Week 7: Clear

Have you ever worked really hard on a project and right before you hit the save button, the computer crashes? Well, it’s not just your luck. Data loss is very common; 66% of all Internet users have experienced some sort of data loss. That’s a high percentage considering all you have to do is backup.
Backup?!?!?!?
Backup is a term used for making copies of important data that can be restored if any data is lost. Backups are not the same as archives. An archive is a primary copy of data used for future use and a backup is a secondary copy of data used to replace the original item. As long as new data is being created and changes are being made, backups will need to be updated.
Computer Backup is especially important in the business environment because most companies store their important information onto a computer. Without this data, some companies could simply not exist. It’s recommended that every business perform weekly or daily backups depending on the amount of information being stored. Several ways to backup information are hard disk imaging, online backup, and external storage devices.

For more information regarding backup, I found Spam Laws Online to be the best resource.
http://www.spamlaws.com/business-backup.html

My Web 2.0 Project

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

WOW this project was more time consuming then I thought…After reading the instructions over and over and finally understanding, I found myself spending the most time coming up with a cute story and looking through old pictures.
Using OneTrueMedia, my project best reflects my journey to the swamp and I am extremely pleased on how it turned out. This was a great assignment; I learned that everyone does have a story to tell and it’s great to reflect on the past. I have also learned that using Web 2.0 in business makes it much more exciting and you don’t have to stick with the same old boring presentation. I really enjoyed working on it and it's something I will cherish for years.

I used a comment box and a poll underneath my video as my interaction method. It has worked really well and I have gotten nothing but positive feedback from my peers.

Web 2.0 Tool Story
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=a5b72c45382521651bfe03&skin_id=701

Web 2.0 Interaction Method
http://tylerkocis.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-montage-21110-at-onetruemediacom.html

Week 6: Clear

The most clear concept this week is definitely the CD-ROM.
A CD-ROM, Compact Disc Read-Only-Memory, is a pre-pressed disc capable of storing large amounts of data. They are mass-produced by manufacturers where a glass master disc is created and used to make "stampers", and then multiple copies of the final disc are created. Once stamped by the vendor, they cannot be erased nor filled with new data. Also, CDs come in recordable (CD-R) and rewritable (CD-RW) discs, where a laser changes the properties of the dye called “burning”. To read a CD you need a CD-ROM player which all come in a standard size and format so you can load any type of CD-ROM into any CD-ROM player.
As CD-ROMs are rapidly growing, they are becoming very important to the business environment mainly because they can store large amounts of important data. A single CD has the capacity of storing the amounts of 700 floppy disks, or about 300,000 text pages. Not only has the CD-ROM replaced the floppy disk drive, it has allowed us to use our computers in ways that we never used them before with multimedia.It also works as a back up and optical storage device for your computer and they are relatively low in cost and size.

Wikipedia offers a great website for references because they explain all the aspects of a CD-ROM. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-ROM

I also found PcGuide.com to be a great resource primarily because it explains the importance of a CD-ROM. http://www.pcguide.com/ref/cd/index.htm

Week 5: Muddy

In this week’s lecture, The Processor, I found hyper-threading to be confusing due to the lack of information. The lecture only describes it as an execution process. I’m still confused, so I found a source online to better understand. TechTerms.com gave a more detailed explanation on hyper-threading, making this concept easier to grasp.

According to TechTerms.com:
http://www.techterms.com/definition/hyperthreading

Hyper-threading allows the processor to execute two threads, or sets of instructions, at the same time. It’s almost like having two separate processors working together. This can improve the processing performance by allowing the two programs to be processed as separate threads at the same time. Intel claims up to a 30% speed improvement compared with a, non-simultaneous multi-threading Pentium 4.

http://www.musicxpc.com/images/products/hyper_thread_works.jpg

Basically, hyper-treading extends to 2 threads. It multi-tasks more than one instruction thread, giving a significant increase in the processors performance and time.