CH. 6 Discussion

From urban legends to phony e-mail, the Internet brings users into contact with unreliable information on a regular basis. Share an example of times when you have encountered “Internet myths.” How can you verify the accuracy of data on the Internet, and Internet Myths in particular?

Until I started using Mozilla Firefox, I was recieving tons of pop-ups telling me that if I “click here,” I will recieve a free X-Box, Ipod,… which is very annoying. The only way to get these items for “free” is to click on the add and go through a process of signing up and paying for magizene subscriptions, credit reports, car loan consultations, and a whole bunch of stuff I am not interested in. Overall, those are very weak in my oppinion.

Spend some time surfing the Web looking for sites that you consider well-designed and those you consider poorly designed. What characteristics do well-designed Web sites share? What common mistakes do poorly designed sites make? Provide us a URL of a well-designed site and one from a poorly designed site.

Personally I think that musician’s friend is a very well designed web site with good search results and good security while paying. (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/) On the other hand, insturmentpro, is poorly put together with horrible support and shaky security measures.  (http://www.instrumentpro.com/)

Most well developed websites do not feature unwanted pop-ups and advertising on the sides. Most poor websites will accept money from advertisers to have them allow there pop-ups and annoying advertising.

CH 5 Lab

Create your own Network.

In real life, I have Satellite internet which is kind of lame on a network so I am going to use DSL as my internet type. Iam am going to set up my network to supply internet access to two computers and one XBOX 360. One computer and the XBOX are in one room and the other computer is in another room 20ft away. I am going to purchase the fallowing network items,…

-1 Belkin wireless router ($30)

-1 5 foot ethernet cable ($3)

-1 30 foot ethernet cable ($12)

-1 LINKSYS USB wireless network adapter ($20)

The internet modem and router are located in the room with the Xbox 360 and computer. I will connect the wireless router directly to the modem. From the modem, I will connect the computer and the Xbox 360 via ethernet cable and the other computer via wireless. I will protect it with a WEP key. Each computer has its own printer soI do not need to share a printer over the network. That is pretty much it.

chapter 5 discussion

1. Network technology is changing rapidly. What problems do networks still need to solve? Do you think networks themselves will be eclipsed by some other type of technology? If so, what characteristics would it have?

People seem to hack into networks fairly easily. Maybe they should try to develop software they is updated more often to block any sort of hacking. No, no matter what technology is used, i still think it will be classified as a network. If it is majorly updated, lag and slow speed will be unheard of.

2. The Internet has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years and is now part of global life. As the “network of networks,” what special technological and ethical problems do Internet users need to solve? Are the technological and ethical problems any different for those who create technology for the Internet? Do you think the growth of the Internet should be limited?

I think they need to solve the question of what are they going to use the internet for overall. Yes, the creators have to develop the products to meet the needs of the users, not just think them up. No, the internet, one day, in my opinion, should be an endless horizon of knowledge and tools to aid everyone.

3. What is peer to peer (P2P)? You might have to search on the Internet to find out about this? What do you need to use P2P. Can you use P2P within a home with other users in a home such as enabling file and printer sharing? Or is P2P something that you do with others outside a small home network.

P2P is data transfer over a network from one computer to another. You need a product such a Limewire that connects you to other peers to send and receive data. It is something I do with others outside of my small home network.

4. Home networks are becoming increasingly popular. Why would anyone want a home network? What advantages do they offer to home users? What are the drawbacks? Have you set up a home network before, even something as simple as a router for wireless laptops and printers. If so, share your experience.

Home networks make it easier to send and recieve file and to share printers without spending money on separate units. The cost is one setback, you have to buy the equipment and set it up or in some cases, have a technition set it up for you. Yes, I have set up a simple network and I always have trouble with IP and DNS adresses not bridging properly. I have also set up a few that were virtually flawless.

CH 4 Discussion

The Issue section discusses hacking. How are hackers viewed by the public and portrayed by the media? Are you in favor of serious legal penalties against hackers? Why or why not? All types of hacking? Explain your stance.

To the public, hackers are seen as thieves, pests, and vandals. They steal personal information, develop system crashing viruses, and give the internet users something to fear. The media shows them as some low life scruffy person when any given person could be a hacker, not just people who could appear to be a one. Yes a hacking is very serious and deserves full punishment. They are the source of a networking pandemic that must be contained. With that said, there are less serious activities that are still considered as hacking that deserve punishment on a smaller scale, just to insure that it doesn’t get any more serious.
Why should you follow standard file-naming conventions when you create and save files? What other guidelines can you think of that you’d like other computer users to follow when naming files?

When I save my files, they all are saved to my personal folder named MARCUS. It is on my C drive. Within that file, there are folders name music, video, documents,… where files are broken down into. I would recommend always naming files names that you will remember and save them in easily found folders.

Asgn. 2

Before I start, may I say that I really had a great time “building” my own computer. It was fun and I learned a lot of things about parts and pricing on these parts.

First of all, I will start with the basics, the case, the screen, the power supply, the mouse and keyboard, and the fan.

