We've jumped from talking about operating systems to talking about viruses, malware, spyware and their solutions...antivirus software. We weren't required to blog in week 2 so I didn't, ha, but I'd still like to reflect on some thoughts about operating systems first.
When I was pursuing a degree in programming (2000-2003) I completed a few courses that dealt with hardware and operating systems. Times have sure changed since then. Both in the way operating systems function and the way that courses are able to be taught. I remember dealing with DOS and Windows and making little .bat files to perform certain tasks. We had 3.5" floppy disks that we brought back and forth to class. The only thing I ended up remembering about Linux was that everything was treated as a shared file, even devices. We didn't have access to any computers running Linux - we just learned about it from a book. I remember talking about BASIC when we discussed the Mac OS. Fast forward to today. The obvious prediction back then was that there would be new versions of the current operating systems already out there and maybe a new OS or two. However, DOS and BASIC have gone from being able to be accessed fairly easily, to running in the background, to being phased out completely. Networking is part of operating systems and not a special OS (Windows NT?), there are completely new OS's from Apple and Microsoft, Linux has what seems like a thousand different flavors and Android is fast becoming the trendy new kid on the block. Not to mention all of the different implementations of these OS's on various mobile devices, tablets, and other gadgets. Just think - I can set up an OS to run inside of another OS (Linux inside of Windows), I can set up a machine to be capable of being "Dual-Boot" (Apple machine with both the Mac OS and Windows), or I can just make a bootable USB/Flash Drive with an OS on it that I can carry around in my pocket from PC to PC. That's a lot to keep up with. Geesh.
The antivirus topics we talked about this week were pretty familiar. I just finished teaching a 3 part unit on Internet Safety (Privacy, Cyber Bullying, Viruses/Malware) so this info was fresh on my mind. There are times when my middle school classes can get restless when I go into lecture mode, but this was not one of them. This topic really hits home for a lot of them and I was thrilled when many of them were sharing their personal experiences with viruses, etc. I have had just about every possible virus-related scenario happen to me or my computers through the last 10 years or so. I've had spyware, adware, my credit card account has been hacked twice, my email has been hacked, my computer hard drive even got erased in one instance. I am a lot more educated about these things now and I haven't had anything major to deal with lately but even if you are careful, you're still bound to have something slip through the cracks. If you are a PC user, that is. That's why reviewing antivirus software was informational for me. I've just been using the Security Center software that comes with my Internet service (McAfee) since it is free and seems to work fine. After doing some research, though, I discovered a few titles that I had never heard of and was pleasantly surprised to learn that they are extremely powerful and in most cases, affordable. There are even packages for Mac users because contrary to what some Mac users think, they can also get viruses. While it is in fact true that Macs get viruses a lot less than PCs it is not because they are more secure. Rather it is because Macs are owned in approximately 12% of US homes that have a computer. (as of Oct, 2009) Why would a troublemaker make a virus that will only effect 12% of the US when you can target 80% of computer users by targeting PCs with the Windows OS? They wouldn't.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Computer History for Laurence Mala - Post #1
As I reminisce about my early experience with computers I am taken back to 4th grade (1984) where I was fortunate enough to be involved in a program called the G&T (Gifted & Talented) program through the School District of Greenfield. The program was designed to challenge and provide accelerated opportunities for advanced students. I don't quite remember the criteria for belonging to this program but this is where I remember having my first exposure to computers. The computer model that I worked with was an Apple IIe and I remember that the whole Greenfield School District (4 grade schools) only had 2 of them. From what I remember we worked primarily with various software titles but I know that I was given the opportunity to do some really simple programming with graphics using the BASIC programming language. I remember using commands like Color=Green, Plot, Hlin, and Vlin. The Apple IIe used a 5 1/4" floppy drive for a lot of the software but it also had a tape drive. An interesting aside is that at my very first job as a computer teacher (1998) we still had 4 Apple IIe's that were used for a reading program (Accelerated Reader??) along with a few other popular software titles like Oregon Trail and Number Munchers. I also had 7 stand-alone PCs running Windows 95 to work with. No Internet connection - No network. Ahh...the good old days.
Soon thereafter (about 1988) I convinced my parents to purchase a Commodore 64 for me and that was my very first home computer. I dabbled a little bit in trying to program with it (again using a form of BASIC) but there was only so much a 12-13 year old could do with a computer at that time. I had a few software titles that made use of it's computing power like Koala Painter and a word processor but I ultimately started using it more and more for games. Awhile back I downloaded a C64 emulator through which you can run just about any software that they made for the C64 from HERE. While it was amusing to turn back the clock at first, I quickly grew tired of it and realized that I didn't miss it as much as I thought, haha.
Middle school came and it was more Apple IIe exposure even though it was somewhat outdated. High school came and that began my first experience with DOS and IBM-compatible computers. I owned PCs for the rest of my time from high school all the way through college. In college I learned Fortran as part of my Engineering courses and then I took some C, C++, and Visual Basic(.net wasn't available yet) courses.
My computers since 1995 have had Windows operating systems ranging from Windows 95 to my current PC with Windows 7 (I skipped over Vista, thanks goodness).
