6/15 last class

Today was the last class of Rab's SE.
This class was harder that i had thought, but that is probably because I worked on the extra-curricular homework such as finding the look-alike of ELP teachers.
But anyway it was good to legally use a computer in class!

I have already used Google Trends because I was in Rab's class last year.
It's very useful for me to show when Japanese people got interested in TPP. I will use the data as the introduction part of my essay.

Concerning whether Google Chrome is popular or not, I'm not so sure how many people are using it. But I think it is a good thing to introduce it to those who have never used it because it is incredibly faster. Also, the new version of Firefox for Win is crap. I installed it on my computer yesterday and was surprised what Mozilla did with it. I think I just have to change a few settings to make it like the previous version. But most people usually don't like such a trouble. So it is great to inform students of Google Chrome, which is almost perfect by default.

Thanks for being a good teacher, Rab. I hope you will teach a even greater class next year.
Please email me if you find any good drama series or movie. Bye!

6/13

Today we visited TED and iTunesU, which are both among my favorite!

TED is the website where professionals (mainly authors of upcoming books?) talk briefly about their theory. TED takes you to the leading edges of topics which interests you. The important thing is each presentation takes no longer than 18 minutes. We can also learn the techniques of delivering fine presentations.

iTunesU is a tool which provides you with a way to watch lectures at famous universities like MIT, Harvard and UCB.

The concept is like TED's, but since the length of lectures are not limited to 18 minutes. I think that maybe we will not have to go to university anymore in the near future.

Concerning Rab's question about this class, I don't think we should work on different topics than TW topics. But I'm regretting that I should have taken TW class in Spring because if I had taken, I think maybe, maybe I could have started working on my topic earlier than I did. Or maybe now I was suffering in the same way as I am now;)

6/8

We spent most of the class time on constructing our websites.

I changed my topic to the problems of TPP. I think TPP could make the situation much worse since we are still suffering from the damages of earthquake. Most people simply think TPP is bad for Japanese agriculture but that overall it is good for Japanese economy. However, this is wrong or, at least, could be very wrong. I will examine what the consequences might be and hope everyone to think more carefully whether we should take part in TPP.

We also visited the three websites designed to help students write better. I will consult them when I don't know what to do in writing.

6/6

Today Rab introduced websites which provide many tools and useful information.

On one of the websites, Google labs, I found Google Reader Play.

This tool shows some of the most popular pages on the web at the time you visit. It will be very helpful when you want to kill time.

I've got what I think is cold and I have a relatively high fever now.

So maybe I can't make it to tomorrow's class. Even if I can, I will keep silent, but don't think me angry. Actually I've been lying down all day. But I have to work on my final project for SE because I'm going to change my topic. There's too many uncertainties about bin laden's kill and I doubt it will be so fresh as now when I work on my real essay in Winter.

6/1

Today we learned how to edit movies on imovie.

Imovie gives a way not only to cut and past part of movies but also to add a caption and BGM on it. I think I will make one for my website, so this technique will be useful when I use a similar software.

Now I'm very much worried that I can finish the task by the due date. I have so much to do like I did in last term. Why can't we poor humans learn from failures? It seems that's the biggest reason we still have hungers and wars on this planet. I hope someone in ICU will change the situation. I wish I could do it myself but I don't have such a high motivation. Sorry. It's better I just live in one of the suburbs and curse stupid politicians. That's all I can do. So please change the world!

Who's your look-alike?

Today we learned how to use iphoto and collected photos for it.

This kind of tool reminded me of my childhood, when I frequently scribbled on everything.

While I played around with it, I came up with an interesting idea. I thought it interesting to find someone who look like ELP teachers including Rab. So I searched for them and here's what I found. I hope you enjoy!

Chris Hale(DJ, ELP teacher)

Joe Satriani(guitarist)

Chris Hopkins(ELP teacher)

Elton John(musician)

Miguel Sosa(ELP teacher)

Oompa Loompa (in the movie Charlie and the chocolate factory)

Paul Wadden (ELP instructor)

Earl in My Name is Earl (just kidding)

Ged O'Connell (ELP lecturer)

Eric Clapton(guitarist)

Christopher Gallagher (ELP lecturer)

Matthew Macfadyen(English actor)

Bill Harshbarger(ELP teacher)

Father Christmas

Robert Homan (ELP lecturer)

Superman

Noah Benett in Heroes

Steven Engler (ELP instructor)

Stone Cold Steve Austin( professional wrestler and actor) ※This idea is originally Rab's)

And finally , we have Rab!

