The Superblog

Week 12: Social & Ethical Issues

2008-05-23T09:35:00.012+08:00

[The website keeps on changing my text size]
Lecture summary
The lecture was about ethical and social issues when it comes to computers and the security and privacy of its users. This lecture gave a overview of the problems associated with the internet and how to protect yourself against identity fraud, SPAM, suspicious attachments and programs and links you can search to help you understand to protect yourself better.

Tutorial summary
In the tutorial we visited the copyright website of Australia and a few others such as the apra website.

Workshop Tasks
1. a) First we went to the Australian copyright website: http://www.copyright.org.au/
then went to the Copyright information links at the top of the page, then on the next page we followed the link at the bottom All Information sheets.

The information sheets site
b) FIVE information sheets

Research or study.
This article provides the copyright information that needs to be followed when using copyrighted material for study or research purposes. It gives an outline of what do to.

Games & Copyright

This article provides the copyright information and details that need to be considered when copying or distributing games that have a copyright stamp.

House plans & copyright
This article would apply to people that are considering using copyrighted house plans. This article provides some questions and answers regarding using copyrighted house plans.

This article provides some common questions and answers regarding copying or downloading music from music label organisations that distribute them.

This article provides some common questions and answers regarding copying or downloading videos and DVD's. As downloading movies and distributing them illegally is a crime. These copyright laws are often very serious and can result in massive penalties.

2. We then visited the APRA website : http://www.apra.com.au/music-users/online_mobile/online_mobile.asp
This site explains that the use of copyright music requires the appropriate clearances to be obtained. It also explains that whenever music is downloaded or streamed over the internet, there are a number of rights which are exploited. This copyright covers digital downloads as full length songs; mobile phone ringtones and webcasting.

3. Protecting your privacy and security
- First of all when it comes to protecting your privacy and and protecting your computer from viruses. You need to have a anti-virus program, i would use AVG anti-virus, it is free and automatically updates itself when it gets connected to the internet. It also automatically scans any attachments or documents that you open for viruses and will let you know immediately.

-Another program is Ad-Ware SE Personal, this program is also free to download, it will update each time an update is available. Running this program will let you know of any files that are downloaded onto your computer without you knowing it each time you enter an untrusted site.

-You should also get a program called ZoneAlarm, with this program, you can lock your internet when you are away from the computer, this will protect your personal files from potential hackers. When you recieve emails from unknown senders, don't even open them these could pose as a risk of getting a virus, be aware of attachments and SPAM emails.

-When giving your credit card details up over the net make sure it is a secure site. Trusted and secure sites have a little lock icon at the bottom of the window and the web address would have a s after the http like this: https://.......................

Readings

EFF's Top 12 ways to protect your online privacy (http://www.eff.org/wp/effs-top-12-ways-protect-your-online-privacy)

This site provides 12 ways to protect your privacy. These include that you should not provide any personal details about yourself on the internet. Don't reveal personal information to strangers over the net, especially on personal sites and in chat rooms!! It provides many more ways to protect your privacy.

Electronic Monitoring (http://ethics.csc.ncsu.edu/social/workplace/monitoring/)

This site provides information on the types of monitoring in workplaces and in the home. Including privacy issues and policies in the workplace.

Overview of Intellectual Property (http://www.bpmlegal.com/overview.html)

This site is about pat4ents, trademarks and copyrights on the net. Including some information about domain names and trade secrets. This site is mainly about intellectual property on the net. Patents are used to protect inventions from being stolen by other people. Trademarks are registered and cannot be copied. Examples are Coca Cola and such. Copyright materials include books, architectural works, movies, art pieces etc.

Week 11: Building Knowledge

2008-05-17T00:45:00.003+08:00

Lecture summary

This lecture was about data, information and knowledge. Including the characteristics of each term and their hierachy. As knowledge is at the top, then information and then data as the lowest form.

Tutorial summary

We tried various ways of how to present data, information and knowledge. We searched the terms and then had to write what we think the terms mean.

Workshop Tasks

1. First we went to the webpage:http://www.success.co.il/is/dik.html

we also went to the webpage : http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Dictionaries

Webpage definitions

Here we had to find the definitions for the terms data, information, knowledge and wisdom.

Data: Is facts that does not have meaning

Information: data that has been processes into a form that is meaningful

Knowledge: Knowledge represents a cognitive/affective state that finds definition in meaning and understanding.

Wisdom: Knowledge consists of an organized body of information, such information patterns forming the basis of the kinds of insights and judgments which we call wisdom.

My definitions

Data: Data is raw facts.

Information: Is processed facts that conveys meaning

Knowledge: Is what you gain through reading, writing and researching many subjects.

