Saturday, October 31, 2015

CST 205 Week 1

Week 1

Learnings

There were a bunch of topics covered this week. I've learned a bunch about file formats this week. I had never really considered or investigated the difference between image (.jpg, .png, .tiff, etc.) and audio formats (.mp3, .mp4, .mov, etc).  In addition, we finally started some actual programming. Going through the basics of Python has been fun. I haven't ever programmed in Python, so it's been fun to see the differences between what I've learned in the past and Python. I love how simple it is to get up and running. It's perfect for beginners. The integration with Code Academy has also been great. I really enjoy and appreciate the various ways we are learning here (mainly the more hands-on approach). We've also learned about how images are created and what happens when they're compressed into various formats. These are useful to know to make smarter decisions about how we're storing content on whatever devices we're using.

Struggles & Obstacles

I can't say there have been too many struggles or obstacles. Getting used to the quiz structure in the course has been a bit frustrating. My first few quizzes I kept missing items and it was completely frustrating me. However, I think I've learned the teacher's quiz technique and can better read the questions now. Another small obstacle was obtaining pictures for the group assignment this week. We had to collect images of letters that spell the work "Python". I ended up spending a morning before work stopping and taking pictures of random businesses and signs on my way to work. That kind of threw my day off a bit, but it was the best time to get it done. Overall, getting together with a group that doesn't have a devoted class time can be very difficult. We all get on at our time and don't really end up all online at the same time, so that can be a bit frustrating since it takes us much longer to finish a task than it should.

Saturday, October 24, 2015

CST 300 Week 8

Week 8

This week we had it much easier by only having to focus on our paper and our videos. Collaborating on something like a video can be very difficult, but I am glad that my team pulled through. It was also a bit crazy because we had some due date mix ups that left my team without me on Saturday (I was out with people visiting town). They ended up getting a large portion of the project started. I came in on Sunday and added some extra bits. We were opting to be consistent in the voice route, so all of us were going to record full audio and pick who had said it best from there, but we ended up going with mine for the long video. I think that the video project would be better if it is only one video to produce instead of two, or if the due dates are broken up (by like weeks), so that the content could vary more.

Significance of CST 300 (ProSeminar) at CSU, Monterrey Bay

Through this course, I have learned a lot more about ethical issues in technology that I hadn't really considered. I've also revisited goal setting, learned various ways to improve my study habits, and was reminded of the importance of time management. My team mostly communicated through google hangouts through our CSU, Monterey Bay accounts. I think this was easiest since we have all been assigned accounts and have to get on to complete homework anyway. I tried to make a point to check the account each morning to stay current. This method didn't work out once (otherwise, just fine) very well for me when my team had worked mid-day on Saturday without advance notice. I didn't notice until the next day. This course covers material that is relevant to the tech industry as a whole, with the ethical issues in the industry and such. This course has also prepared me for what the next courses will be like.

Final Research Video Project

Team #5 (BITsoft Consulting) on Secure Payments:
  • Long Video (~13 min):
  • Short Video (~2 min):

Review Other Teams Videos

Team Listed Below: Team Startup Solutions (Team 3) on Drone Technology

This group made their video much easier to watch by speaking with excitement in their voices, using videos of drones flying, and adding music throughout the video. They also have really good content. I'm very impressed with this group (and also kind of envious). Even though they were each rotating who was talking (which can be distracting), they made it sound pretty seamless.
  • Long Video:
  • Short Video:
  • Assigned Questions
    • Is the topic well covered? 
      • Yes, this team did an excellent job researching drones. They cover a lot of topics. I don't know what they could be missing. 
    • Is the presentation clear?
      • Yes. They all enunciate clearly and speak slow enough for me to understand what they're saying. They also tied drones into day-to-day use well.
    • How is the quality of the research?
      • It appears that they researched drones very well.
    • How is the quality of the video production?
      • Great, they tied video clips to music well (on top of their own voice recording).
    • Is the video engaging and interesting?
      • Yep! Way to pull me.
    • Is the team work evident?
      • Yes. They all spoke on the video and it sounded like they had a good plan on what each of them were talking about.