Paul Krugman (Nobel-winning economist)

It took me over two hours to find these people...

I hope it was worthwhile!

5/26

Today we received a lecture on prezi by Shantonu and Saori. Both the way they presented prezi and prezi itself were fantastic. Prezi seemed not so simple for me, but their lecture helped me understand it. I was surprised they were so familiar with many functions prezi has. I don't think I could explain even in Japanese so well as they did in English. It's not just about the English skills. They must have been prepared for it very much. Thank you Shantonu and Saori! I want to do a presentation with prezi someday. Maybe I will for my essay.

Next class is on iMovie. I think I'm going to make a movie for my presentation even though I have never done that, so I look forward to it.

5/23

At first, I made a pair with someone I didn't know, who was math boy Yuya. Then we talked about how we utilized the tools Rab introduced to us. Yuya and I also talked about our essay topic. He said he was going to write on the energy problem, which is now the hottest topic in Japan. And I told him at least I was going to make a presentation on Bin Laden's kill, though I'm not sure if my writing is on the topic since I have my TW class in Winter. It could be out of date by then. Who knows how it will be in six months? Anyway, my presentation will be on Bin Laden's kill and I think I will make a video for it if I have time to do so.

After that, Rab introduced Google Sites. It provides you with a easy way to create your own website. Using it, we have to make a website, that is supposed to contain all the things we are going to touch upon in our essay.

I want to write more, but I have a test to worry about. So please excuse me. See you when I have time!

5/18

Today we learned how to use Keynote in the other Mac room.

Rab got us familiar with how to put pictures and movies in the presentation slides.

Some ELP teachers also joined our class session today. I thought professors were all supposed to know this kind of thing. But obviously they don't. Rab said that the guy who sat in the center of the room, during his lecture on PowerPoint, deleted all his slides except the one he wanted to delete. Important thing is he couldn't recover the slides. They are all gone. Imagine all the time and efforts he spent on creating the slide show and how embarrassed he was because he accidentally did it in order to teach students how to use PowerPoint. I feel really sorry for him!

At least in my use of PowerPoint type of softwares, I don't care so much what it is as long as it has the very basic functions of the softwares. But for those who like to decorate slides with cool effects, Key note would be the best choice.

If you can't afford Office or Keynote( I don't know if you need to buy it), you should check http://ja.openoffice.org/.

This OpenOffice is like a free version of Microsoft Office, which can be used on Win, mac and Linux. It can convert files created by Office or probably Mac's counterpart. And the most impressive thing about this software is that it is free.

By the way, today Shantonu asked Rab how to put a Youtube video in the slides and Rab said you have to convert one into another format to do that.

This is what Youtubefire, which I already introduced in my blog, does for you.

Youtubefire gives a way to save a Youtube video on your computer as wmv, mp4, avi..blur blur blur.

You just have to add the word "fire" after youtube of the address

So like I explained in the previous post, if the address is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gy25McxkEI, you just have to rewrite it to http://www.youtubefire.com/watch?v=8gy25McxkEI.

I don't know if even any of my classmates check this blog or not, but I'm feeling like I have to let you know what I know if it seems informative enough!

P.S. Looks like Youtubefire isn't working on Mac now. So you need to switch to Windows or wait till the maintenance is finished.

5/11 and 5/15

On 5/11 we did exactly what I wrote we did in the last post. I'm quite relieved! After all, I'm not so nuts. I think I felt like I forgot all about it because the contents of the last two classes are almost the same. I couldn't distinguish one from the other and I was under that impression that I was going crazy. But it seems like I wasn't. good thing to know!

On 5/11 Rab introduced how to record a video using Quicktime player. I have my own PC camera and microphone to use for ridiculously useful Skype, so I already knew how to do it on Windows. Yet I'm not a big fan of Mac, so I wasn't familiar with the way on Mac. You just have to mute the output, launch Quicktime and select the Recording button. Very simple!

