Anyone happen to kill a red spy?

My first photoshop tutorial is 100% finished now. Today I found a second tutorial and started on it, but I am not done yet. I will have something to share on monday, but I won’t have both to share on monday. So far the first one looks pretty neat so this project is going well so far.

Project Description: My project will be on Photoshop CS4 and I will be using a few tutorials to come out with a few projects. I am new to CS4 so it will take some learning, but it’s also very similar to CS3 so it won’t be too difficult to migrate to the new suite. I will learn some of the new options that CS4 has that the older versions did not have. The tutorials that I will be doing will be from scrap and will be a completed image. Throughout this work in Photoshop CS4 I will learn about:

• Blending options
• Masking layers
• Custom brushes
• Adding on to custom backgrounds
• Learning about CS4 (used to CS3)

Time Line:

1. Look at tutorials and see if they’re in my range of skill in Photoshop CS4.

2. Download resources to do Photoshop tutorials (brushes, stable backgrounds, etc.)

3. Work on a Tutorials in Photoshop CS4

4. Work on my second tutorial in Photoshop CS4.

5. Write about my finished projects.

6. Publish them on my designer website.

Resources: http://www.tutorialized.com/view/tutorial/Make-Abstract-Wallpaper-with-Brushes/39863

http://www.tutorialized.com/view/tutorial/5-Easy-Steps-to-Create-a-Break-Apart-Effect-123RF-Tutorial/58125

This link goes to a tutorial in CS4 that gives suggestions and links to other places you can download brushes when you want to make an abstract image.

The second link is a tutorial on the Break-Apart effect with brushes.

Issue:  The issue is security for colleges and universities.

IT Component:  The increasing amount of electronically stored information is a problem for colleges and universities that need to be protected. The number of security breaches and incidents branching are an acute problem for these colleges and universities. This is also a big problem for IT personal. In addition, the changing nature of the threats continues to challenge IT organizations.

Potential Solution(s):  Technology can be used to keep the security of information at these colleges and universities. Heightened code that is protecting breaches could be more complex so it is more difficult for a hacker to access information.

Link1: http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume43/TopTenITIssues2008/162885

Link2: https://www.amherst.edu/offices/it/about/news/node/93486

1. A single speck of dust can ruin a micro-processor.

2. Processors are made of silicon.

3. People must wear suits into the clean room, because a speck of anything could ruin the wafer.

4. Processors have a limit, but continue to become smaller.

5. Processors appear flat, but have layers that are microscopic.

6. Modern fabs are about 15 million times cleaner than a surgical room.

7. Photo-resist is used on micro-processors.

8. Silicon in the processor and oxygen mix to create a layer of glass over the chip.

9. Width of gates are measured in nano-meters.

10. Masks governs the making of the processors.

11. 3-4 weeks to quickly make a processor, usually 3-4 months.

12. Probe comes in and tests the chips.

13. Bond pads to connect the chip to something else.

14. Success rates for Intel to actually market a chip is usually in the high 90s.

15. Wafers are broken off to get micro-processors off.

16. 20 masks for a modern micro-processor.

17. 500 million transistors fit between 100 microns squared.

18. Suits are called Bunny Suits.

19. Architect decides what features the chip will have.

20. Logic designers how the chip can be made.

Aperture: Controls how much light enters the lense

Shutter Speed: Controls how long expose occurs

Exposure: The relationship between light and time

1 stop: 1/2 shutter speed or 2x shutter speed

ISO: Film speed

Depth of field: Area around someone, in front and in the back that are in focus

Wide: <35mm

Normal: 35-65mm

Telephoto: >65mm

Field of View: Where you can see without it being out of focus

It’s cool to see what Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were like when they were starting their companies. I knew about what they were like, but didn’t see a full blown out movie of it which is nice to see. It seems like Steve Jobs is kind of a big guy that doesn’t really care about anything, but himself. Bill seems like he is very determined, but also cares about his friends. At the part where Bill and Jobs meet and talk about how Bill is making Windows, Bill keeps his cool which is interesting compared to Jobs who is very angry that his ideas are being taken. Jobs does not like competition and is very strict about his employees and who he works with. I think this is an important movie to see that these two people who are very rich, because of their smartness both have problems themselves and we get to see how they react these problems.

Criterion G: Identifying the problem within a social context

The advertisement of information is crucial can affect a group of end-users that are not shown the advertisement and told where to find the information if they have not been shown it. An end-user should know where to acquire more information if not enough information is told them through sources and peers socially. The problem is that end-users can suffer from this lack of information. This applies to school, where the seniors are the end-users and the problem is many of them are ill-informed about deadlines and scholarships and have they can find out more about them.

The reasoning for choosing this topic is because as a senior, myself, I am one of the many end-users of this problem of acquiring information at Capital High School. There are so many small pieces of information at Capital that are important to the students that apply to them; like important scholarships that they could possibly miss, because they didn’t know about them or how to get more information about them.

The inadequacies of the current situation are that only the main-stream sources like our daily news (Capital News Service) and advisory class are the only two main ways of getting information. However, even these sources leave out information. Currently, these problems still exist and I have to go directly to my counselor and peers to find and figure out information about deadlines and other important things like the culminating project.

Criterion H: Analysis and feasibility study

My first approach to getting information out to seniors would be giving out brochures to the students. During the creation of these brochures we need advisory information and senior information all combined within them. The brochure will be modified by me and will be looked at by the school board, with the required deadlines and other important information for seniors. Along with required information, possible scholarships and other activities could be put on the brochure to give more options to the seniors so they know that they exist. The advantage of the brochure would be that it would be clear to the seniors when they are passed out, but it could be a disadvantage if a student lost the brochure and couldn’t replace it. This would solve the problem, because it would have all of the senior information in a tight resource that could be carried around. Brochures have always been a great way of passing out information, which would benefit school information if the school board used it.

