Jay's Weblog

Assignment 5

ojw3 — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:51:28 +0000

I really didn’t understand this assignment that well. I guess the biggest thing I figured out is that I probably do not want to be a programmer. I edited the Treasure game that came with the free edition of GameMaker 7. I changed the background music and I changed the first room. I wanted to add a script to make the monsters become more aggressive when there were fewer than 5 points left, but I couldn’t get it to work.

Have fun with the game…

http://mypage.iu.edu/~ojwilson/treasure.exe

Chapter 9 Lab

ojw3 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:44:07 +0000

I started by search for Network Security Analyst positions on Hot Jobs. I found the following:

· Network Security Analyst for Restoration Hardware, which is a home furnishing store in California.

· Network Technician & Network Security Analyst for the University of Connecticut.

· Network Security Analyst / Engineer for Buxton Consulting.

I found that I would still need a lot of education in networking and network specific software such as Cisco Security Manager and Solar Winds and other web based programs such as Java and HTML.

I then searched Web Site Developer position on Hot Jobs and I found the following:

· Website Developer for Suarez Corporation Industries.

· Website Developer – C# / ASP.NET for Winter Wyman & Company

· Website Developer / Help Desk for Frontline Source Group

I found that the following programs are good to know: PHP, Java, CS, Database design, My SQL, Photoshop, Illustrator, Image Ready, and Dream Weaver.

I found that I still have a lot to lear, and that is beginning this summer as I take CIT212 Web Site Design. I look forward to continuing my education into the IT field and some day getting a nice job.

Chapter 9 Discussion

ojw3 — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:22:39 +0000

One of the biggest milestones in computing has to be the advent of Operating Systems such as Windows. Windows made it a million times easier to navigate through a computer and I didn’t have to memorize those DOS commands anymore. I still remember typing in “dir/w” just to see what all was on my 5.25” floppy disk. I also think that the act of miniaturization revolutionized the industry. The 5.25” disk that I mentioned above held only 360 KB. Nowadays you can find thumb drives that hold 64 GB. The thumb drive would hold almost 178000 times the information of the floppy disk. This trend will continue as a 128 GB thumb drive is already in the works. Three years from now, kilo will completely disappear from the computing world and the prefix “tera” will become mainstream.
I am completely afraid of the rapid growth of this industry. Mainly because by the time I finish school all of the things I have learned will be out of date. But this industry has to remain flexible and stay ahead of the curve because the technological advances won’t stop. Soon you will see virtual reality movies, interactive computer simulated doctor visits and diagnosis and so on. If the human mind can imagine it, some day it will produce it.
I see a job in the IT field to be cutting edge. Like a fighter pilot, an IT professional could be at the forefront of the Digital Revolution. I know that I am over sensationalizing the position, but this is my future and I should be excited about it. It is still early in my education of the IT field, so I haven’t quite figured out what my role will end up being, probably some under paid help desk clerk at a porrly run company, but I look forward to soaking up all of the knowledge I possibly can.

ojw3 — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:25:09 +0000

Here I am about to take a charge from Toronto Raptors Forward Joey Graham.

Computers in Context

One of the greatest advancement in cinematic special effects came in 1977 when George Lucas released the first movie in his epic story, Star Wars. In order for Lucas to bring his ideas to light and put them on the big screen, he founded the special effect company Industrial Light & Magic.

ILM was able to bring space travel alive. The effects used for light speed make the viewers feel like they were riding along side the main characters in the Millineum Falcon. ILM’s light saber shows viewers weapon they have only dreamed about. Droid seem alive and the vast array of alien life forms bring to life every young boys dreams of life on other planets.

George Lucas forever changed the way movies were made and with the help of ILM, he will continue to blow away Star Wars fans with five more movies.

Chapter 8 Discussion

ojw3 — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 21:44:51 +0000

1. Have you had trouble using software, music CDs, or movie DVDs because of copy protection?

No, I have never really tried to copy software, music CDs or DVDs. I figure that if I really want the item I can purchase it legally and use it as it was intended.

2. In your opinion, do sites like iTunes Music Store provide consumers with enough flexibility for copying files and creating playlists?

I have never used any online music stores such as iTunes, but I guess if I ever needed to buy a song, then these services would be fine for me.

3. Do you think digital rights management technologies are justified because of the high rate of piracy?

I am fine with DRM technologies, but they could be better. When I bought my Xbox 360 and it broke and Microsoft replaced it, I couldn’t use any of games that I downloaded unless I was online because the DRM didn’t recognize the new machine. After programmers fix smaller details like this one, then I believe we will see digital rights on a vast array of electronic devices.

Chapter 12 Lab

ojw3 — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:21:42 +0000

Multimedia Project

This screenshot is from the game Civilization IV. As soon as I clicked the icon to start the game I got a Load Screen. After that it showed a 2K Games movie and an NVidia movie followed by the opening movie which showed a letter being delivered that caused a war. I then got to the Main Menu. I selected “Single Player” from the list of options. This took me to the Single Player Menu. On that page I selected “Play Now!” which took me to the Select a Map screen. I selectes “Shuffle” and then went to the World Size/Climate screen. I selected Random Climate and Random Sealevel to go with a Standard sized world. Next was the Select a Civilization screen. I selected Random there too. Next was the Details screen, where I change my name to King Kong, but I left the Civ Description, Short Description and Civ Adjective at [Default]. Next was the Game Snapshot screen, where I set the Game Speed at Normal and the Game Difficulty at Noble. Suring all of these selections I listened to the fabulous Civ IV theme music. After that was a slideshow while the game loaded, it also gave game tips. Also going on was a sound bite of Leonard Nimoy reading passages about the birth of a planet from the book of Genesis. Finally I am in the game. I see that I am Louis XIV of France and that I have a unique unit called a Musketeer and a unique building called a Salon. I start with a warrior and a settler. I use the settler to build the city of Paris, while the warrior explored the land around Paris. When the warrior moves I hear footsteps and when I found some gold it sounded like a bunch of coins dropping. This is a very complex game that would follow me from 4000 BC to 2050 AD as I find technological advancements and try to win the Space Race and colonize Alpha Centuri.

