Week 14: Clear

           The concept that was most clear to me this week was the topic of advanced storage. In this lecture, we covered RAID0, RAID1, RAID5, and RAID6. RAID, which stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks, is a concept of multiple drives being treated as one. This can increase capacity, speed, reliability, or all three together. RAID0 (striping) involves two or more drives and is extremely fast with no redundancy. It focuses on speed and capacity. If one drive fails, the whole thing fails and all the data is lost. This is less reliable and more dangerous than a single disk drive and also does not cost more per GB. RAID1 (mirroring) uses exactly two disk drives, and each block of data is written to both drives. If one drive fails, the system is still running at full speed and no data is lost. With mirroring, the focus is on reliability, and the cost per GB is doubled. With RAID5, three or more drives are required, and the data blocks are spread across all the drives except for one that is used to protect all the data. "Parity" is calculated and stored on the remaining drive and is recorded as "1" if the sum of the data bits is odd and "0" if the sum of the data bits is even. There is a high read performance like striping. With RAID5, if one drive fails, no data is lost and the system is still running but at a reduced speed. There is a reasonable cost per GB and a capacity of (N-1) drives usable for data. RAID6 has a capacity of (N-2) drives usable for data and a performance similar to RAID5. RAID6 is any type of RAID that can continue to perform in the presence of two concurrent disk failures.
           RAID is important in the business world because computer storage is applicable to every aspect of business. Any work done on a computer has to do with storage, and it is important to decide how to set up a computer so work is not lost. There are serious storage problems such as needing a large storage capacity, needing high performance, or dealing with risks such as hard disk failure. It is important for businesses to assess whether something is temporary storage, which might mean RAID0 is more applicable since it is only temporary, or whether it matters if the data is lost or not. For example, if it is vital that a system be reliable and there is a real concern about losing, for instance, client data, RAID1 would be most appropriate. Therefore, setting up computer storage to fit the needs of the organization is very important in the business environment.
        This website is a RAID tutorial with a description of the different types of RAID. It has a diagram explaining how it works, and below lists the characteristics and advantages of the type of RAID on one side and the disadvantages on the other side. For example, on the first page, there is a diagram explaining RAID0 and below it says that it requires a minimum of two disk drives. On one side, it explains the characteristics and advantages including: simple design, easy implementation, each block of data is writtten to a separate disk drive, no parity calculation, and best performance by spreading I/O load across many channels and drives. It says the disadvantages of RAID0 are that its not fault-tolerant, failure of one drive results in all data being lost, and that it should not be used in mission critical environments. This site is an in-depth look at the topic covered this week in the segment on advanced storage.


Here is a picture showing striping and mirroring:

Works Cited:

http://www.acnc.com/raid.html

http://www.pantherproducts.co.uk/Articles/images/RAID-01.gif

Secure Email Project

I included two screen captures to see the messages in the inbox and also read the messages.

             In this article, a study is discussed that allows technology to be part of the cure in a doctors' offices. This study was published in the medical journal, Health Affairs, and found that doctor visits can be reduced in practices that use electronic health records and secure email messages for communication between physicians and patients. The study focuses on the experience of Kaiser Permanente in Hawaii when it implemented electronic health record, secure email, and a Web portal, which resulted in a decline of patient visits of 26 percent between 2004 to 2007. One of the physicians mentioned, Dr. Liang, describes a face-to-face visit, compared to other modes of health care, as expensive and inconvenient. Obviously, email exchange can only substitute for some types of care like adjusting medications, but these types of visits add up. One advantage is that doctors whose offices are less crowded can spend more time with the patient who do need face-to-face visits. This extra time reduced referrals by up to 30 percent, especially for dermatology and orthopedics. For Kaiser's integrated system, where physicians are salaried and patients are often insured by Kaiser, fewer doctors visits is logical for both physicians and patients. However, Kaiser is an exception because in mainstream medicine, physicans are not paid for answering emails but rather are paid by the visit. Since this is relatively new, there are experiments being conducting about reimbursing online consultations.

Clearly, in this article, patient confidentiality is key for physicians to contact patients, so they can send a secure emails about their health-related question or concern. This security measure plays a key role in this experiment.