Team Listed Above: Team Enterprise on Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS)

This presentation was in a slide format with no animations, which is great. They did a nice job covering their topic and accurately aligning their slideshow. Also, having the same theme for the slideshow was nice and didn't make it feel scattered. Topics were in chronological order (past, present, and then future).
  • Long Video:
  • Assigned Questions
    • Is the topic well covered? 
      • Yes, they provided tons of information regarding space probes. They were especially thorough on the history of space probes. 
    • Is the presentation clear?
      • Yes, they spoke clearly and provided plenty of information on their slides. Although, it would have been nice if it was shown in timeline form as opposed to bullet points to better visualize what they were saying for the history section.
    • How is the quality of the research?
      • Great, they definitely provided quality research. 
    • How is the quality of the video production?
      • The video looks really great. 
    • Is the video engaging and interesting?
      • Yep. I followed along with no problem at all. It helped that all of their sound quality was good.
    • Is the team work evident?
      • It appears that they worked well as a team and defined what topic each person would cover.

Random team: Team AppTyx on Driver less Cars

I really enjoy the topic of driver less cars and it's nice to get an overview of what's happening with them. They pretty much covered anything I could think of related to the topic. My only suggestions would probably be to use a consistent voice or fewer voices and maybe use less text on slide shows. Some of the images have more text in them, which can be a bit overwhelming.
  • Long Video:
  • Short Video:
  • Assigned Questions
    • Is the topic well covered? 
      • At almost 20 minutes, they definitely covered the topic. Their topics ranged from how the cars are operated to what companies are invested in the cars. I think they may have covered every aspect...
    • Is the presentation clear?
      • Yes, all of the team members did a nice job of speaking clearly and enunciating.
    • How is the quality of the research?
      • The research appeared to be exceptionally thorough. There were a few bits that completely blew by me, but I think there was just a lot of information to take in.
    • How is the quality of the video production?
      • The video itself looked like the slides were well done. The variation in voices can be a bit difficult to listen to, but that's what tends to happen when there are large teams creating videos like this.
    • Is the video engaging and interesting?
      • The video has interesting content, but I can't say I was glued to the screen.
    • Is the team work evident?
      • The execution of these videos is pretty clear. It looks like they divided up the sections and each presented on their assigned topic. It is nice, though, that they constructed the slide show together.

Monday, October 12, 2015

CST 300 Week 7

Week 7

This week has primarily been focused on the final essay, which I really appreciate. Last time I felt like there just wasn't enough time to get the essay written and review it a couple of times before it was peer reviewed. This week has provided some much needed padding, especially since this one's longer and I haven't quite found the thing that gets me excited about this one. The reading and videos were all pretty short and have been preparation for our final projects. When I read and listen to things of this nature I get it, but actually acting things out in front of a camera (or not) is when I really struggle. I have been enjoying being able to hide a bit behind my computer for the course thus far.

Final Presentation Update

It can be difficult to plan something when you don't know what you're working on. Half of this week went to coming up with topics for the final presentation and voting on them. My team only has three members, so we each submitted one topic. We haven't been told what our final topic is going to be as of writing this (Monday), so I guess I'll see what we come up with next week.

Presentation Skills Reading/Video

  1. Where Good Ideas Come From: While I took note of the drawing method for presentation purposes, the content was very interesting as well. Most of the time a creative thought is developed over time. The initial inception of the thought isn't considered viable at that moment, leading it to be discarded. Sometimes the idea becomes creative by colliding with another thought in order to become and overall idea. This other thought could come from another person or oneself. The point that I gather is to not rush creative ideas, step back, and let some come to you.
  2. Life After Death by PowerPoint 2010 by Don McMillanDon McMillan covers several bad PowerPoint habits people tend to have when making and given presentations (in a comedic way). A few of the bad habits he covers are how people put everything they're going to say on the presentation slides, they overuse blinking and moving fonts, use excessive bullet points, add pointless animation, and overuse acronyms. Basically, most of the presentation can (and should) be done verbally. Keep the slides simple with key points.
  3. Public Speaking Tips from Toastmasters International: The different sections that the page links to takes you to various tips for different types of public speaking, like giving technical briefings, accepting awards, and using props. Most of the advice seems to be directed at knowing the audience and ensuring that you don't use too much industry jargon. Also, know what physical movements are okay for the situation you're in.
  4. 20 Great Examples of PowerPoint presentation design: There are a couple of examples on this page that aren't very realistic because it's designed like a dialogue. It's great for someone that's reading it from the computer, but not so much for a live presentation. I really enjoyed how one of the presentations had the visual table of contents, so that the reader can follow along. Overall, I've found that I prefer the simple slides without the animated or drawn characters, like this one from Digital Surgeons:

