Open Source Software and Cloud Computing

This week in our class we discussed the importance again of cloud computing, but also how cloud computing can be used to access open source software programs. Some free of charge, such as GIMP and Google Docs. GIMP is a free program you can download off the Internet, and it is basically a downscaled version of Photoshop. It is very helpful for an amateur or beginner in the program. It can do all the basics of photoshop, and you can receive the same results for free. I have used it in internships, which needed me to alter or enhance photos, without having to buy the thousand dollar program. I would definitely recommend it to anyone as a great test run or starter to Photoshop.

I also have really enjoyed using Google Docs whenever I have a project or document that I need to share with a group of people. It saves me emailing it to everyone as an attachment and then having them email me back with their changes because they can write right in the document. It also saves me the problems of any formatting issues or problems because everyone can view it exactly as I wrote it.

I have used both of these open source software programs in PR whenever I need to edit a picture and share documents with a group of people. I will continue to use them whenever needed, and I am sure they will be very helpful in my future work place.

This video explains in a simple way what Google Docs are, how they work and how to use them:

Concept Map

To see it better just double click on the image.

Concept maps are a great way to convey and show your ideas in a clean and professional way. You can make them as complex or as simple as you would like, as well as choosing a color combination of your choice.
I chose to us the bubbl.us website to create my concept map.

My map shows the different types of mass media and the tools they can each use to reach their publics. I chose YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Google Docs and Blogs. All of which are very useful and new technologies to social network.

My major Public Relations could use each of these tools to reach their public and promote the companies they are representing.

Cloud Computing

We recently learned in our class about a tool called cloud computing. It is a cheaper more useful tool for small businesses to use as a resource for their Web portions of their businesses. It basically provides virtual servers over the Internet so that businesses don't have to buy all the expensive hardware and servers. It is a way to increase capacity or add capabilities instantly without paying large expenses and spending time and work, like investing in new infrastructure, training new personnel, or licensing new software.

There many different types of cloud computing, but in the end the main advantage is it saves a great deal of time, energy, space and expense. While at the same time providing more servers to small businesses for users to access their Web Site and interact on the internet site of their choice.

Cloud computing is an extremely useful tool for any PR firm to broadcast their abilities and interact with the public, as well as represent the company they are working for. Without large servers, they will not be able to reach each and every public that they would like to interact with. It also saves a PR firm money by not having to purchase and store the actual servers.

This video explains cloud computing and gives some useful information about it, as well as offering their services to use in the work place.

Social Networking

This week in our class we talked about social networking and about the positives and negatives of it. I have found that the upcoming generations and even our society today has become extremely dependent on social networking tools, whether they use them for business, entertainment or information.

There positives of social networking is the fact the they connect people and provide people with access to each other. However, the down side is people have begun to lose actual real life social skills.

I found this video on YouTube, which really explains how often and how dependent our society has become on social networking tools.



The use of these tools is extremely helpful because we can use them to access information immediately. However, it can become a problem to where we do not even interact with each other in person anymore.

In my major, Public Relations, social networking is a huge part of it and extremely useful. Social networking is what PR is all about. You network with people and organizations to see what they think about a product or you network with people to let them know about upcoming events. Social networking sites, such as Facebook have become critical in the role of PR, as well as many other tools. I personally am a fan of social networking because it allows you to connect with people you would not normally have been able to connect with.

Audio Media and Creating Sound Files

Last week our class learned about Visual Media as a way to help relay information to people in our area of work, whether it be teaching students or giving presentations to higher executives. However, this week we have learned the importance of audio media as well.

This week I learned how to use GarageBand on my MAC computer, an application I had never used. I had no idea what it was for nor did I know how to use it. However, it is an extremely useful tool, and it is easy enough that children could even use it. You can upload your own sounds or use the Magic GarageBand, which already has sounds on there that you can play with. I am not blessed with musical talents, therefore I played around on Magic GarageBand.

I made a jazz song and changed around a few of the instruments to make it sound the way I wanted it. I wanted to upload it for this post, but for some reason both the sites imeem and filefront would not let me upload it from Garage Band. However, this would be a great teaching tool for children, and it would be extremely useful for musicians or anyone in the music industry.

I think it would be useful for my major, Public Relations, because I could use it to add music to my presentations. I could also use it to teach children about musical instruments if I ever had the opportunity.

Here is a video tutorial on how to use GarageBand if you ever need help: