Lessons Learned

Just some funny blog posts that I have come across.

I gave my daughter a fork, so I could try teaching her how to eat with one. So far, she's been doing all the teaching. She's taught me that if I get anywhere near her when she has a fork, I'll get shanked.

Today, I was complaining to my husband about a busty but vapid celebrity, and he replied, "She doesn't need brains, honey, she has boobs. You wouldn't understand. (This is SO my husband)

Today, the kids I babysit hid from me. While I was looking for them, I stepped on multiple strategically-placed Lego bricks. When I yelped from the pain, the kids jumped out and threw soccer balls in my face.

I love finding things like these on the net to get me through my day.  these are just a few of the funny ones I wanted to share. 

Javascript

I really enjoyed doing a javascript lesson in class today. I need to learn more about it so that I can make my blogs and webpage more interactive.  You can see what I did by going to my page:

My javascript page

Javascript is very powerful and you can use it to create and awesome site.  I just need to start learning more about it and see what kind of good ideas I can come up with.  It's still amazing how just a few lines of code can totally change your page into something that it wasn't before.

JQuery

Wow I never knew what I was missing when it comes to web design until I started using JQuery.  This is a powerful tool that allows me to add code to make my blog interactive.  For instance, you will notice that now when you come to my blog, everything slowly fades to green. This is thanks to JQuery.  I insert a couple of scripts and it transforms my entire page.  This is awesome. I am going to have to think about something to create that really sets my blog apart from others.  I can't  wait to dig in further and start using it more.

Woot! Woot!

So today was one of those days I was doing a little online shopping and decided I wanted to find some good deals.  So, I headed over to Woot! http://www.woot.com This is a great site to find some awesome deals on products.  You can save ton's of money. They have daily specials and then they also have categories you can choose from. I always love stopping by there to check out the deals.

Website Form

So this week I got to create a form on my website for people to fill out and give me feedback.  You can view the form by going to :

http://ceweb.uml.edu/bhava41789/forms/forms.html

We had to create a form using JotForm that was really simple and easy to use, and we also did one from scratch.  I really like JotForm and I had never heard of the site until now. They have different styles you can use to give your form some character.  Overall it was a great experience and now people can provide feedback on my site.

Great Learning Website

My husband and I have a photography business and we are always looking to learn more about our field. There is a great site called Creative Live that offers free classes on different photography techniques where the instructor shows you examples and how to do various things. You can visit the site here http://www.creativelive.com . They always have some great leaders in the photography industry on their classes and it's a great free source of training for photographers.

Havard Photography

Today I just wanted to share our Photography website and facebook page.  My husband and I really love photography and we specialize in family portraits, newborns and senior portraits. We also have started doing school proms and sports pictures as well. You can visit our website at http://www.havardphotography.com and if you would like to come visit our facebook page and like our page we would be appreciative. You can find us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/havardphotography.

Great Web Application

Since I have been using Turbo Tax recently I will discuss it for this week. I really like using Turbo Tax. It is a web application that allows you to prepare and file your taxes online.  It is very simple to use but I am sure the back-end of the application was difficult to create. You simply enter all of your personal information, income/wages and deductions and it totals what you will be getting back or having to pay.  Such applications as this makes it easier for me to file my taxes because I stay so busy and don't always have the time to go into a business and file my taxes. It is much more convenient this way and it makes my life easier. Go check out for yourself by going to http://www.turbotax.com.

Like I mentioned before, I really like how easy it is to use this web application and it's great that companies are realizing how important it is to make things accessible online so that it makes consumers lives easier. I know before the online age of things like turbo tax, I hated having to find somewhere to go to get my taxes prepared. They were expensive and SLOW! Now I can do it in the comfort and privacy of my own home and never have to leave the house! It's great!

Evolution of dance

I'm sure you all have seen this but I absolutely LOVE IT!

Why Search engines are important

Thanks to mobile phones and search engines our lives are much easier.  We can get addresses, phone number, business hours and even place food orders to go all from our phones.  This will help industries becasue more and more people get smart phones and are able to utilize the mobile sites to their advantage. The first thing I look for in a business is a great mobile site that allows me to do what I need to do. If someone markets their pages correctly they can be at the top of the search engines and this drives business to them. So search engines are an important part of an online presence.

Even in my personal life I can use to my advantage. If I want to promote a product or my blog, I need to make sure keywords are used so that search engines can pick up my pages and list them in their directory. This makes it easier for other people to fine my page.

Week 4 and CSS

I really enjoyed this week of styling our web sites. I like how easy it is to set the classes and then just fill them in where I need the color schemes to be.  This makes it much more convenient than having to do everything individually.