It'll be good to review a lot of this information about hardware, operating systems, etc as I rarely get a chance to play around with those types of things nowadays.
Soon thereafter (about 1988) I convinced my parents to purchase a Commodore 64 for me and that was my very first home computer. I dabbled a little bit in trying to program with it (again using a form of BASIC) but there was only so much a 12-13 year old could do with a computer at that time. I had a few software titles that made use of it's computing power like Koala Painter and a word processor but I ultimately started using it more and more for games. Awhile back I downloaded a C64 emulator through which you can run just about any software that they made for the C64 from HERE. While it was amusing to turn back the clock at first, I quickly grew tired of it and realized that I didn't miss it as much as I thought, haha.
Middle school came and it was more Apple IIe exposure even though it was somewhat outdated. High school came and that began my first experience with DOS and IBM-compatible computers. I owned PCs for the rest of my time from high school all the way through college. In college I learned Fortran as part of my Engineering courses and then I took some C, C++, and Visual Basic(.net wasn't available yet) courses.
My computers since 1995 have had Windows operating systems ranging from Windows 95 to my current PC with Windows 7 (I skipped over Vista, thanks goodness).
It'll be good to review a lot of this information about hardware, operating systems, etc as I rarely get a chance to play around with those types of things nowadays.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Session 2 thoughts
Well, week 2 is well under way and we've been responsible for immersing ourselves in some pretty impressive tools to finish off this 1 credit intro class. Some with an organizational nature like the Social Bookmarking sites, some with some impact on personal work habits and structure like the online storage sites, and some related to communication and distance-learning like the video conferencing using Skype. While this class has been designed primarily as a preparation for us, as students, to start the process of online learning it has opened up a window to so much more for me on a professional level. The big surprise for me is the impact it is having on my personal practices as well.
1. I haven't stopped using Google Chrome at home since the Browser reviews.
2. I am now signed up and using Diigo as a bookmarking tool (along with a Delicious account tied into it). I haven't used the sharing features yet, but I haven't stopped brainstorming about it's possible uses.
3. I have signed up for a SugarSync account and am currently using it for some basic online storage. I have files on my home PC synced and I also installed the Android app for it on my phone. My mind is bouncing with thoughts of all of the possible uses of an online storage site and how it would impact my work and personal habits. I am kind of testing it out first with the files I currently tote around on my 2 flash drives and if all goes well I intend on making the switch.
4. I've setup Skype on my PC and had a pretty impressive group video conference call with the 2 fellow colleagues. I had used Skype sparingly a year or two ago but I only used the voice portion of it and if I remember the quality wasn't all that great. Well, the voice AND video quality were spectacular and like the other tools mentioned above it has set my wheels spinning for possible professional and personal uses.
5. I've even stumbled across a few sites on my quest for useful research documents that have provided me with some extra bonus networking resources like Scribd and LinkedIn.
All in all I would say that the "Cloud" is becoming a more realistically attainable goal than I had ever imagined.
I just attended an in-service through the Archdiocese of Milwaukee (my school district) on what we call "curriculum day". More often than not I am stuck sitting through sessions that have little to do with my content area and rarely help me with my curriculum. The librarian at my school felt the same way and decided to do something about it by designing and hosting a curriculum day of her own for her fellow media center colleagues for the second year in a row. Hmmm...will this class provide me with the kind of forward thinking and initiative to do something similar for my computer teacher and technology coordinator colleagues next year? So far so good. :-)
1. I haven't stopped using Google Chrome at home since the Browser reviews.
2. I am now signed up and using Diigo as a bookmarking tool (along with a Delicious account tied into it). I haven't used the sharing features yet, but I haven't stopped brainstorming about it's possible uses.
3. I have signed up for a SugarSync account and am currently using it for some basic online storage. I have files on my home PC synced and I also installed the Android app for it on my phone. My mind is bouncing with thoughts of all of the possible uses of an online storage site and how it would impact my work and personal habits. I am kind of testing it out first with the files I currently tote around on my 2 flash drives and if all goes well I intend on making the switch.
4. I've setup Skype on my PC and had a pretty impressive group video conference call with the 2 fellow colleagues. I had used Skype sparingly a year or two ago but I only used the voice portion of it and if I remember the quality wasn't all that great. Well, the voice AND video quality were spectacular and like the other tools mentioned above it has set my wheels spinning for possible professional and personal uses.
5. I've even stumbled across a few sites on my quest for useful research documents that have provided me with some extra bonus networking resources like Scribd and LinkedIn.
All in all I would say that the "Cloud" is becoming a more realistically attainable goal than I had ever imagined.
I just attended an in-service through the Archdiocese of Milwaukee (my school district) on what we call "curriculum day". More often than not I am stuck sitting through sessions that have little to do with my content area and rarely help me with my curriculum. The librarian at my school felt the same way and decided to do something about it by designing and hosting a curriculum day of her own for her fellow media center colleagues for the second year in a row. Hmmm...will this class provide me with the kind of forward thinking and initiative to do something similar for my computer teacher and technology coordinator colleagues next year? So far so good. :-)
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