tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-67804734764700388872024-02-08T06:46:42.131-08:00krainalusterdssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-49368930704228677732014-02-15T04:36:00.002-08:002014-02-15T04:36:24.659-08:00Get Off the Computer and Get Some Fresh Air - The Link Between Technology and Social Skills in Teens<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Someone once said, "Too much of anything is not good." Thus,
everything should be done in moderation. With the advances in
technology, however, particularly social networking, teens seem to have
dived into deep waters and forgotten to come up for fresh air. This
article takes a close look at the link between technology and social
skills in teens focusing on both the advantages and disadvantages.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Advantages</strong></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>
<strong>Technology helps teens connect.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Youth struggle to discover who they are. An identity
crisis causes teens to feel awkward and out of place; communicating with
others becomes a real challenge for those who are shy or introverted.
Nonetheless, technology creates an environment to help youth be
themselves. In fact, teens connect faster and with more people online
without worrying about how they look or come across.</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>
<strong>Technology gets teens talking about current issues.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Twitter and Face Book, for example, have unique formats
for social networking. They allow teens to voice their opinions about
various topics. Youth can jump right into conversations, and their
voices are heard by people around the world. It's like being a part of
history instead of reading about it.</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>
<strong>Technology increases written communication.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Technology has taken written communication to another
level. Youth use their cell phones to text nonstop. They probably send
more texts and emails than they write in an entire school year. Teens
also camp out on Face Book.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Disadvantages</strong></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>
<strong>Technology encourages misuse of the English language.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As a result of technology, another language appears to
have been created. Words are shortened, misspelled, and letters are no
longer capitalized, especially when writing emails or sending text
messages. At the same time, technology increases the use of slang.
Some teens believe that improper use of the English language is
acceptable at all times. Because they misuse the language so often,
they don't know how to adapt to different social situations.</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>
<strong>Technology takes away from recreation.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In short, people in the United States are overweight.
Instead of getting some form of recreation, teens remain parked in front
of a computer. Technology is no substitute for taking a walk, riding a
bike, or sitting in the park.</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>
<strong>Technology reduces quality face to face time. </strong></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Why go visit a family member when you can send an email
or a text? What happened to reaching out and touching the other person?
Being in the presence of another strengthens social skills. Teens
learn non verbal cues, teens learn active listening, and teens practice
making eye contact.</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>
<strong>Technology opens the door to shady characters.</strong></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As you know, technology brings out the good and the bad.
Youth can be reaching out to questionable people without knowing it.
Shady characters use the Internet to prey on teens.</div>
</div>
dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-7466919585189549662014-02-10T04:36:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:36:54.686-08:00The Legal System and Technology in the 21st Century<div style="text-align: justify;">
Technology has linked its way into just about every facet of human
lifestyles. For your edification, this continuing discussion, as well as
an addition to previous study formats. In offering this informational
passage, the legal system is just one more profession that has been
conquered by technology.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We are aware of the court stenographers
and PC's that record and track our legal system, but what about the
C.G.A. System? The Computer Generated Animation Presentation can be
admitted into our American Court System. Admissible Evidence in criminal
trial(s) has been recorded as a precedent case ruled on by the Supreme
Court. As reported by Asher Hawkins, of the Legal Intelligencer,
differing arguments by six Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices concluded
that a Lackawana Common Pleas Judge properly admitted the use of CGA
during a first-degree murder case in 2002. CGA has been portrayed on
various television shows such as CSI Investigation(s) and Crime 360.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Justice
Sandra Schultz Newman wrote, "Society has become increasingly dependent
upon computers in business and our personal lives..." She went on the
say, "With each technological advancement, the practice of law becomes
more sophisticated and commensurate with the need to shed any techno
phobia and become more willing to embrace the advances that have the
ability to enhance the efficiency of the legal system."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Prosecutorial
teams, including Forensic Pathologists and Crime Scene
Reconstructionists presented a murder case to the jury; the prosecutor's
version...the defendant did not possess and/or have access to this
tool. One argument against this procedure in court is of a defendant, a
poor person, is able to commission an equivalent production. In other
words, would the defense be able to match the expenses associated with
the prosecutions presentation to the court? Another justice suggested it
would be wiser to exclude CGA evidence if an indigent or poor defendant
could not afford the costs of "equivalent production." The basic cost
could be upwards of $20,000.00. Another legal professional commented on
whether the cost(s) of CGA was worth the expenditure. The justices also
took note on the fact that CGA's are becoming increasingly less
expensive to produce and could be a vital tool in the rapid expedition
of court cases. In any case, pre-trial motions that include CGA evidence
should be treated with respect. Jury instructions and indigent (lacking
food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty;
needy; poor; impoverished, destitute) defendants are needed with the
court's permission for the presenting of such evidence.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The judges
position was to make certain that Computer Generated Animation was fair
and accurate while permitting defendants an opportunity to challenge
its foundation. It has also been noted by the justices, to make clear to
the jury that it was not meant as a re-enactment or simulation, but
merely an expression of opinions formulated by expert witnesses. Another
justice stated his position..."I think it's a valuable tool, but a tool
that needs to be used sparingly. I don't think it's necessary in every
case." Newman also wrote, "The difference is one of mode, the law does
not, and should not; prohibit proficient professional employment of new
technology in the court-room. This is, after all, the 21st century."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Each
state has its own court system. There's also a system of federal
courts. Decisions made during adjudication by federal administration
agencies may be appealed to a federal court. Similarly, decisions made
by state administrative agencies may be appealed to a state court. The
definition for adjudication (adjudicate) is to render a judicial
decision. In the administrative process, the proceeding in which and
administrative law judge hears and decides on issues that arise when an
administrative agency charges a person or a firm with violating the law
or regulations enforced by the agency. An administrative agency is a
state or federal government agency established to perform a specific
function. Administrative agencies are authorized by legislative acts to
make and enforce rules to administer and enforce the acts.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Typically,
a state court system will include several levels, or tiers, of courts -
(a) trial courts of limited jurisdiction, (b) trail courts of general
jurisdiction, (c) appellate courts, and (d) the states highest court
(often referred to as the State Supreme Court). Anyone who is party to a
lawsuit has the opportunity, and/or right, to plead his/her case before
a trial court and then if he/she loses, before at least one level of
appellate court. Furthermore, if a federal statute of federal
constitutional issue is involved in the decision of the State Supreme
Court, that decision may be further appealed to the United States
Supreme Court.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Have you ever wondered, with all the juris prudence
(the science or philosophy of law, a body or system of laws, a
department of law, Civil Law. decisions of courts, esp. of reviewing
tribunals) activities flooding the land, how could the legal system
function without technology?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Monica Bay, of Law Technology News,
reported of lawyers at small firms, especially solo practitioners, have
resisted adopting practice/case management (CMS) software - even though
there's no doubt that it can help firms deliver faster, better, and
cheaper services to their clients. Several observers suggest that the
initial threshold of setting up a management system intimidates firms. A
software consultant, Tom O'Connor said, "Everybody loves technology but
hates installing it."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Project Management has not been a topic
stressed in many schools, according to an independent IT consultant from
Minneapolis. A successful project management is dependent upon a large
network of personnel. An effective Electronic Data Discovery (EDD)
Project Network includes: clients, partners, legal IT staff, associates,
paralegals, inside counsel, service providers, and technical experts.
Without a doubt, the use of (PM) Project Management to mitigate risk
while delivering consistent, quality results that represents significant
benchmark(s) in the maturing process of the EDD environment.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Used
in many corporations to increase productivity, quality control programs
such as Sigma Six, have been generating interest. Understanding why and
where problems occur has a great impact on the decrease in mistakes.
The application of these principles and practices on Electronic Data
Discovery processes improve a lawyer(s) result(s) with increased quality
and decreased costs. Reasons for rising interest in Project Management
are recognition in the success depends on effective management.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Mitigating
risk and lowering cost by applying "Electronic Discovery Techniques"
offered a myriad of considerations, for example, matching time tables,
securing outside IT experts, propose and follow "E-Discovery" protocol,
engagement of a special master to monitor compliance and resolvement of
disputes, use of checklist(s) containing critical steps and reminders
for every step in and of a project, working service providers, working
with attorneys to find answers to the right questions, as managing
vendors require special attention to service level agreements (SLA'a).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Meanwhile,
discover these definitions/terms of legal jargon that may help you in
your administration, business, everyday life, and tech studies:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Subrogation</strong>
- any right a creditor has against a debtor now becomes the right of
surety. Inclusive are creditor rights in bankruptcy, rights to
collateral possession by the creditor, and rights to judgments secured
by the creditor - the surety now stands in the shoes of the creditor
against the debtor.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Indemnification</strong> - The right
to pursue guaranteed reimbursement/payment to a director for legal
costs, fees, and/or judgments involved in defending corporations -
(clients) related law suits. Simply put the right to compensation for
services as directors (representatives/attorneys).</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Habeas Corpus</strong>
- held against your will - against your constitutional right(s), a writ
requiring a person to be brought before a judge or court, esp. for
investigation of a restraint of the person's liberty, used as a
protection against illegal imprisonment, one of a variety of writs that
may be issued to bring a party before a court or judge, having as its
function the release of the party from unlawful restraint.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Writ</strong> - a legal order, a document of the court.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Tort</strong>
- personal injury, a civil wrong not arising from a breach of
contract...a breach of a legal duty that proximately causes harm or
injury to another.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Posterity</strong> - the offspring of
one progenitor to the furthest generation; descendants; all future
generations; succeeding or future generations collectively; Judgment of
this age must be left to posterity; all descendants of one person.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>HIPPA</strong>
- The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
(HIPAA) was enacted to ensure that personal information stored, accessed
or processed adheres to a set of guidelines or "security rules." These
rules outline security measures that should be implemented to adequately
secure all electronic protected health information (EPHI). LogRhythm
directly meets some HIPAA requirements, reduces the cost of complying
with others, and it features out-of-the box HIPAA reporting packages.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>SOX </strong>-
require public companies to create, monitor, and manage controls over
many aspects of their financial reporting. Some companies have found
that such transparency doesn't come easily. The rules require not only
new processes, but also fresh tools that can determine whether systems
and reporting standards are up to snuff. In general, SOX applications
can be classified into three main market segments, according to
Forrester Research. Those in the enterprise-application space include
Oracle and SAP; IBM and Stellent fall under the enterprise-content
management (ECM) heading; and OpenPages and Paisley Consulting are
considered specialists, competing with Certus, HandySoft, and other
pure-play vendors.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Where is it that technology hasn't reached? Are
the courtrooms truly behind in technology? Are they out of the loop as
are many "non-techie" or poor people are? The "Great Technical
Divide"...go figure!</div>
dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-9810326781157546272014-01-24T04:35:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:36:01.251-08:00Cloud Computing and What It Means to Businesses<div style="text-align: justify;">
I was recently asked<em> "what is cloud technology. Isn't that like Google Docs?"</em>
and the simple answer is yes. Although we're seeing new cloud computing
initiatives and offering appearing everyday (such as Google Docs,
iCloud, Azure, and Office 365), cloud computing is nothing new.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>So why now you may ask?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Cloud
computing has been around for quite some time, and has been a long time
in the making. There have been a variety of catalysts over the past few
years which have encouraged the momentum of cloud computing.