How Much Wood Would A Woodchuck Chuck If A Woodchuck Could Chuck Wood?

While it makes for a great tongue-twister, the sad answer is: probably none. Woodchucks aren’t particularly tree-oriented, and while they can climb to find food, they prefer being on the ground. In fact, they got the name “woodchuck” from British trappers who couldn’t quite wrap their tongues around the Cree Indian name “wuhak”. More commonly (and accurately) known as groundhogs, these animals are closely related to squirrels, marmots, and prairie dogs, with which they share an affinity for burrowing. And actually, a burrowing woodchuck can chuck dirt, in the form of tunnels that can reach five feet deep and as much as 35 feet in length. So, based on that number, New York State wildlife expert Richard Thomas calculated that if a woodchuck could chuck wood, he could chuck as much as 700 pounds of the stuff. :)

How Time Flies

I was just sitting here thinking of how fast time is going by.  It seems like the weeks are flying by SO quickly. I remember when I was in High School how I couldn't wait to get out of school and I was always rushing time and hoping it would hurry and pass by.  Now I want it to slow down. lol I guess because we stay so busy has something to do with it. I guess we need to take extra time and learn to manage time better. Maybe that way we can actually seem to have more time to spend with family and friends and it will help slow down how fast these years are going by.  I want to make sure I don't miss anything :)

The Landlord

One of my favorite videos!

Signs Improved by Hilarious Graffiti

Here are a few pics I found on funnyordie.com of signs that are much better after being defaced. 

My Favorite! lol

Internet effects on Media

The internet has a major effect on media today. Before the big internet boom and people always being connected, we had to rely on radio, tv, newspapers, magazines and albums.  Now everyone of these things can be done online.  Do you  want to read the news?  Sure head over to CNN.com and you will never have to turn your TV on to see what is happening in the world. Want to hear the new music from a particular artist?  Head over to amazon or the iTunes store and you have a slew of new artists to choose from. Internet has definitely hurt the music industry especially because of pirating.  People are finding ways around purchasing a song or album and they are able to get these for free.  They think that it isn’t hurting anyone but it hurts the artists.  The hard work an artist puts into an album is just stripped away and they don’t see the payday they deserver because of some cheapskate stealing their music. I also feel that the internet has hurt the newspaper and magazine industry.  Today, anyone with a  PC and a microphone and camera can become a newscaster.  On top of that, look how easy it would be to create a fake story and post it all over the internet for the world to see.  And all of this can be done from someone’s home and it could even be a kid.  While the internet has definitely expanded to be a useful tool, it can also cause problems for some people.

Blog I found on Technorati

This week I went through technorati.com and found a blog that interested me.  I have a sense of humor and I love jokes and funny videos that I find on the internet.  So for this weeks post I decided to choose http://www.funnyordie.com/ as the blog I wanted to talk about.  There are so many videos on here that are just hilarious. If I’m having a bad day I head on over to funnyordie.com to get my fix.  It’s amazing how far the world has come and how we no longer have to rely on tv/radio to provide us with entertainment. Not only does funnyordie.com have videos but they also have funny pictures with captions and more.  It is an all around fun site to visit and it will definitely make you smile. There is a great post I read on there titled “10 People Who Should be Immediately Unfriended on Facebook”. This is a great post and it made me laugh because it’s true. I don’t care how far someone ran, or what they are listening to on spotify, what video from 5 years ago they just discovered, where they are shopping and especially those who are OVERdramatic and whine all the time. I want people to get down to the nitty gritty of what is going on in their lives.  I call facebook my real-life “Days of our Lives”.

Internet and Communication

I believe that the internet has definitely altered the way we communicate with our friends and family. In the past we would drive to someone's house or meet them for dinner if we wanted to catch up, or even place a phone call when we needed to inform them of something.  Now we just send an email or text.  Everything has been digitized and made convenient. I used to call my mom a lot but now we mainly text because she works and it’s easier than me having to call and bother her.  The same thing with my husband, throughout the day we will text each other and in a sense it’s easier than calling him and bothering him if he is busy. With social media such as facebook, we have all become really nosey people.  We can’t wait to get our facebook fix for the day.  There is always some type of drama to see on facebook and it has made us look forward to seeing what people’s new status will be next. So the internet has definitely changed the way we act and communicate with each other.

