Monday, December 2, 2013

Cyber Crime and protecting yourself

 Cyber Crime and protecting yourself

     I guess the way to prevent cyber crime, which includes all aspects of one's being online and even offline, would be to get the right tools for the right task. One can't be too careful, investing in anti-virus, anti-malware, and firewall software can be really useful to protect yourself from other people (hackers) who are trying to obtain your personal information, and even your business. 
     Of course not every security resource can be 100% effective but it's better than not having anything at all. I also believe that education on these types of crimes committed and knowing the different types of intrusions, can be very helpful in bringing down attacks. Another way to prevent is to be very careful how you share your information online and offline, making sure to delete cookies, run your anti-virus/malware/firewalls on a regular basis, and to destroy any hard copies that may have sensitive info ( ssn#, passwords, DOB, etc.) and using password protecting software such as "encrypt" (I think that's the right software, can't remember 100%).

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Decisions, Decisions...

Decisions, Decisions....


Some experts claim that if a business gets 52 percent of its decisions right, it will be successful. Would using a decision support system guarantee better results?

    Well, I guess if you truly look at the scales, 52% is way better than your 48% while using a decision support system. But at the same time I don't believe it guarantees a better result because things always change without being able to predict anything at a 100% accuracy.

Quality?

   Yes, there has to be quality in the data/information to make accurate decisions, without out quality you get the entire “Garbage in/Garbage out” scenario.

 Do you think it matters what type of decisions are included in this 52 percent? For example, would getting the right type of paper clips be as influential a decision as deciding where to locate the business? 


     With paper clips, I would say it wouldn't 100% influence where you would locate you place of business just for the simple fact that they are “PAPERCLIPS”. But at the same time you are trying to locate your business in a “High Economic” area let’s say… Cherry Creek, Presentation of everything matters. So in that Example I would have to change my original statement and say yes it does matter.

ISP Providers



                 ISP Compare and Contrast

Intro. Price
(Internet Only)
Company
Service Type
Upload Speed
Download Speed
$114.95
Comcast
Cable
105 Mps
20 Mps
$34.95
Century Link
DSL
40 Mps
20 Mps
$74.95
Comcast
Cable
50 Mps
10 Mps
$29.95
Century Link
DSL
40Mps
5 Mps
$29.99
Comcast
Cable
25 Mps
5 Mps
$59.95
SKYBEAM
Digital Fixed Wireless
15 Mps
3 Mps
$49.95
SKYBEAM
Digital Fixed Wireless
10 Mps
2 Mps
$39.95
SKYBEAM
Digital Fixed Wireless
5 Mps
1 Mps

So I made a table to compare and contrast local Internet Service Providers (Comcast, Century Link and SKYBEAM), and yes, Comcast seems like a good service because of their upload speeds and download speeds, but they can be pricy. I currently use my data plan  from  my cellphone Company, I currently pay $30 a month unlimited data and my speeds are pretty close to Century Link’s upload and download speeds but depending where I am at. I think I’ll hold out a bit before I commit to getting home internet for now.

Database In Career Field


Database In Career Field

     Currently I’m still unsure where my career will go to, I have in mind Graphic Design or Architecture Engineer or maybe both.
  •      For Graphic Design I found several requirements, the majority of requirements were the usual things such as knowing  all forms of adobe, having good communications skills… etc., along with database knowledge in web technologies such as MS SQL, ASP .NET, C/C++ and Visual Basic
  •      I couldn't find much on “Architecture Engineering” with DBMS requirements but found “Cad technician/Graphic Designer” Which essentially are the two fields combined together, and essentially he graphic designer requirements with database knowledge are the same.

Steve Job Interview Questions

 Questions for Steve Jobs
1. If you could go back to the beginning stages of Apple what is one thing you would change?
The only reason I ask is because of the entire controversy between Apple and Microsoft back in the late 80’s. I truly feel that if both companies could’ve resolved their differences in the beginning stages and the technologies we know now could have made greater advances.
2. I understand the IPod had a great influence with the creation of the IPhone, heck I thought about it when I scrolled through the IPod's calendar and contacts menu to create a phone from that database, but my question is why roll out the same product year after year with small minor changes? Why not completely redo the IPhone to something no one has ever seen before instead of just minor IOS changes?

The reason I ask this is that, yes, almost every smartphone now in days is trying to compete with the IPhone but in all reality most smartphone have surpassed the “IPhone” by making it more customizable, easier to add applications without shouting out tons of money that ITunes charges. So why not make it completely different and more competitive for today’s marketplace?

3.      Last question, what product would you say would be your greatest creation besides the  “IPod”, Ipad”, and “Iphone”?
I think this would be an interesting question because I would have to think that it would be something he helped develop before “Apple” even started.

