Revisions!

WOW! So today we learned all about making revisions to a word document by adding comments, deletions, insertions and all that fun stuff. This was all an A-ha moment to me because i didn't even know you could do any of that stuff. So today was actually really cool. The only thing i'm still frustrated with is making sure i understand and remember everything i'm learning. There is a lot to take in and a lot of it for me is that it is new. So, i hope i can remember everything. But other than that it is really cool!
Now, the worst movie i've ever seen is called Santa versus the Martians! It was made back in the fifties and it is a gem let me tell you! Amazing! HA! You should check it out. It was actually made famous by the show Mystery Science Theater 3000 where they make fun of terrible movies...so yeah, there ya go!

Proposal sample

Here is a paragraph from my proposal. The italics represent the Issue, the Bold represent the point, and the normal text represents the discussion!

Lake Bonneville is one of the major evidences for the fact that climate has changed over the millennia. Lake Bonneville was a pluvial lake that covered an area of approximately 47,800 km² (Laabs et al., 2006). This implies that precipitation rates in the Wasatch mountains was much larger (Laabs et al., 2006), and in fact, it is estimated that the lake formed when precipitation rates were ten times that of modern values (Schofield et al., 2004). An increase in precipitation would most likely indicate that there was a change in climate due in part that Utah is now a very arid region. The evidence of Lake Bonneville is seen by the obvious shoreline features across the Wasatch Range and elsewhere in Utah. In fact, there have been 4 main shoreline elevations of the lake discovered. They are, in order of oldest to youngest, the Stansbury, Bonneville, Provo, and Gilbert. This probably indicates a relationship between climate and lake elevation (Schofield et al., 2004). Other geomorphologic features of the Lake are found in the Point of the Mountain and Fingerpoint spit which give an indication of the lake dynamics (Schofield et al., 2004).

Continue Onward!

Alright! We're still learning how to manage our little web page that we made on the geological department website. Today we learned how to upload our CV's onto the web page so that our portfolios will be all up to date and such. My A ha moment was how to make a hyper link to our PDF version of our CV. I've always wanted to know how to do that been never been able to so that was pretty cool! Now all i have to do is finish my proposal. I hope i can figure out what to do for that. Here it goes!
Now, when i was little, what i always wanted to be when i grew up was a race car driver. I loved to go to the little local racetrack in our hometown and watch the races and i was determined that i would be driver too. Interestingly enough, after that fad died away i really wanted to be a scientist. I had no idea what that meant, but i liked science and that's what i wanted to do. Funny how i'm kind of fulfilling that old dream in a small way!

WEB PAGE!

So yeah, we learned how to set up a web page today which is pretty cool because i have never done that before. For what we are doing it is actually pretty simple. We just have to follow some basic step by step instructions, but for the most part its all set up for us. It is through the geology department so there isn't anything too technical about it. In fact, my main aha moment was actually some terminology; i learned the difference between internet and intranet...i've never known the difference before! But anyway, i'm pretty excited to play around with my own website and get it up and running. It'll be pretty cool!
On a different side of things my favorite food is chicken alfredo! There is something about that dish that is so good. There was a time when i would go to a restaurant and all i would get is that meal. So yeah, i like it a lot! Till next time!

The abstract

So, we are still in writing mode, learning how to properly write like a geologist. More specifically we practiced writing abstracts which is the summary. We practiced summarizing on some fairy tales which was pretty fun. My A ha moment was that usually the only thing people look at when they go through professional papers is the title and the abstract. The superpower that i would love to have is, as boring as this is, to fly. I would just really love to fly and that's about it! whoo hoo!

References

We learned about good ways that we can easily cite our references for our research paper. Mainly using refworks and endnote. Unfortunately though, the server wasn't working very well and we couldn't access endnote which was the other program we could use. The one thing that stood out to me was about the hanging indent which is when the first line of the reference is not indented and the rest of the lines are. Also, you can easily change your indents in the ruler bar in word. It was pretty cool.
But, if i could be a tool i would be a hatchet! This is because it is such a versatile tool and can be used for a lot of different things and if you were lost in the wilderness it could save your life! So yeah, a hatchet is a good tool!

Thus it begins...