</div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>The first and most prevalent one is Internet Access. Access to the
web is ubiquitous and high speed Internet access is becoming more and
more accessible as time progresses.</li>
<li>As Moore's law predicted, processing speed has continued to double
every 18 months which has resulted in higher density storage and process
speeds continue to increase.</li>
<li>The cost of bandwidth is continuing to decrease. As the cost of
Internet access and utilisation continue to decrease the Total Cost of
Ownership (TCO) of cloud services decreases.</li>
<li>As IT technologies mature, service reliability continues to
increase; meaning that large IT systems now have various levels of
redundancy built-in which reduces or eliminates services outages in the
event of a failure.</li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>So what's the big deal?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Cloud
computing introduces a significant paradigm shift in the way IT
solutions are designed. IT solutions which live in the cloud no longer
rely heavily on infrastructure back in your server room. This
infrastructure is now offloaded to the service provider. You will now
have the ability to roll out and modify applications faster, at a lower
cost, with less training, and less effort is required to support these
applications than traditional in-house / on-premises applications.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
My
blog is currently focusing on one such on-premises system, Exchange.
For many years my role was as a systems administrator, looking after the
IT Infrastructure for a variety of organisations, ranging from small
businesses and educational institutes, to remote mining operations and
off-shore oil and gas providers. And during that time I always looked at
the Exchange box as a ticking time bomb. Every time something went
wrong, it cost thousands and everybody yelled!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Exchange typically
requires a high-end server that consumed a lot of resources,
electricity, licensing costs. Not to mention antivirus and spam filter
maintenance, complicated backup and recovery operations, monitoring
staff mailbox utilisation, plus all the security headaches. It cost
thousands per year in cash to keep the system working well, and a
portion of my time every week monitoring and tweaking to keep things
healthy.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This makes Exchange an excellent candidate for
organisations to "hand-ball" off to someone else to look after -
"hand-ball" it out into the cloud. With cloud services, organisations
only need to pay for what they use, and in the case of Exchange costs
are typically based on a per user per month basis.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Is it worth it?</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
One
way of thinking about cloud computing is to consider it as the Walmart
of IT service delivery. In the same way as bulk purchasing and large
logistical operations drive down per-item costs, by purchasing huge
amount of IT infrastructure and providing services to large numbers of
users / companies, the per user / per service cost of these solutions
are also driven down. For IT Managers and CIO's the benefits are three
fold:
</div>
<ol style="text-align: justify;">
<li>Lower capital expenditure due to less need to invest in high-end server hardware.</li>
<li>Decreased risk because someone else is looking after their IT services.</li>
<li>Lower day-to-day operating costs as typically a lower IT department head count is required.</li>
</ol>
dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-7433813590120404792014-01-12T10:08:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.203-08:00Avoid These 12 Costly Mistakes When Building Your Web Site!<p style="text-align: justify">It is my sincere belief that anything you pay for should be getting business back to you. If you're paying for marketing and you're not getting leads off of it is a waste of money!</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Your website and online presence is no different. It must be paying you for the effort and money you have put into it.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">I trust you will find the following information insightful and useful. Be sure to contact me with any more questions.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>1. Not having your website on a SEO friendly platform!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">We hear so much about SEO, and most people don't even know what it is. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Simply put, when someone searches for your company or what you offer they can find it. When this happens your site is optimized.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">You do not need to pay for "SEO services". Real SEO is simple and you can handle it. However having said that your website must be agreeable to what the search engines are looking for. So what is a SEO friendly platform?</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Let's say you are getting burgers at a restaurant but instead of pictures of the different burgers, they only have boxes. You know there's a hamburger inside but you really don't know what it looks like. This would be a site with bad SEO.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">You want a website where the boxes are wide open so you can see the thick, juicy burger inside. This is where a SEO friendly platform comes in. You may have awesome content but if it's an "unfriendly" platform the search engines will never see it.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Things to keep in mind:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>You don't need to pay for SEO, you can do it yourself</li><br/> <li>When it comes to web sites, don't reinvent the wheel, use what works!</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>2. Your website not being a direct response tool!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">One time I was given a pitch about a $1000 per page magazine ad. I was told not to expect any calls from this ad because it was top of mind advertising. Do you know what this means to me? Well, in nice clean terms, it's a waste of money!!!</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">So when it comes to your website, is it ready to get you a direct response?</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">The way to this is have a call to action on the first page, above the fold. This is simply a way for someone to take further action with a compelling offer. This offer could be a coupon, texting offer, or downloading a special report just like this one.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Things to ask yourself:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>When they want to reach me is my phone number easy to find? -This includes getting your phone number into the other parts of your website than the blog posts.</li><br/> <li>If they want more information, can they get it without contacting me? Is it automated?</li><br/> <li>If I stumbled upon my own site, would I enjoy the information I found there? Or would I just move on?</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>3. Not having a blog. It only means 7x more traffic to your site!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">We hear about blogs all the time these days. You might be asking why would I want a blog on my business website? This is somewhat covered in the above two points.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">When people are looking for your product or service, they are searching with words. A search engine matches those words with the words in your website. These are keywords.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">When your site is loaded with good keywords in a blog then the search engines will find you much more often. Along with keyword rich articles you can link to your other profiles online in your blog.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Things to keep in mind:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Can I maintain a blog? There are two sides to this coin. I feel every site should have a blog with at least 6 to 10 posts. To really crank up the SEO you would want to post more often like once a week or even once a month.</li><br/> <li>Having a blog that's not updated is better than no blog all.</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>4. Having a flashy compass instead of a roadmap! It's shiny, but it only points north!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Have you ever had someone give you directions and they tell you to turn left by the big tree, then right by that rock on the corner?</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This is what it means to have a complicated website with no clear direction. It might blink, it might be shiny, but if it doesn't deliver the information quickly, your visitors will just move on.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Not to mention that heavy detailed websites are slow loading, especially on mobile phones. Again this means that your visitors will move on quickly.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">You must keep in mind the following thoughts:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Is my site simple and clean?</li><br/> <li>Is my site easy to navigate?</li><br/> <li>When is the last time you visited your website on your cell phone?</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>5. Not making your website the hub of your online presence!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">What comes to mind when I say Penn Station? Or perhaps JFK? We know these places because they are hubs. Which means thousands and tens of thousands of people travel through them every year.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Do you want tens of thousands of people flowing through your website? Of course you do. Then I want you to start thinking of your website like a hub.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Use it as your primary base of connection. Connect to your social media, and from your social media back your website. Make sure all your local review sites connect your website.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Check on the following:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Do I have the link to my social media from my website?</li><br/> <li>Are the other local review sites linking to my site properly?</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>6. Not answering the questions your customers are asking!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This links back to your blog, and your simple clean feel. Your site needs be answering your customers questions quickly and simply. It is your sites job to help them understand who you are and what your company offers.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">What were they asking when they found your site? Are you answering their question right away? Can they take the next action to get more information? I think this should be done above the fold.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">The fold, by the way is the portion of the page that shows without having to scroll down.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Thoughts to keep in mind:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Why did they find my site, and am I answering it?</li><br/> <li>How can I find out what they want to know before they look for it?</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>7. Building your site without your target audience in mind!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">So many websites are built by "designers" not marketer experts, with a focus on design instead of understand what your target market is looking for, this is a mistake.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This can be avoided by hiring a marketer as your project manager. Then build your website with a focus on marketing.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Have you ever been to the website, and you thought it was so awesome looking you just had to buy their product? No of course not. When you buy it is because they build trust and a relationship with you.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Going forward:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Always keep this priority in mind when building your website; marketing first, design second.</li><br/> <li>Do your research and find out what your target audience is looking for. Then make sure your project manager understands the true needs of your market.</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>8. Buying website software that is expensive to build and update!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">In this day and age you do not need to buy expensive website software. Have you heard of Wikipedia? It is a community built encyclopedia. The same applies for website software. This is called open source.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">There's open source documents software -this book is being written on Google docs which is open source. There is open source graphic design software and a course open source website software.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Paying for a website to be built from the ground up in my opinion is like paying to create a whole new Microsoft Word program. Why build it if it's already built?</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Because of open source software now you can have a website with virtually free software. With all that is available out there, it is my opinion that the only fees you should pay is the project manager and/or graphic design work when building a website.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">The really cool thing about this is that when the website is built on a simple platform you personally should build to update it on your own without any real technical knowledge.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Having said that I believe you should keep people around who could handle these things for you. My point is, you just don't have to pay the big dollars you used to.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Things to keep in mind:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>With open source software why pay to have it built from the ground up?</li><br/> <li>When we have open source software that ranks better than "ground up" software, why pay the bigger price tag? It's just not good business.</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>9. Filling your website with a bunch of jargon and technical information that would even put YOU to sleep at night!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Have you heard this phrase yet, content is king? When talking about your business online are you communicating the same way you would to a friend or family member?</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Would you enjoyed reading your website information? Now it is a given that there is going to be some lackluster information about any business or career that might make sense having on your website.