Works Cited:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/using-technology-to-skip-the-doctors-office/

Week 13: Clear

           The concept that was most clear to me this week was the topic of unauthorized access and use. Unauthorized access is the risk of someone using your computer or network without permission, while unauthorized use might happen if you gave someone authorized access but they use the computer or its data for unapproved or possibly illegal activity. One example of unauthorized use is an employee using an organization's computer to send personal emails. One measure taken by most organizations to prevent unauthorized access and use is an AUP, a written acceptable use policy that outlines the ways in which the computer and network may and may not be used. Others ways to prevent unauthorized intrusions are to disable file and printer sharing on your Internet connection, use firewalls, and use intrusion detection software. Access controls are security measures used to minimize the chance that a perpetrator intentionally or unintentionally accesses confidential information by defining who can access a computer, when they can access it, and what actions they can take while accessing it. The computer also maintains an audit trail to record successful and unsucessful attempts (which should be investigated to insure they are not intentional breaches of security). Many systems also use a two-phase process of identification, which verifies an individual is a valid user, and authentication, which verifies an individual is the person he or she claims to be. There are three methods that include user names and passwords, possessed objects, and biometric devices. A user name is a unique combination of letters or numbers to identify one specific user while a password is a private combination of chracters that is associated with the user name. Longer passwords provide greater security, and the addition of each character to a password significantly increases the number of possible combinations and the length of time for someone to guess the password. Possessed objects, such as smart cards or keys, must be carried to gain access to a computer or computer facility. They are often used in combination with personal identification numbers (PINs), numeric passwords either assigned to a user or a selected by the user.
            This topic is very important in the business environment because cyber crimes have been on the rise, and if your computer is not properly protected, cyber criminals can access your computer and its data. Protecting your computer is essential because anytime you connect to the Internet, you are at risk of having a cyber criminal hack into your information. For example, at a place like a doctor's office, patient confidentiality is essential. A doctor's office must take every action necessary to prevent unauthorized access and use to prevent patient information from being leaked. This is illegal for patient information to be leaked, so a doctor's office must protect information kept on the computer.
             This website discusses how to prevent unauthorized access, which was the topic covered this week that was most clear to me. It says the need for increased security and prevention of unauthorized access has never been greater than it is today. It says the key ways to enhance security are having a wise choice of programs, using effective security software, having a hardware firewall (router), and using strong passwords. It goes on to say you need to choose your software carefully, particularly your Web brower and email client. You need current anti-virus software, some of which are free for personal use. You need a hardware and software firewall for protection, and you need to check for spyware on your computer. Passwords and encryption are also effective tools if used correctly. This website stresses keeping everything updated, such as antivirus, firewall and anti-spyware security software, because things change so quickly on the Internet. The site says at a bare minimum, weekly updates and scans are vital.


Here is a picture of a password checker I found online that tests the strength of your passwords. As I learned this week, a strong password is very important to prevent unauthorized access and use.

Works Cited:
http://www.russharvey.bc.ca/resources/security.html


http://www.greghughes.net/rant/content/binary/WindowsLiveWriter/Strongpasswordcheckeronline_1330D/image_1.png

VoIP and Video Capture

           I have been using VoIP for years although I have never used Jing before, so I found this project very interesting. I had to use Screencast.com as well to convert the video I made on Jing into a link to post on this blog. Since I have family members out of the country, I have used Skype for a long time to be able to talk to them and see them without paying the fee of a long distance call. I think Skype is a wonderful program that allows people to connect across the world free of charge (if they both have skype) and at a very low cost if you either receive a call from a phone or make a call to a phone. Everyone in my family has Skype, so I called my father on Skype but my brother answered. In this video, we were just catching up for a minute.

Here is the video.

Avatar

            I had never made an avatar before, although I did see the movie Avatar and really enjoyed it. I opened the Doppelme website and began by choosing whether I was female, selecting skin color, and choosing eye color. Then there was a panel on the left side where I could choose my facial expressions, my hair and hair color, my eyewear, hats, tops, bottoms, shoes, extras, accessories, and then set a background. I think my avatar looks alot like me with short, dark hair, light brown eyes, a big smile, jeans, and a long sleeve shirt in my favorite color, green. My favorite place is the beach, so I set a beach background. I really enjoyed making my avatar and going through the many different options for each of the settings on the side.

Works Cited:

http://www.doppelme.com/

<a href="http://www.doppelme.com/?rid=DM434912ZBW"><img src="http://www.doppelme.com/DM434912ZBW/avatar.gif" border=0></a>   



Week 12: Clear

           The topic that was most clear to me this week was the discussion about VoIP. VoIP, which stands for Voice Over IP, is the concept of taking a phone conversation and sending it across the Internet or any other IP network. The way it works is someone speaks into a computer attached microphone, the voice is converted to a compressed digital data stream, the data is transmitted across the IP network, and finally the data is received, converted into sound, and then sent to the audio output device. Two examples of VoIP are Skype and Vonage. You can makeVoIP-to-VoIP calls which are free but require the VoIP hardware and/or software at both ends. You can also make calls from VoIP to PSTN gateways. These allow the VoIP devices to contact phones on the PSTN and norrmally cost a fee. For example, for a single line, skype unlimited costs $30/year in the US and Canada while Skype Out costs $0.02/minute almost anywhere. Vonage costs $14.99 per month or more. Problems with VoIP are the quality of service (QoS). There can be latency issues where there are delays in transmitting data/sound or Internet congestion, both of which lead to problems with audio quality. The most important thing with VoIP is to make sure you have a reliable network.
             VoIP is very important in the business environment because it saves costs by lowering long-distance telephone costs. VoIP has taken communication to a higher level by congregating the functions of a regular telephone into a single system wherein phone calls, faxes, emails, and voicemails can be readily transmitted to any device like a phone. This is very important in business for people working overseas. For example, a traveling businessman can make work calls to a different country without bearing the cost of long distance calls and can manage his/her business when they are not in the office. In addition, transactions can be made without actual, in-person appointments. VoIP is essential in specific telecommunication industries like call centers and other global service centers and allows internation companies to reach across the world with convenience. 
            This website adds to the discussion about VoIP from this week by analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of VoIP. It says that the low cost, portability, and many features of VoIP make it attractive and lists the necessity for electric power, limited number of emergency calls allowed, and sound quality and reliability as problems with VoIP. Continuing about the disadvantages, it goes on to say that a regular phone is kept in service during a blackout wihle with VoIP this is not the case. The site also says that these disadvantages decrease with new innovations and changes in technology. Here is a "VoIP Diagram" from a website listed under Works Cited:          

Works Cited:

http://www.why-switch-to-voip.com/Advantages_Disadvantages_VoIP.html

http://www.syednetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/voip_diagram.png

Database Project

            In this project, I learned some of the basics of using Microsoft Access. I had never used Microsoft Access before and had absolutely no idea what it was even used for. I learned that Microsoft Access was a database program used to create database solutions using tables, queries, forms, or reports for printing. In this project, I learned how to create a new table, add fields to the table, create keys, add descriptions to table fields, enter data into a field, import data into a table, create a query, use the query to add fields and criteria, create and edit a form, work with a form in design view, navigate through records, add new records, create a report, modify a report in design view, use grouping and sorting in a report, and add or modify a heading and footer of a report. Having never used Microsoft Access before, I was unaware of the capabilities of the program or how it differed from Microsoft Excel. From this project, I learned the enormous capabilities of Microsoft Access and the basics of working with a table, form, query, and report. I really enjoyed this project because I know it will be useful in the future. I plan on working in the business world, and I will likely be assigned many projects where this program will be of great use.

          Some of the ways to enhance the functionality of this database are to use the advanced features of Microsoft Access to create a more complex, detailed database. One way that is discussed in last week's database lecture is through working with external data. This might include linking tables, migrating to an SQL server, using an external collection with forms and email, using Web support, or using Microsoft Access as the back-end database for another information system. Implementing a complete information system includes using forms for input and outfut, pulling data from external sources like email, reports for output, support for multiple users, and scalability (how to deal with a database that is too big). Relationships are another one of the big features of Microsoft Access that brings information together. For the most part, relationships match primary keys from one table with an entry in the foreign key of a different table. Relationships prevent redundant data and can be used as a one-to-many relationship, a many-to-many relationship, or a one-to-one relationship. All of these different advanced features of Microsoft Access would increase the functionality of this database. 

