Today we've received a new assignment. (I need to figure out a new way to say that!) Lately as we've been poking our noses in all sorts of issues involving laws, the internet and the technological world over all. We've got to take a look at many problems that the government is facing in Canada. Of course, we've developed our opinions about these matters by now and it's time to share them!
We have to pick a concern in the world today that is related to what we've been talking about (I.E. hacking, cracking, piracy, downloading etc.) and present a firm opinion about it in the form of an essay. It is a research project and we will be required to do research using a periodical database such as EBSCO.
In other news are school has now been given access to a whole new database that gives us access to all sorts of content! It is available to anyone part of an institution of any kind and it'll open us up to many possibilities that we haven't been able to look at before.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
To download or not to download....that is the question!
I suppose I'll get straight to the point; there has always been a debate about downloading. Most commonly the downloading of music has been the focus of the matter. The laws have varied over the years and we have reached a certain point in our system as of now.
First, the American law makes downloading of any music illegal. IP addresses are tracked and anyone found downloading illegally is charged with a heavy fine. This makes it absolutely incorrect to download music in the U.S.
In Canada on the other hand the current law is that we have the right to download any music off the internet. It is our right. Lately, however, this has led to a great loss for the music industry. Obviously if given the choice most people would prefer to own and use the music for free rather than having to buy it, so that's what they do! This means that all the CD's that fill the shelves by various recording artists aren't bought. Imbalance in the system, means loss for the industry. They want to tighten the laws and make consumers pay for downloading music and make it illegal to download any music for free. The law hasn't been finalized yet but a decision is sure to be reached very soon.
Everyone I know has downloaded music off the internet at some point in their lives. The new law will affect me and everyone I know greatly.
Aside from music downloading of other media is also present. This type of downloading however is illegal even in Canada. People have freely downloaded movies and pirated them. It's actually becoming a growing business in Canada and several companies are threatening to hold back releases of movies unless the government does something.
So ...what do you think?
First, the American law makes downloading of any music illegal. IP addresses are tracked and anyone found downloading illegally is charged with a heavy fine. This makes it absolutely incorrect to download music in the U.S.
In Canada on the other hand the current law is that we have the right to download any music off the internet. It is our right. Lately, however, this has led to a great loss for the music industry. Obviously if given the choice most people would prefer to own and use the music for free rather than having to buy it, so that's what they do! This means that all the CD's that fill the shelves by various recording artists aren't bought. Imbalance in the system, means loss for the industry. They want to tighten the laws and make consumers pay for downloading music and make it illegal to download any music for free. The law hasn't been finalized yet but a decision is sure to be reached very soon.
Everyone I know has downloaded music off the internet at some point in their lives. The new law will affect me and everyone I know greatly.
Aside from music downloading of other media is also present. This type of downloading however is illegal even in Canada. People have freely downloaded movies and pirated them. It's actually becoming a growing business in Canada and several companies are threatening to hold back releases of movies unless the government does something.
So ...what do you think?
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Face To Face
*Note: This is a blog entry about another one of the classes I missed while I was on a trip. My knowledge may not be as detailed as it should be. Please excuse that.
Recently a discussion about 'ethics' took place in I.T. class. Ethics is a term referring to principles that apply to a system. Ethics are basically a question of morality. A situation involving ethics can be described using a very simple example. If you step into a store and see an item that you would like to possess, most people would choose to purchase it. The small amount of people who would consider stealing the item and do it are demonstrating that there are always two ways to deal with a situation. One is wrong and one is right, and ethics define right and wrong.
In I.T. class we deal with computer ethics. Ethics seem to work very differently virtually than they do when you are face to face with a person. Participating in harmful or illegal activities such as hacking, cracking and piracy aren't viewed from a serious standpoint virtually. When someone takes part in these activities they don't think they are dealing with a person, it seems as if they are dealing with just the computer screen. No immediate harm is determinable so it makes it easier for them to justify their actions and consider them 'okay'.
