Dr. O'Connor

Time again, I think, to mention Dr. O'Connor who has some interesting commentary on DL, accreditation, etc. Mostly about Criminal Justice.

Here and here.

And, lost souls, degreeinfo.com is mentioned.

 

You realize he teaches at my alma mater. LOL. I never had a class with him, but one professor that I did was Dr Jane Christensen. She just died last month. North Carolina Wesleyan College is a liberal college. I enjoyed it very much in the four years I attended.

 

They say that if you remember it then you weren't there, so, if you remember that you enjoyed it...

Enjoyment aside, how was the learning experience?

 

And so who is this Dr. Tom O'connor guy?

 

Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

CV

 

Re: Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

Very impressive cv. BTW how do you create the "shortcuts' to the links to make them just one word or 2 letters in this case?

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

In the reply just click on the http:// box. A window opens where you type the text for the link. Then click OK and the window changes to allow you to paste the URL. Click OK again and the thing is done.

 

Or you could do it manually...

Or you may just manuallly-code the vB Code that makes it happen. It's much, much easier than most people realize... very logical, and very similar to HTML code, for those who know that.

To manually code that two-character "CV" link that decimon used in his post, one simply uses the vB Code "url" tag. But before I explain how that's done, let me give you a flying short course in the use of vB Code tags, just generally. Once that is grasped, it makes everything else seem really easy:

• NOTE: In these examples, the curly { and } symbols will be substituted for the square [ and ] symbols because if I use the latter the vBulletin forum software will interpret them as vB Code and use/hide them rather than let me show them to you as the vB code that's behind how things appear around here. So, when/if you do any of this yourself, remember to use the actual square [ and ] symbols instead of the curly { and } symbols that I'm using in these examples; and whenever I refer to the "square brackets," remember that even if I show the curly { and } symbols, I'm actually referring to the square [ and ] symbols.
  
  A vB Code tag is a word or letter typed between two square brackets. For example, the "italics" tag is the letter "i" (for "italics") typed between two square brackets, as in {i}.
  
  (Remember, the curly bracket { and } is shown, but I actually mean the truly square bracket [ and ]... which is what you would actually use.)
  
  Any vB Code tag that is begun, must also be ended. For example, to make the word "roses" appear in italics, you must put the beginning version of the "i" tag in front of the word "roses," and you must put the ending version of the "i" tag after the word "roses." For the word to be italicized, it must be surrounded by the "i" (for "italics") tag, but the beginning version of the "i" tag must come before the word "roses," and the ending version of the "i" tag must come after the word "roses."
  
  The beginning version of a vB Code tag is simply the tag's word or letter surrounded by the square brackets. So, for example, the beginning version of the "italics" tag is {i}.
  
  The ending version of a vB Code tag is simply the tag's word or letter, preceded by a forward slash, surrounded by the square brackets. So, for example, the ending version of the "italics" tag is {/i}.
  
  So, then... one makes the word "roses" appear italicized by surrounding it with the beginning and ending versions of the "i" tag -- the beginning tag before the word, and the ending tag after the word -- as in {i]roses{/i}. The italics is begun with the {i} tag; and the italics is ended with the {/i} tag.
  
  (And I remind: The curly bracket { and } is shown, but I actually mean the truly square bracket [ and ]... which is what you would actually use.)

All vB Code tags behave this way. Once you know that, it's just a matter of knowing what the various vB Codes are, and what they do. One can use the buttons and fill-in-the-field pop-up boxes that decimon described, and, if done at the right times and in the right ways, that will cause the required vB Code tags to appear in the right places. And that's fine. But one can also manually hand-code those vB Code tags, in a manner similar to what I described above and, believe it or not, one eventually find that manually hand-coding them is actually faster and enables greater overall control.

The "url" tag is the vB Code tag that is required to achieve, for example, the two-character link to O'Connor's CV used in decimon's post. It can be achieved using the buttons and fill-in-the-blank pop-up boxes as decimon described; or it can easily be hand-coded using the very same kind of logic described in the little flying short course about the italics tag, above.

The basic format of the "url" tag is, simply:

• {url}http://www.domain-name.com/webpagename.html{/url}

Note the beginning version of the "url" tag just before the actual URL, and the ending version of the "url" tag just after it. If you use the "URL" tag that way, then the domain name and web page name, including the "http://" part, is what will actually appear on the page, as in:

• http://www.domain-name.com/webpagename.html

and, though the immediately above is not clickable, it would actually be clickable as a link if you did it the way I just described... that is, as long as you substitute the truly square brackets, and not the curly ones that are shown.

So, to link to O'Connor's CV, you would type:

• Here's O'Connor's CV:
  
  {url}http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/resume.htm{/url}
  
  (Remembering, of course, to use the truly square brackets [ and ] instead of the curly ones shown.)

and it would appear as:

• Here's O'Connor's CV:
  
  http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/resume.htm

where the URL itself is the clickable link that the reader sees (and may click upon).