Here it comes, the dreaded research paper. We all knew it was coming, just wished it didn't have to start so soon. But ya know, i'm ok with all of this. I'm starting to get enough experience doing research that it really doesn't scare me anymore. However, this time, there is a new twist on it which will be new to most of us; that is, writing a proposal. I don't think it will be too bad, i just have to find a topic that interests me. So yeah, today we learned about how to write proposals. The thing that really struck me the most was in proposals they really don't even like abbreviations (why is that such a long word?). Not even little words like "lab" or "math". So proposals are mainly to help you get funding for your project.
Anyway, I'll be fine. On a lighter note my dream vacation would probably be New Zealand. Just from what i've seen it has almost every type of landscape and i just think it would be awesome. It seems like it is just tucked away in the corner of the world. I would love to go there. Anyway, yeah, thats about it. Take care!

The Interview!

So, along the lines of getting a job and making a resume and all that fun stuff, today we learned about how to properly go to an interview and present ourselves while there. The resume is made mainly to get you to the interview. So one of the things that stood out to me today was that there are many things about an individual that can't be properly displayed on paper. You need to show them who you are in person. Also, one of the most important things you can do is to differentiate yourself. Show them how you are unique and make them remember you. So, in thinking about this there is something unique about me. When i was in high school, for prom, my friends and i completely duct taped my entire van and decked out the inside to look like a limo. It was so awesome. It was basically my fifteen minutes of fame for my little town. If you want to hear the whole story i'll have to tell you! But, today was a good day. I learned a lot. Do your research before you have the interview with a particular company. Until next time, take care!

An exciting day of Resume

Well, you guessed it. Today we learned all about the exciting world of creating a CV and Resume. I actually had to make one for me technical writing class, but it's amazing how much you do forget after not having to do it for a while. My A-Ha moment came when learning a little more about how to use Word '07. We learned how to make little design things on our papers and how to lock them in place so they aren't always moving around when you type. I can't tell you how frustrating that has been for me in the past so that was a big help. But ya know, I've always had trouble creating a resume. It's always taken me more time than i think is necessary to put one together. So this, i hope, will be a good learning experience to help solidify what i know in creating a CV.
Now, on a lighter note, there is a prank we did back in good ol' scout camp. There was a camp counselor who was pretty annoying and no one really liked him. Well, every night he slept on his own really big blow up mattress. Well, this camp was located on the shore of one of the finger lakes in upstate new york. So, we decided (with the help of some other counselors actually) picked up his mattress while he was sleeping and floated him out onto the lake. He never woke up until he was out a little ways on the water. It was so funny to see how confused he was. I just can't believe it worked. (and no worries, the water front lifeguards were there watching him...a lot of people were in on it.) So yeah, it was pretty dang funny. Anyways, take care!

Word 07 A-HA ./ Scars

Well, today we learned about how to more effectively use Microsoft Word 2007. I've been using it for at least a year now so not too much was new, but there was one thing that struck that i didn't know before. That was how to set the tabs under page layout and then paragraph. This comes in helpful when you are building such things as a table of contents and you can automatically set your tabs. It was very cool.
Now, i have a funny scar story. When i lived in Washington state back in '94 (i was in second grade) i would always love to ride my bike around and then speed into the garage, slam on the brakes, and do a cool little skid on the concrete. Well, as i was speeding home one day, i flew into the garage and went to slam on my brakes and low and behold, they didn't work at all. I had no brakes. So, i went flying right into the back wall of the garage full speed and some little sharp thing sliced my left shin open. There was green stuff coming out and it was really cool. I remember i felt really tough because i didn't cry. But it cleaned up just fine and now i have a scar on my shin from that moment so long ago. And that's my sweet scar story.

So, here we have a few different type of logos that different companies have used. I think the spacing is definitely interesting to note...they all use different types of spacing with the name they use. Also, it is interesting that almost all these logos use san serif font type. I've realized that a lot more goes into making a logo as well as typing things up than just saying stuff. It has to be appealing too!

Geo 230 class blog.

Well, here it is! The blog that's completely dedicated to what I learned in Geology 23o! These posts will be full of my "A-HA" moments during the class, what I might still be confused about, and then random other stuff during that week. Hope you enjoy and hopefully I'll be a little more tech. savvy after this class!