This has led to a growing problem in our world today as hackers and crackers continue to do damage without stopping to think about what they are doing. Everything you do virtually affects somebody in the physical world. So please think about your actions, whether they be virtual or in person because they are both part of a reality.
Recently a discussion about 'ethics' took place in I.T. class. Ethics is a term referring to principles that apply to a system. Ethics are basically a question of morality. A situation involving ethics can be described using a very simple example. If you step into a store and see an item that you would like to possess, most people would choose to purchase it. The small amount of people who would consider stealing the item and do it are demonstrating that there are always two ways to deal with a situation. One is wrong and one is right, and ethics define right and wrong.
In I.T. class we deal with computer ethics. Ethics seem to work very differently virtually than they do when you are face to face with a person. Participating in harmful or illegal activities such as hacking, cracking and piracy aren't viewed from a serious standpoint virtually. When someone takes part in these activities they don't think they are dealing with a person, it seems as if they are dealing with just the computer screen. No immediate harm is determinable so it makes it easier for them to justify their actions and consider them 'okay'.
This has led to a growing problem in our world today as hackers and crackers continue to do damage without stopping to think about what they are doing. Everything you do virtually affects somebody in the physical world. So please think about your actions, whether they be virtual or in person because they are both part of a reality.
Slipping Through The Cracks
*Note: Due to my absence in the past while because of school excursions I haven't been able to post in my blog! I missed two classes but it has come to my attention that we were supposed to read an article related to computer hacking, cracking, piracy or viruses and summarize it. So my most sincere apologies go out to my hard-working educators if this has caused them inconvenience.
As I sit here typing and staring at my monitor, I usually feel pretty secure. If I were asked whether I was safe a few days ago, I would of course reply with, "Yes." Unfortunately for the many of us who would answer the same way, there's bad news. There are virtual dangers awaiting you as you take part in all your computer-related activities...and you and I may not even be aware of them.
We've been targeted many ways by hackers, crackers and spammers up until now. We continue to try to build up immunity against intrusions and other problems but now the hands of hackers have even reached one of the newest technologies: VOIP (Refer to previous post "Move over telephone" for more information) This is the issue discussed in the article VoIP Soon to Be A Target for…. By Mark Hall.
In 2006 a book titled "Hacking Exposed VOIP" by David Endler and Mark Collier was released. The book discusses the fact that as VOIP becomes more popular it also becomes vulnerable to being hacked. It's actually quite easy for hackers to imitate the responses of companies. Hackers can already do a lot of damage there but to make things even worse, privacy is at a huge risk. Listening into a call is a simple thing to do and it could happen to you! As if all this trouble isn't enough VOIP is also opening another route for spam. Hackers can easily insert noise into ongoing conversations and voice mail spam is bound to become as common as email spam.
This book reveals important information for all those who wish to be safe in the VOIP world. If you'll be involved with VOIP it is recommended by the article that you read their book and personally I would advise you to do the same!
As you can see there are potential spaces open everywhere for the ways of hackers and crackers to slip through! We can keep working hard to block all such areas of insecurity...but it seems we'll always be faced with issues such as these.
As I sit here typing and staring at my monitor, I usually feel pretty secure. If I were asked whether I was safe a few days ago, I would of course reply with, "Yes." Unfortunately for the many of us who would answer the same way, there's bad news. There are virtual dangers awaiting you as you take part in all your computer-related activities...and you and I may not even be aware of them.
We've been targeted many ways by hackers, crackers and spammers up until now. We continue to try to build up immunity against intrusions and other problems but now the hands of hackers have even reached one of the newest technologies: VOIP (Refer to previous post "Move over telephone" for more information) This is the issue discussed in the article VoIP Soon to Be A Target for…. By Mark Hall.
In 2006 a book titled "Hacking Exposed VOIP" by David Endler and Mark Collier was released. The book discusses the fact that as VOIP becomes more popular it also becomes vulnerable to being hacked. It's actually quite easy for hackers to imitate the responses of companies. Hackers can already do a lot of damage there but to make things even worse, privacy is at a huge risk. Listening into a call is a simple thing to do and it could happen to you! As if all this trouble isn't enough VOIP is also opening another route for spam. Hackers can easily insert noise into ongoing conversations and voice mail spam is bound to become as common as email spam.
