Week Eight: Digital Media

It is truly amazing how far media has come. It seems like only yesterday that music was either on LPs or cassette tapes, movies were on VHS or Beta, and books, magazines and newspapers were actually on paper. Now all are available on a device that can contain most, if not all, of your library and still fits in your pocket. As someone who used to work in the newspaper industry, I definitely was resistant to the change and still feel a hint of sadness when I think about how much time and effort I have put into designing and editing newspaper pages. However, industries must adapt to survive, and I am hopeful that the newspaper industry can make the changes necessary to stay in business for years to come. An increasing number have resorted to charging for their online content, which used to be free. I definitely think this is necessary, as a lot of time and money went into producing that content. As for other forms of media, I definitely miss going to Tower Records the day one of my favorite bands would put out a CD and holding it in my hand, as opposed to now just clicking a button and downloading it to the computer. I feel the same way about books, and am slowly becoming more comfortable reading them in digital form. Over time digital will become the norm, as the benefits clearly outweigh the drawbacks.

Week Seven: Access

I have to admit that before this course, I don't believe I had ever used Microsoft Access. I have a lot of experience with Excel - for both personal and professional uses - but it has just been for basic address lists, financial information and other various lists. Access, however, appears to take Excel to the next level by allowing you to manage large databases and then easily search them - through queries - for very specific information. It is definitely a program I want to learn more about, as I believe it can be very beneficial for both personal and professional reasons.

Week Six: Databases

I had a general understanding of databases before this week's reading, but I now have a much greater appreciation for how much information they are able to store and then access in a second or less. Amazon.com is a perfect example of this. The online retailer sells millions of items from countless different merchants, yet thanks to its database management system it is able to provide results to queries almost immediately after the user presses "enter," and is also able to recommend purchases based on an individual's queries. Very impressive.

Week Five: Telecommunications, Part 2

I have finally reached the point where I will be getting a smartphone, and I can't wait. This section has definitely taught me more about them, including LTE, which is among the newer innovations in wireless technology. Because I will be using Verizon, I will be limited to 2 GB of data per month on my plan. However, thanks to the prevalence of wireless fidelity (both at home and throughout the city), I should be able to use hotspots much of the time. As I mentioned in a previous blog, I am also looking forward to WiMax becoming more widely available, although I don't know how compatible it will be with the service I have.

Week Four: Information Security

Almost everything that has an upside has a downside, and the Internet is certainly no exception. The very tool that makes our lives so convenient by allowing us to purchase virtually anything online, keep in nearly instant contact with people around the world and manage almost all of the details of our lives also has a thriving dark side of people who are constantly coming up with new and innovative ways to steal that information and use it to their advantage - while causing tremendous harm to us in the process. Thankfully, there are people working just as hard on our side to stay a step ahead of them. However, it also requires diligence on our part, and we must be sure to take steps like having a firewall on our computer, using antivirus software, not downloading items that we know little about, and, perhaps most importantly, only doing business (and providing personal information to) sites we know and trust.

Week Three: Telecommunications

It was interesting reading about the technical aspects of telecommunications, which has become such an important part of so many people's everyday lives. Since I don't have a smartphone (yet), I primarily connect to the Internet using Wi-Fi, both at home and wherever I can find a hotspot. I had seen the number 802.11 before, but didn't know exactly what it meant: a family of standards developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) that continues to evolve. I was (and am) particularly interested in learning more about WiMAX, specifically because I wonder what effect it will have on the need for people to get smartphones and pay for data plans considering the fact that a WiMAX access point has a 31-mile radius.

Week Two: PowerPoint

I have used PowerPoint for work a number of times over the years, but it was always for very basic presentations involving text and still photos. I knew that more was possible because I had seen more elaborate presentations, but didn't know how to do it. I'm very glad to have completed the step-by-step projects this week, because I now know how easy it is to take stagnant presentations and make them much more interesting and aesthetically pleasing. From applying themes to inserting charts to using different transitions, PowerPoint offers a wide variety of different ways to take presentations to the next level.