After that, we recorded our pre-presentation, which I couldn't because I forgot to push the recording button. Maybe I need to restate it is not simple at all. On this planet there are some very dumb people who find it impossible. But don't worry. Like I said, I have my own camera and microphone. So I recorded it at home. Watching it was catastrophe beyond human imagination. I know I was terrible, but I didn't know I was this terrible. Soon after playing the video, I suspected that something was very wrong with my microphone, but it wasn't! What's wrong was me, not the microphone. But it's not the end of the world. These days everyone says the individualities, including one's weak points, should be embraced!!!!..... Yet unfortunately, I don't agree with this opinion. Before anything, one has to prove himself worthy of recognition as an individual. Therefore, very,very unfortunately for me, since I'm one of the ICU students, I have to do my best to prove myself.　Actually, I've been always doing what I can to make the situation better in my own way( Useful expressions!!).

I know my writing is too redundant considering the purpose of this blog is reviewing what we learned in the class. Rereading the above writing, perhaps I might even sound like some kind of junkie. So maybe I will make it as brief as I can in next post. Stay tuned!

amnesia

On 5/9, we covered how to use Google Form. It is one of the functions google document has. Google Form gives a simple way to create a variety of questionnaires. I tried it to ask Yoshiki about the legality of Bin Ladin's kill, which will be my essay topic.( But since I have TW in winter, considering the freshness of of topic I would have to change it when writing.) It is impressive that Google Form sends a feedback to a questioner as soon as a form is completed. Rab said that it would be a great help if your essay is about something to which people's ideas matter. We should also note that we have complete representation of those concerned when conducting a survey. For example, if you only got answers from ICU students but the subject should not be limited only to the ICU community, it would be a grave mistake to present the result as a complete sample. You might end up being accused of lacking neutrality toward the subject. So watch out when you pick up people to whom you send your questions.

I just realized I was writing the same thing as I had written days ago. Am I out of my mind? Or maybe I'm having amnesia. Not to make fun of myself as I always do, I think something is seriously wrong with me. These days I have been having difficulty remembering my friends' (most are among my best!!) names. Maybe I should go see a doctor. Or I will be fucked up! I don't want to get any more nuts than I am now. This should be the minimum requirement for humankind. I hope I will remember the things covered last Wednesday and return to writing. I'm very serious. and sorry.

As far as I remember, I think we covered how to do an effective presentation, which Rab explained using Yoshiki's slides and sound recorder. I hope that's all we learned that day.

5/9

5/9

I've been dizzy all day because I played flying disk without having breakfast or lunch today.

If I offended you in any way, please show mercy to this poor little bastard. I had no intention to do so. I know I wasn't making any sense even when talking with Rab. Sorry, I'm begging for your mercy. But I'm not always making sense especially when I'm talking in English. So you have to get used to this madness if you need to communicate with this poor boy. Anyway, like I said, I'm not feeling well so I'm going to hit the sack.

Today Rab introduced how to use Google form for our writing. Google form provides a number of ways to create questions. You can choose from multiple choice, grid, and normal text question. If your essay topic is on what people think about something, this will help you a lot. After that, we learned how to use Google presentation. We first put a picture into a slide and then learned how to insert videos from Youtube. Rab also taught us the way to put a drawing and a shape into slides. By the next class, we have to make several slides for our presentation on each essay topic.

5/2

Throughout the golden week(Sadly it was not golden "week" for ICU students), I just hung out with my friends and did nothing else. I even forgot how to read books though I have to deal with them for the mid tests to come. hmm...