This book reveals important information for all those who wish to be safe in the VOIP world. If you'll be involved with VOIP it is recommended by the article that you read their book and personally I would advise you to do the same!
As you can see there are potential spaces open everywhere for the ways of hackers and crackers to slip through! We can keep working hard to block all such areas of insecurity...but it seems we'll always be faced with issues such as these.
Monday, January 22, 2007
End Of Race
Well we just finished writing our test on Microsoft Excel. Even though my answers are already slowly starting to evaporate from my mind I'm pretty sure that I did all right on the test. At least I hope so! My head is spinning with cells, columns, rows and brackets. Nonetheless I'm glad we were tested on Microsoft Excel and that we were given a chance to familiarize ourselves with the program as it is sure to help us be more efficient and productinve in our future lives.
Now I wonder...what exactly is it that we'll be put up against next?!
Now I wonder...what exactly is it that we'll be put up against next?!
Running In Rows And Columns
Today we have yet another test. This time it's on Microsoft Excel. So this blog entry is to help me get my thoughts sorted out and see what I know about Excel. Hopefully I've absorbed enough knowledge and can apply it well!
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that is much more efficient than a manual spreadsheet that someone would fill out using a pencil and paper. Microsoft Excel makes it so that you have the following tools right at your fingertips:
-Charts and Graphs (You can input your data into Excel and create a Chart or Graph with it using only a few clicks. This saves you the time of having to draw one out yourself.)
-Calculations (As mentioned in my previous post "Questions To Answers" Excel can make calculations for you as long as you input a forumal following "=" into a cell. *Note: All formulas are relative to their location, cells must be named to avoid relative cells.)
-Polishing Tools (Excel also allows you to control the look and feel of your final product. You can use borders and colours to enhance your data visually.)
Those are some of the advantages of Microsoft Excel...now to move on to how it actually functions!
Microsoft Excel is set up using rows and columns of individual "cells" that you can input data into. It is up to you what you put into those cells and which functions of Excel you use! Microsoft Excel is a very flexible product and can be used for anything! You can even include your spreadsheets in other files such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Powerpoint.
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that is much more efficient than a manual spreadsheet that someone would fill out using a pencil and paper. Microsoft Excel makes it so that you have the following tools right at your fingertips:
-Charts and Graphs (You can input your data into Excel and create a Chart or Graph with it using only a few clicks. This saves you the time of having to draw one out yourself.)
-Calculations (As mentioned in my previous post "Questions To Answers" Excel can make calculations for you as long as you input a forumal following "=" into a cell. *Note: All formulas are relative to their location, cells must be named to avoid relative cells.)
-Polishing Tools (Excel also allows you to control the look and feel of your final product. You can use borders and colours to enhance your data visually.)
Those are some of the advantages of Microsoft Excel...now to move on to how it actually functions!
Microsoft Excel is set up using rows and columns of individual "cells" that you can input data into. It is up to you what you put into those cells and which functions of Excel you use! Microsoft Excel is a very flexible product and can be used for anything! You can even include your spreadsheets in other files such as Microsoft Word or Microsoft Powerpoint.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Move over telephone!
Communication has always been, still is and will always be a very significant aspect of our world. The way we interact with the world around us plays a huge part in our lives. Most of our lives are based on communication and without it nobody would have been able to progress! Knowing how vital communication is humans have managed to come up with various ways to communicate with each other...even across large distances! A very good example of something that enables us to communicate over these distances is the telephone. A lot of us use it to communicate with the people we know and for a lot of us these people live far away! Telephones make our job faster and easier but as we continue to progress, a new technology has begun to emerge, it is known as Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP)!
