New NYU Classes Like all new versions of existing technology, NYU classes was initially irritating and daunting to me. I had used blackboard in college and was familiar with that program. NYU Classes, however, is not as bad as I originally thought. The only feature that I actively do not like is that when you are in a particular folder, you cannot use the back button, but instead have to click on the folder and go back. I also wish that the homepage worked better than it does. I would like to be able to go to that page and be able to see all of my assignments and class schedules rather than going into the individual documents. Several professors have asked us to use the discussion threads, which have worked with varying success. There is a psychological concept called proactive interference, a phenomena where new information interferes with your memory of old information. Unfortunately, this phenomena has interfered with my memory of Blackboard, so this is the best I can remember!

My Experiences with iMovie

I have had the best experience using iMovie. I think it is extremely user friendly and fun. I wish that I had known how easy it was to use when I was in high school and college so that I could have made movies and presentations for classes. After having worked with the program for many hours, however, there are a few features that I would like to change. Perhaps these requests do exist within the current iMovie, but I suspect they are features of more advanced and professional software. - You cannot adjust how quickly the text goes in a text page, particularly in the "Star Wars" feature - I would like to be able to edit the size of the font so that I can put more words on my images - I wish there was an easier to way to create a still of an image at the point where your crop left off in the previous image Other than that, I love the software and have very much enjoyed learning how to use it!

Team Meeting

While I have worked in groups many times in the past, I found working on our tech resources project to be fun and unique. We decided to spoof the awkwardness of text message interactions, particularly using emojis. As our society becomes more and more complex, distinct rules develop surrounding the etiquette of technological interactions. Our parents generation would not understand that there is a distinct difference between posting on someone's facebook wall versus sending them a message. When two people are beginning to date, this world becomes even more complex and difficult to navigate. We are going to spoof the idea that men and women interpret text messages differently, with women reading positivity into the messages and the men deliberately speaking vaguely and negatively. While dating has always been difficult since the rules of courtship were abandoned in the early 20th century, our generation faces so many ways of technological communication that complicate our dating tremendously.

Psychoacoustics

Psychoacoustics is the area of physics that studies human reactions to sounds, including music and speech. Hearing consists of so much more than simply the temporal lobe of the brain and the ear; there are many complex neural interactions that lead to our responses to sound. The ear, specially the cilia of the cochlea, convert sound wavelengths into neural impulses, so different wavelengths that produce the same impulses are not differentiable to the human brain. Additionally, the human ear has a relatively small range of perceptible sounds, a range that is only made smaller with age. In addition to measuring kHz relative to sound, psychoacoustic researchers also look at sound pressure, measured in atm. Psychoacoustics also deals with sound localization and the masking effects of sound. It is amazing how little most musicians and music educators know about the physics of sound. For those of us who will never record or mix our music, this information seems irrelevant. However, if we are conducting an orchestra, for example, psychoacoustics has tremendous significance for our instrumentation, location of instruments, dynamics, and other factors. If we ever have the opportunity to record our ensembles or design rehearsal or performance spaces, psychoacoustics are incredibly important. Also, from a consumer standpoint, is is exciting to see what psychoacoustic physicists can do with recorded sound and how they can reproduce it for our ears.

Prezi- Is Powerpoint Obsolete Already?

After having used Prezi just once, I am extremely impressed with the program and am skeptical of Powerpoint's future ubiquity in the presentation world. Prezi is a cloud based service; if Apple products are any indicator of the functionality of the cloud, this sharing function will be an integral part of our systems. If you are working on a presentation on multiple devices or with more than one person at a time, using the cloud can be incredibly helpful. Prezi uses zoom to move between different parts of the presentation. One benefit of this feature is that you can see the whole presentation and where you will go with your work at the beginning rather than discovering it as you go along. Prezi is also user-friendly and looks fun and neat when you present your information. Powerpoint has become quite stale and is no longer an innovative program. With the increasing presence of 3-D technology, Prezi capitalizes on this trend to make visually appealing presentations. One of the benefits of Powerpoint is that you do not have to access the internet to use it. However, the world is becoming more and more 'wired'; there is hardly a coffee shop or bookstore in the country that does not have wifi. Powerpoint also has the ability to work with existing programs on a computer. For example, you can important files and drag them from open windows. However, Prezi allows you to search for google images and videos to incorporate into your presentation with ease. Overall, while I feel more comfortable using Powerpoint, or more specifically its Apple counterpoint Keynote, I look forward to using Prezi in the future. Especially now that it is relatively novel technology, I feel that Prezi would impress an audience and look impressive during a presentation.

Which Browser Shall I Choose?

Hello blog readers. It is my pleasure to help you debunk the magical world of internet browsers! What is a browser you ask? The browser is the application on your computer that allows you to go on the internet. If you want to know the age of Jennifer Aniston or how many teeth a spider has, the internet has your answers! But which browser to choose...which browser to choose. Here is a run-down of some of the most common browsers, including their pros and cons. Browse or do not browse, the choice is entirely up to you... - Google Chrome Chrome is my favorite browser for several reasons. Chrome users make up about 30% of the browsing population and like many of its competitors, Chrome is a free service. It is fast, easy to use, sleek. My favorite feature occurs when you download something; the downloaded item appears at the bottom of your browser screen and you can simply click on it to open the download. You can also type your search directly into the address bar instead of going straight to Google, which saves about 3 seconds but is super convenient. - Mozilla Firefox Firefox is another great browser that was my favorite before Chrome came along. It works better on PCs than on Macs, but is solid on both platforms. It features the same perks as Chrome including multiple-tabbed browsing, password manager, and bookmarks, but is just a little less cool. Unlike Chrome, however, Firefox has parental controls for those with young ones. - Safari Safari is Apple's default web browser. It is kind of clunky, but gets the job done. Safari does not have a seamless download manager, which is frustrating, but does have bookmarks and an easy google browser. You cannot customize your browsing experience as much as with other browsers, but it is simple and easy-to-use. -Internet Explorer Internet Explorer, or I.E., has a very fast start up time and is quite user friendly. It integrates well with Windows 7, which is great for P.C. users. However, it is so ubiquitous that it often becomes a target for hackers and no integrated download manager. These are the four most commonly used web browsers as of September 2012 with over 75% of the market. Other browsers include Opera and Sea Monkey, but you're probably best off using one of these 4. Thanks for checking out my post and happy browsing!