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Shopping Online

Shopping over the internet
     Shopping over the internet, in my opinion has become something of a “norm” now in days, it’s convenient, fast, and we can do it while we wear or Pj’S and get to compare and contrast items we may be shopping for. Technology has made shopping on the internet better and faster, we can look up for things we may be shopping for on our cellphones (smartphones), Laptops, Tablets and other web based technologies on the go. Yes, comparing contrasting prices on the internet can be a bit of a setback but if you want the best for your buck one is willing to do so.
     Some items we still need to go to a physical store for our everyday needs such as; milk, cereal, cat food, toothpaste, prescriptions, but they are also available to for delivery if customers choose to do so.  Although one set back to me from online shopping can be the shipping time, I’m okay with paying shipping if it’s at a reasonable cost but timing truly is everything, but can’t have the best of both worlds.

Five items I’ve recently purchased;
1.      Volkswagen Key $30- compared to the dealership of $150, internet wins.
2.      Calligraphy Pen and ink $10 - saved $10 compared if I bought at Hobby Lobby or Jerry’s Artarama
3.      Cannon Bristol pad $8-  saved $12 compared if I bought at Hobby Lobby or Jerry’s Artarama
4.      Wacom Bamboo Tablet $40-  saved $40+tax compared to BestBuy             
5.      Backpack with water protector $30-  saved $20 compared to other Backpacks out in stores

Five items I considered purchasing online
1.      Clothing, just because you can get a cheap price on some things
2.      Health products such as vitamins cheap price
3.      Pet food can find good deals.
4.      Shoes- can get a good deal on things.
5.      Gifts – depending on the item, one can find good deals,

Five items I would never buy online
1.      Anything that doesn't have a good review
2.      Safety equipment such as airbags for a car
3.      Anything from a business/website that looks sketchy, not having reviews, looks like it was put together on the fly, poor navigation.
4.      Prescriptions – Don’t know where it is coming from, who actually manufactures, law issues such as controlled substances.

5.      Anything to drink, never know where’s it coming from, how long it’s been sitting at the post office, it’s scary.

Monday, September 9, 2013

The Top 3 Most and Least Expensive Laptops




Top 3 Most Expensive Laptops




Acer S7-392-9890



DELL Inspiron 17R Non-Touch

 Toshiba Qosmio X70-AST2GX1

Price
$1,699.99
$1,319.99 now $999.99
$2,499.99 now $1,899.99
Type and speed of CPU
Intel Core i7-4500U Processor 1.8GHz With Turbo Boost Technology Up to 3.00GHz

4th Generation Intel Core I7-4500U processor 1.8GHz
Intel Core i7-4700MQ quad processor 2.8GHz
Type and speed of RAM
8 GB DDR3
Dual Channel DDR3 (Up to 16GB) 4GB Installed
32 GB DDR3L
Amount of CPU cache
4M L3 Cache
4M L3 Cache
L3 Cache 6MB
System bus speed
1600 MHz
1600 MHz
1600 MHz
Hard disk capacity and speed (revolutions per minute or rpm)
256GB SSD drive in RAID 0 configuration
1 TB SATA Hard Drive
5400 RPM
256 GB Solid SSD + 1 TB
5400 RPM
Number and type of ports.
5 Ports
      1.      2X USB 3.0
      2.      HDMI
      3.      Digital Media Card Reader
      4.      Headphone Audio Jack
9 Ports
      1.      VGA
      2.      Ethernet
      3.      USB 2.0
      4.      2X USB 3.0
      5.      USB/eSATA combo
      6.      8-in-1 Card Reader
      7.      Microphone Jack
      8.      Headphone Jack
9 Ports
      1.      Headphone Jack
      2.      Microphone Jack
      3.      HDMI
      4.      RGB
      5.      4X USB 3.0
      6.      Ethernet LAN





Top 3 Least Expensive Laptops

Acer Aspire One A0725-0412

DELL Inspiron 15 Non-Touch

Toshiba Satellite C855-S5346

Price
$329.99
$349.99
$299.99
Type and speed of CPU
AMD Dual-Core Accelerated Processor C-60 1.0Ghz with TurboCore Technology Up to 1.33GHz

Intel Celeron Processor 1017U 1.6 GHz
Intel Celeron 900 Processor 1.1 GHz
Type and speed of RAM
4.0 GB DDR3 SDRAM
Dual Channel DDR3L (Up to 16GB) 4GB Installed
4 GB DDR3
Amount of CPU cache
1M L2 Cache
2M L2 Cache
2M L2 Cache
System bus speed
1066 MHz
1600 MHZ
1333 MHz
Hard disk capacity and speed (revolutions per minute or rpm)
320 GB
5400 RPM (SATA Hard Drive)
320 GB
5400 RPM


320 GB
5400 RPM
Number and type of ports.
7 Ports
      1.      -VGA
      2.      -LAN
      3.      -HDMI USB 3.0
      4.      -Card Reader
      5.      -Line In/out
      6.       -2x USB 2.0
6 Ports
      1.      Front card reader
      2.      VGA
      3.      HDMI
      4.      2X USB 3.0
      5.      Microphone and Headphone jack
6 Ports
      1.      Memory Card Reader
      2.      3x USB 2.0
      3.      RGB
      4.      Headphone Jack