Wisdom: You gain wisdom through experience and lots of knowledge

2. Graphical ways of how to present the terms

3. Relationship between data, information and knowledge.

These three concepts follow a certain logical hierachy. First is data, then information and knowledge. Knowledge being the most meaningful. Information is produced from data, which is just raw information and does not have any meaning. Knowledge is gained from aquiring heaps of information, which conveys meaning and is useful. Both knowledge and information are produced from data to have some meaning. Knowledge needs to be applied to something to make it useful.

4. Five Organisations that collect information from their clients or the public

-Banks

-Insurance companies

-statistical organisations

-Medical companies, e.g. hospitals, medical clinics

-Airports

Banks hold people's money in safe deposits, they need people's information for identification purposes. Insurance companies needs people's information, for when they get into an accident or the people are robbed, they can claim insurance from the company. Statistical organisations may need to take note of how many people live in the city, note the amount of voters for elections and other statistical reasons. Medical companies need the medical information about people for medical reasons. Airports need to collect people's information for indentification and national security reasons.

Readings

Data, Information, Knowledge, and Wisdom-(http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm)

This site is about data, information, knowledge and wisdom. It provides an explanation for each term and the relationship between the terms.

Information Literacy Tutorial-(http://camellia.shc.edu/literacy/index.html)

This site has anumber of tutorials of how information is presented aimed at highschool students. IT also includes some handouts and quizzes about information.

Week 10: Information Management

2008-05-10T09:54:00.002+08:00

Lecture summary
The lecture was about information management. The lecture also explains about atoms and bits. Atoms are things such as books, papers, reports, etc. and bits are things such as digital reproductions and electronic content.

Tutorial summary

In the tutorial we visted two websites. the first one was how to add a bookmark in your favourites and the other was about the DNA of information. He also explains about "bits" and "atoms".

Workshop Tasks

1. We visited this website

http://www.inette.com/aibtinette/favoritesI.html

This site explains step-by-step how to bookmark a page, so you can go back to it later

2. We then had to make 3 folders and save 2 sites under each folder

For Accessing Knowledge folder

For Research & Writing folder

For Learning at uni folder

3. Then we visisted the website: "Being Digital"

http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdcont.htm

Then go to "The DNA of information"

Books can go out of circulation, electronic books are alwaya available. Electronic books may become more available than ordinary books in the future. He is explaining the make up of information by using the terms "bits" and "atoms". "Atoms" as the manufacturing business and "bits" as the information deleivery business. He also talks about a more didgtal world.

Readings

Grazing the Net (http://www.fno.org/text/grazing.html)

This site is about wethere the internet is worth it and how students can evaluate the internet. Checking the relaiblility and accuracy of a site and its contents. It also provides some good points on evaluating internet sites.

Week 9: Communications

2008-05-03T09:42:00.002+08:00

Lecture Summary
We learned about different kinds of online communication, such as social networking groups/sites, chat rooms, discussion boards and the benefits of using these services.

Tutorial summary
In the tutorial we visited a variety of sites such as yahoo podcast video and audio, google groups to see what kind of groups there are. We also visited the ecu library podcast website.

Workshop Task
1. Go to google then groups

I typed in architecture, here are the group results:
Here I found the groups "alt.archietcture", and "comp.arch".

2. In the alt.architecture group i found the message: "What is architecture?"
This message is about what architecture is and what it means to each society. Saying that London won't be London without Big Ben or Paris won't be Paris without the Eiffel Tower.

3. I wentto http://podcasts.yahoo.com/.

Then i typed in "Modern Archietcture"

I opened the first page "Fibonacci Numbers and The Golden Section in Art, Architecture and Music"

Then I went to http://www.ecu.edu.au/library/services/podcasts.html
4. What are the potential benefits of podcasts for university students?

Podcasts can provide students with a tour of the campus, they can listen to lectures on the go. You can even make your own podcasts to help you remember certain subjects. Also can be used for studying for tests or exams or just to revise.

Readings
14 Email Do's and Don'ts (http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page6175.cfm)
is site is just about things you should not write or do when writing emails, may it be informal or formal. Follow the rules you can write better emails. Such as make sure your spelling and grammar is correct. When asking for something, get to the point.

Essential Email Etiquette (http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page4815.cfm)

Address recipitants properly.I formal, use Dear Sir/Madam or if you are not sure of the recipitant use To whom it may concern. Use an appropriate tone, don't make it too emotional.

The Problem with SPAM (http://www.caube.org.au/problem.htm)

This site is about the negatives of SPAM. "Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE), commonly known as email spam, is a unique form of advertising which has no incremental cost to the sender, imposes real and measurable costs on the recipients, and has the potential to destroy the value of electronic mail." This site also features solutions that don't work and solutions that do.

