The Wiki Way

"Wiki" was a word I'd never heard before this lesson. I'm sure I would have associated it with Wikipedia.com, or maybe only thoughts of Hawaiian beaches would have been induced, but the concept of it was completely foreign to me. I believe Wikipedia to be the only website featuring wiki software that I have encountered, but I'm sure I will be much more aware now that I have learned about it.

It appears to me to be a very useful concept, as I could identify plenty with the "Wikis in Plain English" video. In terms of planning events and organizing efforts it is much more efficient and organized than email or instant messaging. All the information needed is in one location rather than spread out over several, and the fact that this information can be edited by its users makes it even more of a convenience.

As of right now, I don't see any immediate need for me to use wikis. However, in the not to distant future I do foresee an instance where it would be handy. Several of my brothers and I are trying to plan a trip to Hawaii with some people next Spring, and doing thing the wiki way would be an excellent way of coordinating our plans concerning flights, hotels, etc..

Tiny Minds

www.tinyminds.com

-This is a current event humor blog that, as the title suggests, pokes fun at the stupidity of others.
-It has a right-sided slant, with just a hint of sarcasm.
-They were good at citing sources, when actual sources were used.
-This is definitley not comparable to a newspaper, but I thought it had sort of a "Daily Show" quality to it that could be appreciated.
-This blog was entertaining and surfaced a laugh or two out of me, but, as with anything like this, it can only be handled in small doses. However, a smalldose of humor can go a long way.

www.tinyminds.net/2009/02/06/cher-republican-rule-almost-%e2%80%98killed-me%e2%80%99/

Talking Points Memo

www.talkingpointsmemo.com

-The general subject of this blog is politics and current events. The name suggests that they try to find "things worth talking about".
-I couldn't detect a political slant to the blog, but the cover story speaks negatively about a Republican Senator. However, anyone would be disgusted by this man no matter what their political preference.
-It seems like the blog was fairly good about quoting their sources.
-This blog is definitely more commentary based than a newspaper. The facts are only given to benefit an opinion.
-This blog was fairly informative and interesting. While it contained a good amount of commentary, the editors did a good job of keeping up with current and news worthy events.

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/08/north-korean-leader-appears-frail-in-rare-public-appearance/
(linked to from this blog)

Daily KOS

www.dailykos.com
-The general subjet of this blog is politics.
-It has a left-sided slant of the politcal playing field. This is obvious with all the pro-Obama speech.
-They are good at citing sources.
-I found it to be compareable to a newspaper, but more slanted. However, there are many newspapers that are slanted in one way or the other, even if only subtly.
-The formality of the blog is good and is less commentary based than "Talking Points Memo", but it becomes a bit dry after a while.

www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/8/751312/-just-an-old-fashioned-George-Wallace-kind-of-summer

Feed Reading

I found the google feed reading feature to be really interesting and fun. The convenience of it I would say is it's biggest advantages. I know how big of a pain it can be to visit every site on your list to check for updates. This can take longer than desirable, especially when one has a busy schedule. Being able to access one convenient website for all the updates is a really inventive concept. Maybe ideas like this is why Google is prospering so well.

I've never used anything like it before, and it's probably something that I will continue to use since there are many websites that I check occasionally for updates. This will be especially good for me if I'm taking a quick break at work to surf the Internet. I can check for website updates in a manner of minutes rather than spending half the day slacking. :)

Blogging & Journalism

Blogging is no closer to being journalism than shooting a gun is to being in the military. Shooting a gun might make you a gun shooter, but it doesn't make you a marine. It's the same with blogging. Writing a blog might make you a writer, but it doesn't make you a journalist. First of all, let's look at the obvious. For the most part, journalists have to go to school to become journalists, while anyone with internet access and a keyboard can become a blogger. Journalists work under a system of accountability and standards; bloggers can say whatever they want and remain anonymous while doing so. Accountability is one of the main issues I take with this subject, because while a blogger can anonymously write a blog that is void of reputable facts and full of lies and twisted truth, a journalist who produces a published article in the same way would suffer much harder consequences, including losing their job.