New Perspectives Labs

Thursday, April 03, 2008 1:55:27 PM

Tracking Report

New Perspectives on Computer Concepts, 10th Edition

Name: Jay Wilson

Student ID: 0002138439

Class Section: 19549

Tracking file: C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\tracking-0002138439.tk3

# Activity Date Time Points Earned Points Possible Score

1 NP10 Using a Visual Development Environment 4/3/2008 1:43 PM 21 25 84%

	Thursday, April 03, 2008	1:55:27 PM


Tracking Report
New Perspectives on Computer Concepts, 10th Edition

#	Activity	Date	Time	Points Earned	Points Possible	Score
1	NP10 Using a Visual Development Environment	4/3/2008	1:43 PM	21	25	84%

Chapter 12 Discussion

ojw3 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 17:08:50 +0000

1. I think that anyone who has used a computer program has become frustrated at some point. I recently built an Access database for the company that I work for. They wanted me to allow duplicate entries in a field, but they wanted to be notified when a duplicate entry was entered. It took hours of research to find a solution, but the solution was too difficult to understand.

2. I think that it is probably easier to dumb down the programs than it would be to educate all of the users, but how low do you go? It doesn’t matter how easy a program gets, there will always be users out there that just don’t or even won’t get it.

3. It’s difficult to group all programmers into one category of people who don’t understand the viewpoint of a typical computer user. But I would agree that the majority of programmers produce software that answers their questions, but may not answer the questions of their typical consumer base.

My honest opinion of the Computer User’s Bill of Rights is that it is a waste of space in the textbook and a waste of my time to read. The computer user has only one real right. He or she has the right to either use a computer or don’t use a computer. If the average user doesn’t like a program, that person shouldn’t use the program. If enough people choose not to use it, the program will fail.

I was very skeptical at first about taking an online course. But now that the semester is nearly over I believe that it is an effective way to teach a course. I feel like I am free to say what I want in this class because I don’t have to feel embarrassed if another student doesn’t agree with me. I like the use of the blogs for discussion purposes. I am not sure how games would help is the class environment, but a collaborative group effort using a wiki would certainly be useful.

Chapter 11 Discussion

ojw3 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:59:46 +0000

When I googled my name I found a few links about other people with my name, but nothing came up about me.

I put “OK” in boxes that I would be OK listing that info. I put an “R” in boxes that I thought it was a legitimate request and I put a “?” in boxes that I didn’t think that information was required.

	Applying for a job	Visiting the doctor	Subscribing to a Web site	Making an online purchase	Opening a bank account	Responding to an e-mail message	Registering for classes	Creating a personal Web page	Paying a monthly bill
Name	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R
Address	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	OK-R	?	OK-R	?	OK-R
Social Security #	OK-R	OK-R	?	?	OK-R	?	?	?	?
Credit Card #	?	OK-R	?	OK-R	?	?	?	?	OK-R
Phone Number	OK-R	OK-R	R	OK-R	OK-R	?	OK-R	?	OK-R
Height	?	OK-R	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Weight	?	OK-R	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Gender	OK	OK-R	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Hobbies	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	OK	?
Medical History	OK	OK-R	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Employer	OK-R	OK-R	?	?	OK-R	?	?	OK	OK-R
Spouse Name	?	OK-R	?	?	OK-R	OK	?	OK	OK-R
Children’s Names	?	OK-R	?	?	?	OK	?	OK	?

Chapter 10 Discussion

ojw3 — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:17:58 +0000

Threats from competitors can come in many forms, from price wars to insulting your organization’s product and so on. Like recently when one airline added a fuel surcharge and the other airlines followed suit. Had the others not followed the original airline’s added price that company would have most likely had to drop their surcharge. Also when you see a Coke commercial saying that 75% of people tested preferred Coke to Pepsi, that is a threat to Pepsi’s sales and Pepsi has to respond accordingly. An organization’s mission statement helps the company stay focused on their goals instead of getting into costly pricing wars or advertising wars.
Using new technology can be very rewarding because it keeps the company at the forefront of improving their processes. But new hardware and software may not be adequately tested and all kinds of problems could persist, from crashing the servers to not being properly trained on the equipment or software. However, waiting for user feedback can get time consuming and it is impossible to satisfy everyone’s requests. But at least the company knows what will work and what won’t. I believe the best strategy is to use a combination of the two approaches.
I tend to not use help desks because I feel like most of the time I would be talking to someone who isn’t as schooled in the subject as I am and I have been known to never read the user’s manuals provided. I have used both items, but I usually find that I can work through or around the problems on my own. The problem with a work around is that there is probably a very simple solution and now I am just working around it and taking up more time. I remember a time at my previous job where we wanted to make a CD menu system expire on a certain date. We eventually trashed the program that we were using and bought new software that accomplished the job.
It sounds like the old saying…Which came first, the chicken or the egg? How can you properly develope software without knowing what the consumer wants and how can the consumer tell you how to make it better without using it first. That is why companies use test groups and sometimes release Beta Versions of software. Using a test group can give the developer valuable information on the system, whereas the Beta Version can be used in the actual environment fit which it is intended.

Assignment 3

ojw3 — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 20:10:34 +0000

http://mypage.iu.edu/~ojwilson/ojw3.html

Name:	Jay Wilson
Student ID:	0002138439
Class Section:	19549
Tracking file:	C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\tracking-0002138439.tk3