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This is again good for SEO. When you have good content presented in the same way as you would to a close friend or family member this is good for SEO and business.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Things to keep in mind:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Would you enjoy reading your own website?</li><br/> <li>Think of a close friend if they read the information would they understand it?</li><br/> <li>What is good for your target audience, is good for SEO.</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>10. Making your site complicated to navigate!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This one thing you must keep in mind, many people are visiting your site for the very first time. They don't have time to read through a tutorial on how to navigate your site. It must be simple and intuitive.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">If they're looking for pictures, then give them a button that says pictures. If they're searching from a mobile phone give them an address, and phone number.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">By keeping in mind what your target audience is looking for, they will find your site more enjoyable, more informative, and you will get more business.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Keeping in mind that your website is a direct response tool, it should be easy for them to take action that means business for you. That is, after all, why they're on your site the first place right? To get more information and see if they want to business with you.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Things to keep in mind:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Is your site ready for the mode that your target is using, e.g. desktop = above the fold action, or from a mobile phone = phone number and address?</li><br/> <li>Is it easy for your target audience to take action on your "next step" for them?</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>11. Not tracking your traffic!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Do you know who is visiting your website? You should! Especially since the tool is free. It is called Google analytics.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Okay, so this might be a little bit techy and you might want to leave this up to your project manager but the fact is you need to know this information to further understand any changes needed to your website.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This information gives you understanding to know if you're answering the questions that your client is looking for. For example you might be getting found for different phrase or keyword than you thought you were, so then you can write your blog posts differently with that information.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Keep this in mind and with the off-line world of networking groups and friends. Find out what they think of when they think of your company. Listen to the keywords they use and make that part of your website agenda.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Information that you want to look for is:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>How much traffic</li><br/> <li>Where it is coming from</li><br/> <li>What search terms they are using when they find your site</li><br/></ul><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>12. Not being mobile ready!</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">The fact is, more more people are browsing the Internet on their cell phone. So the web is under a forced reset. Now the whole web must fit on a tiny screen once again. Is your site ready?</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">The statistics show that half of all Internet searches are from a cell phone. This is very important if you want your website to be effective and relevant in the times to come.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">It is already very important to be on such local sites like Google places, now called Google local. For the fact that when people are searching for your business name from a cell phone typically they're looking for your: phone number, hours of operation, or address.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Things to keep in mind:</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Your site must be mobile ready or for half the people out there it does not exist.</li><br/> <li>Don't plan on mobile software picking up your site correctly, make sure your phone number is easily findable anywhere.</li><br/></ul>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-12920033281491590692014-01-07T14:37:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.117-08:00Computer Engineering Vs Computer Science<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>Computer engineering, as the name suggests, is related to the engineering of your system hardware. It includes the designing of computer hardware and devices. It is derived from the science of computing such that it is the practical application of the computing science principles.It also includes some principles of electrical engineering. In short this engineering is based on the laws of computer science, electrical engineering, mathematics and physics.<br/><br/>The main subjects dealt in this engineering includes display engineering, multimedia computations, image and speech processing, networking, pattern recognition, computer perception and sensors, VLSI systems, robotics, computer architecture etc.<br/><br/>Display engineering deals with the display mechanisms of a system. Multimedia computing include the handling of all kinds of data like the textual data, sounds, voice or audio, still images, animated images, video and more. It involves encryption, coding and decoding etc. Image and speech processing methods are used to deal with the processing of multimedia in a secure way. Networking of computers is a vast field that takes care of all the networking operations such as assembling network units, establishing connections, configuring them, initiating communication and data transfer and so on. It also handles designing and implementation of vast distributed computing networks that includes LAN, MAN and WAN. Pattern recognition and computer sensors are used for information security. Robotics is a practical application of artificial intelligence. Very Large Scale Integrated systems are a study to design microelectronic devices. Architectures from these take care of the designing of hardware and software for optimal results.<br/><br/>Continuing with our computer engineering vs computer science, we are now going to move on to the science, which on the other hand is the study of methods, principles and laws for handling of information. It also lays the theories for designing and implementing them. The science subject leads to the subject of engineering.<br/><br/>The main subjects that come under computer science are artificial intelligence, computer architecture, software systems, numerical methods, algorithms, theory of computations, computer graphics, networking protocols, databases, operating systems, simulation and modeling, parallel computations and software engineering.<br/><br/>Artificial intelligence is an area that is concerned with the intelligent behavior in machines or software. Computer architecture explains the science behind the designing and construction of computer hardware and software for effective and efficient working. Software systems deal with programming languages, programming environments, operating systems, interpreters, compilers etc. Algorithms and theory of computations are used to develop programs that produce effective, efficient and optimal results and solve the computer problems. To conclude, we can say that the computer science is a subject that is mostly studied by scientists while on the other hand, computer engineering is a subject that is studied by the engineers.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-26753351184913873832014-01-03T08:28:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.182-08:00What Does Data Masking Software Accomplish?<p style="text-align: justify">Data privacy is of utmost importance in this age wherein the influx of information seems to be as fast as the speed of light. Organizations and individuals are exerting efforts in maintaining their privacy without sacrificing the quality of data being passed on from one source to another. Aside from data de-identification software, data masking software has also been created to cater to the needs of the world of information technology (IT).</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">First, let us define "data masking"-it is the process of obscuring particular elements of info within a data store. This ensures that sensitive data will be replaced with realistic data, and by this we mean data that does not really exist. The primary purpose of data masking is to make sensitive information inaccessible and unavailable outside of the authorized milieu. This process is usually done to provide copies of data to support development and test processes without exposing sensitive information and avoid leaking. In addition, masking algorithms are made to be repeatable to maintain referential integrity.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">For data masking to be effective, data must be altered in such a way that the real actual values are impossible to be re-engineered or determined. Since the functional appearance of the info is maintained, the user can still test it. The data can also be encrypted and decrypted while security policies are established. The separation of duties between administration and security is also instituted.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">You can perform data masking by using an array of techniques that includes the following:</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Shuffling</strong></span> - This uses the existing data as the substitution dataset and moves the values in such a way that no value appears in its original row.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Substitution</strong></span> - A technique that replaces existing data with random values from previously prepared datasets.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Encryption</strong></span> - Scrambles data algorithmically and this technique does not leave the data appearing to be realistic. Also, encryption tends to make the data bigger.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Nulling out or deletion</strong></span> - This technique simply removes the sensitive data through deletion.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><span style="text-decoration: underline"><strong>Number and date variance</strong></span> - Varies the existing values in a specific range to disguise them.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Masking tool possesses some key features to achieve the following results and goals:To create realistic test data that ensure the appearance of unusual patterns in data testing</p><br/><br/><ul style="text-align: justify"><br/> <li>Caters to the needs of health and clinical databases</li><br/> <li>Deals with massive databases in a continuous mode to refresh test data cycles rapidly</li><br/> <li>To save masking function specifications to be used on other databases at scheduled intervals</li><br/> <li>Retains referential integrity across tables to guarantee that patient information is always masked</li><br/> <li>Ensures that adversaries will not be able to reverse engineer data masking</li><br/> <li>Processes large amounts of data rapidly</li><br/> <li>Masks keys to retain the same size and field type to maintain referential integrity</li><br/> <li>Includes reference databases and templates for the most common direct identifiers</li><br/></ul>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-49941857369102230512014-01-01T04:34:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:35:01.343-08:00Netbooks, Cloud Computing and Data Centers<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Netbooks</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As technology advances consumers
are looking for ways to get the same user-experience at a considerably
lower price. When it comes to computing, netbooks are the newest trend. A
netbook is a computer that has very little power and processing speed
on it. It's designed to do one thing and one thing only: to connect to
the Internet. Hence the name "netbook."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Netbooks do not need to
have Windows installed on them, thus saving the manufactures from paying
hefty licensing fees. There is no software installed on the machines
either. They do nothing but plug into the Internet. Since there's no
operating system and no software required, they don't need much
processing speed and not much memory or hard drive space. They are the
bare bones version of the modern computer, essentially getting back to
the very basics of computing power.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong> Cloud Computing</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
You
might be wondering what good a computer with little memory, power and
hard drive space and no operating system or programs is. On the surface
it may seem like a useless machine that isn't worth its weight in salt.
That's where cloud computing comes in.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Cloud computing is the new
way to access programs over the Internet. Instead of buying a word
processing program and installing it on your machine, you can now go
online and use the same exact programs, free of charge online. Currently
Google Docs is in its beta testing phase and there are other companies
working on creating similar programs. These programs are not stored on
your computer; rather users access them directly online. This way, users
are able to buy a small, basic computer that does nothing but connect
to the Internet and still do all the work they've always been able to do
on their regular computers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Data Centers</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This
relates to data centers in that the computing power that used to be on
actual computers has to go somewhere. With cloud computing instead of
having programs hosted on personal computers, they will have to be
hosted on servers. Companies will need to host more servers in order to
accommodate the programs and all the users plugging into the web-based
programs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Netbooks, which first came on the market at around $300-
$500 are getting less and less expensive to manufacture. As the price
drops, and it's estimated that very soon there will be netbooks
retailing for around $100, more consumers will start to take advantage
of this technology. With more people using netbooks and cloud computing,
data centers are going to fill up with servers hosting these programs.