On 5/2, we first visited the site called "Communication Via Multimedia", which Rab created for the CM course in ICU.( It is an ELP course, but I didn't even know it exists.) This site is very useful because it introduces lots of materials Rab made us familiar with. It should remind me of what I learned in class in case I forgot. In the class, we focused on tips which make research more efficient. In the Research section of the website, you can find some advice for efficient searching. Google Guide gives you lots of helpful tips for Google search. Pandia provides tutorial on the search engines and the search directories. Then we visited Flickr Commons, where you can find lots of copyright-free pictures. It will be useful when we need to use pictures for papers and presentations. After that, Rab introduced Firefox Portable, which can be booted on the USB stick. Personally I prefer GoogleChrome because it's faster, but Firefox is also needed for using Zotero. Firefox Portable will be useful for such purpose. (By the way, Yoshiki told me that the new version of Firefox is much faster than old ones. I would have to see if that's true.) Xmarks was then introduced. It is a tool which enables you to access your bookmark on whatever operation system you are using. It is quite helpful if your home computer is Windows since most of the computers in ICU are Mac for some reason. After that, we tried Wonderwheel and Timeline, which are both Google search functions. Wonderwheel draws a kind of mind map that makes search results visually-easier to understand. Timeline is just like what the name claims. It makes it possible to sort search results in chronological order. You will find it very useful when you need to search something/someone historical. We also tried Google map. It provides a number of ways to view the world. Street View is especially impressive because it makes you feel like you are actually walking on the street. In order to collect images, Google cars with a digital camera on the roof drove through all the streets and took the pictures of them. How crazy they are!!! When I was a boy, I dreamed about such a thing. But they actually did it spending all the cost, which I can easily imagine was not cheap at all. Freaky! Lastly, we saw how Google translate works, which turned out to be not so useful. Rab also introduced Google Toolbar. Google Toolbar is an add-on program that provides shortcuts to main Google applications. For Google junkies like me, it will be a must tool.

4/27

I watched Blue Valentine today. The story line was too sad to watch. It is about a family in which something is very wrong with the couple. They break up as a result and the movie focuses on the process where their relationship come to an end. As much as I would like to explain all about it, I can't. It was such a...grotesque story that I do not want to remember any of it. But I am sure you can use it in order to talk your girl/boy friend into breaking up with you. This movie will show you how wrong it can be if you do not choose your mate very, very carefully. Yet perhaps this movie could also be good for a couple who are both cool enough to talk about the content. It might help them review their relationship from a completely new perspective.

Anyway, I am happy that it is none of my problem!!!!!!

The class on 4/27 started with visiting websites which share various types of documentaries and for free. The part "for free" is very important because it distinguishes the materials we learned in the very last part of the lecture....but I will not talk about it because I am not supposed to do so.

Anyway, the first one was Free Documentaries. I think the following quote from the site helps you understand what it is like.

At freedocumentaries.org we strongly believe that in order to have a true democracy, there has to be a free flow of easily accessible information. Unfortunately, many important perspectives, opinions, and facts never make it to our televisions or cinemas (you can watch movies in our media category if you want to know why).

As they talk about a true democracy, most of what they provide is on politics. For example, you can find names such as "Iraq for Sale", "The Israel Lobby" and "Hacking Democracy". The site provides streaming videos, which are not very clear, but watchable in terms of resolution. The second one was called Media Education Foundation or MEF. So let's see what the mission is.

MISSION: The Media Education Foundation produces and distributes documentary films and other educational resources to inspire critical reflection on the social, political, and cultural impact of American mass media.

(from MEF website)

So this site is also a bit of political, but it focuses more on the problem of media literacy, which is Rab's favorite topic, I guess. The reason this site is amazing is because they are very much prepared to help you by providing study guides, handouts and transcript, which are all downloadable for free. Rab said that a professor of media studies opened this site. I really want to say good job to him.

After that, Rab introduced Youtube, Google Video and Veoh to us. I think all of us are familiar with them, at least the first two. Youtube has been very popular since the broadband network spread to the whole part of Japan. Veoh is probably not as popular, but quite useful because being minor means videos are not deleted as often as in Youtube. So there could be videos which can be seen only in Veoh.

And I would like to introduce a way to download videos on Youtube.

1. Open a video that you want to download on Youtube.

2. Add "fire" after jp.youtube of the URL. (So if the video's URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhddQRj7gdc, you just have to change it to http://www.youtubefire.com/watch?v=fhddQRj7gdc. Very easy, right?)

3. Follow the instruction and enjoy!

I hope this will help.

Lastly, Rab told us about the danger of Facebook. Facebook does not care about users' privacies. They treat our information like their product. I always had wondered how they make money from SNS until I listened to him. Now I understand that is how they make a living. I watched Social Network, and I was surprised how crazy founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerburg is. Facebook was not even his idea. He stole it from yacht guys and did not care about it. I admit he is very, very smart, but he is too immoral. It makes sense that he is doing dirty business.

