Worst Websites

When it comes to looking at websites, I appreciate a well made and visually appealing page, but I mainly care that the information on the site is neat and organized. I also dislike when there are incredibly long loading times because things like large images and videos must load first. Also, when the site is hard to navigate I almost immediately dislike it.I also care that the website looks professional, and looks like some real effort was put into it. For example, spelling and grammar errors show a lack of effort and dedication.

One bad website I viewed was: http://art.yale.edu/

This website was terrible because it was impossible to get information, the crazy animations in the background were both strange and distracting, if I wanted to actually learn about the Yale School of Art, it would be very difficult.The colors did not match, and the website did not look professional and was one of the worst sites I've seen in a while.

http://benthebodyguard.com/index2.php was a website that me and some of my classmates did not think was bad.

The people who choose the worst websites complained that you had to scroll through a lot of graphics, all to get to the bottom. They also claimed that it had little or nothing to do with the app that it was about.

I disagree because I enjoyed the graphics.

Setting up a Wireless Network

Here is the presentation that me and Noah Mark created.

Lets Go Network Shopping!

For my "Lets go Network Shopping" powerpoint I chose to do it on a household situation that has 2 mac desktops and 2 mac laptops, all running OS X. I chose this because it is slightly similar to my actual situation with my family at home and learning a little about it could be helpful.

Cyber Shopping

Safe Site:


1. What online shopping site are you researching? Put the url here and the site name.
Kenmore Collectables - http://www.kenmorecollectibles.com/cards_coins_and_sports_collectibles_for_sale.html

2. Does this site use cookies to identify you as a return shopper? How do you know?
Yes. They state the reason for using them in the privacy statement


3. Is the site secure? Identify the security measures that this site uses to keep your credit card and personal identity safe.
They use encryption to keep your credit card safe

4. Does this site offer person to person payments? 
Yes, it uses pay pal as a payment method


5. How can I verify that this site has not compromised individual's credit card or personal information?
When examining the payment process, I checked that the url changed to a https. The website has also has been verified and uses an encryption to protect your information.


6. Identify 3 methods I can use to keep my credit card and personal data safe from hacking while shopping online(identify at least 1 from reading in the text) 
What you should first look for is that it has a privacy policy. After that you should check that it is secure payment, and that it has also been verified by a third party.


http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/online-shopping.aspx


Unsafe Site:



1. What online shopping site are you researching? Put the url here and the site name.
 Fox Jewelery -http://foxjewelry.com/showCart.asp

2. Does this site use cookies to identify you as a return shopper? How do you know?
It does not have a written policy so it is hard to tell.


3. Is the site secure? Identify the security measures that this site uses to keep your credit card and personal identity safe.
It has not been verified


4. Does this site offer person to person payments? 
.No, it does not offer secure payment methods


5. How can I verify that this site has not compromised individual's credit card or personal information?
You can't really since it does not give information on their policies

Off The Shelf vs. Custom Built

Benefits of Custom Built:

• You can find parts that are good for what you are doing
• You can get a good computer for a cheaper price
• You are able to more easily select specific parts
• If you know a lot about computers you can make a better computer than an off the shelf.

Benefits of Off The Shelf Computers:

• You don't have to assemble it yourself
• If you don't no much about computers you can get advice on what to get
• It is easier to get and requires less research
• It has been put together by experts

Resources:

http://www.davewaytech.com/custom-pc-build-or-off-the-shelf-which-is-right-for-your-business

Computer Project

Motherboard
Intel H61
$69.99
INTEL H61
This is a good motherboard and should work well with our computer.

RAM
Crucial 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory

24.99
Tiger Direct
This is inexpensive memory and given the cost of the rest of the components of the computer, we had few options

Hard Drive(s)
Western Digital 500 GB
$45.22
Amazon
This item provides a good amount of memory, for a reasonable price. As it is a school computer, it shouldn’t need more than 500G. For this price, this is a great deal.

CPU
Intel Pentium
$69.99
Intel Pentium
We chose this processor because we needed an effective processor. With this processor, the computer will function well.
OS

Ubuntu 11.10
Free
(Open Source)
Ubuntu
Ubuntu is a great deal because it is free, visually appealing, and fully functioning.