This is the Silver XION Onyx ATX Mid Tower Computer Case. (XON-302) $47.99

I chose this simply because of its looks and price.

This is the 22 inch LCD Monitor made by Acer.  (P221WD) $169.99

This screen is perfect for me because it is large enough for movies and gaming.

This is the Logisys 480W Dual Fan Computer Power Supply. (PS480D2) $13.99

This power supply should be plenty to run my machine.

This is the Microsoft optical mouse. (N71) $15.50

I picked this mouse because it is optical and because it is backed by the trusted Microsoft name.

This is the AGI USB+PS/2 Keyboard. (402BK) $11.50

This keyboard was picked because of its sweet style and price.

This is the Masscool 90mm Case Fan. (FD09025S1M34) $3.99

I picked a larger sized fan to prevent overheating.

Next I am going to list the inner parts that are going to run the computer including the hard-drive, the processor, the Ram, the graphics card, and the sound card.

This is the 1TB Samsung Spinpoint P. (SAMHD103UIY) $127.99

This will definitely provide plenty of memory for my computer.

This is the AMD Athlon 64 X2. (6000) $92.99

This is a decent dual-core processor and should be fast enough for my usage.

This is a 256MB 800MHZ NON-ECC 184PIN RAMBUS KIT. (40NS) $59.00

It includes two 128MB Ram cards.

This is the ATI RADEON 7500 Graphics Card. (ATIRAD750064ALP) $32.00

This is a great video card because it offers, 3D, TV. and video all in one package. It also allows dual screen.

This is the PCI 5.1 SOUND CARD. (PCISOUND5CH) $14.84

I love music and this card will be perfect for it because it offers 5.1 surround sound at a great price.

For the operating system I have chosen Windows Vista Ultimate Edition. (66R-01331) $148.89

I love Windows Vista. It is so simple to use. I only personally own the basic edition so I decided to step-it-up on my computer.

Now I am going to list the rest of the components including the speakers, the DVD drive, the USB ports, and the network port.

This is the Altec Lansing speaker system. (BXR1121) $24.95

I already own this system and am pleased with its performance.

This is the Samsung DVDRW drive. (SH-S202J) $22.20

It is ideal for all of my CD and DVD needs.

This is the Bytecc 5.25in 42-IN-1 Memory Card Reader with USB, 1394, e-SATA Multi-Ports, and interchangeable Black Panel. (CR-BT-818) $19.99

This is just a fun part for me to add to my machine because it has all of the inputs conveniently on the front panel.

This is the CABLES TO GO 4PT USB 2.0 HUB CARD. (29549) $18.99

Four rear ports is plenty for me.

This is the Intel Pro Desktop 10/100/1000 Gigabit PCI Network Adapter. (I69-6010) $29.99

This was basically chosen because of its price.

That is all of the part I will need to build my dream machine. The final cost comes out to $854.79. Wow, that really isn’t that expensive for a custom built computer.

Ch. 3 Discussion

1. Microsoft dominates the operating system market for microcomputers with its Windows operating system. Discuss the pros and cons this creates for computer users. Does the dominance of Windows make it easier or harder for you to use computers?

As far as I have seen, most of the computers used by buisnesses, schools, libraries, and households are built off of Windows. I know that Apple computers are becoming very popular in homes and buisnesses especially for musical and media purposes because they feature very user friendly media programs. Nowadays, most computer software is compatible for use on both Windows and Apple computers. Taking files on a flash drive from a Windows computer to an Apple computer might have problems and vise versa. I personally have a computer running Windows Vista and I really like it. It is very convienient to have Windows at home so I can take my files to school and count on them being compatible nomatter what. Vista is built very user friendly and I find it easier than ever to run a computer. 

2. Do you think software licenses are fair? If you developed an application that proved popular with your friends, how would you distribute it to others?

I think software licenses are not only fair but nessesary. They make it so a person can’t just legally distribute his/her software to everyone and their brother for free. The software companies would make very little money if people could do that. The trail version software is an effective way to get people to buy software. They get free software, with limitations. They get hooked and want the full program so they buy it. Easy as that. If I had some sweet software I had developed, I would buy and copy it to CD’s and sell it.

3. What are your thoughts on software piracy? What is the impact short-term and long? What is your solution to the problem? How do you feel about these different circumstances of piracy: a student copying a friend’s game, a company in a poor country pirating word-processing software, a business woman using copies of her office software on her home computer.

Personally, I think piracy is very wrong. It gives everyone good software in short-term but can either shatter a software company or raise software prices indefinately. The trail version software is an effective way to get people to buy software. They get free software, with limitations. They get hooked and want the full program so they buy it. Easy as that. Each of them is illegal and wrong, regaurdless of financial status. Being poor doesn’t justify stealing.

Ch. 2 Lab

Storage devices dont really offer any modding options, that I could find anyway. You can, if you want, add newer, higher capacity hard-drives to your PC. If you want to keep your old PC settings and memory, you will need to either have a technition transferr the files to the new drive from your old drive, or buy a USB driven hard-disk reader and transferr them yourself. That is about as far as it goes.