Week 11: Clear

        The concept that was most clear to me this week was the lecture on system analysts. Systems function together to achieve a common goal, and one specific type, information systems, have hardware, software, data, people and processes work together to produce quality information. System analysts are key in the process because they determine needs, solve problems, define requirements, and work around roadblocks. System analysts are not usually the developers or the programmers: they are normally the program managers. Qualities of a good system analyst are that he/she is a good listener and communicator and is knowledgeable about the organization. A good system analyst also involves the users and enjoys writing documentation. I also learned more about the role of a system analyst and project manager from the interview posted with Christine Schoaff, UF Web Administration. She talked about how she juggles alot of projects at one time, normally 3-12 projects at one time. She talked about how it is first important for the requirements to be established and communicated. She described her role as an umpire or referee and firmly stated that there must be respect and communication. She added that one can facilitate communication by being patient, keeping an open mind, appreciating opinions, and respecting that everyone has value. Another key point she stressed was that failing is easy, and her job is to work with others to make a project go smoothly and succeed. At the end of the interview, I got out of it that I should offer to make holiday dinner for my family and use the opportunity to treat it like a project (structure and plan it). I will try to look at my life and see how to make it go more smoothly, as she suggested. 
    This topic of system analysts is key in the business environment because making a project go smoothly is important in almost everyone's life. Just like Christine Schoaff suggested treating the task of making a holiday dinner for the family as a project, many everyday tasks can be treated like a project. In the business environment, it is important to apply the qualities of a good system analyst. It is necessary to be a good listener, communicate effectively, and be knowledgeable about the organization. Listening and communication are key, and as Christine Schoaff stressed, being patient and respecting other opinions is very important in the business environment because there may be lots of group projects where you are not working alone and need to work together to reach a decision or course of action.
     Here is a website that relates to this week's topic of system analysts.It describes how a system analyst works with computers and that once given a task, he/she breaks it down into smaller steps that can be planned out. It restates things I learned during this week like the importance of logical thinking and high level communication skills. This website expands further and mentions the income from the profession and the current availability of jobs.





Works Cited:

http://www.bls.gov/k12/computers06.htm

Week 10: Clear

           The concept I found most clear this week was the section in Chapter 10 of the textbook on Qualities of Valuable Information. There were seven qualities discussed that describe valuable information: accuracy, verifiability, timeliness, organization, accessibility, usefulness, and cost-effectiveness. Accurate information lacks errors and prevents incorrect decisions. Verifiable information can be backed up as either right or wrong. Timely information describes the fact that the value and time of information are for the most part inversely related (though this is not always the case). Organized information is arranged to meet the decision maker's needs. Different people may require a different organization of information. Accessible information is readily available so the decision maker does not have to wait for information. Useful information has meaning to the decision maker and may not be useful to everyone else. The audience is important to consider here. Lastly, cost-effective information provides higher value than costs to produce, and it should be reviewed occasionally to make sure it is still cost-effective to produce.
         These qualities are essential in the business environment because people make decisions daily using a variety of information. For example, on a single day a person might make a decision from a receipt, bank statement, pension plan summary, or credit report. As a student at the University of Florida, I might look at my grade report or degree audit to make a decision. In a business environment, a manager constantly makes decisions looking at sales trends, competitors' products or services, profitability across the different products, or employee skills. People want to make sound decisions off of valuable information, so it is vital that information meets these seven criteria to make that decision.
          Here is an article listing the top five qualities of good information as accuracy, completeness, relevance, timeliness, and clarity. Two of these precisely match the lesson from this week: accuracy and timeliness. Clarity is somewhat close to organization because information that is clear to a decision maker is arranged so it meets the decision makers needs and thus is clear. This is a random slide I found (clearly from a powerpoint slide for a class) listing the seven characteristics of valuable information as accuracy, completeness, economic factor, flexibility, relevance, simplicity, timeliness, and verifiability. This list matches this week's lesson with four of the qualities: accuracy, timeliness, verifiability and the economic factor (which is basically the same thing as cost-effectiveness). As I have noticed looking on the Internet, the list of qualities describing valuable information changes somewhat, but it seems that accuracy and timeliness are on most of the lists I discovered. Some of the other characteristics that differ are actually very similar but just use different wording.


