Saturday, October 22, 2011

Bittersweet


There is so much emotion and exhaustion in this final blog of mine for Website Design 6009. I have pushed myself really hard in this class to learn as much as I could in a very short eight weeks. I say very short, because this easily could have been a six month class, in my opinion. There was so much to learn and do. I am definitely the type of student that needs lots of practice to really assimilate the information I am learning. This class provided plenty of that! I was enlightened to a whole new world with even more acronyms that I still am confused with. I learned a lot and I am so greatly impressed by the work of my classmates. I look at their work and wonder how I compare. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of things, I see what others have done and I am impressed and at the same time depressed. I know I will never do web design full time, but I at least know a few basics. I don't know if I could get a site up and going all by myself, but maybe Bill would love another email from me! I was the student that was constantly sending emails; asking questions, and asking for help. Bill is probably greatly relieved that this class is over and my emails will finally end.
There is another ending here for me. I have just completed my Master's program at Lesley. I will greatly miss the constant communication with teachers and classmates. I will have some free time on my hands and probably not know what to do with it. I have greatly enjoyed every moment of being a graduate student. I am so glad I did this program. Today, I am physically exhausted from the long hours put into this class, emotional about the end, proud of my accomplishment, and excited to use my new skills and education. It is so bittersweet.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Expected Value

The topic this week in Probability was Expected Value. Unlike many of the topics, which I have been exposed to before, this one was completely new to me.

It is such a useful idea! If McDonald's has 5 different Happy Meal toys (do they still do that? Or do unhealthy foods advertising to kids not allow it anymore?), and there is an equally likely chance you will get any one toy, how many should you expect to buy to get them all? The answer is about 12. Now, you may be lucky and get them in just 5 purchases, or you may get unlucky, and have it take many many more than that, but on average (say you and 1,000 of your closest friends are all collecting the toys) it should only take 12 purchases.

One of my favorite things to do at a store is buy a grab bag. If you know 20% of the grab bags are worth $100, and 30% are worth $50, and 50% are worth $10, is it a good idea to pay $25 to choose one at random? Expected value can help you inform your decision. On average, the return of a grab bag is $40, so paying $25 is a reasonable gamble.

Probability classes are generally a lot of coin flipping and dice rolling, so the real life application of expected value was what really made me interested in my topic. On a phone call with my Dad, who works in finance, I mentioned the topic we were covering, and he immediately started talking about how he uses expected value all the time at work. That made me smile, because students always ask about math "when am I going to use this?" It is nice to hear that someone really does!

Friday, October 14, 2011

A unique experience


This class in writing HTML and designing webpages has been a total love/hate relationship. I love what I am learning and get so excited when I see a finished product that does what I want it to. On the other hand, I hate when I think I have it all under control and I look at a preview to see things are not what I wanted. Just adding a "td" or "tr" can totally screw up the works. The hours I have spent with the trial and error approach has my family wondering if this laptop computer is now an appendage! I have a new appreciation for those that can do this for a living. I am sure with a few more thousand hours, I could really get the hang of it. Fortunately, for all those out there I will not be switching careers to designing web pages. I have a friend who just designed her own web page for her business on her Mac with iWeb. I am a little jealous that it looks great and she did not have to be attached to her computer writing code for hours on end. I know that I could have cheated on occasion and used the editor, but I really wanted to understand and have control. I am admittedly a "control freak". I am also determined. I will finish strong and achieve my look. If you get a chance, check it out:
http://ada.lesley.edu/faculty/warrigon/Ecomp6009/wa110107/module5/unique.html . I was told in order to make myself stand out in this job market I needed to show how I am unique. This website is my attempt.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Photoshop


In this class, I am learning how to write html and how to use Photoshop. I must say that this class has me working very hard. I spend so much time in a trial and error mode that I feel like I am taking three classes at once with the amount of time I am putting in! I am still a little confused. You see, once I finally do get the desired look I want, I have spent so much time and various ways trying to do it that I sometimes don't know what I did do right. Do you ever get that way? Maybe I am just over tired and trying to do too much. Any how, I did managed to clone myself into a picture. A small success which I thought I would share. I am definitely a hard worker and I do have endurance, but this class is testing that.