Week 13:Clear

This week we discussed Social Media, which is any content that users create and share across many platforms on the internet. Last we touched on the topic, in a discussion post, about Google+ surpassing Facebook. I posted that I believed google had a very long way to go before it passed Facebook.
The biggest reason I highlighted, which was highlighted in this week's lesson, is switching costs. I stated that people have invested a lot of time and effort into Facebook. Switching to Google could mean the loss of contacts, photos and/or videos that they have uploaded. For people like me, they have countless photos they have upload or have been tagged in. Many of my friends have not made the transfer to Google, so Im staying put 'til my network is moved.
Facebook also has the network effects on its side. The exchange, it is so easy to exchange information and share things with friends. from 45 to 4,500, people might not be willing to leave those networks. This would be staying power. And finally, complementary benefits. Facebook has taken this aspect and used it to its every advantage. Companies use their facebook pages to connect with audiences by offering discounts or inside information for liking their pages. Facebook just bought Instagram, a popular camera app, which now allows users to directly upload their pictures.
Since Instagram was not available on android til recently I have not experience the seemingly addictive nature of this app, but many of my friends find it amazing!
This is my picture of a painting that I did. We all love facebook. Google+ would have to offset the huge switching costs by providing users with an awesome reason for leaving facebook.
Facebook has become so well known that just a simple F will tell people two things; We have a facebook and we want you to be on it!
And, Im here to tell Facebook. I'm logged on and I'm staying put! =]

 Picture and paintng by: Ellen Farly

Week 12: Clear

For week 12 we discussed several aspects of the Internet. It has come a long way from it's beginning and is becoming more and more intergrated into our lives.
The term "internet of things" is exciting but also crazy. Crazy in an awesome way. The internet of things was discussed briefly in a previous week lesson but was mentioned again this week.
It is the idea that in the, very near, future everything will be connected to the internet. It will allow us to be more productive. It allows for things to be more productive. One video that was watched for the week's lesson was describing how the water lines, air conditioning and refrigerator will all be connected and communicate with each other to make the home more productive and energy efficient.
When I was a little girl I remember riding the futuristic ride at Disney world that depicted different decades of our lives. From the 1940s to the 2000s. Since this was in 1994, give or take a year or two, they had a projected outlook for the 2020s. I remember the scene vividly in my mind. The scene was not alien like, there were no flying cars. It depicted a family of four and a grandmother all celebrating Thanksgiving. The dad and son were playing a video game and yelling their scores. The oven was ofcourse voice activated. As their scores went up so did the temp on the oven. They burned the turkey and had to order pizza.
It is amazing that when I was 5-6 I was blown away by the possiblitiy of a voice commanded appliance. Now, in the year 2012, we have talking phones, GPS, and soon will have smart houses- like the one Disney projected for 2020.

A recent article talks about how tablets like the iPad are the corner stones for future smart houses. We can control everything that happens with just a tap of our finger tips.
SMART HOUSE ARTICLE

This is a picture of a fun house... which makes it a smart house! hahah. (photo by: Ellen Farley)

Week 10: muddy-clear-wow

This week we explored Microsoft Access.
I had never heard of this let alone used it. As Mr. Olson began to show us how this tool is used, I was unsure. It seemed similar to Excel at first, but then it was a whole world of computing!
My favorite part of this week was learning how to import the Excel spreadsheet and then making a report and or query about it.
Since, I'm a huge excel fan- I make an excel sheet for everything- this aspect was so exciting!
After being shown, the use of Access seems easy and fun!
Once you open Access you begin to make a new table or you can import the data from Excel.
After you have data, you can start a query under the create tab.
You can also make reports that can show specific desired information.
These tools can be helpful, not only to a teacher as in the example, to a business that wants to keep track of invoices, sales, employees, times, orders, and more!

Made by me! =]

Week 9: Clear

This week we learned about Moore's Law. This is an important concept in the computing world because it encourages growth. Growth, specifically at  doubling at every 18 months. Moore's theory was "faster, cheaper" computing.
A website that clearly defines this idea, visually is the Intel website.
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/silicon-innovations/moores-law-technology.html

Week 7: Clear

This week's discussion was about cloud computing. Cloud computing, along with other steps mangers can take, can decrease costs. Costs in electricity, training costs, software and hardware costs, etc.
The original cloud could probably be said to be the Internet. The basic idea of the cloud is that material used daily for a company, a class, or just personal use can be store outside of your computer and safely in another location; In the cloud!

http://lucaskrech.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/28/template-basics-clouds-and-skies/

There are three types of cloud computing:

PaaS, or Platform as a Service. This provides vendors with hardware and operating system. The benefits to this type is that the user is not responsible for the maintenance, upgrades or updates, or backups. Sometimes this type is referred to as Utility computing. Utility computing is basically the users software being run via the Internet.

DaaS, or Desktop as a Service. This provides an Operating system and apps. It is also scalable. which means, if you create one can ask the provider for 50 of the same thing the next day.

SaaS, or Software as a Service. This type provides everything. this is a per user per month subscription.

Cloud computing can be very beneficial to a business. It saves money and allows a company to run more apps or software than it could afford otherwise. Cloud computing isn't that new. We have used types of cloud computing when we used email. The data is stored somewhere else and doesn't take up memory on the device.

A manager does have to be cautious though. A company should never have so much of its data tied up into a program such as cloud computing that it would be devastating to either retrieve it or loss it all.

Week 3: Clear

This week we talked about networks and all that it includes. Part of the discussion was focused on TCP and UDP encapsulation. I found it very clear to remember and learn.

Networks use this encapsulation when sending data from one place to the next.
TCP stands for transmission control protocol and UDP stands for user datagram protocol. The difference when using these two types of protocol is how much data is guaranteed to be transferred to the destination requested. TCP guarantees your data will arrive safely and in its original full form. UDP only sends what happens to make it to the destination.


http://www.skullbox.net/tcpudp.php

TCP guarantees the data will get there by going through one extra step; It's called retransmission. Although retransmission can sometimes slow the process down sometimes a company or PC user will use this for important data like bank records.
UDP does not guarantee the sender the data will arrive fully intact but it does guarantee that it will send it faster. Mr. Nelson said this would be okay to use when sending data like video or music because if anything is missing it wont be noticeable.



http://www.skullbox.net/tcpudp.php

So what does retransmission mean? TCP retransmission requires that the receiver notify the sender that all parts were completely received and saved properly. According to msdn.microsoft.com, if the sender does not receive this notification of the packet the retransmission process will start again. 
Depending on the data and the time limit a receiver may have, chose your packet protocol wisely. TCP may send the data in complete form it does take longer; UDP sends the data faster but may be missing a few things.

Sites used:
Skullbox
http://msdn.microsoft.com/