Tutorials for Digital Media Project

All here are the links to some short tutorials I created that will help you with your next project. If you need more help, stop in to my office.

Photoshop
http://echo.whitman.syr.edu/ess/echo/presentation/49638d5d-872d-4678-873b-8bf6f91d3d54

iMovie
http://echo.whitman.syr.edu/ess/echo/presentation/6e80cc8d-a3ab-4692-923d-e7db917ab6ad

Windows Movie Maker-Vista
http://echo.whitman.syr.edu/ess/echo/presentation/4cc008d1-76f3-4178-9b81-28602761bc19

PowerPoint 2007
http://echo.whitman.syr.edu/ess/echo/presentation/a38b5414-0eab-43dc-8123-fb44e5e820b3

Digital Media Hands On (in class)
http://echo.whitman.syr.edu/ess/echo/presentation/85c5b432-8c16-4845-8c93-c92ad5ba6ad4

Analog vs. Digital

Before we learn about digital media, we need to understand analog.

Can you tell me the difference between analog and digital?

Week 6 - Topics and Readings

This week we concluded the Computing section. Can I get an amen? Not my favorite part of the course, but I will never deny the power of the personal computer and their purpose. On Tuesday we looked at hot topics like virtualization, thin computing, and cloud computing. Also, we finished up with some US and International sales info for the industry. Simply said Acer improved, Dell hasn't been impressive, Lenovo is down, HP is respectable and Apple only made the US list. Oh yeah, Virtualization, Mobile Computing and Cloud Computing are hot topics and very relevant. The benefits are pretty obvious depending on the situation.

Thursday we will dive in head first into Digital Media. We will meet in WSOM 009 and "kick the tires." My plan is to attack Photoshop, Flash, iMovie, Windows Movie Maker and Powerpoint, this class will help you as you work on your second project. You are required to create a digital media advertisment (see syllabus). Next week we'll get into the details and power of digital media, drivers, formats, definitions and issues.

Oh yeah, three more things:

1. We'll keep cranking on the individual project presentations. I'm hoping you are seeing the pattern.

2. Twitter is silly, see here. Why are people following my useless comments?

3. Quiz and Project grades should be posted on Blackboard by Tuesday.

Download Reading Assignments Here

Mac vs. PC

As we are entrenched in the computing section of this course we need to enter into the Mac vs. PC battle.

1. Which is the better personal computer and why?

2. Which is a better enterprise computer? What I mean is which does CPU Inc. need - They have 500 PCs (towers and notebooks), need integrated file and communication systems.

3. As the Director of Technology I am very interested in the future of the Mac vs. PC battle on the student level. Which computer are students going to bring to campus over the next 2-5 years. Mac or PC?

Week 5 - Topics and Readings

This week we continue the individual project presentations and we start focusing on Computing. I like to discuss the history, evolution and improvements in the computing industry. We'll cover a number of simple computing terms and definitions by taking a look inside the computer. Glenn Santa (Computing Specialist) will help us discuss the "guts" and "uses" of computing parts. After the basics we'll dive a little deeper into processing power, Moore's Law and miniturization. The main ideas here are today computers and components are generally smaller, faster, and more powerful/capable.

I am also pleased to have Ryan Elstad (System Admin) and Peter Pizzimenti (System Admin) as guest speakers this week. Ryan and Pete are bright lights in the world of computing and IT infrastructure here on campus. I've asked them to discuss servers (file vs media), storage, backups, green computing, data centers and virtualization. And of course they will discuss costs and companies involved. This will be a great session. I learn something new every time I talk to them.

Download Reading Assignments Here

*Your paper is due 2/12.

My First Computer from 1982!

As we move into the Computing Section of this course I started thinking about my first computer it was the Commodore 64. What a purchase by my dad. At the time the C64's graphics and sound capabilities were rivaled only by the Atari (hopefully you know what Atari is). Also it was the best selling computer of all time (at the time). At the time I was five and playing some really lame games: Super Bowl Sunday, Frogger and Q-Bert.

What are the biggest differences between your first computer and your present computer?

These screenshots are pathetic and real. I remember these games, the lame controller and the 5in floppy disks. Oh yeah did I mention there was no internet. That explains my 15 year obsession with John Madden Football and the Internet.

As you can see, when you are an old timer a lot has changed. The biggest difference my my C64 and my MacBookPro is speed, size, power, storage, networking and graphics capabilities:

64KB of RAM (C64) vs. 2GB of RAM (my MacBookPro)
1.02 MHz CPU (C64) vs. 2.4 GHz Intel Core Duo (my MacBookPro)
16 Colors (Monitor) vs. Millions of Colors (Monitor)
Commodore BASIC 2.0 OS (C64) vs. Mac OS X Leopard (my MacBookPro)
$595 COST (C64) vs. over $2,000 (my MacBookPro)

Week 4 - Topics, Project and Readings

At this point in the course we have completed laying the foundation of the course. We've covered Drucker's Seven Sources of Opportunity, Business Concepts, Business Models and we compared digtial commerce platforms of yesterday and today.

This week we will start with the Computing Section (History, Evolution, Internet Computing). The main idea is observe and discuss the evolution of computing and we also will discuss specific computing components and terminologies. You'll see that we'll learn about the size, speed and power of modern day computer processors. Lastly, we will start to look at changes, issues and future trends in the computing industry.

Tips for Reading:

1.  How PC works (focus on 1-4)

2. Moore's Law (is very short and sweet)

3. Computer Timeline (navigate using the categories, not years)

4. Top 10 Computing Trends 2009 (short and good info)

Tips for the Videos:

1. Keep your eyes and ears open for about 10 minutes. just checking if you are reading ;)

Download Reading Assignments Here

Also, I scheduled your individual project presentation:*

2/3 - Anderson to DeLoge (not finished yet)
2/5 - Dorsheimer to Hight
2/10 - Jacob to Moulton
2/12 - Murray to Zipprich

*Your paper is due 2/12.

Individual Project Information

Characteristics of Digital Commerce Entrepreneurs (5pts)

You are required to submit a 2-3 page report and prepare a 2-3 minute oral presentation for the class. You can utilize audio, video, images, etc. I encourage you to be creative. You are limited to 2 PowerPoint slides.

The student will focus in on an entrepreneur from the digital commerce and entrepreneurship industry. The entrepreneur should be an inventor, founder or leader of a technical tool, service or company.

There are two objectives:

1. Evaluate the entrepreneur and determine his/her personal characteristics, education or lack thereof, professional resume, influences, inventions and/or ventures.
2. Explain how this entrepreneur utilized Technology. Ask yourself: Was he/she a technician, engineer, inventor, visionary, strategist, or all of the above? What enabled the entrepreneur to achieve the success they have? What was the source of opportunity?