In both of the situations given, I take the side of the journalist. A blogger should not receive the same protection as a journalist. For one, a blogger can be anybody. It doesn't matter if it's someone that has been writing for years or some ten year old with a new laptop; a blogger is a blogger. The law should not look at who the individual blogger is but at what a blog is. A journalist working for a reputable newspaper or magazine that has a reputation of delivering quality news, on the other hand, should be taken more seriously. As an example, Joe Smith who has been keeping his own blog at www.joesmithblogspot.com (not an actual site) for years, or a veteran reporter for the New York Times. Both have been writing for years. Both write well. But only one has the reputation and name of a major newspaper to back him.

Is this fair? Is it fair in the second example for the journalist to gain press credentials while the blogger doesn't? Absolutely. Imagine if you were a singer songwriter. You record your own music, make a few CD's, create a website, play some shows, and maybe even have a moderate fan base. Would it be fair if you were seeking a gig at a major venue but you were denied and instead of you they chose an artist that was signed to a major record label? This may not seem fair, but really it is. The other artist worked hard to gain the backing of a major music label and because of that is now reaping the benefits. Those in charge of the venue chose them not just because they knew them and their quality but because they knew the reputation of the record label. It's the same with this second example. Why would I, if I were a fashion designer, choose a blogger from SoCalGalsFashionTrends.com (again, not a real site) over a reporter from Vogue magazine to cover my fashion show? Furthermore, I believe it would be a literal slap in the face to hard working journalists who have been working hard for years to provide legitimate, factual news and stories to have their jobs threatened by people who sit at home in their pj’s writing for their own personal blogs.

A well known journalist from National Geographic could decide to quite his job and instead start his own blog on the Internet, but in doing so he should not expect to receive the same opportunities or respect as he did while working for the magazine. Because, in my opinion, it is not as much the writer as it is who the writer works for that determines credibility. However, in expressing this I am not trying to take away from the importance of free speech and free expression that blogging and the internet has provided. It IS amazing that anyone with a computer and a keyboard can have their writings view by potentially millions, but bloggers should not expect the same rights and privileges as journalists, because they are (though not less importantly) just bloggers.

Flickr & Diigo

Flickr and Diigo are very similar in that they both utilize social software to share information. Flickr gives you the opportunity to share pictures and Diigo allows you to share Internet bookmarks. I thought they both were really interesting and do serve a useful purpose other than personal enlightenment. Both would be useful for researching information. Say, for example, if you were interested in visiting Rome you could look for link to websites about Rome on Diigo or search for pictures of places to see on Flickr.

The only other sharing website I have used that is similar to these is PhotoBucket, but it does not have the search ability and user options that Flickr has. Unless they have changed since I last used them, they only offer the option of storing and posting your pictures for others to see. They don't the social networking aspect that Flickr has.

I'm not sure how much I will continue to use Flickr and Diigo. If I do use one, it would probably be Diigo because there are times when I am researching things online. Diigo would be a great resource for this.

Web 2.0

1) Before I started this class, I had no idea what Web 2.0 meant. For all I knew it could have been a new internet browser or antiviral program.

2) To someone who was just like me I would explain that Web 2.0 is what allows you to contribute content to any active website, such as Facebook or Wikipedia.

3) This blog is what I believe to be a user of Web 2.0. Other than that, I also use Facebook and have in the past used Google Adsense.

An Introduction

This used to be my least favorite part in grade school. On the first day of school all the teachers would go around the room and have everyone give a spoken introduction of themselves. The horror continued into college where I realized that it wasn't just high school teachers that liked to torture me, but college professors as well. But the fact that this is a written introduction rather than a spoken one where one could worry about their voice cracking or making some lame attempt at a joke that only ends in feeling stupid makes me cringe slightly less.

First of, as you can tell, I like to use sarcasm whenever necessary, and sometimes when unnecessary, but never when it is without purpose. I am taking this class as a requirement for my IT degree through UAF. Web and graphic design particularly interest me, although I am willing to learning the more technical side of IT as well to increase my marketability in the IT job market. I don't have any current work on the web, but once I finish my degree I would like to put together a portfolio for the viewing pleasure of potential employers.

I'm currently working as a parts advisor at the Chrysler dealership in Kenai. It has been an interesting ride since I started here, as anyone can imagine with the present condition of the automotive industry. We actually closed and reopened within a week back in January. Things are looking better for us now, even though Chrysler has closed over 800 dealerships across the US.