Works Cited:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Top-Five-Qualities-of-Good-Information&id=3873113

http://www.jkang.com/CIS110/Lecture%20Notes/ch_01v4/tsld007.htm

Presentation and Web 2.0 Project

           Here is the link to my presentation. I think my presentation is clear and serves it purpose of soliciting donations for the American Cancer Society. I filled out the Presentation Evaluation Rubric for myself:

Presentation Evaluation Rubric

Name of Presenter: Grace Byer               

Your Name: Grace Byer

	Missing or lacking	Meets the minimum but could be improved	Excellent
Is there a logical flow and sequence of content? How could it be improved?			Yes, there was logical flow and sequence. I started by talking about cancer and how it affects almost everyone, which is why it is such an important cause to support and donate to.
Does the presenter anticipate questions and answer them in the right place? At what points did you have questions that were not answered?			Yes, I feel like I anticipated questions. For example, I anticipated if people were wondering where the money from their donations goes.
Did the presenter grab your attention in the first 30-60 seconds?			By asking these questions at the beginning, I wanted to draw everyone in by making them realize that cancer affects almost all of us.
Did the presenter ask questions and spark your curiosity?			I asked questions at appropriate times that I thought the audience might be thinking.
Did the presenter set the context with a concise explanation? Is it clear what the presenter is trying to share?			Yes, I think I made it very clear that this presentation was to solicit donations for the American Cancer Society.
Did the presenter validate any claims?			I put my resource for the statistics from my slide.
Did the presenter avoid inconsistencies and errors, typos and unbelievable claims?			I didn’t find any typos or errors. My statistics were from the American Cancer Society website.
How well did the presenter avoid clutter?			I don’t think there was clutter.
What did the presenter do to ensure readability?			I made the text large and clear so it was readable.
Did the presenter say it, and then show it or did he/she read the slides?			I did not read off the slides.

           I critiqued someone else's presentation on the Animal Rescue Foundation, and I learned that everyone will have an entirely different presentation. These presentations involve creativity, and I think that's the best part about this project. I love seeing how everyone thinks differently, and my favorite part is seeing the opening to different presentations. Although I only critiqued one presentation, I looked through many of them, and since it is important to use creativity to grab the audience's attention in the first 30-60 seconds, this is most interesting part to me. For example, I began my presentation by asking questions, but Amber's project, the one I critiqued, started by playing a Michael Jackson song and showing pictures of animals that will melt your heart. Though completely different, I thought both of these openings grab your attention.
          I thought this project was very interesting, and I learned a tremendous amount about presentations that will help me in business. I learned the importance of the opening, which I had no clue was 30-60 seconds to grab the audience's attention. I learned that it is important to find a medium between too lengthy and too simple for the text on each slide. Additionally, the white space on a slide can be filled by using pictures, audio, and video. I had never recorded my voice for a presentation, so that was an entirely new experience for me. I know that any project I do in the future will encorporate this feature because I think it really adds something to a presentation to hear the person actually narrating along with the slides. I also learned how share my presentation online. I used http://www.sliderocket.com/ for my presentation, and I thought it was very simple and straight forward to use. I learned how to incorporate a YouTube video into my presentation so that when the presentation is played, it will automatically play the video. I know that with any presentation I need to complete in the future, I will incorporate all of these new things that I learned because they enhance a presentation. They make a presentation seem more clear and professional, and in the business world, these skills will be crucial since I will probably have to make many presentations.

Week 9: Clear

             The concept that was most clear to me this week was Wi-Fi crimes. People break the law with Wi-Fi by accessing someone else's Internet, otherwise called "Wi-Fi tapping" or "piggybacking" someone else's Wi-Fi signal. This might even constitute a felony. "War-driving" is another Wi-Fi crime where someone drives around to find a wireless signal to use. According to the provided Sophos 2007 online survey results, more than 50% of people have used someone else's Wi-Fi connection without their permission.
            Wi-Fi crimes strongly impact the business environment because hackers can access personal information, and it is important to educate people on how to prevent this, for example, by changing your wireless router's default password. There are also ethical implications to using someone else's Internet without their permission. By doing this, you are slowing down their connection.
           This website explains Wi-Fi crimes very clearly. It talks about what "piggybacking" is and related law enforcement. The article stresses that simply using someone else's Internet may be considered a crime. It also goes into detail about specific laws related to Wi-Fi crimes. For example, one of the laws discussed is NY Penal Code Section 156 (6) that says the goverment must prove the owner gave notice to potential hackers or trespassers orally or in writing before the owner can be prosecuted for this crime. Here is an article from a local paper, The Gainesville Sun, regarding how to secure your Wi-Fi connection to prevent "piggybacking."








