This was the first distance education course I’ve taken in years, but definitely not the first distance education course I’ve ever taken. I was home-schooled up until my junior year of high school. This was, however, a little different than college-level distance education since my mom was basically my teacher and handled all of the responsibilities of that, such as organizing classes and keeping touch with instructors. I also took a few distance education classes in my first few years of college, one being college level algebra which I had the hardest time with in a regular classroom environment. I flunked it twice, but when I took it through distance education I came out with a solid “B”. I attribute this to my years of being home schooled which made me accustomed to being dependant on myself more than an instructor. I had trouble adjusting when I eventually went to a public high school and also when I started college and the classes were much bigger. Even now, I have trouble sitting in a class for an hour and a half, which is one reason I decided to pursue my academic goals through distance education once again.
The one downfall of distance education that I have noticed is the lack of one-on-one or group learning time. Sure, when I have a question or comment I can email my instructor or a fellow student, but it’s a little different when I can walk down to my instructor’s office with the question rather than emailing and waiting days for a reply. If I am working on an assignment and encounter a hang-up, I have to put it on hold until I get a response. But this is one of the few disadvantages of distance education. Overall it is much more convenient for me and allows me to challenge myself in ways that wouldn’t be possible in a classroom environment.
CIOS 256 has been one of my favorite college classes thus far. It was informative and a great learning experience while also giving me freedom to be creative and discover how these programs can work for me. I am looking forward to taking more in-depth classes into Dreamweaver and Fireworks that will greatly benefit my career as an IT professional and web/graphic designer.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Come Cabo Quickly
I going to Cabo San Lucas for me and my fiance's honeymoon in 22 days! I'm really excited, about the wedding OF COURSE but also about getting away from this frigid state for a week or so. We've heard really good things about Cabo so I am definitely looking forward to it. Nothing sounds better to me now than sitting on the beach with the love of my life, drinking a margarita, soaking in the hot sun, and watching the tide roll in. It will be like paradise after the craziness of the past few months.
Here's a link to the resort we're staying at: http://www.pueblobonitosunsetbeach.com/.
I've been to Mexico before and it's great. Anyone that hasn't been there yet should definitely check it out.
Here's a link to the resort we're staying at: http://www.pueblobonitosunsetbeach.com/.
I've been to Mexico before and it's great. Anyone that hasn't been there yet should definitely check it out.
Exporting, Hotspots, & Slices
I just finished learning how to create hotspots and slices and how to export and optimize Fireworks’ graphics and web pages. This was by far the newest section of the course for me and the most time consuming, but I think I came out with a pretty good grasp on how to ready my Fireworks’ creations for posting on the web. I wouldn’t say that any part was either obvious or too difficult to understand.
I took my time going through the lessons and assignments and doubled over sections that didn’t make much sense at first. I like the fact that you can see right on the screen how the changes you make when optimizing affect the quality and size of an image. This helps a web developer visualize exactly what viewers will see when surfing to his/her website and how quickly their site will load.
It’s a good idea to consider people with lower speed internet connections when optimizing. You have to find a healthy balance between quality and performance. Overall, the last few lessons were very informative and interesting for me.
I took my time going through the lessons and assignments and doubled over sections that didn’t make much sense at first. I like the fact that you can see right on the screen how the changes you make when optimizing affect the quality and size of an image. This helps a web developer visualize exactly what viewers will see when surfing to his/her website and how quickly their site will load.
It’s a good idea to consider people with lower speed internet connections when optimizing. You have to find a healthy balance between quality and performance. Overall, the last few lessons were very informative and interesting for me.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Researching the Latest Technology
1) Here are three top of the line AMD processors:
AMD Athlon 64 X2- for IBM
AMD Athlon 64 FX-for IBM
Intel Core 2 Duo-for MAC
2) After searching the internet for the difference between SATA and SATA2, this is the most helpful answer I found:
"SATA and SATA2 are different only in speed and cache size. they are fully compatible.SATA runs at 150mb per second, But SATA2 runs at 3.0Gbits, which is 384mb per second. SATA2 drives usually have twice the cache, which is a small piece of onboard ram to deal with the lag between the drive and the cpu.The response time of an SATA2 drive is usually half of SATA."
3) The main intention of the lastes USB standard, WUSB, is to give you the ability to use all of the devices in your home office (such as printer, scanner, external hard drive, and digital camera ) without any wires. The concept is really rather exciting. This would greatly increase efficiency and clean up clutter.
Here are two links to WUSB products:
and
Looking for a PC support job
If the pictures of these websites don't show up well in the blog I've also included their web addresses in the answers below.
1) Here are the qualifications for each job:
High School Diploma required.-
IT industry recognized certification:
- A+, Net+, OR HIGHER (required).
- MCP or MCSE (preferred).
- Help Desk industry recognized certification e.g. HDI, STI, SSPA (preferred).
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and/or at least five (5) years of experience with computers and networking
A+, MCSA, and/or MCSE Certification
Strong skill and experience with:
Windows Server 2003
XP and SMS
Network Management tools
Experience working in a Microsoft products WAN environment with an Intermediate knowledge of Networking
A+, MCSA, and/or MCSE Certification
Strong skill and experience with:
Windows Server 2003
XP and SMS
Network Management tools
Experience working in a Microsoft products WAN environment with an Intermediate knowledge of Networking
A+ Certification required.
· Dell Certification (assistance will be provided to obtain certification).
· Strong knowledge of Microsoft XP.
· Knowledge of technical configuration of laptops, PC's, and peripherals.
· Strong follow through on paperwork and call reporting.
· 1-3 years related experience.
· Dell Certification (assistance will be provided to obtain certification).
· Strong knowledge of Microsoft XP.
· Knowledge of technical configuration of laptops, PC's, and peripherals.
· Strong follow through on paperwork and call reporting.
· 1-3 years related experience.
2) None of the salaries for these positions was listed.
3)
Job 1: MCP or MCSE (preferred).- Help Desk industry recognized certification e.g. HDI, STI, SSPA (preferred).
Job 2: MCSA, and/or MCSE Certification
Job 3: none
4) If I were actually looking for a PC support-related job I would apply for job #3 because it seems like more of an entry level position that has the least requirements. Coming right out of the degree program with no real job experience in this field would make this a good opportunity for me to gain some valuable experience.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Cleaning my system of malware
1) I ran my antivirus software, which is entitled AVG Antivirus. 169439 objects were scanned and no threats were found.
2) I ran my anti-spyware/adware program, which is AntiSpywareBot (www.antispywarebot.com). After scanning the hard drive, the program found 2,141 infected files. I’m a little leery to believe this though because I’m not sure how trustworthy this program is. I downloaded it off the Internet through a link in the course book, but I’ve never heard of it before.
2) I ran my anti-spyware/adware program, which is AntiSpywareBot (www.antispywarebot.com). After scanning the hard drive, the program found 2,141 infected files. I’m a little leery to believe this though because I’m not sure how trustworthy this program is. I downloaded it off the Internet through a link in the course book, but I’ve never heard of it before.
Image Maps & Slices
Here are some examples on the internet I found that use graphics for navigation:
www.nfl.com
http://www.radiokenai.net/ksrm/index.asp
www.nba.com
www.nfl.com
http://www.radiokenai.net/ksrm/index.asp
www.nba.com
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