It is yet to be determined how companies are going to make money off of
cloud computing. However, one thing remains for sure, data centers will
fill up quickly with servers hosting these programs.</div>
</div>
dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-23833630816965542712013-12-28T06:47:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.172-08:00Web Hosting And Search Engines And Optimization<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>Web site hosting and search engines are two inseparable institutions that every Internet marketer depends on for active exposure of publications on the Internet. Neither is mutually exclusive as they complement each other in the scheme of things. This is a write-up that renders information from a practical and technical point of view with, hopefully, sufficient comprehensibility and facts.<br/><br/><strong>Web Hosting</strong><br/><br/>There are many web hosting companies with different price packages to choose from. Any customer can select a web hosting package to suit the needs of his/her intended publications. Internet marketing cannot be sufficiently effective without this application which establishes online exposure to web sites, blogs, videos, images, and so on.<br/><br/>What exactly is a web hosting company? Wikipedia describes it as follows: 'A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server owned or leased for use by clients, as well as provide Internet connectivity, typically in a data center.'<br/><br/>This teaches us that clients or customers have a reserved space or partition on the server who accommodates their publications, and borders them off from neighboring partitions. A web server is traditionally shared by many users. Sharing divides the price and makes web site hosting far more affordable.<br/><br/>Professional and well-managed hosting is a tool an Internet marketer cannot live without if he wants to generate a successful online business launch.<br/><br/>Web hosting can be done for free or at a cost. Web site content determines the space it needs to successfully display your site online. That's why there is a line drawn between cost-free and paid web hosting. If you are new to this and do not want to start spending money on web hosting, a template design that comes with a sub-domain is probably your best choice. WordPress.com and Google Blogger are two such examples among many. Without spending money, these make good tools for practicing and testing the Internet.<br/><br/>After mastering the basics of web design and studying marketing methods you may start to look at paid web hosting, which offers domains, email addresses, auto responders, detailed SEO (Search Engine Optimization). These are essential background tools to run a professional website, affiliate website or blog online. There is a long list of web hosting companies, and I would always recommend comparing price packages and features before committing to their services. There are websites that have listed them one by one and cover the pros and cons of what they offer. A very highly recognized web hosting company is Go Daddy whom you may like to examine and use for comparison.<br/><br/><strong>Understanding Search Engines and Optimization</strong><br/><br/>These programs will help key word users to ring up websites that are responding to specified search requests. Search engines operate on key word instructions and use crawlers to find the resources that match key word content. Examples of highly capacitated search engines are Google, Yahoo, Bing, MSN.<br/><br/>Search engines use automated software also known as bots, robots or spiders. These follow page-to-page/site-to-site links to gather information and create a web index that is made searchable for keyword users via search engines.<br/><br/>Bots, robots or spiders regularly revisit web pages for indexing and page changes. The software applies updates to the index and then relays fresh information to search engines. This course of action may not happen instantly as the updating process depends on the return frequency of the software and the speed at which this information is gathered and inserted. Until then, fresh information will not be available until a web page has been modified and freshly indexed.<br/><br/>Now that you have a deeper understanding of how search engines work, you probably would like to know some pros and cons.<br/><br/>The<strong> pros</strong> are that search engines have an immense capacity of providing access to web pages that are publicly visible on the worldwide web, the number of which are growing daily. Search engines are the only means to information search, and they are effective, efficient and fast at responding to customer queries. Since they serve you, they comply with your instructions and search out a library source to go to with the data you typed in.<br/><br/>The<strong> cons</strong> are that they could return extensive websites with just one single keyword. This could minimize the amount of information a keyword user is looking for. It also means that you would have to change your strategy and apply a variety of specifics. I personally use short to longer phrases to single out my information and do not always achieve my goals. I circumvent my key word content and try to get to the bottom from a different angle.<br/><br/>That is why Search Engine Optimization requires keywords or short keyword phrases that harmonize with website content if you become a publisher. Attaining a high search engine ranking is pre-conditioned by the upload speed that a web hosting company provides. The faster the upload, the better the ranking so a highly powered web hosting service makes a much better choice for SEO efficacy.<br/><br/>Emily A White is a writer who aims to convey the technical data in this article in a comprehensible manner to the reader with regard to a more in-depth understanding of the systems features.<br/><br/></div><br/><p style="text-align: justify"></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">I started publishing articles late in life. Nevertheless, there is always a beginning to every thing and so I did and would recommend it to anyone. What I write is based on my point of view and inspiration of bringing information to the readers in an easy to comprehend manner.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Of an international background, I have lived in countries other than the US. I gained European language knowledge and became employed with well known international organizations. I have traveled much and find that it forms character.</p>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-90228910909586434092013-12-23T18:25:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.127-08:00The Streams of Electrical and Computer Engineering<p style="text-align: justify">I'm going to take some time today to explain all the different options in the Electrical and Computer Engineering program at the University of Toronto. Many first years don't know what they're getting themselves into and I wanted to explain briefly the different options they can look at when they reach their third and fourth years. So let's get right into it.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Electrical Engineering:</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>1. Photonics & Semiconductor Physics: </strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This option deals with the material physics of all semiconductor electronic devices. You will learn the physics behind all the material that makes up today's transistor. Everything from doping to manufacturing to the physics of the protons, electrons and all the other materials that makeup the transistor.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>2. Electromagnetic & Energy Systems:</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This has two options, the first is energy systems. this options allows you to explore how to exploit the energy in the form of power in electrical and electronic devices. The electromagnetic option is more involved towards the physics of waves. You will eventually learn how to look at things like microwaves circuits and antennas, this is an extremely interesting option. There are also many jobs in power in the Hydro industry.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>3. Analog & Digital Electronics:</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This explores the design and physics of the transistor and passive devices that are involved in modern electronics. The analog electronics looks at how to use transistors as amplifiers for example. While in digital electronics we take a look at how transistors are used as gates for zeros and ones.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>4. Control, Communications & Signal Processing </strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This deals with two fields. Controls and communication. Control systems look at how you can use feedback loops to control dynamic, electrical and computer systems. This involves the heavy use of mathematics mostly. The communication side looks at signal processing of different kinds. You will study the fundamentals of signals, transmission, attenuation, frequency and all the things that you would find in your modern cellphones.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>Computer Engineering:</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>5. Computer Hardware & Computer Networks </strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This deals with computer network programming and how today's internet works for example. You will learn about sockets, packets, transfer protocols and all the other things that will make you an internet wiz. Computer hardware deals with digital logic, it can get very involved and you will be making a lot of designs and improvements on circuits. This is extremely interesting. Also there is computer architecture, which is a more in depth view of how computers work.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify"><strong>6. Software:</strong></p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">This is self explanatory. The mains fields here involve learning programming on different platforms. You can learn different programming languages, algorithms, operating systems, databases and software engineering. This is really cool stuff to get into. This will get you the job on your coop year for sure. Lots of companies want software people.</p>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-61208400458904859862013-12-19T00:05:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.138-08:00Engineering Dreams And Passion For The Math And Sciences<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>It all started in my kindergarten class when my teacher and my mom recognized my need for tutoring in my math class. I was a slow learner as a child but I always applied myself and tried my best. It was the dedication of both my teacher and my mom that set me straight and helped me in developing my mathematical skills and reinforced my desire to learn. As a result I gained an appreciation and a love of the math and sciences.<br/><br/>I was always interested in learning how things worked and l also enjoyed working through and completely understanding my math assignments with the help and encouragement of my mom. As I learned and progressed with mathematics I started to gain confidence and actually enjoyed learning and looked forward to the challenges of the assignments. My dad was a very dedicated ironworker and he shared many stories of his experiences working in construction and he showed me many pictures through the years working on the high iron. As a result I had a desire to learn about bridge building and the construction of highways, roadways, tunnels, ball parks, buildings, homes, automobiles, rockets and electronic devices.<br/><br/>For a child growing up in the 1960's I was influenced a great deal by the space program and I found it very exciting watching coverage of the Gemini and Apollo space missions. I was just a baby when President John F. Kennedy made his famous speech about landing a man on the moon's surface before the end of the decade. Great strides had been made from that day onward evidenced by the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs. I was too young for both the Mercury and Gemini programs but I have pretty vivid memories of the Apollo space program. I remember the tragedy of the Apollo I launch pad fire occurring during a simulation that claimed the lives of 3 astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee in January 1967. This was a very sad start to the program but NASA was determined to move on and accomplish what president John F. Kennedy had envisioned and expressed so eloquently in his speech.<br/><br/>The Apollo 11 mission was the one that stands out most in my mind because that was when we saw on July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon's lunar surface and say the famous words, "That's one small step for man and one giant leap for mankind."<br/><br/>As a kid I was impressed with NASA and the astronauts training program and the educational backgrounds of all the astronauts. Most of them had studied engineering, mathematics, physics and chemistry in college and all of them were extremely well disciplined as a result of their military experience in the service of their country. They also were very dedicated to their training regiment upon acceptance into NASA's astronaut program.<br/><br/>I thought mission control was an amazing grouping of engineers, scientists and some of the best minds in the country and world. When Apollo 13 had encountered difficulties that put the lives of the crew members in danger in their return mission home it was the dedicated and joint effort of mission control to help simulate the potential problems and come up with solutions so they could properly advise the astronauts in their safe return home. That after-all is what an engineer is trained to do.<br/><br/>Engineering is all about precision, technological innovation, problem solving and finding solutions. It is a very challenging curriculum in school and demands a great deal of focus, concentration and dedication. Some students are naturally inclined in learning the principals and theories and others have to really apply themselves and study all the time. I fell into this category as a student where I had to apply myself and I worked hard at it and was determined to do my best. My favorite subject throughout my studies in school was mathematics which is a powerful and very interesting course of study. The whole basis for engineering is the study of math and science principals.<br/><br/>I am inclined to think that engineers have a different mindset in that they are real problem solvers and like to understand and evaluate the inner workings of something and make the appropriate decisions that require a great deal of analysis based on scientific and mathematical theories. I have always found that engineers who study fatigue, stress failure or the aftermath of a plane crash and piece the evidence together to find a viable explanation whether it be aircraft parts scattered at crash sites or a part of a bridge that collapsed due to fatigue and stress failure truly incredible. They use what they learn in a classroom and apply it to the outside world and the situations that require their expertise and knowledge.<br/><br/>After every airline crash it is a mandatory practice to gather the pieces of the aircraft, the black box and any other relevant evidence and painstakingly reconstruct the airliner in a hanger as best they can with what they recover to determine the reason or potential reason for the crash. Somethings you just don't learn in a textbook as their is no substitute then the real thing.<br/><br/>In the automotive industry their are all sorts of testing for driver and passenger safety and simulated collisions with varying speeds are always being performed to make safer cars to ensure the continued safety of drivers and their passengers. Engineers are always looking to design sleek cars that are fuel efficient and safe. These are the criteria they establish in the design stage of an automobile.<br/><br/>When I drive near an airport with my son and we see large aircraft passing over us it is really quite amazing to see. I always point this out to my son enthusiastically and remind him how truly incredible it is to see such large planes flying and remind him that they were all designed by engineers.<br/><br/>There are many fields of study I would suggest to young students and one in particular would be engineering. Within engineering there are so many specialties to consider. The main fields or endeavors that are engineering related are:<br/><br/>Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer and Software Engineering, Civil Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Metallurgical Engineering, Agricultural Engineering, Ocean and Environmental Engineering, Mining and Materials Engineering and Biomedical Engineering.<br/><br/>All students are required to take a core of engineering, mathematical and science related courses in their first two years of study with a core of English, arts and humanities as well that typically include:<br/><br/>Calculus I, II and III (Differential, Integral, Multi-variable), Linear Algebra; Physics (Heat and Sound, Electricity and Magnetism, Principals of Modern Physics; Chemistry I (Inorganic), Chemistry II (Inorganic); Statics and Strength of Materials; Engineering Dynamics; Engineering Circuit Analysis I & II; Engineering Thermodynamics; Computer Science I & II; English Literature, English Composition; Micro Economics, Macro Economics; Principals of Accounting I & II and Engineering Electives.<br/><br/>An Engineering curriculum is a well balanced program that includes Math, Science,Technical and the Arts and Sciences. It is a challenging course of study and a very interesting and exciting endeavor and the student has the flexibility of studying at a 2 year college and transferring to a 4 year institution.<br/><br/>There are many fine institutions for Engineering studies and the most prestigious would likely be the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. My preference is Virginia Tech having studied there and enjoying my time as an undergraduate engineering transfer student.