Thursday, February 22, 2007

Assignment 2/3

Phew, finally done!!! Wow, I'm glad it's over... I just completed my 2nd assignment, and submitted it :)

Now I think this is my last post, as I'm about to submit this too... But it's been a good 'ride'.

I enjoyed having a blog and keeping track of what I'm doing.

Thanks again, and thanks teachers/tutors :)

Module 5 - Concepts

After going through the 2nd and third assignment, I decided that it was time I studied the 'concepts' page, so that I would have an understanding of all the concepts together.

It recapped my memory, and nicely tied all the main ideas/concepts together... Now for the assignment :-)

Monday, February 19, 2007

Module 5

Today I finished studying module 5, and learnt about 'information ecologies'. That was something new to me, and I still have to try and get my head around the idea.

I also went over P2P networks, and although I know about them, and how they work, there was heaps of extra information that I gained, thanks to this module.

It's really informative, and great to see how the internet might 'change' and what the future might hold for it - considering how young the internet it, all I can say is: 'Wow!'.

I think that's it for today, I think I'll go over the concepts another time.

Ceao ceao

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Module 4

I went through Module four, and now I've started to do the tasks

Module 4 Tasks

The first task was to install some programs/applications that I didn't already have on my computer. After doing a test to see if I had Flash/Shockwave Players, I realised that I didn't have a Flash Player. So I went to the website, and within one minute the Flash Player was installed. As I'm using a different computer to what I usually use, this will help the computer owner in the future.

The second program that I downloaded and installed was PageSucker. Since I've got super-fast broadband, it downloaded really quick. I then went through the usual install process, and had the program running in a few minutes. It's a cool program that can really prove useful, especially if you have dial-up or think your internet connection will be cut-off.

Search Engine Task

1. Using Google, the first hit was www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced, and the total number of hits for 'advanced internet users' was 118,000,000.

2. Using Copernic, only 819 results came up, but these results were MUCH more accurate and useful. While Google came up with millions of results, Copernic came up with useful results that could actually be used. On first glance I thought that Google had the most promising results, but I now believe that Copernic is better due to the amount of suitable pages it 'pulled up'.

3. Google hits: www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced
www.vicnet.net.au/training/advance.html
www3.uwm.edu/sce/course.cfm?id=6835
newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/global/asiapac/news/2005/pr_09-21.html
www.statcounter.com

Copernic hits: http://www.rockymtnweb.com/free/advanced/index.htm
http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
http://www.msen.com/1997/adv_links.html
http://www.download3k.com/Internet/Download-managers/Download-Advanced-Internet-Tool.html
http://www.cln.org/guidebooks.html


Boolean Searching Task

To get the largest number of hits relation to 'advanced internet users' I would search for 'advance AND internet AND users', which is done automatically in google.

To find information relating to skills-based information I would search for 'internet users AND skills'.

To find information on 'advanced internet users' coming only from university sources, I would search for 'advanced internet users AND university'.

Organising search information task

1.
http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
Stevens Institute of Technology
"Choosing a link below will bring you to a web page that describes a specific procedure or aspect of browsing the internet. This tutorial ultimately directs you to the browser's help menu for specific directions. After you learn about your chosen topic, try the recommended Practice Exercises to sharpen your skills. Information about using your internet browser's Help Menu is available and linked from each tutorial web page. " (Steven's Institute of Technology)


2.
http://www.msen.com/1997/adv_links.html
Msen. Inc.

The following links may be of interest to advanced users.

Route Servers

  • Digex - Main page
  • MAE East Looking Glass
  • MAE West Looking Glass
  • Sprintnap Looking Glass
  • www.llv.com behind Agis
  • hplyot.obspm.fr Many more via links. In France. Interactive (Summary of webpage)
  • 3.
    http://www3.uwm.edu/sce/course.cfm?id=6835
    University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
    Nearly everyone knows how to use the Internet, but are you an expert? Can you find the number of people currently living in the U.S.? Do you know where to locate different time zones or play games for free? Can you tell the difference between fact and fiction? What about hoaxes? Find out this and much more in this exciting new class. (Summary of webpage)

    I saved all this information in my blog by typing it directly into my blog, because I've already done and submitted assignment 1. So the only software used is that provided in 'blogger.com' to create blogs.

    Evaluating the Web

    Annotation:
    The author is not specified, but since the web page appears on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee website, I'm sure that the information is correct and reliable.
    The main ideas discussed in this webpage are how to become an advanced internet user, but you must attend a course. This site was written to help people, but will not be used in my assignment as it is not relevant and useful to me.