Works Cited:
http://www.securityfocus.com/columnists/237


http://www.gainesville.com/article/20080727/NEWS/613053815

Week 7: Clear

           The concept that was most clear to me this week was making ideas that stick to create an effective presentation. A sticky idea is one that strikes a chord with its audience, one that is unforgettable, one that people won't stop talking about, and one that is everywhere in the media. The key to finding success is starting with the unexpected, adding in a catch phrase, and mixing it all around for a sticky recipe. Chip and Dan Heath wrote a book called Made to Stick about sticky ideas.  The brothers discuss two different examples of sticky stories. The first is the boy who cried wolf, and the second example is an urban legend about a business traveler who accepts a drink and wakes up in an ice filled bathtub without his kidneys. Both of these stories have a set of principles and provoke emotions and surprise. Stories and examples allow people to connect and remember.
         Sticky ideas are vital to success in the business world. Every company wants a sticky ad that creates a buzz, and consumers who spend time watching will hopefully spend money.The IPod is one of the stickiest products and has consumers lining up for more. A few other examples are the caveman in Geico's commercials and the animal commercials for American Express with Ellen DeGeneres. JFK's speech about putting a man on the moon is one of the stickiest speeches in history because it challenged us to put a person on the moon and bring him/her back. This speech was unexpected yet concrete and allowed people to work together to have a consistent vision. Sticky ideas are important because a good idea isn't enough. A great story is necessary, and the idea needs to stick. In order to influence the public, whether it be to buy, vote, learn, diet, give to charity or initiate a revolution, an idea must be sticky.
         This website talks more about the Heath brothers' book, Made to Stick. They explain that there are six main parts of stickiness that can be remembered with the acronym "SUCCES." These six main criteria for making an idea sticky are that it should be Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotion-evoking, and embedded in Stories. This website serves as an additional resource and adds that important principles of modern psychology come into play. The organization of memory, the effects of emotions on actions, and excess knowledge can serve as barriers to effective communication. Ultimately, sticky ideas are key to successful ideas and products in today's market, and this book provides a formula for creating a sticky idea and an analysis of what specifically makes an idea sticky.

Here is the American Express commercial with Ellen Degeneres. As an animal lover, I found this commercial funny, adorable, and more than anything else, memorable.

Works Cited:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/16/AR2007011601625.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1552029,00.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5LR-IZbbc0

Excel Project

            Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application with a grid of cells (numbered rows and lettered columns) that is used to organize, manipulate, and graph data. This Excel project used data from 500 subjects to analyze the effectiveness of a particular workout. The 500 subjects had a starting heart rate taken, a heart rate taken each minute throughout a 15 minute workout, and a heart rate taken each minute during a 5 minute cooldown. The spreadsheet provided raw data, including the age, sex, and 21 hear rate measurements. This project was about manipulating and formatting data given. I added new columns, used new formulas, formatted the worksheet to print according to specifications, and created pivot tables within new worksheets.

            Before beginning this project, I knew some basic Excel functions like how to add new rows and columns, how to adjust column width, and how to create a simple formula starting with an equal sign. Until doing this project, however, I was unaware of just how much Excel has to offer. The Freeze Panes capability is very useful, and with all the projects I have done in the past using Excel, I cannot believe I never used this function. If there is a lot of data with row titles in the first one or two rows, the Freeze Panes capability can be used to make sure these rows are always displayed. I also had no idea how many formulas Excel can use, and I found it very useful to use the AVERAGE, MIN, and MAX functions. In this project, we also used the IF function, which I found very difficult to understand at first, but once I learned how to apply this function, I realized it is simply plugging in =IF(logical test, “what to put if the test is satisfied,” “what to put if the test is not satisfied”).

            The most difficult part of the project for me was the pivot tables in Step 2. I had never used a pivot table before and had no idea what it was used for or how to create one. After watching the Excel videos, I was able to create my pivot tables and drag over what I was using for columns and rows. Now, I can create a pivot table and format it in any way necessary. For example, now I understand how to change the pivot table so it displays count or sum, one decimal place versus two decimal places, and grand totals for columns or rows or no grand totals for columns or rows.  Here I have included a screen capture of the AvgIncrease pivot table I created for the project.