Capital currently has a website that gives out senior information, but could be improved. Capital’s website has a calendar, but it does not list everything that is happening on a specific day which can be troublesome for some dates. This calendar could be structured to show what specifically seniors need along with juniors, sophomores and freshman. The clear disadvantage to this calendar would be that not everyone would be able to access it, because it’s possible they don’t have internet. The advantage though, is that the website and calendar will always be there when you need a resource for information. This method of giving out information solves the problem by having all senior information available if a student can access it. The advantage of information on a website over a brochure is that most people have internet now a days and brochures have to be constantly printed out to meet the demand of them. A website serves as an infinite resource that will never go away when the senior needs information.

My end users which are seniors would benefit more from a brochure. A brochure is more feasible and can branch out to a wider audience as some seniors do not have internet access at home. Referring to a brochure is also much faster than referring to a website and will be much more convenient for them. I currently do not have access to Capital’s website anyways which is another reason I will work on a brochure instead. Though, the option does exist as Capital’s website could be improved.

Criterion I: Planning and developing the chosen IT Solution

In the planning of this IT solution, my data collection will rely on a select group of seniors that will answer a questionnaire regarding how easy or difficult it is to obtain senior information at Capital High School. After this data is collected, I will begin to create my brochure that will help with where the difficulties were in gathering senior information for those the seniors doing my questionnaire. My brochure will be a simple double fold that will be created in InDesign CS4 by Adobe. This software will be my main program that I will use to create my brochure. Adobe Photoshop CS4 will also be used to edit the aesthetics of my brochure and how it looks. The hardware I am using to use my software is an IMac by Apple Inc. and I will be using a printer to print off my batch of brochures when done. Our back-up server keeping my files for the brochure is one of our school’s servers, Newton.

Criterion J: Testing and evaluating the solution

I used a simple 5 question survey that a group of my end users which are senior students at Capital High School filled out. The survey allows for recommendations to be made, because from the questions I got to see what type of information I needed to put on the brochure and the information that wasn’t needed. The questions are as followed: (5= Excellent, 4=Good, 3=Average, 2=Bad and 1=Poor)

How do you feel about the way senior information is given out? The answers were: two 1s, two 2s, three 3s and one 4.

How helpful would a senior information brochure be for future seniors? One 3, three 4s and four 5s.

Do you have everything done to graduate? Seven No and one Yes.

How well do you think CNS gives out senior information? One 1, five 3s and two 4s.

Did you ever consult your counselor for senior information? Two No and six Yes.

These surveys helped me shape my brochure by helped me find out what kind of information seniors wanted in them. I figured that the majority of the people who took the survey consult their counselor so I assume that they know how to contact them in the counseling center so that doesn’t need to be on the brochure. Seven of them picked No as they don’t have everything to graduate so I have to make sure that I put information about the culminating project on it and possibly the presentation dates. Capital News Service (CNS) is a decent way of information being handed out, but it is not in written form and can be confusing at times depending on who is presenting the information during the news service. I know that a brochure would be helpful, because in my second question many scored high on if they think it would be good to have a senior information brochure for future classes.

Criterion K: Assessing the social significance of the product

My end users have been consulted of my brochure. They all agreed that the brochure would be useful if it were handed out by the school on a regular basis as long as they didn’t have to go looking to pick one up themselves. What I observed was that my end clients had an easy time reading it, because I did not put too much information in it, but enough so they can be informed of things in the future without having to spend multiple minutes to read the whole brochure. Obviously this project will have to be expanded to a wider audience in order to reach a complete consensus of how successful it is, but from this small sample it seems successful so far.

Criterion L: The product

The brochure is finished and will be given to seniors which are the end clients.

Criterion M: The log book

January 13^th, 2010: My project will be on some sort of information coming from a brochure. Currently I am thinking of senior information and will probably going through will it. I would have to test other seniors in my grade to see if they need additional senior information and if they need a better source of it.

January 15^th, 2010: My main focus on this project so far is that I want to spread information among seniors in a better way than is currently implemented.

January 20^th, 2010: I asked a few of my friends and others I didn’t know that were seniors if they wanted a better way to obtain senior information on a brochure and they liked the idea.

February 24^th, 2010: I handed out my initial form of my brochure to my end client. They were pleased with it, but a few gave suggestions on the look and maybe more information regarding college. I will try my best to add this in without making the brochure too “bulky”.

February 26^th, 2010: Showed a few other seniors of the brochure and they liked it. They offered a few suggestions with the way it looks and it could have more pictures for appeal.

March 11^th, 2010: Finished my brochure this day. I am pleased with the way it looks and have added a few more pictures to make it look more appealing.

March 15^th, 2010: Putting up the finishing touches on my brochure so it looks better.

March 18^th, 2010: My finished brochure was shown to my end clients and agreed it looked better than my initial product.

I worked on my brochure by moving parts of it in Photoshop and editing it around a litte bit. I have my colors for CHS and now I just need to add my text and a few other finishing touches and that will be done. The only problem I’m having is that I can’t change a few things that I want to change, but I’ll figure them out on Tuesday.

Many skills are needed for the completion of this project. One of the main skills are web development skills where you would have to be able to edit html for websites. Having skills to create and edit a pamphlet or a brochure are required as well. Surveying seniors at Capital would be a good way to see if they wanted more of a pamphlet or better information on the website; as it would be simple to make a survey like that. Both methods have positives and negatives, but overall the difficulty with getting more information on the website is that you would have to have access to edit it along with knowing html so you don’t screw it up and break the website.