Week 8: Presentation Strategies

2008-04-30T17:09:00.005+08:00

Lecture Summary
The lecture was about presentation strategies. How to structure and prepare for a presentation by using visual aids such as videos, power points etc.
Tutorial Summary
The tutorial was about how to make a low impact presentation, we had to make a title slide, intro slide, 3 main body slides and a summary including graphics and an animation to enhance the presentation, so it won't be terrible.

Workshop Tasks
1. Visit Laura Guertin's Online resources for how to prepare and deliver a presentation
Top 5 strategies for a "top-notch" presentation at http://www.personal.psu.edu/uxg3/blogs/undergraduateresearch/2008/02/online-resources-for-how-to-pr.html
1. Use big fonts
2. Use a maximum of 5 - 8 bullet points per slide
3. Don't put too much data in
4. Don't make it too over crowded with graphics
5. Don't read every word off every slide

2. PowerPoint Presentation

Here is a video about some presentation strategies

Week 7: End Note Libraries

2008-04-11T15:48:00.002+08:00

Lecture summary
The lecture was about how to reference using the endnote library and how to change it to APA referencing format according to ECU referencing

Tutorial summary
In the tutorial we learned how to use the endnote library and how to insert citations to MS Word.

Workshop Tasks
1. 5 Examples of electronic referencing

Periodical

Scheraga, J.D (1990) Combating Global Warming [Electronic version], Challenge, 33(4), 28

Article only in an internet journal

Fredrickson, B. L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimise health and well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3, Article 0001a. Retrieved November 20, 2000, from http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre0030001a.html

Message posted to an electronic mailing list

Hammond, T. (2000, November 20). YAHC: Handle parameters, DOI games, etc. Message posted to ref links electronic mailing list, archived

Webpage

Bindeez. (n.d.) Retrieved November 24, 2007, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bindeez

Daily newspaper article, electronic version available by search

Hilts, P. J. (1999, February 16). In forecasting their emotions, most people flunk out. New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2000, from http://www.nytimes.com/

2. Endnotev11 Excercises for Vista
page 1.

page 2.

Week 6: Evaluation & Authenication

2008-04-05T13:34:00.002+08:00

Lecture Summary
This week's lecture was about evaluating and checking the authenticity of internet sources. This can be done by checking the url (uniform resource locater) is it a .gov?, .edu? And things like when was it last updated? On the internet you have to evaluate your sources carefully as anyone can put up a webpage. The lecture also included a brief background of the internet as to how it came about.

Tutorial summary
In today's tutorial we learned some evaluating strategies to research better and to cite better sources.

Workshop Tasks
Evaluating strategies
The ICYouSee Critical Thinking Webpage

http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think6.html
1. Not everything is on the internet. And does the site even cover the topic you are researching? Look out for sites with more credible authors, check to see if they have some background in the topic.
2.Anyone can publish a website, check for bias, reasoning. If you are not sure that the information is accurate, compare it with other sources. If available check the site's bibliographical links to sources.
3. Find out the authors credentials, check their background in the topic to decide whether they are a good source.Check the domain name--this can be either .edu or .gov or .org
4. Whats the purpose of the website, who is the site intended for? If there is quotes or statistics, there should be citations, if there aren't any, don't use the website for your research.
5. Look out for spelling and grammar. What is the depth of the material? It is technical or just some basic and brief information? Look for a last updated date and check for any links to other sources.If available, check out the ABOUT page.
6. Today there are a lot more sources to use on the internet other than just pages on the web. Online books and periodical articles and journals can now be found on the web. You can now subscribe to online libraries. Giving you 24/7 access to a large range of sources. When using periodical journals , make sure that they are peer-reviewed or that they are scholar journals or articles.

"Reliving the sixties: a Website Evaluation Assignment" Assignment
1. American Cultural History 1960-1969
Accuracy: it has call numbers to books available in the library, including many links to other sites
Authorship: This site is from the library of Kingwood College
Purpose:A range of topics such as architecture, film and tv, education and literature to provide the reader with a good coverage of each topic
Detail: Provides a lot of detail about each topic, with links for further reading.
Design: A number of pictures available , in each section.

2. Psychedelic 60's
Accuracy: Last updated January 2008
Authorship: Created by University of Virginia
Purpose: A number of events such as Woodstock and the Vietnam War.
Detail: Very detailed information.
Design: Lots of pictures with captions.