<br/><br/>Raising a son with asperger's I find my son has amazing aptitude and has a love of math and science which I think is wonderful. I will always encourage him to learn and challenge himself and to continue his interest in the math and sciences. I also believe that many asperger kids gravitate to the math and sciences and eventually continue their love of it by pursuing engineering as a field of interest. It is well documented that many engineers display common patterns and traits associated with asperger's and many diagnosed individuals on the autistic spectrum are engineers, mathematicians, scientists, writers and teachers by professional choice.<br/><br/>As I think back to my days as a student of engineering and the challenges and accomplishments I look back with great fondness and joy and wonder how that time has seemingly passed me by so quickly. We all should enjoy our years as college students as those days define us in the success we seek and the job we perform. I will always have a love for engineering and hope that we find happiness and joy in all we do. I learned from the best, my parents and my teachers.<br/><br/></div><br/><p style="text-align: justify"></p><br/><br/><div id="article-resource" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>When we are students learning we try to focus on subjects that interest us and provide a challenge while we are evolving and learning in pursuit of developing our skills and our mindset. We all have the capability of doing great things and when we find what we love and we truly desire it and apply ourselves with the dedication and effort we find from within. This will help shape us and make us better and show others that we too are special and have the passion and drive to learn, accomplish and make our contribution. As an engineering student and a college student we learn and are exposed to many experiences and we share our vision with others and take pride in who we are while learning from others who have achieved great success and can teach it to us as young students who have dreams, goals and hope for making it and doing something they enjoy. Sometimes that spark is developed as a curious child innocently wanting to understand how something works. That is truly a story worth sharing with others because we then feel we can also inspire and teach something of significant importance in our own way and I choose to do it with my writing and shared enthusiasm as a student, professional and now a writer with vision and the love of sharing and relating my own personal experiences. If I can touch one person with my experiences and wisdom then I will have done something right. My mission as a father, who is transgender (Male to Female) is to guide my autistic son and teach him to find his passion, explore, believe in himself and accept others no matter their differences. We all have a purpose and a need to share. I know this.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-55452230958975311422013-12-14T14:15:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.166-08:00Software Development Companies - Discussing Their Roles and Areas of
Business<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>Software development companies are very popular today and their business is very beneficial to the world. They have notable contributions in virtually every industry. Their programs make processes easier, quicker and manageable. These companies follow Software Development Life Cycle or SDLC to perform their activities. SDLC is a tactic used to guide the development of any software product. It is the foundation of the activities performed when creating any application. Good examples of SDLCs include Agile, Waterfall, Rapid Application Development, Spiral Mode and Joint Application Development among others.<br/><br/>Software development companies must follow one of the best cycles described above to start and complete projects. The Planning phase always comes first and it is about forming project goals, scope of work and deadlines. The next phase is requirement gathering where data collection and studies about the users occur. The other stages involve design, coding, testing and maintenance. The testing role is a very crucial stage because it allows the test engineers to put their products on various trial situations for analysis purposes.<br/><br/>This enables the testers to identity bugs in the product being tested. Then they forward a report to the developing team. Quality assurance techniques are applied to ensure that the quality of programs is good before they are released to the public. The software development companies take part in various areas of development such as web development. As many people would concur, the World Wide Web has taken the world by storm. The internet seems as if it is everything that businesses and individuals want. To make the internet more exciting and useful to all users, the software developers have come up with various web development applications that make creation, maintenance and management of websites effortless.<br/><br/>Good examples of these applications include Silverlight, JavaScript, ASP.NET MVC, HTML5/CSS3 and PHP among others. Mobile development is another area that software developers participate in mostly by creating cost-effective apps for all types of popular phones. Their main areas include hybrid mobile applications, Window Phones apps, and Mobile Web apps such as CSS3, HTML5 and JavaScript. Desktop applications are another area where software development companies focus on. Desktop applications offer convenience, security and boosts performance.<br/><br/>They are based on technologies such as Silverlight, Microsoft.NET Framework, WPF and so on. Developers aim at the MS SQL server, Windows Operation Systems and MS Windows Server aspects when developing a platform for the desktop software. As mentioned earlier there are many areas of software development other than the three mentioned above. One may wonder how the engineers carry out their jobs. The traditional approach used by a variety of software development companies is forming a team of in-house engineers.<br/><br/>Nowadays this method is gradually losing taste as more and more companies embrace outsourcing. The industry is doing great, too, explaining why many developers are receiving more work than they can complete. Outsourcing is the means through which extra projects are assigned to other top programming companies. Nearshoring and offshoring are the two main strategies used by software development companies. The former involves assigning work to a company that is within the same geographical region while the former entails offering projects to a company that is very far away.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-32233327140290211502013-12-11T04:34:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:34:26.586-08:00Teaching Seasons With Technology in Early Childhood Classrooms - Integrating Science and Technology<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A Michigan radio commercial announces that the "Greatest Show on
Earth" happens every fall. I ask children to identify this show. You
don't need a ticket. It happens outside. You can probably see part of
the show from your bedroom window. There's no age limit. This show is
enjoyed by people of all ages.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Reinforcing the concept of seasons is often found in the autumn months of early childhood classrooms.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Using
a drawing program such as KidPix, children can show their understanding
of seasons while improving their concentration, dexterity with the
mouse and knowledge of drawing tools.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We begin with the line tool
to cut the screen into quadrants. Then with the alphabet stamper we put
one season name into each quarter. With the "wacky paintbrush" bare
branch trees can be added to each section. Finally, using the spray can
in the "wacky paintbrush" tools we can add the proper leaves to each
section. Lots of colors for the autumn trees. No leaves for winter.
Bright green leaves for the new emerging leaves of spring along with
some pink for all the flowering trees, and then full green for the
summer.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
I encourage writing the names of the seasons in a location where children can see them from their computer work stations.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
With
first graders, each season can be elaborated upon with the background,
by adding some seasonal stamps and some common weather.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
While this
project can be difficult for kindergarten students at the very
beginning of the year I often begin the week prior by just making a
collection of fall trees all over the screen and spray painting them
with the proper fall leaf colors. This helps the students be able to
easily create the trees when having to segment them for each season.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
After
printing in color, I staple each paper to construction paper to
emphasize how important our work on the computer has been. Regularly I
hear from parents who hang the matted work on the refrigerator and
around the house. As this becomes the practice, I see children putting
in extra effort in order to have a work of art to proudly take home with
them.</div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Visit [http://kindergartentechnologyideas.com/] for examples of this project and many more.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Kathy
Cothran is an elementary media specialist committed to helping teachers
turn toys into learning tools. Her vast teaching experience ranges from
preschool through Master's level education classes.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For years
Kathy has been a "Gadget Girl." She loves technology! Tie that to her
extensive teaching background and she has been able to interest,
invigorate, and inspire children and teachers to use technology in a
rich, exciting manner.</div>
dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-54373457654058924222013-12-07T16:49:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.177-08:00Social Engineering, Email Harvesting<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>Social engineering is commonly understood to mean the art of manipulating people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. While it is similar to a confidence trick or simple fraud, the term typically applies to trickery or deception for the purpose of information gathering, fraud, or computer system access; in most cases the attacker never comes face-to-face with the victims.<br/><br/>I am going to talk about a skim used by spammers to <strong>harvest</strong> for legitimate email address from your contact list. There are plenty of ways used to harvest emails, but the one I am focusing on is "Email forwarding"<br/><br/>Normally when you create an email account, you will start building contact list, containing email addresses of your friends, relatives, co-workers, etc. Over time, you will have a substantial number of contacts in your contact book.<br/><br/><strong>Email forwarding</strong><br/><br/>"Forward" is a very handy function available in almost all email clients, this allows one to pass over the email to some other recipient. But something to note is; the forwarded mail includes the email address of the original sender and any other forwarded addresses of the same instance.<br/><br/><strong>Email harvesting scenario</strong><br/><br/>Say you are a GoodGuy with your email and 50 contacts on your mail account. The BadGuy sends you a mail with a very emotional religious message, or a very nice joke, or an irresistible offer to something that you are likely to fall for, and guilt's you into forwarding to at least 10 friends <strong><em>including the BadGuy</em></strong>. And you end up doing that, with good faith. Now 10 friends from your contact will receive your humbled mail message, with the instructions to do the same, "<strong><em>forward to at least 10 friends"</em></strong>. At the same time the BadGuy receives a copy of any forward from the recursive senders.<br/><br/>Simply put, if you forward the mail to 10 contacts, and they do the same in good faith and the third circle does the same. "Roughly something like this happens"<br/><br/><strong>1 + 10^1 + 10^2 + 10^3</strong> approximately 1000 email contacts will have been harvested in just three circles, now this will keep growing depending on the number of forwards to the amount of contacts forwarded to. And then you and your friends start receiving some commercial mails from services that you never even visited or heard of. And you wonder how on earth they did they get my email. Well, you gave it to them; you actually helped them get even some of your friend's emails.<br/><br/>This is the effect of social engineering, the mail will play with your psychological consciousness, and you will think you are doing a good thing to respond; in return you are falling for somebodies social engineering scam.<br/><br/><strong>Solution</strong><br/><br/>There is no software to fight social engineering attacks, because it is you that you will end up giving up information, or executing some processes, or allowing some application to do something on your private sensitive information. The important thing is to build awareness, change the culture of the way we operate and disclose sensitive information.<br/><br/>To avoid becoming a victim of a social engineering attack:<br/><ul><br/> <li>Be suspicious of unsolicited contacted from individuals seeking internal organizational data or personal information.</li><br/> <li>Do not provide personal information or passwords over email or on the phone.</li><br/> <li>Do not provide information about your organization.</li><br/> <li>Pay attention to website URLs that use a variation in spelling or a different domain (e.g.,.com vs..net).</li><br/> <li>Verify a request's authenticity by contacting the company directly.</li><br/> <li>Install and maintain anti-virus software, firewalls, and email filters.</li><br/></ul><br/>If you think you are a victim of a social engineering attack:<br/><ul><br/> <li>Report the incident immediately.</li><br/> <li>Contact your financial institution and monitor your account activity.</li><br/> <li>Immediately change all of your passwords.</li><br/> <li>Report the attack to the police, and file a report with the authority.</li><br/></ul><br/></div><br/><p style="text-align: justify">I am Phesto Enock Mwakyusa, Owner and founder of Qusaz intelligent solutions Ltd. I am a software engineer by profession, currently working in Helsinki. I love what I do. I also do professional training on different ICT related subjects on demand, I like adventures road trips, exploring the beauty of Gods creation. I love music, listening and playing. It has great emotional power in me, and lifts my spirit high.</p>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-38573462350008581622013-12-01T16:15:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.132-08:00The Distinction Regarding Web Application Development And Software
Development<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>Web development and software development are two widely used idioms that individuals, who are not involved in the computer field, tend to mix up. Software engineering or design is basically the process of creating any software product whereas web application development pertains to the coding necessitated to produce any form of web site or program for the world wide web or private networks.<br/><br/>Software development is a comprehensive term with various fields and expertise, incorporating the various forms of web application development. A Software Development Company will typically provide more than one software related solution. It engages specialists in both web-based applications and desktop apps.<br/><br/>Previously, web developing incorporated less coding skill and pretty basic practice and courses could authorize individuals for the work. However, at present the online applications require advanced functions and frameworks, larger systems and demand an extensive knowledge in several computer languages and operating systems. As a result, the historical differences between software and web development are blurring. The main difference left is the interface being used.<br/><br/>When contacting a reliable software development company, as opposed to individual freelance developers, you can be confident that your needs will be solved by the most appropriate technologies. A software development company has the competency to match you up with a team that concentrates on the solutions your project requires. All you have to do is be coherent and clear with your list of specifications and give a complete description of your objective, desired performance, the system functions and other necessities. The software development life-cycle is more or less identical for non-web and web application developing but the stages order may be modified according to different styles. The main steps involve analysis, market research, software requirements specification, software and interface design, implementation, examination, arrangement and maintenance.<br/><br/>The internet simplifies things. Even if you still do not quite understand the nuances characterizing software and web application development you can not go wrong with choosing the right company or person to carry out your plan. Search the web for software developing company and check out the solutions and previous work endorsements to make certain it can provide you with the best solution.<br/><br/>It is always advisable to compare proposals, services and prices of a few providers, especially if you are not familiar with the kind of work required for the project. Some developing companies might try to use software, previously developed for other needs, instead of creating a new one that perfectly fits your specific demands. Make sure nobody cuts corners on your account in order to avoid excess work.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-70857207005967286112013-11-28T04:33:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:33:58.885-08:00Cloud Computing and Data Security<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Cloud computing is changing the way IT is delivered to businesses
and how businesses can now leverage the technologies to be very nimble
and agile, yet large. Cloud is a technology that maintains data and
applications by making use of the internet and central remote servers.