I've had a modest amount of experience with social software. Years ago I was talked into creating a myspace. It was fun and useful for keeping in contact with friends. I also used to record my own music so I used my myspace page to post my songs on the web. My profile has become stagnant as of late due to the lack of time to keep in touch with people via it, but my wife just opened up a facebook account for the both of us so maybe it'll be a little better if she's in charge of running it.

There's not much else to say expect that I'm looking forward to learning more in this class and in future classes that I will be taking.

Three Interesting Blogs

http://darfurdiaries.org/
This is a good blog that follows the human rights crisis in Darfur.

http://chocolateandzucchini.com/
A food blog that has some interesting and unique recipes from around the world. Not sure if I'd want to try some of these, even though I love trying new recipes.

http://awfulannouncing.blogspot.com/
Everyone who loves sports loves to hate the announcers. Some are good, other are annoying and distracting. This blog is funny and informative.

Microsoft Access Security

In the ever-changing world of computer software and programming, it is only inevitable that malware will also change. It would be convenient if malware never changed, never was updates, was always the same. This would make combating it not only easy but could be done with very little effort what-so-ever. But unfortunately the creators of malware are almost as smart as the creators of anti-malware, so it is an ever changing battle. The three types of malware discussed in the book are phishing, spam, and spyware. (In correction, only one of these is actually malWARE, but I use the term as a general description of any program, device, or scheme used in an attempt to uproot the integrity of a program's or person's security. Basically, scum is scum, no matter how you label it.)

Phishing is a sometimes elaborate scam to steal your identity through the creation of a mock website. For example, a familiar website is altered to look like that the victim is familiar with. The domain name is created using characters from a different language. These are called homographs and are usually sent to the receiver's personal email requesting personal information. Many fall for this because the homograph they are viewing looks identical to the real one. Spam is unsolicited email sent out in mass quantities. The sheer number of spammers out there is mind boggling. Imagine if you got a hundred telemarketing calls a day. Spyware is software that has purpose of collection personal information off of your computer. They piggyback on programs that sound legitimate and then hide in your system. Spyware is closely related to Adware, which upon being downloaded onto your computer it displays numerous pop-up ads and advertisements. This is much like inviting someone into your home that once inside turns out to be a traveling salesman.

Microsoft Office 07 has a feature called the Trust Center which helps to protect you from attached code attacks. The Trust Center checks add-ins for trusted publisher and code locations, and gives you the heads-up if something looks phishy (pun intended). It is always good to activate macro, ActiveX, add-n, and VBA code detection and notification when using Microsoft Office programs, especially when using them on a network. The Trust Center also helps to protect you against homographic attacks by detecting potentially phony domain names and addresses. Basically it's like having your own personal FBI agent inside your computer, but you still have to use wisdom and discretion. Never open emails or download programs that you are unsure about. The Trust Center can do its job well, but if you are consistently opening the door for malware to disrupt your systems integrity it is only inevitable that something phishy will slip through security.

My experience with these types of malware is limited, more of it being from an observational stand point rather than through actual mistakes. I did make the mistake once of cluttering my computer up with adware and spyware, but after cleaning up the mess with anti-malware programs I conceded to learn my lesson and have never had a problem with them again. I’ve seen phishing websites, and they do look very legitimate, but was never foolish enough to fall for them. And who hasn't had to deal with spam. It is the most ridiculous form of advertising known to man. I've taken marketing and sales classes in college and one of the most important things they teach you is that niche marketing has a much greater effect than mass marketing. If you're sending out your spam to 10,000+ email address, this is an example of what will happen: a) 20% of the email addresses will be invalid or inactive, b) 90% of what is left will be automatically sent to the recipient’s junk mail folder and deleted without viewing, c) 80% of what actually reaches an inbox will be deleted without being read, d) of what is even read-either out of curiosity or ignorance-80% will be deleted, e) of those who even look into what you are offering by visiting the link or whatever else you provide, 90% will decide that it is stupid or uninteresting because they aren't in the target niche to begin with. So when taking these percentages and using a hypothetical number of 10,000 email addresses, you would have 3-4 people actually interested (albeit naively) in what you are offering. This is a 0.035% success rate. Not exactly a profitable enterprise is you ask me.

Exporting & Importing with Access

I had fun experimenting with Importing and Exporting data with Access. I didn't have too difficult a time in doing so either, although when exporting data from Access to an html file some of the information did not show up. In this instance it was a graph that I was trying to export. Everything exported fine except for the actual graph, and I'm not exactly sure why.

I found all of these exporting and importing options to be really useful tools. Even though some of them I might never have a use for, it is good to know the usefulness of them and the versatility of the Access program. Attaching a database to an email message would be very useful, especially if you are emailing your boss or a potential client a sample database. You can use several of these tools together. You can import a chart created in Excel into a report on employee productivity created with Access and then export that report as an attachment in an email that you can send to your boss. Or you can import a list of employee contacts from your outlook email program and input them into a table in Access and then import the same Excel productivity chart into a report created with employee contact information. This final report that displays employee contact information along with a productivity chart can be exported into a Word file that can then be printed and handed out to the necessary parties. The possibilities with importing and exporting data are numerous. It is fun to be creative and come up with unique ways of using these tools.

Exporting to HTML files opens up a whole new world of possibilities that I would like to spend more time experimenting with and integrating into my own web development. Any of the above examples could be exported into HTML files that could be uploading via ftp to a web server. This would be useful, for example, if there was a company website that had a page for employee contacts. Through what I learned this week, I could integrate a database on employee information into this website, and then any changes I need to make to this website I could do in the database, rather than having to update the HTML.

Database Integration

Microsoft Access 2007 is a very extensive and versatile program; one of its most useful features being its ability to integrate with the Internet. In this blog I will talk about a few important uses of Access integration, and also a few warnings.

From my research, I found the best use of Access on the Web is for sites that contain data which changes often. The most formidable that comes to mind is an online store with an ever changing product catalog, such as Amazon.com. The inventory on such a site is constantly changing, constantly being added to, subtracted from, or modified. Imagine the tedious work that would be involved in editing such a site through basic HTML (or XHTML). It would be ridiculous. If such a site is driven by a database, making these edits would be much simpler. This integration is made possible through a data access page, which is a webpage that is connected directly to the data in your database. Any changes made in that database will be integrated into your online store via this data access page.

Another big part of online stores, besides the online inventory, is the shopping cart. Access comes in handy when you need to perform calculations or apply some sort of algorithm to the data that affects the way it is presented on your site, which a shopping cart is a prime example of. A database is very useful for the ever-changing environment that an online store calls for. It is easy to see why such sites as Amazon.com or Ebay.com would be reliant on database/Internet integration.

During my research, I also found several warnings concerning the use of database driven websites. While this method is excellent for online inventory and sales, it should not be used for the entire format of your site. Formatting and styling of page layouts is much more difficult on text elements derived from a database. Also, articles should not be stored in a database because all of the formatting necessary for such file types is much more difficult through a database. Large Access databases consume much more server resources than most other file formats. Database connections are also more expensive in terms of time and processing power, and many search engines may not be able to "see" your pages if they are completely database driven.

In conclusion, Access integration with the Internet can be very useful and profitable, but must be used wisely. Use it for what is necessary to ensure the quality of design that you require, but use standard web design for everything else. This will help your website to continue to run proficiently, even if it contains large database files.

Thinking About Queries

Chapter Six outlines several different types of queries and how to use them. Here is a listing of the queries I learned about and an example of how each can be used.

Parameter Query: This query prompts the user for the value of a particular field. An example would be if I had a table listing restaurants in four different cities I could use this query to list only the restaurants in one of the cities, and each time I opened the query I would be prompted for which city I want to display information on.

Find Duplicate Query: This query is used for finding duplicate values in particular fields. When creating a find duplicate query you can specify which field you want to find duplicate entries in, such as a last name field where some of the last names are listed more than once.

Find Unmatched Records Query: This query is the opposite of the previous one, only displaying entries in a chosen field that are not repeated.

New Table Query: Queries are not tables, although Access allows you to work with the data in queries as if they were tables. This query saves the result of your query as a table. This would be great if you wanted to create a similar table to one that already exists but don’t want to retype all of the values in.

Add Records Query: This is also known as an append query. It can be used to add records to a table when the query you are using shares a common name with the table you want to add to.

Delete Query: This query is used to remove records from a table based on your chosen criteria. For example, if you want to delete all records in an employee table that contains an employees name, this would be the query to use.

