Mike's Tulane Webpage
Last Update: 14-Sept-09
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Welcome
Hi,
Welcome to my Tulane University webpage. This page is a constant work in progress, and I update as I gain more knowledge and understanding in the field that I am studying. I have a page that consists of some of the simple programs I have been working on. Just check out the 1st set of links on the left side of the page. My major is Applied Computing Systems and Technology, and the more I learn about information technology, the more I realize how much I enjoy it. I'll have an Associate's degree this spring ('09), but I intend to continue taking classes until I get my Bachelor's. So far, it has been a lot of fun, and although I have a long way to go, considering that I am taking three courses a semester, the payoff in the long run should be well worth the time invested.
Tulane is an awesome university. The entire experience of attending classes at the Uptown Campus, in that classic New Orleans setting, has had a lot to do with my interest in continuing towards a higher education. Thus far, it has also opened a lot of doors for me.
Current Course Work
The following is my course list for the fall 2009 semester:
BSAC-111 Elementary Accounting I
- An introduction to the principles of accounting. Topics include: recognition of revenue and expenses for income determination, proper classification of balance sheet items, and income statement and balance sheet preparation.
JOUR-201 Intro to Journalism
- An introductory course to researching, reporting, and writing news stories for print, broadcast, Internet and other media. Through extensive reporting/writing assignments, guest speakers, and quizzes on current events, the course covers the nature of news, journalistic style, preparation of manuscripts for publication, the development of leads, interviewing techniques, selection and organization of facts, and the difference between various media styles.
CPST-350 Info Technology Project Management
- This course provides an introduction to the principles and application of project management techniques with an emphasis on the design and management of Information Systems. Topics include project planning, work team design, project estimation techniques, project reporting, identifying and controlling project risks, budgets, and quality assurance.
CGI/Perl
Last semester (summer '09) was an introduction to CGI(Common Gateway Interface)/Perl, which is a scripting language, used to create interactive web pages. If you've ever visited a web page that had a guest book, a page hit counter, or a form to submit user information, there is a good chance that the page was developed using some type of scripting language.
I have my final project from CPST-342 Website Development with CGI/Perl posted here on my other website. The page is set up to take user information and send it to my email account for review. The scripting language requires that certain information be entered, and that information is submitted in a specified format. If certain data fields are missed, or if the format is incorrect, warnings will appear in red text at the top of the form.
HTML CSS
I'm having a lot of fun with HTML (hypertext markup language) and CSS (cascading style sheets). This page uses CSS to set the background images, set the links and set the hover effects behind the links. If anyone in webpage development has heard of Eric Meyer, or seen his Complex Spiral, they would probably see a number of similarities with this page, and Eric's. That is because I shamelessly borrowed the code from his page and changed it enough to create what you see here on my page. I guess it's kind of like how Vanilla Ice used the Bowie song for Ice, Ice Baby. When I saw the Complex Spiral, it gave me a bunch of ideas for my page, so I ran with it. This page is my Ice, Ice Baby.
This Page
The first thing that you would probably notice when this page comes up is the image of Gibson Hall on the left. That image is fixed to that location, so when you scroll the page, the image does not move. However, if you are using an older version of IE, then the effect is an image fixed in the upper left corner of the screen and the upper left corner of the content box. As you scroll, you'll also notice that the links have a transparency, and when you hover over the links, the transparency changes color. This is created by having multiple versions of the original image.
The first image — the main background image — is a negative of the original image. This was created in Paint Shop Pro by simply inverting the colors of the original image. The image in the main content area, the area with all the text, is the original image. The noticeable effect on the links is the initial transparency, followed by a grey scale version of the original image. Then, as you hover over the links, the grey scale is replaced with a sepia toned version of the original image.
These are the images that I used for the ultra cool effect. Everything was done in Paint Shop Pro in a matter of minutes. If you really wanted to, I'm sure you could come up with some wild designs.
Well, back to the books for now, and don't forget to check back for updates, new programs/applets and pics.
Can't stop, addicted to the shin dig...
- chili peppers -