Cloud computing enables users to run their necessary applications
without actually installing the software or hardware. The consumers can
access their necessary files at any remote computer having internet
access. This technology is handy as it facilitates efficient computing
by a central storage, memory, process and bandwidth.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Cloud computing can be broken down into three components:
<br />• "Application"
<br />• "Storage"
<br />• "Connectivity."</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Each segment serves a different purpose and offers different products for businesses and individuals around the world.
<br />Cloud computing has two primary deployment models. They are:</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
•
Community cloud - In this concept of Cloud, several organizations from a
specific community with common concerns share infrastructure between
themselves. They could be managed either internally or by a third-party
and the hosting could be internal or external. The costs have are
distributed among fewer users.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
• Public cloud - This concept of
Cloud is established when several organizations having similar
requirements and seeking to share infrastructure are concerned. This
definitely is more viable in terms of monetary benefit, as the resources
(storage, workstations) utilized and shared in the community are used
by a huge number of consumers.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The advantages of Cloud Computing offering in IT services include the following:
<br />1. Transformation into on demand IT-as-a-service
<br />2. Greater business agility, on-demand provisioning
<br />3. Self-provisioning & deployment of applications
<br />4. Significant savings in total cost of operations through right sizing and operational efficiency
<br />5. Dynamic capacity on demand to reduce time to market
<br />6. Strategically align the business on long-term opportunities while optimizing on operations</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The
transition to Cloud however, is accompanied by a number of data
security issues that need to be looked into. Most organizations use
relational databases to store the most sensitive data, hence the need of
data security while moving to Cloud becomes all the more important and
imperative. So, as the consumers work on migrating applications to
Cloud, they need to be careful about three main attributes involving
data security.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
1. User access privileges: Any sensitive data that
is processed outside the enterprise is prone to an elemental risk. As
the services are outsourced, they kind of discount the physical, logical
and personnel regulations which the IT departments could exercise over
the in-house programs.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
2. Server Elasticity: One of the key perks
of Cloud computing is flexibility. So, keeping apart the fact about
users having knowledge of the exact location of where their data is
hosted, the servers hosting the concerned data can be provisioned and
de-provisioned regularly to mirror the current requirement capacity.
This evolving topology can be a challenge for the technologies banked on
today and could be very hard for the management to constantly update
configurations fitting to every such change.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
3. Regulatory
Compliance: Data integrity and data security are but the ultimate
responsibilities of the organizations even if it is held by a service
provider. The whole system of educating the auditors, demonstrating that
their data is safe and secure even when there is no physical control
over systems, is challenging. They need to provide them with the
quintessential visibility into all activity.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Controlling access
and monitoring of cloud administrators is a cutting point to make sure
that sensitive data is secure. While the users may want to maintain
background checks of their own privileged users and may also enforce
significant physical monitoring, even if this be done by their cloud
provider - it is a process which is not their own. Therefore that would
mean compromising some element of power or control. These individuals
may have almost unlimited access to the infrastructure, something they
require in order to maintain and check the performance and availability
of the cloud resources for all customers.</div>
</div>
dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-14023557842037787712013-11-28T03:30:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.122-08:00Some Of The Special Features From Adobe Computer Software<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>There is a countless number of special features from Adobe Computer software out there partially because of the fact that Adobe makes so many different kinds of software. They have web design programs available that enable you to create very professional websites. They also make Photo shop and other editing and design software. They also offer different kinds of music creating and editing programs. They offer a great line of products for the more creative and artistic person.<br/><p style="text-align: justify">The company is probably best known for their flash player. The flash player is a program that allows you to play and upload video content to your computer. Combined with some of their video editing program options you can create and upload some pretty unique videos. The editing program allows you to add animation and other kinds of things to your videos.</p><br/>Another one of their programs that can often times be downloaded for free is the Adobe reader program. It allows you to read and translate PDF documents. You can also fill out a lot of printable forms from the reader. Many people use Adobe reader as a standard for delivering documents. If you search the web long enough you are bound to receive information that is opened using the program.<br/><br/>They are also the company that makes the Dream weaver program. This is one of if not the most popular website design programs available. The user can create a professional website with the program. This is nice if you need to create a lot of websites because hiring it out can cost a great deal of money. It is also a very user friendly program.<br/><br/>Photo shop allows the user to edit their images. From small touch ups to picture to blending to pictures together you can do quite a bit with the program. The software also allows you to illustrate as well. It enables you to design images of things you plan on building before you start building the piece. Artists frequently use this program for a number of different things. From subtle editing to doing full drawings the program is very good at working with images.<br/><br/>Sound booth CS5 allows the user to integrate music into their projects. You can easily edit audio to play in unison with your video or other parts of your website. You can also edit the audio. The system allows the user to take out any unwanted sounds in the audio. It will actually display unwanted sounds in the form of sound waves and from there you can go in and remove the unwanted audio noises.<br/><br/>Adobe also has many business solutions to offer. They specialize in web analytic and web development programs. You can also get a lot of different forms through many of their programs. They can help many businesses who are based on the internet. They can help you track and manage as well as organize your company.<br/><br/>As you can see there are a lot of special features from Adobe computer software available. They tend to focus on the creative and more artistic user with some of their programs while focusing more on IT with other programs.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-2714900955846108652013-11-24T11:27:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.144-08:00Why Should You Use Engineering Software<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>When the technology of electric power supply and the telegraph were introduced at the end of the nineteenth century, the world became truly modern and the body of knowledge in applied electricity eventually became known as electrical engineering. Today, after more than a century of rapid development, this sphere of engineering includes many different fields like electronics, telecommunications, power generation, computers and integrated circuits. With electrical consumption on the rise to meet the requirements of industrial equipments and millions of home appliances like radios, television sets, refrigerators and many others, the importance of electric power generation have surged to great heights placing the career of electrical engineers at the highest level of importance. Engineering technology is greatly needed to keep the engine of the modern world in perpetual running condition.<br/><br/>If one wants to become an electrical engineer today, he has to pursue a Bachelor's of Science Degree majoring in Electrical Engineering which is a four or five year course, depending on where he takes up his studies. After he graduates, he will have to undergo a program to satisfy some requirements before he is finally certified by a professional body of engineers. After he is certified, he is then ready to practice his profession and take his place in society as an electrical engineer. He will probably be hired as an employee in a power plant or in a company that sells electrical equipments.<br/><br/>The present crop of electrical engineers will be not be surprised that computers have replaced many old gadgets like the slide rule and other such gadgets since computers have been around for some time. What will surprise them is the engineering software that is available to make engineering calculations easier and faster. They will wonder at computer software products that contain programs designed to instantly work on engineering applications like power management, ground grid design, transformer operations, power quality assessments, and data exchange which usually takes long hours of tedious work to set-up.<br/><br/>The impact of engineering software on the work of electrical engineers is phenomenal because the different calculation work that takes a team of workers to accomplish can be done faster and more efficiently by an engineer with sufficient knowledge in computer operations. If one really wants to get ahead in his career, he must take interest and learn how to apply the right engineering software to the different applications confronting him in the work place.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-3753718639193626072013-11-21T04:33:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:33:26.334-08:00What Is Cloud Computing and What Are Public, Private and Hybrid Clouds?<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Cloud computing is considered to be the next big computer trend
revolutionising the way existing IT infrastructure is run and developed
within companies. But what is it? If you type the term into a search
engine there will be a whole host of websites that attempt to answer the
question but you will often see that many different definitions come
back as everyone seems to have a singular take on what cloud computing
means to them and their businesses.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Fundamentally, cloud computing
is the way that a company will access software, applications, services
and data in the future. It is a way that businesses can store and access
data through a shared web browser meaning that a company no longer
needs physical hardware onsite to store this type of information. The
cloud will be provided by a cloud hosting provider meaning a new
delivery model for IT services in businesses where the company can gain
from economies of scale and virtualised resources. The cloud is an
on-demand technology meaning that it can be accessed when required and
companies only pay for what is used. It is also a technology that can be
accessed from anywhere on a variety of devices including mobile phones;
so offering companies greater flexibility and accessibility.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Therefore,
put succinctly, cloud computing is the move to make IT management and
provision of data, applications and information a service. This service
will be run for businesses by their chosen cloud computing provider over
the Internet on a consumption-based model.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The security of a
company's data is an important factor in their IT related activities and
cloud computing can offer different levels of security to suit business
types and needs as data can be held within public clouds, private
clouds and hybrid clouds. But what do these terms mean?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Public Clouds</strong>
<br />A public cloud as it suggests is information that is held over the
Internet for use by the general public in applications such as Gmail and
Hotmail. The user of these applications doesn't know where the data is
stored and if the cloud has any downtime it means that the user
experiences this downtime as well with no understanding of when
applications will be up-and-running again. These types of clouds do not
offer any guarantees or service level agreements (SLAs) so are more
suited to companies that don't have business critical applications.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Private Clouds</strong>
<br />A private cloud is a cloud service offered to a limited number of
people behind a private firewall in a data centre. This type of cloud
technology does come with guarantees and SLAs to ensure that data and
applications are always available and that there minimal downtime (if
any) for a company. This type of cloud is more secure to protect the
safety of information.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<strong>Hybrid Clouds</strong>
<br />A hybrid cloud is an amalgamation of public and private clouds. For
example, a business may choose to provide some resources internally (as
they have spent money setting-up their existing IT infrastructure) while
choosing to outsource some externally.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It can be seen that cloud
computing is changing the way that applications and data is both
delivered and accessed. When looking for a provider you should look for a
company with renowned experience and one that you can fully trust with
your businesses software, data and applications.</div>
</div>
dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-12768444643489262182013-11-20T06:51:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.161-08:00A Brief Introduction to Information Security Engineering<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>Information security engineering is a very new field of study and it deals with providing security in the world of Information Technology. It deals with the analysis of vulnerability, the risk, threat and protecting the integrity of the next-functional logic (software) of a computer system and data contained in or exchanged in a communication with a user. This protection is achieved through organizational and technological measures aimed at ensuring that only authorized users have access to the database of the organization. This is mainly achieved by following a process of authentication, which verifies the credentials of the individuals before providing them with data access.<br/><br/>Information security has become a major concern in most industries, especially those which are heavily dependent on Information technology. The IT and ITES industries have over the years, started hiring Information Security engineers to help them with securing their database and the transfer of information between centers. These professionals work in large multinational companies and help them in improving their security parameters. Database security depends on several factors that interfere between the users and the system, such as robustness of the software and the basic application etc. The information security engineers utilize many tools to provide maximum data security.<br/><br/>They have to create safety programs which can help different companies in protecting their database and the flow of information. The fundamental concepts of information security are as follows:<br/><br/><strong>Safety</strong> - ensuring that the database of an organization, along with the software and application used by the organization, is safe and secured;<br/><br/><strong>Reliability</strong> - to make sure that the data is reliable by preventing events that can produce any serious damage to the database.<br/><br/>If there is any problem with the software used in any organization, of if there is any breach of security, it can lead to the following possible effects (in ascending order):<br/><ul><br/> <li>No effect</li><br/> <li>Negligible risk</li><br/> <li>Significant risk</li><br/> <li>High risk</li><br/> <li>Catastrophic risk</li><br/></ul><br/>This is why, the engineers and security experts take necessary steps to prevent any damage or loss caused by software failure or security breach.<br/><br/><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Main techniques of defense used by the information security engineers</span></strong><br/><br/><strong>Antivirus</strong>: an anti-virus is a program which protects computers against attacks by malicious software known as viruses. A good antivirus should be constantly updated to have continuously running scan functions in real time. The security experts in an organization will regularly use the anti-virus to scan the hard disks, CDs, DVDs and floppy disks, to detect the presence of viruses, worms, malwares etc. To prevent the spread of virus, the antivirus will also check all the files that are received or sent via emails to verify that they are safe.<br/><br/><strong>Anti-Spyware</strong>: it is a software which is very effective in the removal of "spy files", or spyware that can steal information about the user's online activities and send them to an organization that will use them for profit. An anti-spyware application can go a long way in protecting the intellectual property of an organization.<br/><br/><strong>Firewall</strong>: a firewall protects the computer network in an organization against outside hacking attacks and blocks any programs on the computers attempting to access the Internet without the user's permission. A firewall installed and well configured system provides compile access control by monitoring all traffic that passes through it.<br/><br/><strong>Digital Signature Encryption</strong>: information security engineers protect sensitive documents and data from unauthorized access by using specific security mechanisms such as encryption, digital signature, and the use of digital certificates and cryptographic algorithms to identify the certifying authority i.e. a site, a person or software.<br/><br/><strong>Backup</strong>: security experts create backup of the company database as it helps them to recover lost or damaged files. In any organization, creating backup of the database is very important because if the organization loses important data, it might even have to face lawsuits from the clients. It will also find it difficult to conduct day to day operations.<br/><br/><strong>Honeypot</strong>: a honeypot is a system or piece of hardware or software used to "trap" or "bait" for protection against attacks by hackers. Usually consists of a computer or a site that seems to be part of the network and contain valuable information, but in reality is quite isolated and has no critical or sensitive content. It could also be a file, a record, or an unused IP address.<br/><br/><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline">Causes of Data Loss</span></strong><br/><br/>The probable causes of loss of data in computer systems may be multiple, but are generally grouped into two events: Adverse events and Accidental events.<br/><br/><strong>Adverse Events </strong><br/><br/>Between the two events mentioned above, the unwanted ones are mostly unexpected, although it is prudent to expect anything. One should also expect the so-called attacks by unauthorized users to steal valuable data. Adverse events are often caused by unauthorized users who would try to access different computers and systems without taking permissions from any required authorities.<br/><br/><strong>Hacking attacks </strong><br/><br/>The hacking attacks are controlled by the hackers through the internet network, by using special software, sometimes created by them; they sneak in by hacking the system, achieving full control of the machine, to manage resources and data without the proper permissions. They often steal vital information and then use it for their own benefit, causing harm to the company which has been hacked.<br/><br/><strong>Access to systems by unauthorized users</strong><br/><br/>This type of attack is substantially similar to the previous one, but has a different shape. This attack involves unauthorized use of systems and data, but unlike a hacker attack this time the system itself is used for the attack and not the network.<br/><br/><strong>Effects</strong><br/><br/>The hacking and unauthorized usage of company information can cause a lot of loss to the company. If vital data is lost, the customers can even sue the company for large amount of money and can even take legal action. The company may also find it difficult to meet its professional responsibilities.<br/><br/><strong>Accidental events</strong><br/><br/>The accidents do not refer to an attack by a third party, but they refer to events caused accidentally by the employees of the organization, like installation of incompatible hardware parts, unexpected failures, etc. All these events however, compromise system security.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-71536000936547591972013-11-13T19:02:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.109-08:00Life Cycle for Software Development<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>A software development process is a making and development process of a software program and it is popularly known as software development lifecycle process. It is also called software process, and shortly as SDLC. SDLC has several models and each of them is used for different types of tasks for different levels of activities which get incorporated in between the development process. However, there are several instances where the life cycle models are accounted as a generic term and specifically the term software development process is applied as more specific term in aspect of new implementation, renovation, and modification of existing modules related to business or for some other purpose.<br/><br/>In short SDLC describes different phases of software cycle and the orders in which these developmental phases are executes either in individual way or by some series of developmental ways. Although there are countless options for SDLCs these models vary from one to another but despite their discrepancies, the models maintain a great implicit similarity in between.<br/><br/>A general model is described by the phases it involves in its development process. The requirements are converted in different modules of designs. Different types of codes are produced at the time of implementation while it is being driven by design. Proper and methodical testing process decides the appropriateness of the designs in accordance to the proposed structure of the system and the deliverability of the designs also are judges in this developmental phase.<br/><br/>In nutshell the SDLC model is made of four steps like analyzing the requirements, planning the design as per the requirements, implementation of designs for the accommodation of the requirements, and then it needs proper testing of the designs and requirements in order to justify the programming and ultimate arrangements.<br/><br/>In SDLC designing holds a significant role; and the design is implemented from the root level of basic requirements of the development process. The focus of the developers remain high on this phase because designing phase is the foundation work of the whole developmental plan on which the whole structure of development is introduced in step-by-step format. The end product of this SDLC foundation process is communication, UML, architecture, and relevant development of hardware and software etc.<br/><br/>Implementation process is the second phase which comes after designing. It is one of the longest design phases in the course of SDLC. In This phase the codes are generated and thus it holds a significant role in implementing the whole process of development; however in some course, the steps are followed in automated process.<br/><br/>Testing is the last phase of SDLC; in this phase the balance between the requirement, designing, and coding are back-checked and verified from the point of functionality. Unit tests are used for checking specific components while system check deals with the complete system's functionality.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-78212871307906596012013-11-10T11:02:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.192-08:00Microsoft Dreamspark Gives Tech Students Free Visual Studio Software!<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>I absolutely refuse to write a misleading title just to get you to read my article, so I made sure to clarify the "free" Visual Studio software is for students.<br/><br/>Students interested in a future as an IT tech or computer support specialist require skills in Microsoft technologies. Training for these technologies are intense and constantly updated. Purchasing all the necessary Microsoft tools can also be quite expensive especially for students who don't already have a career.<br/><br/>Fortunately, Microsoft offers free licensed versions of Visual Studio, Expressions, SQL and other great software to college students through DreamSpark. DreamSpark is a website that provides professional-level developer and design tools to students and educators around the world at no charge. These Microsoft tools help IT professionals in training advance their learning and skills through technical design, technology, math, science, and engineering activities.<br/><br/>While this free software offer isn't new - every time I mention it to students enrolled in a Microsoft bootcamp, almost everyone lights up with surprise. So, if you know someone in college - surprise them by sharing this incredible gift. Signing up is quick and easy. When registration is complete, you will be given access to download the software. Pretty cool.<br/><br/>Programming technology changes at a pace faster than books can be published which make tools like this indispensable. If you're looking for additional training or Microsoft certifications on Visual Studio 2010 or other Microsoft technologies then look into some of the online Bootcamps available. As for achieving the Microsoft MCPD Certification it is important to look for a Microsoft Bootcamp that has a very high first time success rate for students passing the exam.<br/><br/>The majority of successful Microsoft Bootcamps are successful for two very simple reasons; smaller classes and the best instructors. If you search online you will quickly see dozens of Microsoft Certification camps that boast high volumes of students. Look for class sizes limited to 12 students per instructor for the best learning environment. When you're investing this much into your training - you deserve better than 30+ students in your class.<br/><br/>It's a great idea to jumpstart your IT education by signing up for Free software and taking advantage of these tools of the trade. To make the most of your education and training, and to ensure you start your career on the right track, be sure to enroll in a program that offers smaller classes for technical training, new equipment, more workspace and one that has a proven higher test pass success rates by your instructors.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-60570904056550902062013-11-04T03:19:00.000-08:002014-02-15T04:39:47.188-08:00Custom Software Developments And Other Services<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>When one talks about custom software developments, a professional developer comes to mind. This concept is actually very true and there are many different companies that offer these services, among others, to their clients. Establishing these services becomes increasingly more important in a world that relies mainly on computers and the Internet. Many firms and companies are in dire need of customized solutions that are very specific to their needs and preferences. Many pioneers of this field have realized this need and they have tried successfully to fill it.<br/><br/>Services<br/><br/>Professionals from several fields provide custom software developments. People with skill in engineering, marketing, management and research and development are usually tapped for such jobs. They are well versed in searching for solutions based on what they have found out regarding specific needs and preferences of their client. It is important that they meet these needs and preferences in order for their clients to be happy and satisfied with their results.<br/><br/>Other services that may be included in this field are integration with existing systems, customer support and internal processing. Many of the clients who approach development companies often have old systems that still work well and are currently in use in their company. It is important that the new processes developed will be able to merge well and coordinate with the older or current ones. This integration will ensure that there will be little or no hiccups when it is time to launch the new programs. Custom software developments also include making sure that the clients are satisfied with their interaction with the system. Customer support is important in the sense that this will help the clients with their interaction with the company. Internal processing is also another important aspect of the field. Here, the developers need to make sure that there is transparency when it comes to the systems in the entire company of their client. This transparency will bring to light any problems or issue which may affect the integrity of the system. The management of inventory and human resources are among the top aspects that need to be managed well internally.<br/><br/>The functionality of a program is necessary in order for it to be fully appreciated by the people who use it in the company and by those who use it externally. Both the customers and the workers need to be able to understand and do things that are necessary for their interactions in daily life. The custom software developments may seem more expensive than off the shelf programs that are readily available for any company. In reality, the customized programs are more streamlined and specific for each firm and company that orders them. This means that needs and preferences are met with a perfect fit that only comes from customized jobs. The developers can do tweaking when necessary but usually before it is launched.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-74196821256959410752013-10-31T06:11:00.000-07:002014-02-15T04:39:47.150-08:00Opt For Product Engineering Services And Enhance Your Business
