Blog entry: 10 reasons not to use your mobile in lecture.
1. Firstly because it makes the other students hate you. Even if you talk in your quietest voice (which the offender (who should be removed from lectures (and the university) in my opinion) doesn’t), and duck behind the desks (which, again, he doesn’t), will still distract others.
2. The student (although I doubt he does much studying) pays £3070 a year to come to university.
3. Other students pay £3070 a year to come to university. They don’t want to pay to not be able to hear the lecturer, but instead hear an intellectually challenged guy jabbering on, on his mobile.
4. In some lecture theatres it makes the monitor speakers buzz.
5. I doubt he cares about others, but the price of long calls might prompt him to be quieter.
6. Text messages are quicker, quieter, cheaper and more discreet. Surely a text conversation would suffice? Obviously not.
7. Unless someone is dieing, it can usually wait an hour until the lecture finishes.
8. Using phones too much cooks your brain. This is probably the only way to keep said student quiet
9. The lecturer. It’s their job to help others learn. Some thicko on a phone isn’t just distracting, it rude. Common decency and politeness were obviously exempt from this persons early life.
10. It causes other students to type a 200 word blog entry; however it is a good opportunity to have a good dig.
Saturday 15 March 2008
Monday 10 March 2008
Movie maker
Blog Entry : Windows Movie Maker
This simple tool, bundled with all new windows operating systems, does exactly what it says on the tin; Makes movies. What it doesn’t say is that it’s a pain to use, there are relatively few features, and only outputs to .wmv .
When I say it’s a pain to use, I mean it. One simple thing, which anyone with common sense would have added, is the soundtrack. There is no option to vary sound levels per clip; its either soundtrack or filmed sound. This means if you want one clip all music and one speech, you need to make multiple projects, and cut them together at the end. This still leaves the problem of synchronisation, as this method often makes the soundtrack jump to new points.
Another problem is that there is virtually no effects available. Even with the meagre selection of poor alterations, there are no options on how much an effect should be added. For example; the watercolour effect. You either don’t have it:
Or you have an indistinguishable bunch of blobs:
There are some upsides though.
The interface is so simple even an American idiot can use it. Also the ability to chop the film at the point you are currently at is, admittedly, very handy.
My overall feelings are that Windows Movie Maker is a great tool for those who can’t be arsed making a decent looking movie. With much better commercial and freeware alternatives, I would not advise it.
This simple tool, bundled with all new windows operating systems, does exactly what it says on the tin; Makes movies. What it doesn’t say is that it’s a pain to use, there are relatively few features, and only outputs to .wmv .
When I say it’s a pain to use, I mean it. One simple thing, which anyone with common sense would have added, is the soundtrack. There is no option to vary sound levels per clip; its either soundtrack or filmed sound. This means if you want one clip all music and one speech, you need to make multiple projects, and cut them together at the end. This still leaves the problem of synchronisation, as this method often makes the soundtrack jump to new points.
Another problem is that there is virtually no effects available. Even with the meagre selection of poor alterations, there are no options on how much an effect should be added. For example; the watercolour effect. You either don’t have it:
Or you have an indistinguishable bunch of blobs:
There are some upsides though.
The interface is so simple even an American idiot can use it. Also the ability to chop the film at the point you are currently at is, admittedly, very handy.
My overall feelings are that Windows Movie Maker is a great tool for those who can’t be arsed making a decent looking movie. With much better commercial and freeware alternatives, I would not advise it.
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