How the Internet has affected communication

Technology is EVERYWHERE. We have cellphones, computers and tablets at our disposal every minute of the day.  Technology is all about making our lives easier and sometimes that can affect our basic foundations as humans such as communication.  Whatever happened to the telegraph? Or the messenger on a pony? Or the smoke signals? These were all forms of technology to deliver messages.  Now all we have to do is strike a few fake keys (touchscreen) with our fingers and hit send to relay a message to someone.  Technology has spoiled us.  We have become lazy.  Rather than walk down the hall to ask about lunch plans, we will text our colleagues and ask them when and where we are eating. There is not enough verbal communication anymore.  Our kids are learning how to text and email at very early ages and this is setting a precedent to what their lives will be like when they are grown.  When I was a kid and I was playing at the neighbors house, my mom would yell for me or my dad would whistle for me when it was time to come home.  Now parents just text their kids and tell them when an were to go. Even in their own homes they will just send a text to tell their kids to clean their room.  What happened with talking? It is so hard to walk a few feet and actually interact with your kids?  Don't get me wrong, this is something I have to work on myself as I tend to fall in the trap of the dreaded text message.

The new thing for teenagers is to see how many text messages they can send in a month. I have a nephew that send 19,000 in one month.  That comes to roughly 633 messages per day. That is just crazy.  what can they possibly be talking about.  My niece invited a friend over and then they sat on the couch and texted each other instead of actually talking.  Our kids do not communicate anymore.  I can see this leading to social issues in the future when they need to get up in front of their boss and make a presentation.  They can't text it to him.  Don't get me wrong, I am the first in line to use technology but I do see the effects it has on us.

Effect of the internet on Media

There are both negative and positive effects that the internet has on media.  For instance, book and newspaper publishers take a large hit when it comes to making actual book sales.  A majority of people now want their books and newspapers delivered electronically and this can hurts the companies that want to produce actual hard copy of books.  Another example is the music industry.  Back in the day, CD's were purchased even though only one song my be what the consumer wanted.  Now, consumers can choose to buy a whole album or just a couple of songs.  And then there is the issue of pirated music. There are so many places that rip the cd's and offer them for free downloads and the artist takes a hit in the pocketbook because of this technology.

The internet has made it hard for musicians, publishers and may other artists to find ways to connect with their consumers and get them to purchase their products.  They have to look at new strategies to draw the consumer in and purchase from them online. This is why a strong online presence is such a vital part in any artists career. They face difficulties everyday and they have to stay on top of new ways to communicate with the public.

Milk in my Sippy Cup

Yes, I am one of those people who LOVE funny viral videos and by far this one is the best I have seen.  I absolutely love this song.

My husband also loves this song.  He loves music and he love the beat and the way it was edited.  It is really catchy.  He has threatened to use this for his ringtone.  I told him people would think he was crazy being a 30 year old with a ringtone saying "milk in my sippy cup". I know this isn't the best topic to use for exploring the internet but one of my favorite things to do online is to look for things that will put a smile on my face and make me chuckle.  This definitely fits the bill for that. :)

Love my Chihuahua

I am a dog lover. We have a dachshund named Reese and our newest addition is our Chihuahua named Maci. Here is a pic that my husband took of her:

She is spoiled and thinks that she runs the house.  She definitely has a small dog complex.  She sleeps under the covers at my feet and does NOT like to be moved after she falls asleep.  If I mover her the slightest bit she will try her best to take a toe off.  Any other time she is the sweetest dog ever. Which I don't blame her because I like my sleep and I don't want to be bothered while I am trying to sleep. She is fully of energy and love playing fetch with her favorite toy. She really like to play fetch at bedtime and I usually have to hide her toy or she will want to play all night long.  We definitely love our pets and they are just as spoiled as daughter.

Internet in Education

I believe that the internet has really improved today's education.  There is so much information for people to use for research as well as sites for learning.  My daughter love getting on the computer and learning her letters and numbers at several different pre-school sites.  The internet has also opened up options such as online college classes like this one. It makes it much easier for me to take classes now that they can be done online.

For schools it adds a large amount of information for students to be able to learn and watch videos on millions of subjects.  At the school I used to work at, you tube was a major part of the teacher’s curriculum. Also there is a great site by Discovery that has hundreds of videos and information for students to learn.  This makes things more interesting to the students and gets them involved.   Some will say that there are disadvantages, but I believe that the advantages greatly outweigh the negative.  Google is the largest encyclopedia in the world..lol All you have to do is type in what you need information on and you have hundreds of pages of information at your fingertips. Students can use this information to write papers or expand on things they learned in class.

Introduction

My name is Brandi Havard and I live in Jasper, TX. I am a Psychology major and I am taking this class to learn a few new things like creating a web page and blog. I am a stay-at-home mom and I usually have alot of things on my mind so hopefully I will put this new blog to use. :) I am looking forward to this semester and I can't wait to start learning!