Week 6: Muddy

            The concept that was most difficult to understand this week was the differences between the various audio file formats. I learned which ones are popular and which ones are compressed, as well as some attributes about them. However, it is not clear to me which audio file format is used in a specific scenario. Mr. Olsen always talks about the importance of usage in choosing amongst different technology, and I don't know how to analyze which audio file format is best in a specific circumstance.
          This website provides a clear explanation of the different audio file formats. It explains that Wave files (wav) and MPEG Layer-3 files (mp3) are the most common types of audio files. This site divides the different file formats into open file formats and proprietary formats. WAV, AIFF, and MP3 are open file formats while WMA and AAC are proprietary formats. This is another website that clearly explains the topic of audio file formats. It breaks down technical jargon into simpler terms, explaining that a file format is simply a a specific way that codecs encode data in order for it to be saved as a file. It explains what the codec does and also how a lossy codec differs from a lossless codec. At the bottom of the website, it talks about the same audio file formats explained in the previous site and in class yet made them much easier to comprehend.
            WAV and AIFF are both uncompressed, lossless formats, and WAV is preferred by PC users while mac users rip CDs into AIFF. AAC is the lossy default audio format for Apple that was created to replace MP3. Though it never reached the same level of prominence as MP3, AAC wins in terms of sound quality to file size ratio. WMA is a compressed format owned by Microsoft that has Digital Rights Management (DRM) to control how a file is used or shared. Finally, MP3 is lossy with a high level of compression and is the most popular format for downlading and storing music. MP3 eliminates parts of the file that is basically inaudible and compresses the file to a small fraction of its original size. MP3 is ideal for music storage. Ultimately, these websites helped explain the topics further, and now I understand why any of these audio file formats would be chosen over any other one, depending on the situation. Here is a picture displaying the different audio file formats:

Works Cited:

http://www.nch.com.au/acm/formats.html

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/a-look-at-the-different-file-formats-available-part-1-audio/

http://dvd-video-tools.com/images/ss/switch-b.gif

Week 5: Clear

             The concept that was most clear to me this week was creating formulas in Excel. The key to putting in formulas is they must begin with an equal sign. PEMDAS is important for formulas because it is the order of operations. It stands for Parenthesis, Exponentiation, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction. A good way to remember this acronym is Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. Multiplication and division are done from left to right, whichever comes first, and addition and subtraction are done together in this same manner. Excel uses + for addition, - for subtraction, * for multiplication, and / for division.
          Excel is very important in the business environment because it makes the process of performing math problems very easy. You can type in a formula that you need for an entire column based off of other columns and simply drag the bottom right corner down and the relative relationship remains the same. This saves alot of time, making Excel a helpful tool in any line of business that requires many computations.
         This website relates to the concept of creating formulas in Excel and even has a table showing the different formulas that can be entered using some sample data. This website goes a step further and shows formulas for exponentiation, square roots, cube roots, increasing/decreasing by a percentage, calculating percentages, and averages. It shows the exact formula that would be typed into Excel, beginning with an equal sign. This is an additional website that is basically a "how to" for creating Excel formulas and uses a basic addition and subtraction equation as an example. Here is an an example of how a formula is created and used in Excel:

Works Cited

http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/splane_m/excelformulas.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_9699_create-excel-formula.html

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Week 4: Clear

           The concept that was most clear to me this week was the part of the software life cycle concerning software version numbers and upgrading the software. Software version numbers have four numbers. The first is the major version, the second is the minor version, the third is the revision number, and the fourth (which is optional and often dropped) is the build number. These numbers are very specific and important to the software. A patch is designated to provide minor updates like a new revision numbers or bug fixes. An update is a revision to a minor version, a new minor version, enhanced features, bug fixes, or other new features. An upgrade is a new major version or a major update to a minor version. An example of an upgrade is Microsoft Office had its 14th major version, so the major version number is now 14.
            Upgrading software is very important in the business environment because it can provide productive new tools. Upgrades can make the software more stable and reliable and might includes features that make work more efficient. Good software is never static but is rather constantly updating and evolving.
           This website explains the difference between a software upgrade and a software update. It adds to the above explanation that updates are often bug fixes or minor software enhancements and are often free to download. On the other hand, upgrades are often the purchase of a newer software version or your current software with more features.