However, I have no choice but to keep Facebooking, and the movie was quite fun.

(Sorry for not adjusting the font sizes. I do not want to be bothered to do so. Even though I write lots of things despite that it is not necessary, I have tons of work to do. So just please pardon me.

sorry everyone

I said to Rab that Win has no limit on the number of changes for Region Code, but I was wrong.

I forgot that it has limit because I have no problem with it.(you know what I mean? there is limit, but it could be no problem. smile!!)

If you just rip DVDs by DVDdecrypter or Imgburn, you can remove Region Code and store DVDdata on your computer or a blank disk, which means you have no problem with it. However, actually I guess Region Code is not such a problem because it only matters when you watch overseas DVDs. And if you watch overseas one, it means you bought it or someone so kind on the Internet accidentally gave it to you. In the former case, you have to do as I said, but in the latter case, you should have no problem with it. If someone gave it to you, you should know what to do because if you don't, you shouldn't even make your computer recognize it as a DVD.....I hear someone...saying...DaemonTools...it allows you to recognize DVD image data as a real DVD......very useful...you can download it for free.....

I think I need to sleep because something is wrong with my ear and I have a hallucination. So see you when posting the next entry.

I have no doubt you use this information for entirely legal use. If you don't, pi-po kun could knock on your front door someday and send you to jail. Pi-po kun has no mercy at all. So watch out!

popopo-n

I finally watched V for Vendetta. It was fun, but maybe I would have enjoyed more if I knew the political history of UK. The movie is about anarchism against an oppressive government. Considering the original comic was written in 1982, when Thatcher a.k.a. the Iron Lady was the prime minister, I suppose this plot contains a kind of protest against her too conservative stance.

Anyway, almost all we covered today is on a way to write a good paper.

First Rab taught us how to compose an essay. He talked about a way to make an thesis statement. We need to include a topic,claim and three rational supports in the thesis part.

We then covered how to make use of databases to collect sources for our essay. There is a heap of information found on databases.

After that or maybe I should say together with databases, we learned about Zotero.

Since I was in Rab's class last year, I thought I knew every inch of Zotero, but I was wrong. Rab's lecture made me realize that I only knew, hopefully, half of what it can do. For example, I didn't know Zotero can attach anything you like to information it stores. I was surprised at how many functions Zotero provides with us. I can't wait to know everything about it, which I expect Rab will explain to us in the next class.

And as I was writing this, I remembered I have to find at least 20 sources for an essay I'm supposed to write in Winter.

I confess, I still can't decide on my topic. I have some ideas, but it is not very appealing to me. Should I pick one if I know it will not suffice? hmmmmmmmm....

foggy dizzy

Today I just stayed home and did nothing...No, I watched the latest episodes of Fringe.

It is a good show. In each of the episodes, a scientifically strange incident happens. Then mad scientist Walter bishop and FBI officer Olivia Dunhum try to figure out what is wrong and fix it. Remind you of X-file? Yes, this is very much like it. However, technologies on Fringe are much more advanced and Walter's character is quite unique, so there's a difference, which makes the show more enjoyable. I'm not much of a Science guy, but I really like it.

Spooks is also one of my favorite shows filmed in UK, but I will touch on it some other time because unfortunately I have lots of homework to deal with.

☆Materials covered in class

First, Rab taught us how to use Google books. Google books is very, very useful when you wan t to find sources to quote in your paper. It has saved my life many times. I think it is one of the most useful tools Rab's introduced to us.

Then we learned how to find nice pictures. We can narrow search results by selecting the color and the size. Let's say you want to get a high quality photo of green bananas. Then you have to google "banana" and then since what you need is not yellow but green bananas, you need to choose green. Then you choose "large" to narrow them down and finally you get what you need.

After that, Rab introduced Instapaper and Evernote. They are tools which allow you to extract necessary information from web pages. Media on the web such as NYT and The Economist contain lots of advertisements, so if you just screenshot them, you will get unwanted photos and texts. This could bother you a lot if you would like to use the information on your paper. In such cases, Instapaper and Evernote will help you remove what is redundant.

We also covered Google Reader, which I already learned from Rab last year. Google Reader　provides you with a way to check numerous sites in a very short time. If subscribed sites are updated, Google Reader will let you know immediately. It is also equipped withs search box, which is ridiculously useful if you have specific interest in your mind.

Cheers

drinking beer..I love Ebisu and Corona, which is a Mexican beer.

I also like Scotch and Sake(Nihonshu), but they are too strong to drink on weekdays!

I have to say I'm sorry for my lack of knowledge about cooliris.

I found out that there was an add-0n version of cooliris for Firefox.

So what I wrote before on this blog was not right. I have to admit cooliris is much cooler than I thought. It actually provides a way to browse websites. Shame on me!

So I finished writing about an add-on while I expressed my apology.

I just need to talk about one more.

What I would use if I was a Firefox user is Amazon Toolbar.(Unfortunately, I'm a Chrome lover. Chrome is way way way faster than any other browsers I've ever used and more stable than Firefox, which I think causes many problems with lots of extensions added.)

If I name the site that I most frequently visit, it will be Amazon.

Amazon is not just an online book store. It has a wide variety of products, which will be delivered within days unless it's an extraordinary occasion like now.

This incredibly fast delivery is not just because Amazon is great but thanks to the coolness of Japanese transport companies and transport system.

Perhaps you take this coolness for granted. Hell no. It's beyond what we can consider as ordinary. If you understand how lucky you are, you have to thank delivery men more than ever.

They risk their life to make sure delivery is done properly.

Anyway, I would use Amazon Toolbar. It makes it easy to jump to Amazon and to use Wishlist, which is like a bookmark for Amazon products.

I just remember I also have to write about what was covered in class.

First we looked at iGoogle. iGoogle is a highly customizable startpage.

I have used some other customizable startpage, but this is much better.

iGoogle provides a various type of gadgets, which can be added with a few clicks.

You can watch news, market data, pornographies, jokes...whatever you want!

After that, we tried tinyurl. This kind of service is very useful especially if you are a Twitter junkie. Twitter allows you to tweet only 140 characters, so you need to use this if you want to tweet URL and a comment about it at a time.

We also tried Picasa. Picasa is like an online photo album where you can share your pictures with your friends. All you need to know is share them with no one but your friends. If you don't, your pictures could be on 2ch or some other underground bulletin boards while you have no idea about it. Once they are on the web, they will "never" be retrieved or deleted. You have to keep this in mind unless you want to be very famous.

almost forgot to post

I nearly forgot to post an entry. I have so many classes to deal with in this term I'm not sure I can make it through. hahahaha

First of all, I have to say I'm so surprised and even terrified most of the classmates are English Ninjas, which is contrary to my expectations. But this time I'm not alone. I guess there are some fellow native Japanese citizens suffering like me.

You might think I'm stupid and should not say anything like this even after finishing Freshman ELP. That's true, but sorry, this is my nature. I always talk in a too modest manner, my friends say.

Anyway, last week we learned about cooliris, diigo screenshot, gmail buzz and how to label an email in gmail account. Cooliris is cool as the name claims, but I think it would be way cooler if it had a simple browsing function. I think it needs to be self-contained. Cooliris provides us with a cool way to browse photos and movies... why not webs? I hope it will be updated to "coolest"iris.

Diigo is great. It is superior to other screenshot tools. Usually we have to take a screenshot and then afterward need to crop it. However, Diigo makes it simple. We don't have to be bothered about where to crop after taking a screenshot. It might sound like a tiny thing. No. It makes a huge difference for a screenshot junkie like me.

Gmail buzz is just like Twitter. Sometimes I feel like Google is going to rule the Internet. They never miss trends. They are 5 years younger than me(established in 1996) and now they are worth $3.6 billions. Welcome to the brave new world.

Labels and priority inbox help you sort out your emails. Gmail has such a big storage that you might receive tons of emails, which will possibly result in missing emails from your girlfriend, you missing an appointment with her, getting slapped and...ending up being a loser like me. You don't have balls not to care about being despised by pretty girls? If the answer is no, then use this.

Watching Sazaesan and Chibimarukochan makes me really sick and melancholy. They force me to face the fact that Monday is around the corner. The voice "Sazae de gozaimasu!" sounds so like a death sentence to me.