
Now, inside the RSS file are several directions created in what is called Extensible Markup Language or XML. It’s similar to HyperText Markup Language or HTML.
If you’ve ever written any HTML or just seen the code of a webpage, then you might know web pages are created using what are called “tags” like:
XML uses a similar tag system to describe exactly what is inside the RSS file.
The good news is, you can copy another RSS file as your template and then modify it as needed.
Open up your windows Notepad by clicking:
Start Run and typing in Notepad then press ENTER
It’s important you use a text editor like Notepad because a text editor does not include any text formatting like a word processor.
zSB(3,3);if(!z336){var zIsb=gEI("adsb");if(zIsb){zIsb.style.display="inline";zIsb.style.height="0px";zIsb.style.width="0px";}var zIss=gEI("adss");if(zIss){zIss.style.display="inline";zIss.style.height="0px";zIss.style.width="0px";}}
If you used Microsoft Word to create your RSS file, it would fail miserably because of the hidden formatting.
Now, with Notepad open copy this code into it:
http://www.mywebsite.com/myaudio.mp3
* Make sure you express the date in the format of hh:mm:ss. Also, you have to tell what timezone you are in, relative to GMT. If you were in New York, at the end of the date string, you need to add -0500, example: Sat, Jan 14 2006 18:00:00 -0500 .
There's a possibility that About.com formatting on this tutorial page may make it confusing to see the order and indentation or nesting. In that event, you can view this code as a graphic here
How to Write the "Directions" That Are Inside the RSS File
As you can see, beginning with
The title of it: The description:
A few rules about the tags:
1. There is always a beginning and end tag. Example: . The exception is in the case of what is called an empty tag. An example of one is the
zSB(3,3);if(!z336){var zIsb=gEI("adsb");if(zIsb){zIsb.style.display="inline";zIsb.style.height="0px";zIsb.style.width="0px";}var zIss=gEI("adss");if(zIss){zIss.style.display="inline";zIss.style.height="0px";zIss.style.width="0px";}}
Why? Because an empty tag describes attribute specifications. In our case, the file location, its size, and the type of file it is.2. They are case sensitive so you can’t have 3. Ending tags always have a slash like this 4. The information between tags is called an element.5. It’s important to follow the proper pattern and nesting.
The XML above describes one podcast beginning with
To add a second item, you could copy the code between
There. You’ve created all the code you need for a podcast! Now, decide what the name of your RSS file will be and save it to your desktop or a directory you will remember where it is.
Example: MyPodcast.rss
Let me point out that there are other elements you can put into an RSS file. The example above is a very simple model. Go here for a further tutorial on XML.
How to Upload the .MP3 File, RSS File, and Validate It
An RSS file must reside on a server. If you have your own website, you already have a server holding your website. Use that server!
You upload your RSS file along with the mp3s for your podcast using either an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) program or possibly a webpage-based upload feature if you built your website using one of the many software interfaces many hosting companies now provide.
Either way, upload them to your website. Remember: if you decide to place these files in a separate folder on your server like /MyPodcast you will have to include that folder in the full address of your mp3 when you create that information using the
zSB(3,3);if(!z336){var zIsb=gEI("adsb");if(zIsb){zIsb.style.display="inline";zIsb.style.height="0px";zIsb.style.width="0px";}var zIss=gEI("adss");if(zIss){zIss.style.display="inline";zIss.style.height="0px";zIss.style.width="0px";}}
I use it all the time.
How to Validate or Make Sure Your RSS File is Written Correctly
This is the easiest part of all. If you have written your RSS file correctly, just go to http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=radio&zu=http%3A%2F%2Frss.scripting.com%2F and type in the address of where you uploaded your RSS file. For instance:
http://www.yourwebsite.com/MyPodcast.rss
When you press the VALIDATE button, it will test out your RSS feed and tell you if it works or not. If you get an error message then you have made a mistake possibly in syntax, tags, etc. Go back to your RSS file, open it in Notepad and inspect it to see where you might have made a mistake. One little error – anything that’s off – will screw the whole thing up.
Another RSS Validators is: http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/XJ&sdn=radio&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fvalidator.w3.org%2F
Once your podcast has been validated, all you have to do now is provide the address of your RSS file to anyone who wants to subscriber to your podcast.
In our example it would be:
http://www.yourwebsite.com/MyPodcast.rss
For people to receive your podcast, there are many free software programs designed specifically for this purpose.
A list can be found here.
Don’t forget to get your podcast listed in the many directories available on the Internet so people know it’s available and can subscriber. See locations in the link boxes on this page.
Monday, March 13, 2006
What is Podcasting?
Over the past year the portable media industry has changed the world as we know it. With the Apple Ipod leading the way, we have become a media craving society. This Assignment today asks you to take a look at one of the many new technologies that have taken the market by storm. What is Podcasting? Podcasting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Please write a one page (12 font, double spaced, Times New Roman, 1 inch margins) response on these questions.
What is Podcasting? How is it changing the way information is shared? Who is using podcasting? Is Podcasting only available to people with Ipods? Please be complete in your answers. Thank you.
Monday, February 27, 2006
Windows Movie Maker Assignment.
Good Morning Class!,
First Things first. Please make sure you have a pair of headphones plugged into your computer and that the sound in not muted. If you don't have a pair of headphones, you can look in my Classroom, I have about six attached to computers in there. (Please return them when you finish, don't forget...thanks)
Now go to \\jr-wxp-svr\Public\Tutorials and watch "awe_sample_introducing_300", then watch "HomeMovieXP". After you have watched both of those there are a few other example videos in this folder you can watch. \\jr-wxp-svr\Public\Tutorials\MadeWithMovieMaker.
Now you are ready to finish your Scripture verse Videos. I am going to ask that you finish two separate scripture verse videos. Please be as creative as you want. Once you are finished with your videos, you can add sound. Go to http://www.freeplaymusic.com/search/. This is a great website to find music that is already made, you can download it and use for free.
A Couple quick tips…
Preview first, then download as mp3.
It is quicker to preview the song you are looking for and only download the Mp3 song you want. (This will save space) Please pay special attention to where you download the file.
Then add song you chose to your movie. Please export them to
\\jr-wxp-svr\Public\High school Students\9th Grade\9th computers\WindowsMovie
Create a folder with your name and put the exported file in there.
Good luck and be creative.
Be ready to show them on Wednesday.
Monday, January 02, 2006
Windows XP and Things
http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/excel/
Below are a few links to refresh your memory.
http://www.petri.co.il/install_windows_xp_pro.htm
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/CR061832771033.aspx
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/training/CR061831141033.aspx