Case
XON-810P-Red
$39.99
Tiger Direct
This case is appealing and reasonably priced, also very spacey and comes with a cable. It also looks awesome.

Video Card
Comes built in with motherboard

Sound Card
SIIG SoundWave
$29.99
Amazon
It is important to have a good sound card so that students will be able to effectively work in class.

Power Supply
Comes With Case
Free

Write down the sites you used to research this project. Be sure that each person on your team has an assignment and is contributing to your final build.

Tiger Direct
New Egg
Amazon
Google Shopper
http://www.tigerdirect.com/
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/build-a-computer.htm

Computer for Grandma

Sorry this is late, in the past I did not know how to put this on my blog

iCloud

iCloud

For my research project on a web site that does data storage and back up I chose iCloud. iCloud is a web site created by Apple and is available for free for people who have Apple's new iOS 5 or OS X Lion. It does actually have a limited amount of space though, and people who plan on using it for large amounts of data can pay to get more space. iCloud is also secure. The data stored there is encrypted for its protection so you shouldn't have to worry about the safety of your information.Apple is also a large company so you should have a decent amount of warning if they begin to go out of business so you will be able to hopefully find an alternative to iCloud is that in fact does occur.

Pre-Assesment Quiz

Your Final Score: 7 out of 20=35%

Mac OS X

by Jalen and Jake

Operating System: Mac OS X
How To troubleshoot printing:

Step 1
Sometimes a printer stops working for no apparent good reason. In the Print Queue, try clicking Resume or Start Jobs. If all else fails, turn off and restart your printer.

Step 2
Your Mac won't give you a warning when you're running low on paper, so keep an eye on your printer’s paper tray.

How to create a Folder/directory:
Step 1

Navigate to the location from Finder where you want to create a folder
Step 2

Click on the Gray button and click on New Folder button
Step 3

It creates a new folder

How to delete a file/directory:
Step 1
Drag the items to the Trash

Step 2
Choose Finder > Empty Trash.

How to change from one folder/directory to another:
It is a simple process of moving from folder to folder.

How to rename files:
Step 1
In Finder, open the folder with your file in it.

Step 2
See all those pretty icons? Don’t click on them. Find the icon for your file. Click once on that icon then click and hold the mouse button down on the filename below it.

Step 3
After about a second of holding down the mouse button the text will become editable and you can type over the name. Be careful you don’t change the extension because bad things will happen!

Other features?

http://www.apple.com/macosx/whats-new/features.html

https://sites.google.com/site/bhsc

Pre-Assesment

Your Final Score: 15 out of 20=75%

You can find this test at:

http://www.course.com/preassessment/default.cfm?ISBN=0-619-24361-9&chapter=3

Henry Markram builds a brain in a supercomputer

Recently, I watched a video about the brain. It explained in depth about how a supercomputer was powerful enough to map out the brain. From here they were able to test electrical signals in the brain. He also posed some intriguing ideas about how the entire universe has just been created by the mind, and that every brain is different. How each brain makes its own connecting between neurons, in specific places, each with a specific purpose. The evolution of the brain has brought it to where we are today, and what is amazing is that our brains are evolved enough to begin to even understand themselves.I also really liked his ideas about how the brain has evolved, and why it has evolved. According to the video, the brain began to evolve because mammals, like us, need a more powerful and complex brain to deal with social interactions between them and their offspring.I think this is really interesting because it relates to a lot of what I've been learning in other classes about evolution and the progression of the human race.


You can watch the video at:

http://www.ted.com/talks/henry_markram_supercomputing_the_brain_s_secrets.html

Jake Smith: Infographic

Click to view our project:

Jake Smith: Infographic

Edible Computer Chips

I chose to research a new invention know as "edible computer chips." This invention has staggering implications and could greatly change the world of medicine. These chips have the ability to activate once swallowed and send signals via Bluetooth to a device that can read of a lot of information such respiratory rate, temperature, and even body and to determine if the patient is standing up, sitting, or lying down. This chip will be very useful as it can track if the patient has taken their required pills or not and notify them if that is the case. It is great work in nanotechnology, but the only question is if it will receive approval from the FDA and is expected to be put out into the market either this year, 2011 or next year, 2012. If it is proven safe and working in clinical trials this could change both the way that medicine is prescribed and how those drugs are then used. The only other issue is that people may not be comfortable putting technology into their body and may reject this idea even if it is proved safe in clinical trials. The project itself has been extremely expensive, costing millions of dollars to get into working condition, but if it does in fact work it could be a great improvement for society. Given the amount of time that was spent in putting this project together it would be a great tragedy if they were never actually used or used well.


