Reflecting on Publisher

Before taking this class, I never really used Microsoft Publisher for anything. I took a computer class in high school, and this was not one of the programs we worked with. I am honestly glad that I have been able to use it. It is suitable for any career, and I think everyone should have the opportunity to have experience with it. It has so many different uses, and is easier to use than one may expect. I love that you are able to easily select what you want to make, choose a template, or even make your own out of a blank one. When I first started using Publisher, I had no idea what to think. I decided to start by making a calendar, and it didn't turn out how I wanted. As I continue to work with it on our six assignments for class, I find it easier to do, and a lot of fun. I find that I am becoming more creative and my end products have improved as well. I am now more comfortable with using a blank template, then just editing an already existing one. I can do a lot of things on it now, like changing the template, template colors, inserting business information, and backgrounds. I am in no way a Publisher expert, but I do find myself improving.
I was looking around on the website provided on Dr. Hossain's website, and I think it has a lot of great ideas to make on Publisher, as well as supplies.
http://www.plaintalkprint.com/full-colour-printed-products/business-cards.htm

Microsoft Word Booklet - Tips & Topics

At first when we got this assignment, I wasn't sure what topic I wanted my booklet to be about. One thing that I found helpful when trying to choose a topic is, pick something familiar to you. That may sound obvious, but you may find it easier to create a booklet out of something you already know. You could choose a hobby, turn other assignments from a class into a booklet, review an actual book, make a travel guide, or make it about a person. Creating a booklet on a sport, a talent, or a place would be easy too. I finally chose to make mine about the county I am from. I had to do research on it before, so I had a lot of information on it already. I turned it into a travel guide. I included places to stay, eat, and things to do.
While working on the booklet, another helpful tip I discovered was trial and error. I would save my work and play around with the different settings, fonts, table of contents formats, and so on. Just be sure to save your work when you decide on what you want. There is an undo button, but it only goes back so far. Another tip is to not go overboard with pictures. I didn't want my booklet to be plain and boring so I looked for pictures. I found some great pictures of the places that I wanted to include in my booklet. I found that limiting the number of pictures to one or two per page still looked nice, but wasn't overbearing. I also used the picture formatting tool provided in word to give them different shadowing and things like that. On Google, I found that you can download more templates from office.com I think these are helpful incase you can't find the right design you want already on Microsoft word. These are free, which is also nice. I liked creating the booklet, and I think it can be really useful in a lot of different career fields.


The website I found the templates on
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/tri-fold-business-medical-brochure-red-white-design-TC103895499.aspx

Eating dinner with anyone in history.

For this week's blog post, I wanted something random and different to post about. I feel that since Module 1 is due tonight, I would use this entry as a "get to know me" post, rather than a technology post. I saw this question online and found it interesting. "If you could eat dinner with any person in history, who would it be, why, and what would you eat?"
I would choose Elvis Presley, because I love his voice and music, and I would eat Quesadillas. I know this part isn't in the question, but I'd make him eat at Graceland because I've always wanted to go there. You hear of the different rooms, his pink Cadillac, and his golden toilet. To me, it sounds like a fun place to visit, and if you're eating with Elvis, it might as well be in Graceland. I've always loved Elvis and have found his life interesting. I love the sound of his voice and his music is catchy. Even today, there isn't a single musician that sounds anything like he did. Elvis paved the way for a lot of our music today and I would want to get his opinion on that. I think Elvis would be entertaining, funny, and a welcoming person to eat with. I think my obsession with Elvis started with a vacation to Myrtle Beach. My mom and I were having lunch at a restaurant that had huge fake sharks hanging from the ceiling. As we were looking around at all of the ocean decorations, we saw an Elvis impersonator. This guy looked exactly like the real Elvis, I know that everyone says that about every impersonator, but this one was spot on. I was probably 12 years old and I got my picture taken with him. I'm pretty sure that's all I talked about at that lunch. Ever since then I've loved him.

  
As my actual historical figure I would pick Abraham Lincoln, and I would eat pizza. Besides Washington, Abraham Lincoln is the president I remember learning about a lot in school. He, I guess you could say, is my favorite president. I find certain historical events to be interesting, and the Civil War is one of them. Lincoln had such a huge long term impact on the United States and I think he would be interesting to have a conversation with. The man went through so much in his life and I would find it fascinating to ask him all about it.

 

 

 

if you are having trouble thinking of a blog post topic, here is a website I thought could be useful

http://freelanceswitch.com/freelance-writing/freelance-blog-post-topics/

Microsoft Word, Excel, & Publisher Exploration

While working on the KWLH charts for Microsoft Word, Excel, and Publisher I decided to make this weeks blog post about how I explored using these programs. I am quite familiar with Microsoft Word, but am not with the other two. I took a computer class in high school and used Excel a couple of times. I have never used Publisher before.
Normally when I get a new device, whether it be a cell phone, computer, Kindle, etc. I always jump right in and start playing around with it. I like to figure out how to use it and the functions on the device on my own. I do not normally read the instructions that come with it. That is exactly what I did with Microsoft Word and Excel while completing the KWLH charts.
On the other hand, for Publisher, I opened the program up, and used Google to look for tutorials. I didn't even have a clue as to what Microsoft Publisher was used for. Since I know so little about the program, I thought it would be best to start with the basics of Publisher. I used the tutorials to learn how to open, create, save, and work on new projects. I also learned how to add text and images to the document. I thought using the tutorials made it a lot easier, than if I just would have tried to figure it out for myself. The site I used gave you pictures to see, as well as written instructions on how to do whatever it was the tutorial was showing you how to do. As I was almost finished exploring Publisher with using the tutorials, I thought I would use it for Excel as well. I again, started off with the basics and learned some things that I didn't already know how  to do in Excel.
I'm glad I took the time to look up tutorials for these programs, instead of trying to use them on my own. The tutorials make it easier to see how to do something while actually using the program yourself. Tutorials are also great because you can refresh your memory on how to use them, as well as learn new things. I recommend using them for any software program in the class. One site I found that was very helpful is http://www.baycongroup.com/tutorials.htm You simply click on the Microsoft software you want to learn about, and then click on one of the subtopics listed under that program. This site does not have Publisher. I used the site http://www.gcflearnfree.org/publisher2010 for that software. You simply click on the numbered topic you want to learn how to do and it will show you step by step how to do it. I would definitely recommend using tutorials to help yourself out.