Community. It is so important to us. The world is constantly becoming smaller because we can reach more and more people with a few clicks and an address. The Internet has completely revolutionized the way we live. But, to make the Internet so functional, there is a need for entrepreneurs to create the ideas and the programs to make it happen. It is the ideas in combination with the passion to follow through with them that has made the Internet what it is today. My fellow classmates are an inspiration to me and I’m sure all of the other readers of this blog with plans to change the web environment for the better. I hope that our expressions, reactions to the web, and rantings have worked to lead you in a new train of thought and opened the door to the adjacent possible in the world of Internet entrepreneurship.

Although many people recognize the issue of illegal downloading for music, I have found that movie downloading is equally as much of a problem. I have heard of many students and friends that use this method to watch their favorite shows and movies. Even through the movie industry is not as harshly affected by illegal downloading the way music is, it is still a problem that does not seem to be addressed. I know college can lead to some stressful times and need to relax, or especially if you can’t afford a TV, websites that offer these services can be tempting. But this nonetheless is a violation of property rights and should not be regarded as acceptable. With Netflix and Hulu, more people have been using them out of simplicity to access more films, which has significantly helped the issue. But people need to be wary of any other movie sites on the Internet. Most of the websites will even claim to be legal when the are not, and users should avoid them altogether. Maybe I just prefer the old-fashioned days of going to Blockbuster with my dad to choose my favorite, but nothing can beat the community of sharing the films you own.

Over Christmas break, I got a new Nikon camera for Christmas, and I love working with it. I am far from professional, but I enjoy dabbling in photography and just having fun. With the final days of the year, I had many more opportunities to work with it and test it out. The ViewNX 2 program that comes with the camera is extremely useful for all transfers and editing. Nikon’s website is also very impressive with its features. It includes detailed descriptions for the technology behind the cameras, and all kinds of tips for different kinds of picture taking. You can register for classes to learn how to become a better photographer and get all the support you need for working with their equipment. The Nikon site was one I had just visited recently and admired for how easy it was to navigate. One of the hardest parts of website creation is learning to balance all of the information the viewer needs with the simplicity to keep the site from being overwhelming. This juggling act is one that Nikon, among many other businesses has mastered, and is a lesson that I believe many more sites still need to learn.

When I was in high school, all of my friends were into photography. And with photoshop, they could make anything. I took some classes in business, and would need to make logos for ideas and art projects, and was at a loss with how to use Photoshop. And I could only work on my project on a school computer, which became a big problem because I couldn’t do any of my design work at home. But now, I have found Paint.NET which is very similar to Photoshop and can be downloaded online for free. Now, I am still at a loss with how to use it because it is quite similar to Photoshop and confuses me, but I can work on projects anywhere, anytime. With a little bit of practice, anyone can whip up a logo, cover, or design plan. This is another tool that has really helped me with designing ideas. While I am good with pen and paper, the professionalism that comes with photographs and that computer-smooth feel is hard to compete with. Just as all artists today should have a basic understanding of Photoshop for graphic designing, Paint.NET is for all of the cheaters like me to make an expensive looking design for free.

At this point in time, most of us are probably familiar with the process of Google Docs and how it works. In case you’re not, I included the video explaining how Google Docs works. But I still wanted to take a minute to appreciate how much this has helped me in this past year since I’ve come to college. Any project involving multiple people is perfect for this program. Working on group projects for classes was made much simpler by sharing Google Docs with much less e-mailing and creating multiple copies of the work. Just this last week we used Google Docs for my RA team to plan our skit script. Everyone was able to access the script and add their ideas in one place, rather than all 11 of us e-mailing our ideas to one leader and having her make all of the changes. I used it with the Orientation Board to record t-shirt sizes and to sign up and vote for t-shirt designs for my hall. Bottom line is: if you’re looking for feedback from a group- be it on a paper, project, idea, anything- Google Docs is the way to go to save your inbox from overflowing. Next year I will absolutely be using Google Docs even more to tell my hall about programs, get input from my team on ideas, and just collaborate with everything from dreams to prayer requests to entrepreneurial ideas. Thank you, Google. Thank you.