This technology could actually lead to breaking one of the computer ethics commandments. As it allows you to see your vital statistics people could easily use it to moniter you, which is not something that anyone really wants. So as long as these things are used for good, it could be great for people all over the world.

Pre-Assessment Quiz

Your Final Score: 14 out of 20=70%


There were a few problems with this test. For example, often times when false was chosen as the answer to a question it say that you were incorrect and the correct answer was false. Most of the other questions seemed to work well, but the majority of them I didn't know and had to guess (which makes sense as it is a pre-assessment quiz).

1. Did the test evaluate your computer knowledge fairly? Why or why not?
I believe that the test was a fair evaluation even though I got many questions wrong, it was infact a pre-assessment meaning that I shouldn’t know everything on it.

2. Were there any problems with the test? did it accurately provide you with the answers?
I did provide me with the answers for the most part, but unfortunately there were some mistakes in the results that show that sometimes the incorrect answer as the true answer

3.What are the advantages of online quizzes?
The advantage to online quizzes is that you can retake them over and over again if you want. Another advantage is that you don’t have to have any physical things like pencils and paper to take one.
4. What are the disadvantages of online quizzes of this type?
The disadvantage is that it can have mistakes that you cannot correct since there is not a physical person actually grading it.

5. What types of assessments do you think can better evaluate student knowledge in computers?
I like the computer quiz as it was easy to take and had the same if not more amount of questions.

6. Do you think online quizzes can be used in other classes?
Yes, I do believe that they can be used in other classes just ass effectively

7. Would you want to take an online quiz in other classes? Why or why not?
Yes, I would want to take an online quiz in another class as they are much easier to take.

Scavenger Hunt Home

1. What is the exact version of the HP you are using in UA33?

HP Pavilion HPE h8-1010 PC

2. Where did you find this information?

The label on the side of the computer/ system information.

3. What is the GHzspeed of these computers?

It is 2.7 GHzspeed

4. What version of Microsoft Windows is installed on your computer?

Windows 7 Home Premium Service Pack 1

5. How much RAM is on your computer?

8GB

6. How much storage does your hard drive have?

1 terabyte

7. List 3 applications programs on your computer.

Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office Powerpoint, and Microsoft Excel are installed onto this computer.

8. What is the name of the antivirus program installed on your computer?

Windows Home Security

This is important information because how can you truely expect to use a computer if you don't know anything about it. Another important reason is if it breaks and needs to be repaired, then knowing even this basic information would help a lot.

ComputerScavengerHunt

1.What is the exact version of the HP you are using in UA33?
HP Compaq 6000 Pro SFF PC.

2. Where did you find this information?
The label on the side of the computer/ system information.

3. What is the GHzspeed of these computers?
It is 3.00GHz.

4. What version of Microsoft Windows is installed on your computer?
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600

5. How much RAM is on your computer?
1.93GB of RAM.

6. How much storage does your hard drive have?
It has 149 GB on it.

7. List 3 applications programs on your computer.
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Office Powerpoint, and Adobe Photoshop are installed onto this computer.

8. What is the name of the antivirus program installed on your computer?
Symnantec Antivirus is installed onto my computer.

By Jalen & Yubo

10 Commandments of Computer Ethics

1 Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
I won't use my computer to hack into someone's account.

2 Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
I won't go and delete other people's work.

3 Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's computer files.
I won't go into other people's folders and read their work.

4 Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
I won't use my computer to steal work from another student.

5 Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
I won't try and impersonate another student or person on the internet.

6 Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid.
I won't use programs that aren't mine without permission.

7 Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper compensation.
I won't ever use someone else's things without their permission.

8 Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
I won't copy other people's work and ideas.

9 Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing.
I won't create a program that would in make another student or person unhappy.

10 Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow humans.
I won't create a program that is disrespectful or mean to another human being.