VOIP allows us to use computers to talk with people all over the world! If a number is dialed using VOIP it connects with a computer somewhere in the local area of the place being called and uses local phone lines to finish the job! This method is quite efficient and works very well! We tested it out for ourselves in class using a program called Skype.
VOIP is something all people with long distance communication needs should look at! It is sure to become much more popular in the future.
VOIP allows us to use computers to talk with people all over the world! If a number is dialed using VOIP it connects with a computer somewhere in the local area of the place being called and uses local phone lines to finish the job! This method is quite efficient and works very well! We tested it out for ourselves in class using a program called Skype.
VOIP is something all people with long distance communication needs should look at! It is sure to become much more popular in the future.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Finding Independance...
Our newest assignment is perhaps the strangest of all. We've been asked to move out of our parents' houses and start living on our own! We have to support ourselves, which means finding a job and planning a budget! And you thought your homework was tough?
All right...I am exaggerating the matter quite a bit but I can't say I'm lying because we have been asked to find ourselves a job and plan out a budget. Only it's just an example and we don't really have to get a job! The goal is to learn how to manage our finances well and while doing so increase our ability to learn and use skill on Microsoft Excel.
I've chosen to be a Web Designer and I will be paid $25/hour! It sure sounds like a lot but doing this project I realized that there are so many expenses we need to take care of! Nothing comes cheap, so I'm glad I'm preparing for the future! If we can learn how to handle money right now our futures are sure to turn out well!
All right...I am exaggerating the matter quite a bit but I can't say I'm lying because we have been asked to find ourselves a job and plan out a budget. Only it's just an example and we don't really have to get a job! The goal is to learn how to manage our finances well and while doing so increase our ability to learn and use skill on Microsoft Excel.
I've chosen to be a Web Designer and I will be paid $25/hour! It sure sounds like a lot but doing this project I realized that there are so many expenses we need to take care of! Nothing comes cheap, so I'm glad I'm preparing for the future! If we can learn how to handle money right now our futures are sure to turn out well!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Questions To Answers
So far in our lives we have always been looking for questions that we have been asked. But as we grow older it's been made clear that we're going to have to develop the ability to produce questions. Basically, we have to know what we're looking for before we can go out and search for it. It's as simple as deciding on a destination and then finding a way to get there. You need to know where you're going before you can get there. You need a direction!
We've been trying to apply this idea to our class assignment. It is our job to come up with a formula that will provide us with the answers we need to plan out our marks in our subjects for the whole year. We've come up with a goal and have recorded our first term marks using Microsoft Excel. The task was to come up with a formula that would calculate what marks we need in Term 2 and 3 to end up with our goal. All the calculations would be done for us as long as we could find a proper way to present our question Excel. This is where a formula would come in. Once we decided on a formula we just had to type it into our cells and all the answers would be displayed for us!
Well...figuring our goals out was easy enough but now we have to work on achieving them!
We've been trying to apply this idea to our class assignment. It is our job to come up with a formula that will provide us with the answers we need to plan out our marks in our subjects for the whole year. We've come up with a goal and have recorded our first term marks using Microsoft Excel. The task was to come up with a formula that would calculate what marks we need in Term 2 and 3 to end up with our goal. All the calculations would be done for us as long as we could find a proper way to present our question Excel. This is where a formula would come in. Once we decided on a formula we just had to type it into our cells and all the answers would be displayed for us!
Well...figuring our goals out was easy enough but now we have to work on achieving them!
Monday, January 08, 2007
Retreat To Academia
After a very relaxing Winter Break we're back to school and that means more work! We're going to be looking at Microsoft Excel over the next period of time. We'll be working on a spreadsheet that has to do with our marks in different classes and our averages (another depressing reminder of how we're being evaluated). Now I should really be getting to work if I want those marks to look good on the spreadsheet!
In other events...Happy New Year to everyone! I don't really have any resolutions this year, but I really enjoyed the vacation. Now it's time to return to working hard and doing our best!
In other events...Happy New Year to everyone! I don't really have any resolutions this year, but I really enjoyed the vacation. Now it's time to return to working hard and doing our best!
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