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Final Project

Pinterest

Prior to this assignment I have heard of Pinterest but did not have a clue as to what it actually was.  So what exactly is Pinterest?  The best definition I could find online is "Pinterest is a pinboard-style photo-sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, and hobbies.  Users can browse other pinboards for images, 're-pin' images to their own pinboards, or 'like' photos." Definition

After signing up for an account, the categories I chose were food and drink, humor, travel, education,

outdoor, sports, tattoos, and technology.

Although Pinterest seems like a pretty cool Web 2.0 technology, I do not think I will use it much and will eventually delete it from my bookmarks.

Jeff

Google Maps

I have used Google Maps plenty of times in the past and am very familiar with how it works.  I like it because it is easy to use and you can actually view pictures of streets and other buildings around your destination.  I have been tasked with answering the following questions for class:

1. What is the distance if you drove to this address and the time you would need?

The address posted for this assignment is 53.4 miles from my house and would take one our and 11 minutes.

What is the time if you took public transportation?

When I chose the public transportation icon the following message appeared:

"Your search for transit directions from 416 Howard St, Boone, NC 28607 to 8180 Beverly Hills Dr, Hickory, NC 28602 appears to be outside our current coverage area."

What is the time if you walked it or what time of information does Google Maps provide to you?

Walking from my house to the address listed will take 15 hours 37 minutes to walk the 48.1 miles.  Google Maps even gives a warning that says "Walking directions are in beta.  Use caution – This route may be missing sidewalks or pedestrian paths."

Lastly, which one would you choose and why?

If I had to choose between driving myself, taking public transportation, or walking I would definitely choose driving myself.  Although I do think it would be interesting to see if I could actually walk the 48.1 miles in one day!

I am heading out now to your office Dr. M!!!  See you in about one hour and 11 minutes!

Jeff 

Mozaiq

Mozaiq (http://mozaiq.org/decrypt) is a great little website that I recently learned about in the Web 2.0 Technologies class I am taking.  It allows you to send a hidden message in a picture to someone who will then need a password to decrypt the message hidden in the image!  

I am LOVING the class!  I have learned about many Web 2.0 technologies that I never knew existed prior to the class.  The pace is perfect in my opinion...  Having an assignment due everyday is not bad because the assignments have not required an extensive amount of time to complete.  I actually feel like I have learned something so that is a bonus!  

Jeff

Youtube Converter

Youtube Converter (http://youtube-mp3.org) is a website that allows a user to find a song they want to download on You Tube, copy/paste the URL, and the song is converted to an MP3 and is then available for download at no cost.  There is only one problem with this...  IT IS ILLEGAL!!!

 After searching for the perfect definition of ethics, I found it on The Free Dictionary. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ethics) The page gives three different definitions that sum up how I feel about ethics perfectly:  

1.  A set of principles of right conduct.
2.  A theory or a system of moral values.
3.  The rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession.

I would never use Youtube converter because I feel like it is morally wrong.  The artists who created the music invested their time, energy, and money to create the music for us to hear.  By downloading it illegally you not only hurt the artist; you also hurt people like myself who purchase music legally either in a store or by paying to download it online.  You can download a song on iTunes for .99 cents for crying out loud!  Instead of hitting Starbucks or Bojangles in the morning pay to download your music legally!

I learned about ethics early on in the Air Force.  Another word I learned was integrity.  Both ethics and integrity are similar in the fact that they both mean the same to me: always do what is right, even if no one is looking.  If you live by that mantra you will never have any problems with letting your conscience guide you into doing what is right all the time!

See you later!

Jeff   

StumbleUpon

Prior to enrolling in Web 2.0 Technologies for the Summer session at Appalachian State University I thought I knew about all of the cool websites on the Internet...  Man was I wrong.  Dr. Medlin has posted some great websites to check out this semester and part of this weeks assignment is no different!

StumbleUpon (www.stumbleupon.com) is considered a discover engine. (think search engine except on a grander scale!)  After signing up it allows a user to pick interests (I picked sports, restaurants, and a few different tech interests) and then searches the Internet for websites and articles that are similar to your interests.  I view a bunch of sports related websites on a daily basis but just found out that Tim Tebow signed with the New England Patriots because of stumbleupon.com!

A cool feature is the "stumble" button located on the page.  It searches for a random site based on your interests and found this page for me:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2DjkEP/:5SW.Urtj:l0JU3nl8/www.buzzfeed.com/jpmoore/the-funniest-sports-gifs-of-2012/

It is a page with the funniest sports GIF's of 2012 and some of them are pretty good!