Review Ted.com Presentations

  1. Jamie Bartlett: How the Mysterious Dark Net is Going Mainstream (relates closely to academic study)
    • Content: Jamie Bartlett believes that everyone currently in society will end up using a dark web interface in the near future regardless if it's for a good or bad action. The dark web encrypts IP addresses, so that users can browse the internet without giving their location away. They've been able to secure transactions for products by using a third party to verify a transaction, multi signature escrow payments, and sending data to a scrambled digital wallet. We're going to be using these tactics because they've had to be more creative with protecting their privacy to survive and we are now looking to protect our privacy on the internet globally.
    • Presentation Style:
      • Uses static images with boxes that highlight what he's discussing.
      • Uses his hands when discussing topics.
      • Uses simpler words to make it easier to understand him.
      • Speaks slowly.
      • Feels like he's conversing with you instead of talking at you. 
  2. Neri Oxman: Design at the Intersection of Technology and Biology (relates to interest or passion)
    • Content: Neri Oxman discusses how she's been able to use photo synthetic materials to create new items. Her lab has been able to do this with additive manufacturing (3D printing). She displayed their first photo synthetic wearable, which is an external digestive system to be warn as clothing. She shows an example of how humans and technology can come together. They used synthetic silk, spun onto a large pavilion with a robotic arm and set a ton of silk worms onto it, which then spun more natural silk on top of it. It's super interesting to see technology intersecting with biology in this way.
    • Presentation Style:
      • Short video clips that emphasize her point.
      • Static pictures.
      • Constantly moving around the stage.
      • She also speaks slowly.


Tuesday, October 6, 2015

CST 300 Week 6

Week 6

We've had a lot of team projects this week, so it's been a little difficult to get everything done as we need to get together as a group (which limits times we can complete homework). I have enjoyed learning about different types of fallacies and trying to find them in the current media. I know that they're everywhere, but I still am not very quick to find them. Hopefully, I can strengthen this with time. I also liked getting a brief introduction to what we will be working on in the next course. I've done very mild programming with python (mostly fixing up scripts) and look forward to getting full development done with it. My team started a little spreadsheet where we can log our ideas for our final project. We have a few, but haven't really gotten to fleshing out how this is going to work. The guidelines are extremely broad at this point. I'm assuming we will have more guidance for this project next week. We also had a personality test assigned this week, but I've followed the MBTI personality types for a while and know that I'm of the type ISTJ.

Career Development Readings [1] [2]

While the careers site isn't very useful, the career guide that CSU, Monterey Bay offers is very extensive and I've enjoyed looking through it. I already have a job in the tech field, so I am not looking for an internship or to get my first job. However, most of the advice is general and applicable at any stage in your career. I hadn't heard the 1 minute commercial idea yet and I really like it, so I will probably take that on with me on my next career move. Also, it's always good to refresh your resume and consider what you'd like to see on it. However, it's difficult to get good interview advice from a document like this. Ideally, we would have mock Skype interviews or something to give us better guidance on how to behave, or what to avoid in an interview. 

Career Development - Job and Internship Search

This section touched on researching the companies that you're applying for, which is very important. Companies love it when you know about them and are excited to work for them. It also makes the conversation go so much more smoothly. The guide also provides resources for finding jobs like the Otter jobs website and career fairs. There are also a ton of job searching and posting tools online that are helpful. The job and internship search guide has some very useful advice, like getting together what you will say in that introductory minute when beginning to talk to a company. I have practiced several of these things. However, in my very limited experience the "shotgun" approach has worked for me. This approach involved applying to everything and interviewing everywhere (regardless if you think you're qualified or not). It gave me a lot of practice and I was able to find a company that I really liked that way.

Help Your Teammates to Develop Capstone Ideas

While my team focused a bit more on our final project videos, we also discussed a few capstone ideas. So far we have mostly web based applications, but I'm sure we can come up with more solid ideas as time goes on. Here are some of the ideas we've come up with:
  • white noise maker mobile application
  • grocery shopping list mobile application
  • karaoke on chromecast where content can be obtained from users, or crowdsourced
  • coffee review mobile app where you can detail how you liked your coffee and add notes regarding the roast, grind, brewing method, and proportions
  • emergency preparedness application, where users can get emergency kit suggestions and quick escape routes based on their locaiton