The Visio Lab

Unlike the stuff from some of the other labs, I can actually see a real use for Visio. Have you ever tried to create a flowchart? On the computer? Without a flowcharting program? All I'll say is: trying to flowchart in Adobe Photoshop is a pain and a half.

I'm not to sure why our lab was about database E/R diagrams instead of flowcharting. Flowcharting is tedious but useful. E/R diagrams can be done by hand in no time flat - at least, simple ones like the one we did in class can. Plus, as long as you can read your own writing, it's less time-consuming to do by hand, and just as convenient when using it to create a database in Access. Ah, well. Maybe I'm a tad old-school.

Edit: 10-21 10:31 AM:
Well, I suppose it is a good idea to get the basics down, since those E/R diagrams can get insanely complicated in big projects. But I still would have preferred flowcharting.

The MS Project Lab...

IMHO, a rather pointless lab. Yes, we learned to use MS Project... well, sort of. But from what I can tell, the little tutorial bobber on the WebCT assignment page was exactly the same as what we did in class. Why couldn't we have just worked on our own and just asked questions if we ran into trouble? Or, better yet, make this an optional lab for people that couldn't manage to work the tutorial? Even though I've never used MS Project in my life, I could have had this lab done a lot faster just following the tutorial, if only because I would have been able to go straight through without interruptions. Ah, well. At least I got done fast enough to update the infamous blog lab. (Insert ominous sound effect here)