It is definitely an application that I will use in the future and have bookmarked it on my work computer as well as my laptop at home! 

Until next time!

Jeff

Making a move with xtranormal.com

Xtranormal.com is another website I never would have found out about if it was not for the CIS class I am currently enrolled in at Appalachian State University.  In theory it is supposed to let you choose a few settings, enter text, and animate one or two characters to make a short movie.

Unfortunately, I was not successful in being able to get a movie to render!  The first time I made it all the way through, but after two hours the movie still did not render.  I deleted my account and created a new one and went through the same process only for the new movie to get stuck on rendering as well!  I tried it one more time and gave up when the movie showed "your movie is currently being rendered.  Please check back in a few minutes."

I was excited to see the finished product because it showed a soccer player that was missing his jersey.  He looked for it repeatedly and then asked the viewer if he could borrow their shirt for his soccer match! 

Although I was not successful, I will continue to try because I would like to see how the finished product will turn out!

Mango Languages

Mango is a great resource that until this assignment did not know was available. I have seriously considered purchasing Rosetta Stone to teach myself Spanish; hopefully with Mango I can teach myself enough Spanish to be able to communicate with customers at the drivers license office.

After working with Mango, I taught myself a few phrases that I think will help:

Hello, how are you? - Hola cómo estás
Do you speak English? -  Hablas inglés
Have a good day! -  Ten un buen día

Now that I know Mango exists, I will definitely be using it to continue to learn Spanish as well as other languages!

Deviant Art

Deviant Art is a cool little site that I knew nothing about prior to this assignment. After looking around I found a section called "fan art" After looking through a couple of pages of work, I came across a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles picture that I thought was AWESOME!! Check it out:

I like the picture because I have always liked the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I watched them growing up and my kids have also watched them. The colors in the background really make the turtles stand out!

QR Codes

I have seen QR codes all over the place but never knew what they were before reading this assignment! Now that I know what that little bar code is, I downloaded a scanner for my iPhone to see what the buzz was about! One place I have seen a QR code was at Home Depot on some plants my wife was buying. Knowing what I know now, I could have scanned the QR code and it would have given me all kinds of information about the plant and how to take care of it. The next place I have seen a QR code is at the grocery store. Many items have QR codes near them that allow you to scan them to find out specific nutrition information as well as recipes. The last place I found a QR code was on my McDonalds bag today! I did not scan the code because I was to scared it was going to tell me how many calories by quarter pounder with cheese had!
I even made my own QR scanner; it is a link to the new camper we just purchased!

Skewness

I selected the "random" button on wikiversity just to see what would come up and it ended up being skewness. Because I had no idea what "skewness" was, I thought it would be something interesting to blog about! Apparently, Skewness refers to asymmetry (or "tapering") in the distribution of sample data. The article discusses to different types of skewing; negative and positive. With negative skew the left tail is longer and the mass of distribution is concentrated on the right of the figure. With positive skew, The right tail is longer; the mass of the distribution is concentrated on the left of the figure. Below are two pictures used on the site to explain it a little better:
It is not often that you can learn about something while blogging... Pretty cool stuff!

My Avatar... Looks a lot like me don't you think?

A Little About ME!!!!

I know the first assignment is to post three things about me, but I thought I would go a little more in depth! :)

I spent 20 years in the Air Force working as an air traffic controller before retiring December 31st, 2007.  After retiring I was asked to go to Afghanistan and supervise air traffic control operations for a year; I said no until I was offered a six year salary for one year of work.  I returned to the states and finished my AA degree in Computer Information Systems and started working for the state of North Carolina as a drivers license examiner. (Where I have worked for the last four years)  I am have been married to my wife Leslie for 22 years and we have three boys ages 21, 18, and 13.  

I am currently majoring in Business Education with the hopes of one day being a high school teacher and football, baseball, or basketball coach.  The journey seems like it has been so long to get where I am at today; in less then a year I will be graduating and teaching!

When I am not working at the DMV or school work, I enjoy spending time camping and fishing with my family.  I also enjoy attending Carolina Panther football games, and NASCAR races.

If I could invent one thing it would be a collar for a dog that allowed them to speak. (Just like the dogs in the movie UP!)  We recently rescued a dog from the pound; I would like for him to be able to talk so I could find out about his life before he came into our lives.  The pound says he is three years old and is a Jack Russell and Basset Hound mix; he is one of the most hyper dogs I have ever seen!!


I look forward to this class this summer!