Absolute powerpoint corrupts absolutely...(sorry, couldn't help it...)

Sometimes, I adore Powerpoint, and sometimes, I really wish I could delete it off of the world's database and pretend it never happened. Usually, the desperate need to delete all Powerpoint programs comes after I have watched a seizure-inducing, entirely-too-long powerpoint filled with spotty graphics and huge blocks of text. Transitions in Powerpoint are a tricksy thing, because sometimes they are smooth and neat, adding a lot to the presentation, but sometimes they are little more than flashy nothings that are more akin to a bad movie than a good powerpoint. AND THEN there are the annoying sounds. Those clip-art-esque sounds that make everyone in the room jump and jolt to attention when you switch form one text filled slide to the next.

A perfect example

 But my absolute LEAST favorite thing about Powerpoint? Powerpoint has the ability to turn a 5 minute presentation into a 10 minute bore-fest, as the presenter reads aloud every last bullet point that we are perfectly capable of reading to ourselves.Data that should take up one slide suddenly takes up four as the audience is treated to a stuttering transition from one akwardly placed bit of information to the next. You say that maybe it is the presenter's fault? Powerpoint is a program designed with no easy means of transitioning between blocks of information. the most eloquent people I know are transformed into stuttering repetitive messes by this awful program. But Powerpoint does have some reedeming qualities.(somewhere...I'm sure...anywhere?) It makes for wonderful presentations of charts, and seamless integration of photos into textual analysis. Leave the bullet points, annoying sounds, and unneccesary transitions at home, and powerpoint ALMOST becomes a useful tool.

CLT Visit

The CLT center is amazing, and filled with all kinds of useful stuff. The Studios are honestly the most amazing part. I can't believe I didn't even know this place was there! :) The easy access to scanners, the awesome staff, music editing software?!? The CLT center has stuff I didn't even know I cared about until I got easy access to it! Plus, with the library being open crazy hours, I could Photoshop for a ridiculously long time!

YAY PICNIK!

I chose the Lebanese photo image (no.2) because I feel that this photo manipulation is an example of the commonplace exaggeration of destruction in the media. The photo was taken by a Lebanese photographer named Adnan Hajj, and originally only showed one plume of smoke above the Lebanese capital, but Hajj manipulated it to show more, and exagerate the destruction. He maintains that he was attempting to remove dust, and that it was a mistake, but other photos of his have also been shown to be doctored. This photo manipulation was certaintly harmful because it shows that photos can no longer be trusted, and influences the public's empathy and perception towards events. Photos of destruction are powerful tools over people's emotions, but how can we remain empathetic when we aren't even sure what we are looking at is real?