Experience!<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>If you have explored the domain of product engineering services, you must be aware that it looks after the manufacturing of products so that they can be sold in the market. This sector not only takes care of the on goings associated with the cost and performance of the product but also its reliability and validity. The field of product engineering comprises of several other features like conceptualizing, crafting the product, improving it and finally producing it.<br/><br/>It is very important for the person involved in this sector to take all the necessary steps for enhancing the product and cutting down its final price. The software marketing sector is growing with every passing day and the new technologies are becoming a part of it. The business giants have started creating their own product development software so that they can be a part of the ongoing race for production of new products and software service distributions. With the help of these systems, software development companies can come up with new production and get a good number of leads.<br/><br/>The product engineering services sector has created a complete transformation of software support management. These companies work hand in hand with industrial giants in order to reach the clients all over the world. The popularity of social networking has increased so much that it has led the upcoming companies to come up with new web products by making the most of applications like Web 2.0. With the advent of product engineering services, the usual time taken for system and software testing has reduced up to a great extent.<br/><br/>When the software development is in the making, some steps have to be taken to maintain its reliability and validity. These steps include everything right from creating the design, programming and integration and last but not the least, testing. If all these aspects are not looked after during the development phase, the output of the product can turn out to be really weak. These days, due to the increasing demand for new and unique products from the clients; product engineering domain is becoming quite robust. The companies which are a part of this sector also avail customized software development according to the requirements of the client and develop the product accordingly.<br/><br/>Thus if you want a superior quality experience with your software, you must choose to get it done from a professional product engineering services firm.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-73145478760812184252013-10-27T08:19:00.000-07:002014-02-15T04:39:47.197-08:00Computer Science: It Is Not Programming But Problem Solving<p style="text-align: justify">I have had the pleasure and the opportunity to do one of my favorite hobbies in the past two years, and that is teaching. I have had the opportunity of teaching several different topics in the field of computer science, from introductory courses to upper division courses, and I have seen a pattern along the students which has been a puzzle for me especially in the upper division classes.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">One of the main surprising facts I have noticed, is that most of the students have little or no practical experience in software development, especially in the upper division classes. That is, they have not been given enough opportunity to do hands on projects to improve and fine tune their programming skills in the lower division classes, and when they take courses such as Software Engineering, most of them don't have the ability to create a fully functional system from the ground up.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Now I can understand if this is the first year for the student and they are just starting out and getting to know their first computer language and all of the tools and environments that are available to them. And it is also understandable that there are different levels of students with different levels of skill sets and motivation. But to be in an upper division course and still be uncomfortable with the basics is a little frightening for me.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">What I also noticed and honestly surprised me, is that most of the students who are just starting out in the computer science curriculum don't have a clue of what computer science is all about. Now maybe this is an unfair statement, you may argue that they are still unsure or undecided, but I think that is not the case. If you are in a science or engineering curriculum, then there are certain things that are critical for the student to know, like a good foundation is mathematics and physics.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Again maybe, the issue is how we prepare our youth in their earlier years of life.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">For instance, as part of the computer science curriculum, the students are required to take a course in Software Engineering. I am not going to discuss what software engineering is, but to enlighten you, here is a description from Wikipedia: Software engineering (SE) is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable approach to the design, development, operation, and maintenance of software, and the study of these approaches; that is, the application of engineering to software. The term software engineering first appeared in the 1968 NATO Software Engineering Conference and was meant to provoke thought regarding the perceived "software crisis" at the time. Software development, a much used and more generic term, does not necessarily subsume the engineering paradigm.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">In such a class, the students is expected to have a good understanding of at least one programming language such as JAVA, C#, C++ and etc... as well as a good understanding of Object-Oriented Methodology and Design. On top of the programming skills, the student should have good understanding of data structures and algorithms. Don't forget, a Program = Data Structures + Algorithms! It would also help if the students have database knowledge and etc...</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">These are just some of the technical skills that they should have and keep fine tuning on a daily basis. The more important aspect of computer science has nothing to do with programming of JAVA or C# or anything like that. It has to do with the ability to ANALYZE and SOLVE PROBLEMS!</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">In my last class, I had created six different teams composed of three members each. Each group was given the option to come up with their own project to design and develop throughout the course, and if they were unable to do so, I was going to assign them a project.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">The students were very good at coming up with defining their own projects. We had a good variety of projects from Hospital Management System, to Hotel Management System, to iPAD application for Retail Shopping and Inventory, to Android application for a simple 2D game, to a Learning Management System on the web, and a Windows based application creating customized MIMES.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Now it was time to start the real deal! Let's start Engineering our Product!</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Throughout the course the students were responsible of defining: the requirements and specifications, the design and implementation, and finally the testing and release (demo) of their software project.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">The surprising thing for me was that most students didn't know where to start! Given a particular problem, how would one take it and dissect it into smaller parts to be able to solve it in small portions and come out with the final solutions by the divide and conquer method!</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">As mentioned some teams did a really good job at each and every step, and others started out weak, and then increased their efforts and effectiveness throughout the course. As you can see the projects themselves are somewhat complex for the students and all of them require the knowledge of good User Interface Design, Object-Oriented Design, Database Design, and for most some sort of Network Communication!</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Some students didn't even have any programming skills, and for the matter of fact, they really didn't care much about investing the time to learn it! Relying mostly on their peers for the technical aspects of the project! Now we should not expect every person to be a guru, but they should at least show some interest and have some self-motivation to learn on their own.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">Overall the majority of students in the class were hard workers and they really put a lot of time and effort in their respective projects. Most of them wanted to learn and be challenged. They just lacked the proper skills that were necessary prior to taking this class.</p><br/><p style="text-align: justify">There was a lot involved for the students in this particular class, and this put a lot of pressure on the students to push themselves and to become self-motivated and self-starters. And that is exactly what my objective was in not only this class but all my classes. I want my students to push harder and to think bigger and explore more areas and ideas because this is the only way to grow and be competitive later on in their professional careers.</p>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6780473476470038887.post-74214061386216459412013-10-21T19:59:00.000-07:002014-02-15T04:39:47.155-08:00Field Engineering Software: Five Things You Should Look For<div id="article-content" style="text-align: justify"><br/><br/>There is a wide range of field engineering software packages available for utilities, their vendors and consultants, but they aren't all created equal. Because most utility providers and their clients employee a number of individuals who serve different functions, it can be difficult to coordinate across different platforms effectively. When you're interested in a software solution, it's important to evaluate your company's needs and those of your engineers and other critical employees. Once you've determined what you need, do some research to find out which software companies provide the most reliable and flexible programs.<br/><br/>Key Elements That Make A Great Field Engineering Software Program<br/><br/>1. The Ability To Design And Document In The Field<br/><br/>Working in the field is always a challenge. If you don't truly have mobile capability that allows you to quickly, easily and accurately design, review or change extensions or repairs, you'll quickly realize that you aren't keeping up with repairs, extensions or other activities. Falling behind simply isn't an option in the utilities industry, so be sure your field engineers are using mobile solutions that give them plenty of latitude for work management regardless of their location.<br/><br/>2. Easy Integration With Other Company Platforms<br/><br/>No matter how great your field engineering software is, if it can't be easily integrated into your current system, it's useless. Be sure to talk to a representative about what you need and how well it will work with your current system. The best programs seamlessly tie together data such as utility maps and planning tools,including electronic sketching on specifications and drawings. Ask if the field engineering package can work with your accounting system or any other work-related systems back at the office. Keeping your engineers in the loop greatly enhances productivity.<br/><br/>3. Printable Reports<br/><br/>Whether you're holding a staff meeting, pitching your services to new clients, reviewing your inventory or invoicing clients, you should be able to print customizable reports that utilize the variety of information at your fingertips. Being able to view the "whole picture" instead of just bits and pieces of information will make everyone more efficient, which can improve your bottom line.<br/><br/>4. Systems Engineering And Analysis Capability<br/><br/>It's not enough to be able to see the information that's been input into your system. You have to be able to effectively analyze the information in order to determine the best course of action. Look for programs that let work crews not only view maps and sketches, but retrieve valuable information in order to engineer valid solutions. Systems engineering and analysis is the backbone of good field work, so be sure it is supported properly. The right engineering analysis software can save you thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours.<br/><br/>5. Customer Service And Support<br/><br/>Any time you install new software on your network, there could be glitches. The learning curve can be steep for some members of your organization, but with the right customer service and support, they will soon be performing flawlessly. Ask vendors about the level of after-purchase support you can expect. Will they help your employees properly configure their computers, notebooks and smart phones? Will they be available if you run into an unexpected problem?<br/><br/>When you're ready to graduate to the latest in engineering analysis software, take the time to ask the right questions so that you invest in a product that will work across multiple platforms and quickly help turn problems into solutions.<br/><br/></div>dssadsdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17763154659366171389noreply@blogger.com0