Week 3: Clear

         The concept that was most clear to me this week was virtual memory. Virtual memory is a form of memory management to optimize the use of RAM. Multitasking can result in running out of physical memory, so the computer takes part of the hard drive and allocates it as a swap file, pretending it is an extension of the physical memory. The virtual memory is divided into fixed-size units called PAGES, some of which are on the disk and some of which are in the memory. The process of transferring a page between memory and storage is called swapping. Copying from virtual memory into physical memory chips is called SWAP IN, while the opposite process (from memory to storage) is called SWAP OUT. Virtual memory makes the computer's memory seem larger than it actually is by utlizing storage as additional memory. There is a tradeoff with virtual memory: although it enables oversized applications, it works slower than physical RAM.
        Virtual memory is important in the business environment because computers with this operating system use hardware memory more efficiently than computers without virtual memory and also make application programming easier. This integral part of the computer is important for optimizing memory allocation. Without the virtual memory, computers would easily run out of memory because they would not have enough physical RAM.
           This website clearly explains the concept of virtual memory.  It discusses how the virtual memory works and talks about configuring the virtual memory. I like the picture on this website that shows memory management between the CPU, cache, RAM, and virtual memory as part of disk storage. I also found this video interesting since it explains how to increase performance with the virtual memory.  Here is a pyramid visualization of the memory hierarchy:

Works Cited:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/virtual-memory.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2igH6O0ARM

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/computer-memory-pyramid.gif

Week 2: Muddy

           This week I found the concept of RAID the most difficult to understand. In the lesson on storage with computer systems, I learned about RAID0 and RAID1. RAID0 excels with speed and capacty and allows two or more disks to apear like a single disk. This allows for either increased capacity and speed or more reliability. RAID0 allows for double the capacity because it uses more than one hard drive. The danger with RAID0 is that single disk failure causes the loss of all data since it is evenly distributed aross the disk drives. On the other hand, RAID1 is always done with two disk drives, and everything written on one disk drive is written on the other disk drive to create "mirror images." This can be expensive, but it produces higher reliability. Overall, if you want a system that is always available and uptime is also a concern, then RAID1 is ideal because it protects against single drive failure.
          This concept doesn't make sense to me because I don't see a clear distinction between RAID0 and RAID1. I don't understand how RAID0 appears like a single disk and can allow either increased speed and capacity or increase reliability. How can these be separate concepts?

                 I had difficulty understanding this concept primarily because I could not visualize the difference between RAID0 and RAID1. At this website I was able to fnd a better explanation of the differences between RAID0 and RAID1. It broke down the advantages and disadvantages, making the concept easier to understand. I think what helped me the most was the picture on this website which showed me what was meant by striping and mirroring. At the bottom of this post is a separate picture that also helped me visualize RAID0 and RAID1.

Week 1: Clear

           In this week's reading, the concept of evaluating information quality was the most clear. The five main criteria for evaluating Web pages are accuracy, authority, objectivity, currency, and coverage. Accuracy refers to whether the author is qualified to write on that specific topic and whether there is a way to contact him or her. There should be sufficient evidence to support the author's claims and other sites that offer additional evidence. The authority of a website can be examined by researching the credentials of the listed authors and checking the URL domain. An objective website presents the facts (not opinions) with minimal advertising. Currency can be interpreted by seeing how often the site is updated and when it was produced. Coverage refers to whether the information can be viewed properly (correct browser technology). With over 1 trillion unique Web pages, these pages vary greatly in these five criteria.
           Since the Internet is essential for research, evaluating Web sites is very important in the business environment. It's important to learn the criteria for assessing a website in order to determine its reliability as a source. Some websites are extermely accurate and helpful while others are complete nonsense. In a business environment where research occurs all the time, it's crucial to be able to tell the difference.
         The Lesley University Library has a great Web page that explains how to evaluate a website. This site says to look at the authority, objectivity, and currency (as explained above). This list adds several criteria to the list: purpose, appropriateness, responsibility, clarity, and accessibility. Basically, this site breaks down the five criteria to make them more specific, which helps make this topic very clear. Overall, thinking critically while evaluating a website will help in figuring out whether a Web page can be trusted.