Update Query: Let’s say for example that you have a huge orders list table and you need to increase the unit price of one of the products. Rather than scanning the entire table to add a dollar amount to every entry, you can let this query do the work for you

Crosstab Query: This query allows you to summarize the contents of fields that contain numeric values, such as date or numbers fields. You can choose between average, sum, maximum, minimum, and count.

Information on SQL

Based on my research on the subject of SQL, here is the information of I have come up with to describe it. As an analogy, SQL is to databases what HTML, or XHTML, is to web design programs. It is the programming language behind the graphical interface that makes up a software program. Although it is not necessary to know
SQL in order to create a decent database, much the same as a knowledge of XHTML is not necessary to create a webpage, it is helpful to known at least a little bit about it in case you need to ever manually edit a project. However, to average user would probably have no need for it.

Here are the basic commands in SQL:

-The SELECT operation is the most common operation in SQL language. It is used to retrieve data from a specific table, or multiple related tables, in a database. An asterisk symbol can be used to indicate that all available columns of a table are to be retrieved.

-The FROM clause. This indicates the source table or tables from which the date for your query is to be retrieved from.

-The WHERE clause. This is used to restrict the number of rows used by a query.

-The GROUP BY clause. This is used to group together rows with related values.

-The HAVING clause. This is used to elmininate rows after the GROUP BY clause has been implemented.

-The ORDER BY. This is used to identify which columns are used to sort the resulting data and in which order they should be sorted.

Here is a simple example of an SQL query that I found on Expedia.com:

SELECT *
FROM Book
WHERE price > 100.00
ORDER BY title;


I don't really see the need for using SQL when such a user-friendly interface is available. But like I said, it is good to know at least a little bit about it in the case that manual editing of queries is necessary.

Reflection on Fields

This week helped open up my eyes to the extensive possibilities available with the Access software. I didn't find any field type to be difficult to create or even understand. Several might have had me blinking at the screen for a few minutes until their purpose clicked in my brain, but this momentary confusion lasted mere milliseconds. The book is very straight forward and explains things really well. Also, the pictures in it really help to help me make sure I'm on the right track because they correspond with the steps listed. It's actually the most easily understood text book I've ever used. Gone are the days of "boring", 2D spreadsheets. Access offers a multidimensional way to for the user to record information.

More on my Final Project Idea

I have decided to make the purpose of my final project to organize my bills and hash out a budget. The two tables I created for this week's assignment (bills and due dates & amounts) I'm going to use for the project, but I'm also going to create several others. I want a tables for total debt amounts, which will have some bills that are not on the previous two tables since these two are only for bills I am paying at the moment and not ones that are in deferment, such as student loans.

I want this table to show the total amounts due on debts and the companies I owe. The first two tables I created a one-to-one relationship for with the "company name" being the relating field. I'd also relate the third table to these two with the company names that they share. I haven't decided yet what I could use a fourth table for, but I would like it to relate somehow to the debts table. Maybe a table that shows how long it would take to pay off each debt.

My Initial Database Concept

My initial instinct is to create a database with a professional goal in mind. I work in the parts department of a car dealership in town and I'm seeing how Access would be very beneficial towards my job. It would be useful for storing inventory, tracking sales, storing shipping and receiving information. So I might integrate this into my final project as it would benefit not only my class experience but also my work (and might impress my bosses too). While creating a database on my CD/DVD collection or address book would be fun, I don't believe it would really help me realize the real potential that Access has in my professional life.

I could also create a database based on me and my wife's finances. I could document our income every month with everything we have going out in bills, expenses, and savings and create a budget. That's another idea that would be highly beneficial. I could set up a table for income, one for bills, one for savings, one for food, one for gasoline...there are many possibilities. Then I could create reports based on this information to compare our money in with our money out. I could also create a report that shows how much we save each month, and in what avenues we save in, and project what our savings could be like in years to come. Ultimately, my goal with the final project would be to create a database that connects Access to either my professional life or my personal finances. Either way, it will prove to be really helpful.

Why Use a Database

The key difference between Access and Excel is that Excel is used for a single table or a single data entry list. Where Access becomes useful is when you need more than one list or more than one table. Excel information is flat or nonrelational. Think of Excel as being a flat 2-d cartoon while Access being a 3D animation.

Access is also more useful with larger amounts of data and categories, and data that is relational. Access is designed to handle much more complex information than Excel.