Week 11: Muddy

This week, I’m having a hard time grasping the concept of Queries in Access. The lecture briefly describes queries as how you interact with data from a database. It also explains how they support four basic data operations. I’m still a little confused. After researching, I found a more detailed definition at wikianswers.com as my reference.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_query_in_access

A query is a way of extracting information from a database in Microsoft Access. It’s one of the most important things in a database to get information from your database or manipulate data. It usually involves certain criteria or requesting certain data. You can use queries to extract data to a separate table or delete data, change data and many other things.

Excel Project

This week, we were assigned a project in Excel working on a spreadsheet for a large fitness company. The owner collected data from 500 subjects, measuring their heart rate every minute for 20 minutes.
From this data given, I was able to format the spreadsheet making it more organized and easier to analyze. I created formulas to calculate the Maximum Heart Rate based on each subjects age, the Target Heart Rate for maximum cardiovascular benefit for each subject, and show the Highest Heart Rate Achieved. This new data is able to tell the owner whether or not the subject achieved their target and if the exercise program was sufficient.

I have taken a computer class prior to this course, making me somewhat familiar with Excel and was able to navigate around. This course has taught me a tremendous amount of new tools like the IF, Max MIN formulas. I absolutely love how you can enter in one formula and apply it to all of your data instead of entering it in individually. I’ve learned that you can use Excel to store, manipulate, and graph data with different tables like the pivot table. Most importantly, I’ve learned that you can incorporate Excel in just about any project to organize data and make fast calculations. Excel makes life a whole lot easier in the business world! =)

This is my screen capture of the “AvgIncrease” Pivot Table.

Week 10: Clear

A firewall is a great device that is designed to block any unauthorized access entering a computer system. It acts as a boundary between networks to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing a private network. Firewalls are also used to examine all messages coming in or out and blocks any that doesn’t meet the security criteria. According to the lecture, they are the FIRST line of defense in protecting your network from viruses, DOS (Denial of Service) attacks, hacking, and worms. Most importantly, firewalls will help protect your identity as an individual or business.

Firewalls are extremely important in the business environment. Businesses need to protect their computers from danger with a firewall because most rely on their computer system on a daily basis. The internet is a large network of computers, making it easy for virus to spread. If your computer is connected to the internet, you are at risk and need the right security software. Also, if your computer is not connected to a firewall, hackers can gain access to personal information and destroy all your businesses important files. I’d rather be safe than sorry.

A great computer source where I got my information is SpamLaws.com. They explain thoroughly and share the benefits of using firewalls.
http://www.spamlaws.com/firewall-importance.html
I also found the illustration of how a firewall works at Wikipedia.com.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Firewall.png

Week 9: Muddy

This weeks lecture, I’m a little confused about Pivot Tables. Since the lecture was only a few minutes long, I searched Wikipedia and found a lot of great information to help better understand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pivot_table
I found that a pivot table is a data summarization tool used for spreadsheets like Microsoft Excel. They are used to automatically sort, count, and total the data stored in one table to create a second table (pivot table) which will display the summarized data.
They usually consist of a row, column, and data fields which allow several kinds of aggregations like sum, average, etc.
Pivot Tables benefit in the business world because unlike a typical data entry where the data is stored only in columns and rows, a pivot table can help summarize the flat data, giving it depth, and highlighting the desired information. Pivot tables are better if you have a lot of information that needs to be summarized and they are now considered an important part of a spreadsheet application.

**(photo) Trainsignal Training a free computer training site.
http://www.trainsignaltraining.com/wpnew/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/Kasia_Pivot/1.jpg

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