Week 5: Using Search Engines

2008-03-28T21:59:00.001+09:00

Lecture summary

This lecture was about using search engines. Including an introduction as to what a search engine is and the types of search engines. The lecture also had information about web directories and how to use them.

Tutorial summary

In the tutorial we visited the site http://www.monash.com/spidap.html, we had to list strategies on how to structure a good search. We also had to do a history quiz, we had to use a variety of search engines to find the answers.

Tutorial Task

http://www.monash.com/spidap.html

Four strategies to help you structure a good search:

If you are searching with web directories, it can help you narrow down a broad subject. Each time you choose a subject it will come up with a list of sub headings and then under that another list of sub headings until you narrow your topic down to more specifics.

Searching by using search engines will give you a large selection of information usually not related to your topic, so you need to determine the keywords, use quotation marks and operators such as NOT and AND. If you are looking to find the exact phrase such as the famous line from Hamlet To be or not to be , you will have to place the phrase between quotations as search engines will not search unimportant words or words that are too common.

Quiz results

My History Quiz results
Quiz located at http://www.siteseen.co.uk/questions/historytrivia/

Readings

Robert Harris-Web Search Strategies

This site gives a number of very valuable techniques and strategies when searching the web.

The History of the internet: (Chap 4-Search Engines)

This site also provides many search techniques and strategies when using the web. This site also has some detailed information about the history of the internet.

Search Engine Optimization for companies

This site also provides the reader with many search strategies that you can use when searching the web.

Week 4: Using the WWW

2008-03-22T10:56:00.006+09:00

Lecture summary
This lecture was about using the World Wide Web. Who developed it and when it was developed and what tools you will need o access the internet.

Tutorial summary

In the tutorial we visited three websites and had to evaluate their authenticity and reliability. We had to give clues to prove that the site is a spoof. (a site not to be taken seriously)

Tutorial Task
In week 4 we visited 3 websites
http://www.martinlutherking.org/
http://www.molossia.org/
http://www.haggishunt.scotsman.com/

First we went to haggishunt website.

We had to evaluate the site and give 4 clues as to why this site is a spoof!! ( a website that is not designed to be serious, as in its a joke)
First clue is that the animal (haggis) does not exist
Second, In the haggisclopedia there is a drink recipe in which the haggis is one of the ingredients
Third, in the shop you can't buy anything
Fourth, Commercial site and links do not work
Fifth, the animal is drawn, there are no real photos of the animal

On the http://www.molossia.org/ site

On the site there is a Shop link, in the bank it has the currency details. The currency is cookie dough
At the start there is a teachers login, it says that the site is fake
If you search it on a web browser, you see that that country does not exist.
Presentation is not good.
Then we went to the Martin Luther King website on http://www.martinlutherking.org/

What I would except to find before I entered the site:

I expected that there would be information about Martin Luther King, since it has an .org at the end, it would be a organisation.

[The site keeps changing my font size

My impressions of the website:

It has links to rap lyrics and black invention myths. The website is a spoof because of the links mentioned.

Readings:

A brief history of the internet

This site provides the reader with a detailed history of the internet.

History of the world wide web

This site gives a more in-dept history of the internet under the five headings. “The Development of Computers till 1960's”, “From ARPANET to World Wide Web”, “History of Electronic Mail”, “Search Engines” and “Basic Net Data”.

Week 3: Online Libraries and Databases

2008-03-15T03:04:00.001+09:00

Week 3
Lecture summary
In the lecture we learned what online databases are what you would use them for, the types of dtatbases, the advantages and the limitations of online databases.

Tutorial summary
In the tutorial we learned how to use the library's online databases and visited the Lourve online museum archivfe and the Medline Plus online database.

Tutorial Tasks
In todays tutorial we visited the ECU library web page and explored some of the support functions available on the site. We also learned how to access online journal articles. You can access the online journals via the ECU library website by clickng on the Journal Articles(Databases) Link

You can search for journal articles by a variety of categories. For example by Subject or title
Here are some useful search tips

Determine the key term
Check the full text and scholarly journals boxes
You can use quotation marks to find the exact phrase or word
Use only AND function, not OR function
Change criteria from abstract to document text
Keywords will be highlighted
If you are looking for a certain date, you can choose to change the Date Range to your desired choice
You can change the Databases drop down list to choose from which database you want the web to search in or you can leave it to search through multiple databases
Maybe change some keywords to narrow down your search results
Change the search criteria until you can narrow your search down to only a few

Journal Article - 'Economic impact of global warming on businesses'
Search results are above

Afterwards we visited the site www.medlineplus.gov and went through the health topics and did some of the interactive tutorials

MedLine Plus Home

The arrow indicates wher the interactive tutorials are:
Here is the list of the many interactive tutorials that you can read through
Here is a screenshot of the "What is Neurosurgery?" tutorial

And who do I think might use such a service? A pharmacist or chemist
Here is some info about Medline Plus

Readings
Finding what you want on the web
This site recommends that you do not only use Google, but use other search engines too. The site makes it clear that Google is not the only search engine on the internet.

Bare Bones Lesson 7 :Basic Search Tips
This site tells you how to get more out of your search engine such as using "the plus (+) and minus (-) signs in front of words to force their inclusion and/or exclusion"
+meat -potatoes is the example given by this site.

Week 2: Office Applications

2008-03-08T03:04:00.001+09:00

Week 2

Lecture:

We started off with how many Microsoft applications you can list and how many internet browsers you can list. Also some tips on creating power points and viewing adobe pdf files.

Tutorial:

We did the excel and word exercises from BlackBoard. We learned how to create a table of contents, make headers and footers and how to insert page numbers.

Tutorial Tasks
In class we used microsoft word.
We learnt how to create a coverpage and a contents table and also how to make headers and footers.

Here is how to create a coverpage in word

Click on the Insert tab on the ribbon, then click on Coverpage and choose yor coverpage
To create Headers & Footers
On the ribbon, click on the Insert tab

Here you will find the Header and Footer option

here you can select built in header styles, the same is for creating footers

To remove or edit your header and/or footer go to Insert tab--Header or footer, at the bottom of the menu you will find Remove Footer/Header and Edit Footer/Header

To create a contents page

On the ribbon go to the refernces tab, click Table Of Contents, a list of styles will appear, choose one

When you create headings and sub headings, you can update the contents table by clicking on the contents table then by clicking update table. always choose update entire table.

Here are some keyboard short-cuts
Ctrl + up arrow- will take you to the start of the paragraph
Ctril + down arrow - take you to end of paragraph
Ctrl + left/right arrow- allows you to jump between words
Ctrl + Shift + Home - takes you to the start of the document
Ctrl + Shift + End- takes you to end of document
Ctrl + N- opens a new document

Excel Excercises

We also had to do some excel excercises.
We had to make a table of activities such as eating, sleeping and travelling
Including a pie chart showing the average number of hours spent doing each activity per week
We also had to make a bar graph of the hours we spend socialising each day

Here are the charts

Readings

Using MS Word for APA tasks
This reading gives you general tips on how to use word, including how to create hyphens and dashes, highlighting words, how to set up the margins and line spacing. It gives you step by step instructions on how to do a variety of things in MS Word.

Graphic File Formats
It tells you what bitmap (.bmp), CompuServe (.gif), Jpeg (.jpg), Tagged-Image Format (.tiff) and photoshop document (.psd `.psp`.spp) file formats are and what they're used for and when they're used.

Week 1: Introduction to University Computing

2008-03-01T10:43:00.002+09:00

Week 1

Lecture & Tutorial Summary

Lecture:

The lecture provided us information about where to find BlackBoard and the library home website. An introduction to the unit was also in the lecture.

Tutorial:

In the tutorial we created our blog and set up an account on the Imageshack website.

Tutorial Tasks
In our first week we learned how to make our blog

here is a step-by step how to create it:

1. Go to http://www.blogger.com/

2.This screen wil appear

Then click on the Create Your Blog Now

3. Then the Create an account page will come up
On this page you will need to create a username, which should be unique

Create a password

Create a display name-this should tell people who you are, but don't use your name

Then type your email address so blogger can register you

Accept the terms & conditions and continue the next page

4. Next you will need to create your blog name

On this page you will name your blog which is the blog title.

Your blog address which is the blog url. This will be you blog's address at blogspot

Then copy the random letters shown and continue

6. Next select a template for your blog.

You can preview it, so you can see what it looks like.....you can always change it later.

Click on to continue
7.Your Blog will now be created
8. Oce this screen appears you can START POSTING

9.Next you can update your profile in the settings page

Save your settings

You can now create posts and view them by clicking on view blog

How to access your student email and Blackboard

First of all go to the ECU main website, then to the Current students link, her you can access your ECU student email account. You can also access Blackboard from the student home page.

Student Home
Blackboard

Student email

Readings

PC Lube & Tune summary

PC Lube & Tune is a service and convenience store established in 1994. This site has links to topics relating to computers, such as an introduction to computer hardware, computer programming languages and other links including introduction to TCP/IP (internet protocols).

How PC's work summary
This site explains the basics of computers, including the hardware such as the mouse, keyboards etc. and the software, the memory, the central processing unit and the operating system. Also the future of PC's and the many personal portable computing devices.