    My annotation would be most useful for my future use because I'll understand what I wrote, and be able to make it much more useful than a summary or snapshot of something created by someone else.
    I believe that my annotation would provide the best information to users because it provides more information to external users than they could receive by a snapshot or summary.

    Tuesday, February 6, 2007

    Module 3 Tasks


    HTML Tags
    Module 3 was done, and the first task involved using HTML tags to create a basic webpage.

    Since I've used HTML in creating webpages before at school, it was relatively easy and simple for me to complete this exercise.

    The only difficulty was with my picture, which I knew wasn't showing on the oasis page due to it being located on my computer. So I sourced another picture, this time from the internet, and it works perfectly.

    If only all assignments were this easy :-)

    WWW Standards - legal standards
    I have not used images or words on my web page that contravene copyright laws because the image that I used is for research purposes only. But if I put the Curtin logo at the top of my web page, I would be in breach because I'm not a representative of Curtin university.

    FTP
    After spending almost an hour trying to work this out, I still haven't achieved anything. I've gone through all the relevant posts on the discussion forum, and downloaded/installed everything - basically it 'should' work, but I can't get a connection, so I decided to give up. Maybe I'll try again later, and it'll work :)

    In the meantime, I'm going to have to be satisfied with knowing that I'm 'still learning', and that I can't expect everthing to work too soon.

    Blogs
    Well this task requires me to take a screenshot of my blog, which is basically where I'm typing this - so here it is :)



    Top 5 tips for new bloggers:

    1: Blogs are easy to create
    2: Realize that depending how you publish it, anyone can read it
    3: Use understandable words so that readers understand your message
    4: Be creative
    5: Enjoy it - have fun with it :)

    Wednesday, January 10, 2007

    Module 1 & 2 quiz

    Well this morning I attempted the quiz, and passed :)... Some of the questions I hadn't really heard of, while for others I knew the answer, just I couldn't remember them! But I managed a pass, so I'm happy... :)

    So I guess that's all for module 1 & 2... next I can move on to more more 'technical' stuff :)

    Module 2 - Part 2

    Lists

    The advantages of email lists versus discussion boards is that email lists are sent to members, so they automatically receive updates. Another advantage is that they continually have updated information that they can't miss.

    The cons of email lists are that they are harder to follow, and require to 'actively' follow it - you can't just occasionally receive the information when YOU want to access it.

    There are 'certain kinds of communication or purposes more suited to one than the other', such as an update of ' the latest playstation' would be better suited to a list, but keeping informed on the issue of obesity in my opinion would be much better suited to a discussion board. The reason is that it is easier for everyone to participate and see other people's opinions.

    Newsgroups

    Well I've joined a newsgroup, and am waiting for my message to be approved... so in the meantime here is what I wrote:

    Almost Human wrote:
    > "Prison Break" has its fall season finale next Monday (Nov. 27), but the show's winter hiatus won't be a long one.
    >
    > FOX announced today that "Prison Break" will only be away until Monday, Jan. 22, when the second-year series returns with an hour-long clip show recapping the events of the first 13 episodes.

    Wow, I CAN'T wait for prison break to come back!!! It's such a great show, and now only a couple more weeks, and I can see what events unfold :)

    ICQ task

    I went searching for the ICQ nickname of 'advanced netstudies', but came up with no results... except for those for fellow NET11's, one who posted that the ICQ for this is unavailable... So I stopped. Then I looked some more, and someone had posted in their blog an ICQ number, and when I added it, I discovered that it was the number for 'advanced netstudies'. I was automatically authorized, and the comment in the 'about' section stated: "This is the ICQ identity I use just for my 'advanced internet use' students!" Well I hope it was the right one.

    I tried to chat to 'nikki' regarding instant-chatting, and it came up as 'she's appearing offline'... so much for my endeavours to chat... anyways, there should be a next time! :)

    So then I managed to chat to 'keymonkey' on ICQ, and discuss which chat service we liked the best... I personally use msn a lot, while he uses a client that incorporates all the chat programs together. We discussed how instant chat is useful for keeping in contact with friends and family, and also he mentioned how he uses it in business.

    I've previously used an 'IRC' chat program, when in Europe, so I didn't bother doing the optional activity... lets hope I don't get penalized :)

    Well I think that's all I'll do today/tonite... I'll probably attempt the quiz to see how I've gone tomorrow.