But, wait, you say... that's not how decimon did it! The URL shown above may have been what was behind that which was clickable in decimon's post, but that which was clickable was just the two letters "CV"... so how does one make that happen?

Simple: The "url" tag, unlike the "italics" tag, is capable of utilizing a variable; and when a variable is employed, that which is typed between the beginning and ending "url" tags is what appears on the screen, and the variable is the actual URL to which one is taken when one clicks upon the resulting link.

A variable is employed in the vB Code "url" tag by typing it this way:

• {url=variable}what appears on the screen{/url}

First, remember that it's the truly square brackets, and not the curly brackets, that are actually used.

Second, note that the basic format of the "url" vB Code is unchanged. You still have a beginning "url" tag, it's just that said beginning "url" tag now has a variable inserted into it.

And you still have an ending "url" tag, just as before.

It's just that what's in between the "url" tags is no longer the URL itself. In the above, the URL has become the variable inserted into the beginning "url" tag. In other words, the beginning "url" tag is still surrounded by the square brackets, but it's bigger now because of the variable that's been inserted into it. What's between the beginning and ending "url" tags is no longer the URL, but is now the actual, clickable words that you want to appear on the screen, and upon which you'll want the readers to click in order to go to said URL.

So, for example, to achieve decimon's two-letter clickable link to Dr. O'Connor's CV, one simply types:

• {url=http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/resume.htm}CV{/url}
  
  (Remembering, of course, to use the truly square brackets [ and ] instead of the curly ones shown.)

and it will appear to the reader as:

• CV

with the actual URL -- the variable in the beginning "url" tag -- being that to which the reader is taken when/if s/he clicks on the clickable "CV" letters.

Using vB Code is actually quite logical, and easier than most people think. To learn more about it, see this page.

 

I live and have DSST test scheduled at his school. I checked out his webpage, and the Computer Forensics Class is not the usual fanfare for a small college like Guilford College or NWU, which is a fairly small county college. Any Messeges need to be delievered?

I liked his take...Think i might take his class..

 

Gregg, why aren't you spending this time writing books? Oh, yeah, you are.

 

I am not currently working on any book... at least not one of my own. If you're referring to the book to which I think you're referring, I became overwhelmed with the material and the emotional toll that one must pay in order to do it properly; and so I suspended work on that book in 1999. I have a very good idea what future event(s) in my life, if any, will allow/equip me to return to it, and those are several years away. So it will likely be several years before I resume work on that book. Time will tell. We'll see.

As to the above tutorial, that took me not nearly as long as you might think. I write such as those frequently in my career, so they come easily and quickly. The one in this thread took me no longer than it took to microwave and consume a Stouffer's frozen dinner... which is precisely what I was doing while writing it. Had I not been distracted by the dinner part, it would have taken me even less time. The whole typing better than 80 wpm, net, thing can come in real handy... and can make tutorials such as what I wrote above much less time-consuming for me to create than one might think.

 

Just kidding. I strive for succinctness and you for the comprehensive and that stands out in juxtaposition.

 

I enjoyed more than you will ever know. NCWC is an amazing school with great scholars. My four years there shaped who I am today ( Ok, maybe that is not a good thing...lol). I am still in contact with two of the four historians that taught me ( the other two are emeriti).

 

The learning is hands on. The class size is small. It averages about 10-15 a class. NCWC has an ADP program which is 15 years old at different campuses around the state. My senior thesis consisted of a paper and presentation to faculty and school body. That was just fun. But it was an experience. Many classes are writing intensive. For my Sociology class, The Human Experience, we took a field trip to Duke University's Primate Center to visit the lemurs. I dont think we would have had that type of experience in a large university. For my History 145 class, The American Experience Since 1945, Dr David Jones took we 12 class members for Chinese food after the last day of class. There is much more to tell, but suffice it to say. it was enjoyable.

 

He doesn't seem to view DL too favorably, yet he teaches, at my count, for at least 5 DL schools, including the position of Dean at a DETC school.

He also thinks people with "just a Master's degree" are "interlopers" in the CJ field. That's classic, coming from someone who teaches "Intro to Policing", and has probably never seen the inside of a police cruiser. At least the front seat.

 

Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

My thoughts exactly. How dare mere police teach criminal justice (at least without a Phd).....pashaw!!!

 

Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

I gave the link not because I endorse the fellow but because I thought it interesting and of possible value to any pursuing a CJ degree.

 

Re: Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

And you were correct. Thank you. It does make for an interesting read.

Edited to ask....

Which DETC school is he affiliated with?

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

He is affiliated with Aspen University.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Dr. O'Connor

According to his CV, Aspen University.

From the Aspen site: