Secure Email Project

http://smallbizresource.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/10/making_secure_e.html

Jay Campbell, owner of Joseph Campbell Realty, communicates with his clients mainly through email. Confidential and important emails containing documents and data are exchanged through email between him and his clients. Campbell was in need of a secure email sharing process, but one that didn't confuse his clients, as most of them are not computer savvy.
After further research Mr. Campbell chose Voltage Security Network, which enables his clients to open a secure email in their regular inbox, click on the envelope to open the secure message, and are quickly authorized allowing them to read and send back an encrypted email.
Secure email provides Campbell with greater credibility and peace of mind to his clients knowing that their confidential information is protected.

Week 14: Muddy Thin Clients

After watching the lectures I still couldn't pin point what an actual Thin Client was. I watched the "Thin Client Computing" lecture a handful of times. The lecture was no doubt insightful, but I still couldn't grasp it.

After further research, I finally understood what this Thin Client was really all about. And this understanding stemmed from an analogy that I mustered up. I thought of a Thin Client as a mooch! This guy just wants someone else to do the work for him. He wants to get credit for displaying some work, but doesn't want to do it!

Www.wisegeek.com defines Thin Client that fittingly supports my analogy: "a thin client can refer to either a software program or to an actual computer that relies heavily on another computer to do most of its work. A thin client is part of a network, and the client software or computer acts as an interface, while the network server computer does all the real work."

Cheating in school is also an example. For examples sake: Yolanda (the network server computer) completed her math homework. Max (the Thin Client) doesn't want to do his math homework, so he copies (relies) on Yolanda's homework. He copies it word for word and turns in his homework to his teacher (displays the work on his computer screen.)
Yolanda could earn the title of being the leader of the class (centralized/network server computer) and it turns out that the entire class starts to copy her work and turn it in (display on their computer screens.) Some students are assigned less questions than others, but when some students are required to submit more answers to questions than normal, they don't stress out because Yolanda (the network server computer) allocates whatever information/answer they need in order to submit (produce/display) the information.

Here is a YouTube video titled "Thin Client 101" that is helpful for understanding Thin Clients.

Week 13: Clear Phishing

For anyone who is familiar with information theft, the title of this post doesn't seem odd. But for those who are not, they might assume that I either do not know how to correctly spell the word "fishing," or am just trying too hard to be fancy.

Phishing is, according to our textbook, "a scam in which a perpetrator sends an official looking e-mail message that attempts to obtain your personal and financial information."

The word "phishing" actually does relate to the sport "fishing" in simplistic terms. According to www.webopedia.com, "phishing, also referred to as brand spoofing or carding, is a variation on "fishing," the big idea being that bait is thrown out with the hopes that while most will ignore the bait, some will be tempted into biting."

Let's pretend that your bank of choice is Wachovia, and you are a fan of online banking. You've provided Wachovia with your personal account numbers, passwords, as well as other confidential information. Through online banking, you check/monitor your balances and transfer money from one account to another quite often.
You feel pretty safe with Wachovia and believe that your private information is secure. Then one day, you receive an email from a source that you believe to be Wachovia. You open the e-mail and it appears as though Wachovia is requesting you to verify your account numbers, pin numbers, and online passwords. The email looks credible, and you don't question it because you have been banking with Wachovia for some time now...so why wouldn't you provide them with the information that they need?
You click on the link provided/send the information requested. And little do you know, you are sending it to someone who is going to now perform those online banking functions that you do, but...for themselves. It's information theft that acts as a legitimate source/organization/company...but really has nothing to do with it.


Here is a "Phishing Scam" video that I found on YouTube after I wrote this blog! It complements my example of phishing and relates it to banks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqRZGhiHGxg&feature=fvw

Week 12: Clear Systems Analyst

In order to understand what a systems analyst is, you must first be familiar with and understand information systems, because as the textbook states: "a systems analyst is responsible for designing and developing an information system."

Information systems are "collection of hardware, software, data, people and processes that work together to produce quality information." And in order to build an information system, a set of activities known as the system development cycle is necessary. These activities are grouped into five cyclical phases:

1. Planning
2. Analysis
3. Design
4. Implementation
5. Operation, Support, and Security

Think of a systems analyst like a middleman. There is a business goal that an organization needs to accomplish (such as a software program that allows employees to access and update certain types of records pertaining to their company.) The systems analyst meets with the organization's managers and users to define specific goals of the system, and then design this system to meet the goals.

Along with management and users, the systems analyst meets with IT professionals, vendors, sometimes other systems analysts, but most importantly the steering committee (decision-making body of an organization.) In order for the variety of individuals and groups that the systems analyst meets with during the system development cycle, the systems analyst must possess strong communication, problem-solving, analytical and logical skills. They must be driven leaders who are detail oriented that have proficient organizational skills to enable them to successfully find solutions to problems/cumbersome tasks. They must think "out of the box," while grasping the big picture.

According to The Princeton Review, some examples of questions that a systems analyst must solve during the system development cycle are:

• What are the business requirements?
• Who will comprise the user community?
  
• How large is the application going to be?
• Will it be internal or external?

Do you ever feel overwhelmed because there a million different people pulling you in all different directions, all of which are asking you to do something for them? You start to panic and think, "Ahhh I cannot please and make everyone happy at the same time!" Well, that is a responsibility of a systems analyst. It's possible. As with most things...it takes dedication and hard work.

Although we were given a peek into the life of a systems analyst through the lecture segment interview with Christine Schoaff, here is a YouTube link that provides you with "A Day in the Life of a Computer Systems Analyst."

Database Project

Before reading the instructions for the Database project, I had never heard of Microsoft Access. I am familiar with Word, Excel (obviously) and the software suite Microsoft Office...but not Access.

Once I opened Access I browsed around on my own to get somewhat familiar before I embarked on the project. I watched the first lecture, completed the first portion of the project (creating the table), and everything was fine. I felt like I knew what I was doing. I watched the second lecture (importing tables) and thought "this might be a little tricky, but I'll manage." But once I attempted to complete the importing tables section of the project, it took me HOURS to figure it out. Trial and error over and over and over again. I was furious. I read the discussion board posts, browsed the Web, searched every resource I could. I was so livid to the point where I didn't want to do it. That was until I came across a discussion board post that was directly related to my problem. After that obstacle, everything else was extremely smooth. It was such an accomplishing feeling when I finished the project.

There is not just one key thing that this project taught me. This project taught me EVERYTHING that was entailed in the project. It was helpful for the lectures to compare certain aspects of Access to Excel, that definitely enabled me to grasp concepts easier...

If I could enhance the functionality of this project I would have allocated specific information to certain tables. I would have enabled relationships among tables so that if I created a table of individual members there was a link that provided access to those individual members that joined a certain date, or lived in a specific city/zip code.

This project opened my eyes to the many options that I would have been able to organize a business that I owned. It enables one to strategically organize and categorize specifics of a business that is necessary to continue to grow and profit from a business.

Week 11: Muddy Database Management Systems

Before embarking on this week's lectures and readings, I am going to be completely honest...I did not even know that Microsoft Access even existed. I was familiar with the WORD "database", but I did not actually know what it meant. Whenever I thought of the word "database" the only thing that came to mind was "collection of information." That is extremely general. A "collection of information" is applicable to Microsoft Word, Excel, the Internet, etc.

Before I read the chapter/watched the lectures I reviewed the instructions for the Database project. It seriously made me feel like I was born yesterday. And I thought my mom was computer illiterate...

I would watch a lecture segment and my reaction afterward would be "whaaaat??!" Thank goodness for the Internet because I for surely had many questions about what was presented this week.

I am by no means saying that the lectures were uninformative...they were extremely helpful. But I am the type of individual that needs further explanation and further examples in order to completely grasp a concept that is new to me.

After my endeavors of researching with a Database Management System (DBMS) really is, I learned the following:

It aids with the:

• storage
• manipulation
• reporting
• management
• control

OF DATA!

That still isn't reasonable for me to process what it really is. For me to completely understand what DBMS truly entails I had to submerge myself in to a situation that deals with DBMS.

Hypothetical situation-

I am the owner of a clothing boutique. I have 50 employees and over 5,000 current customers.
I want to keep track of what each customer purchases, how much they spend, where they live, if they are regular customers, and their contact information in order to market correctly.

This is where DBMS comes into play. It's a tool that enables me to efficiently organize and categorize related information. It provides me with a simplified and easy-to-view form of all the data. The primary key function allows me to attribute a certain ID to each shopper, and through accessing each ID number I am able to see all of the information in my database that pertains to that particular shopper.

This is a YouTube video that delves into the specifics of database management systems. It is very informative. Enjoy!

Week 10: Clear VoIP

I think that it is amazing how computers are capable of interpreting our voices, converting our speech into terms that computers can understand and transmitting the information to receiving computers.

This process is known as Voice over Internet Protocol, or most commonly referred to as VoIP. Originally designed for data networking, the success of Internet Protocol (IP) has developed an adaption to voice networking.

It is the transmission of voice traffic over IP-based networks aka calls that can be placed across the Internet. One may use VoIP to call other VoIP users or PSTN gateways (Public Switched Telephone Network.) VoIP to VoIP calls are free and require VoIP hardware and/or software at both ends. VoIP to PSTN gateways are free-based but there are costs involved depending on what services/package one desires. These calls are capable through certain services such as Vonage, SkypeOut/SkypeIn.

There are three different methods to a VoIP network:

• VoIP telephone
• Standard telephone with VoIP adapter
• Computer with with attached microphone

The process of placing a VoIP call using a computer attached microphone would takes place as follows:
1. You speak into the microphone attached to the computer
2. Your voice is converted to compressed digital data stream
3. The data is transmitted across the IP network
4. The data is received to whoever you are trying to communicate with, converted to sound and then sent to the audio output device

Here is quite an interesting VoIP tutorial that teaches you what VoIP is, why to use VoIP and how to use VoIP.

Excel Project

Throughout my educational career I have used Excel for many projects. So, when I saw that we had an Excel project I thought, "Oh that shouldn't be too bad. I know how to use Excel, it'll be a piece of cake." Boy was I wrong...

After watching the lectures for week 10/this project, I felt like I had been hiding under a rock. Why had I not been informed of all the magical tasks that Excel is capable of?! Also, how in the world did businesses manage/edit/track/format data before Excel?

This project entailed data from 500 subjects. The data pertained to their gender, sex and heart rate during a 15 minute workout and a 5 minute cool down. Specific functions in Excel enabled me to find the subject's maximum heart rate, a certain desired target heart rate, the highest heart rate achieved, IF the target was achieved, the percentage of each subject's increased heart rate from the start of the exercise program until the heart rate was reached, how many subjects reached their target heart rate during the 15 minute exercise window, and which demographic group got the most benefit from the exercise program.

Finding answers to all of the questions proposed by the owner of a fitness center required knowing specific formulas for Excel to compute, as well as formatting the data. I learned a plethora amount of skills from this project...skills that were necessary to complete this project. These skills included knowing and understanding the formulas for absolute and relative addressing, finding the average of a large amount of data, the =IF() function and simplifying data to its count rather than sum. I was most impressed with the fact that Excel was able to perform an equation with two numerical factors and present the product as text! (for ex: the "Yes" or "No" response relating to if the subject's heart rate was greater than or equal to his/her target heart rate.)

I am still amazed by the "intelligence" that Excel embodies in order to carry out such amazing tasks. In my opinion I feel as though I am pretty techno-savy and up to date with today's technology...but this project definitely made me feel like I was born yesterday.

Week 9: Clear Excel Formulas

Who would have known that a spreadsheet could think for you?!

I was unaware of these magical math equations and formulas that Excel is able to do until after I watched the lectures for Week 9...and it's quite simple to understand.

Excel uses PEMDAS, which stands for "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally." It is the order of operations that Excel is going to compute to solve formulas. The first thing that Excel is going to compute is within parentheses, then exponentiation, multiplication, division, addition and subtraction, left to right. For addition you use the plus symbol [+], [-] for subtraction, [*] for multiplication and [/] for division.

For example sake, let's say that you have a spreadsheet with certain numbers in column A and other numbers in column B and you want to know what the sum of each corresponding cell of A and B is. Next to each specific cell would would input the formula in column C. ALL formulas require the equal sign [=] before the rest of the formula. So in column C each cell's formula would be =A1*B1, =A2*B2, =A3*B3, =A4*B4 etc...
If you wanted to find the difference between the values in corresponding A and B cells you would use the subtraction sign [-] and the formula would like like =A1-B1 or =B1-A1, depending upon which difference you are trying to find. If you wanted to divide, the formula would be =A4/B4 or =B4/A4, also depending on what value you are dividing.

For formulas that include more than 2 columns/rows, a formula might look like =A1*B1(D1-C1). And the order of operations that Excel would do first is subtract the value in C1 from D1, multiply that result by B1, and then multiply that product by A1.

Excel may initially seem overwhelming and complicated, but there are so many resources to assist and help you smoothly navigate your way through the software.

Here is a fabulous video that takes you step-by-step through formulas in Excel.

Week 7: Clear Firewall

The word "firewall" perfectly suits that purpose and function of what exactly a firewall is and does.

Per lecture segment "7d-System Utilities," a firewall is security system software that

• blocks unauthorized access
• hides the PC from view on the Internet

The Web site HowStuffWorks states the obvious "it's a barrier to keep destructive forces away from your property." This concept is probably very easy for most of us to grasp, but there are undoubtedly a percentage of individuals out there that if asked if they knew what a firewall is and what it does would respond with "Oh ya, I know what that is...one of those walls that is fire-proof!" And if we asked them if they knew of a relation to computers, perhaps they might add "probably a wall or somethin' that protects the computer if the house catches on fire." ...ehh where there's smoke there's fire. A firewall does protect a computer from the bad guys (a fire in this case.) Playing off of this ridiculous analogy, HowStuffWorks explains that a firewall's job is "similar to a physical firewall that keeps a fire from spreading from one area to the next."

We can also think of a firewall as our own immune systems.

Let's say that when we are born, we have the option of buying an immune system from the doctor. The doctor tells us that it is not necessary...but he recommends it because it will protect our body from harmful bacteria/viruses that we may encounter in our life and could be damaging to us. We say "sign me up!" and purchase an immune system. As we grow older it is important for us to monitor and support (or "update") our immune system by properly taking care of it. If we neglect our immune system, it could "expire" and become suppressed, allowing nasty viruses to enter our bodies (computers) and cause great damage.
Just as if we don't take care of our computers by monitoring firewalls, "bad guys" could potentially have access to our computer.

Week 6: Muddy Flash Memory

We all know that when you take a picture on a digital camera the picture will stay there unless you delete it. We also know that our PDA's contains and retains a plethora amount of information. Have you ever thought about how this is possible, or what the logistics are behind this "memorable" ability? Although it may seem like a simple concept at a glance, flash memory became more complicated the more I tried to really understand how it works.

Flash memory uses a memory chip (memory card) to store information without requiring a power source. USB flash drives also use flash memory, as USB's are removable storage (I think of them like a "middle man.") Think of flash memory like a mini-hard drive with a faster read access, but with not as much capacity and a slower erase/write time. It is nonvolatile, meaning the information is stored when the power is turned off. I found it is easier to think simplistically of flash memory instead of getting caught up of how flash memory actually works. But just to cover how flash memory works, I found a Web site that allows you to visually grasp this concept of such memory:
"Inside the flash chip, information is stored in cells. A floating gate protects the data

written in each cell. Tunneling electrons pass through a low conductive material to change the electronic charge of the gate in a "flash," clearing the cell of its contents so that it can be rewritten. This is how flash memory gets its name."

Some other types of familiar devices that use flash memory are:

• MP3 players
• Video game cards
• Modems

I'm not going to lie and say that I watched this very long YouTube video "A Story of Flash Memory," but I thought this would be entertaining and very informative for those of you who are interested in the history of flash memory.

I also found more enthusiastic and much shorter video about flash memory storage...enjoy!

Web 2.0 Project Skiing in Montreal

I am going to be honest...I was very intimidated by this project. First off, I had no absolutely no idea what "Web 2.0" was...and furthermore, I had no clue what this project was asking. Was I supposed to upload random pictures to a Web site? What type of story was I supposed to tell? After reviewing projects of other classmates I was able to gain insight into what was expected of me.

The first step was deciding on a story that could be interesting to other viewers, but also a story of mine that told often. And through that brainstorming process, I was led to my trip to Montreal, Canada. My best friend Lindsay had asked me to go skiing with her in Montreal the winter of 2008 falling into the beginning of 2009. Not only was this a general vacation to go skiing and have fun, it was an opportunity to go skiing in a country other than the United States of America. I am an avid skiier...and before my trip to Montreal, I had only skied in multiple cities in Colorado, as well as North Carolina.

I hope that that through my Web 2.0 project viewers are able to experience the excitement and awesomeness that I encountered.

I am not going to lie..I went through several different Web 2.0 tools before I settled on the right one for me. I tried "one true media" and "slide.com" but both sites were not compatible with my computer. Through this project I learned a great deal of patience. I had to weed through several "Web 2.0" tools until I found the right one for me. This project also taught me the importance of organizing and specifying data so that a story/situation/presentation presents itself in an effective and orderly fashion.

For my interaction method is a link to "polldaddy.com" that allows you guys to vote on a question that I proposed. I hope that individuals that take my poll will allow me to gather a sample data of people who view my blog that have skied/snowboarded in a different country versus people who have not done so.

Through this interaction I hope to gain insight from the amount of people who view my Web 2.0 story and if they have ever skied/snowboarded in a different country.


So here is my Web 2.0 project, enjoy :)

http://www.photoshow.com/watch/kZ5RG8DR


And for interaction I would greatly appreciate you to take this poll:

http://answers.polldaddy.com/poll/2665945/

Week 5: Clear Types of Memory

Memory is essential for a computer to work efficiently and effectively. As defined in the lecture segment "6e-Memory," memory is electronic components that store instructions to be executed and data.
A computer without memory is-in a roundabout and odd way-comparable to an individual who has Alzheimer's disease. If you are unaware of what is Alzheimer's, it is a brain disorder that destroys brain cells causing memory loss. So let's say we have someone who is suffering severely from Alzheimer's, they have absolutely no short-term or long-term memory...we have to repetitively teach them the same thing every day in order for them to do something so simple as: eating, brushing their teeth, opening up a drawer to get paper, etc. Just as if a computer had zero memory, we would have to "teach" it how to perform functions every time we used the computer. Sounds tiring.


There are two types of memory:

1. Volatile memory
2. Non-volatile memory
   

Volatile memory is memory that loses contents when the power is turned off. RAM (random access memory) is a type of volatile memory. It provides space for your computer to read and write data, but the data stored in RAM only stays there only as long as your computer is running.
In terms of someone who has Alzheimer's disease, volatile memory is comparable to someone who is suffering from short-term memory loss. You teach that individual to tie their shoes, but once that person is "turned off" (or perhaps goes to sleep) they will not remember how to tie their shoes once they are turned back "on" (wakes up).

Non-volatile memory is memory that keeps its contents even if the power is lost, it does not lose information when your computer is not running. ROM (read only memory) is non-volatile memory that is unchangeable. EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) is a type of read-only (ROM) non-volatile memory. With EEPROM, you are able to erase and rewrite data, but you don't have to erase the entire memory chip...you are able to select certain data on the chip that you want to erase/rewrite. Flash memory is another type of non-volatile memory that you are able to write and erase. A perfect example of a device that uses flash software is a digital camera. You are able to store a bunch of data (pictures) and you can delete a specific picture without deleting all of them.
Again for someone who has Alzheimer's disease, non-volatile memory is comparable to someone suffering from long-term memory loss. The individual remembers what they did or were told an hour ago, day before or even the week prior...but they forgot where they were born or forgot they went to high school, regardless of being "turned off" (going to bed) and turning back "on" (waking up). It is as if someone went into their brain (memory chip) and selected specific data (where they were born/attended high school) and erased those memories (data.)

Some Web sites that I found helpful are:
http://kb.iu.edu/data/ahty.html
http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/memory.htm

Non-volatile memory is demonstrated in a video from YouTube showing data that is able to pick up where it left off after turning the power off and back on.

Week 4: Muddy COding & DEcoding

The information presented in the "Multimedia-Audio" lecture was new to me. The only topics that I was pretty familiar with were MP3 files and software that enables you to create audio content. I was never aware of technicalities that go into producing and recording audio. The "core concept" of audio content that I had a difficult time grasping was CODEC. In order to understand the logistics of audio it is critical for you to familiar with CODEC.

The process of "coding" (analog-->digital) and "decoding" (digital-->analog) was so "muddy" to me, and I retrieved a better understanding of it when I did further research.

CODEC is basically the support system for audio. It allows us to play the audio and also edit a certain audio file into a different format. To put it into more familiar terms, I thought of CODEC as a foreign language translator. You have a sentence in Japaneses that you can't read, and obviously cannot speak the sentence out loud. You then take the sentence and enter it into the foreign language translator. This would represent the "coding" or "CO" of CODEC. The translator then translates the sentence into English (or whatever language you are familiar with) and reads it out loud. This represents the "decoding" or "DEC" part of CODEC.

This is "Meez" Avatar

This is an Avatar version of me that I created at www.meez.com! I actually had an enjoyable time creating it. This activity reminded me of the game "The Sims" that I used to be addicted to when I was younger! Meez's Web site was easy to navigate and self-explanatory. I had a good time browsing the several outfits that I could wear. Looking at all of the clothes definitely reminded me of the movie Clueless when Cher was browsing her closet electronically on her computer.

Maybe I will go see the movie Avatar now...

Week 3: Muddy Internet vs. WWW

Before watching the lectures and reading the textbook I have to admit I thought of the Internet and the World Wide Web as being the same exact thing. On Monday I would say "Hey I'm going to go browse the Internet" and on, let's say Thursday, I would be "browsing the World Wide Web." Did I think there was a difference? No way. Was I most recently surprised to find that the Internet and the World Wide Web are completely different? Absolutely.

To be honest, after reading the textbook and watching the lectures...I still didn't get it. It took some time of me delving into some Web sites on the "World Wide Web" in order for me to actually understand the difference between these two fascinating vehicles.

After doing some "surfing" on the WWW I was enlightened to find such information:

The Internet is the core of the Web. It's a collective name of all the devices that consist the global network. It's the interconnection of computer networks around the world...the physical connection of paths between two or more computers.

On the other hand, the World Wide Web lives "on top of" the Internet. The Web is "like an attractive parasite that requires the Net for survival." Although the WWW might be the most popular method of using the Internet, there are other characteristics. These include:

• E-mail
• Chat rooms
• Instant messaging
  
• VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

In conclusion, without the Internet there would be no World Wide Web...or e-mail...or chat rooms, etc.

After browsing many WEB SITES (available because of the INTERNET) I was able to understand the difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web.



You can find more information on the following Web sites:
http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/difference-between-internet-and-world-wide-web/ http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-difference-between-the-world-wide-web-and-the-.html

Week 2: Clear Components of a Computer

Have you ever thought about what really makes a computer what it really is? One may allow such variables (electric, electronic and mechanical components) of a computer to overwhelm them when they are trying to figure out how such an amazing machine works, but it's quite clear. We can compare a computer to a math equation. The sum of all of the variables equate to the final product. Just as how 1+2=3...

Input devices+Output devices+System unit+Storage devices+Communications devices= Computer!

Input devices can be simply thought of a hardware device that sends information to the computer. Think of them as tools that allow you to give information to the computer. Information that goes IN the computer. Some examples are: the keyboard, mouse, digital camera, scanner, microphone etc.

Output devices can be thought of as the opposite of input devices. They are tools that we use to retrieve information from the computer...information that is sent OUT. Some examples include: the monitor (it is giving OUT information and displaying it so we can view it), speakers, printers, disk drives etc.

The system unit is the core of the computer system. Computers rely on the electronic components of the system unit in order to process, interpret and carry out functions. The motherboard is the main circuit board of the system unit. The motherboard consists of:

• Processor (also called a central processing unit or CPU)- interprets and carries out the basic instructions that operate a computer. Think of it as the "brain" of the computer.
  

• Memory- random access memory (RAM) temporarily stores information that the CPU uses while the computer is on.

Storage devices are just that...devices in the computer that store data. Such data are stored on storage media (CDs, DVDs, hard disks, USB flash drives) and a storage device records or retrieves items to and from storage media. Storage devices function as a a source of input because they transfer items from storage to memory. To put this into perspective, a perfect example would be one from the book. A DVD drive (storage device) accepts a DVD (storage media).

Communications devices allow computers to send and receive data, instructions, and information to and from one or more computers. Think of them as a "middle man." These devices allow you to access, or "communicate" with other computers. Such communication is facilitated through cables, telephone lines, cellular radio networks, satellites, and other transmission media.

And voila! ...we have a computer :)

For further information regarding components of computers, visit this Web site:
http://www.bedford.lib.nh.us/Basics.htm

Week 1: Clear Computer Literacy

To be literate nowadays is nothing out of the ordinary. It's expected. You can read?...high-five?!
As time and technology has progressed, not only is being literate expected, but computer literacy is becoming just as expected from society.

By definition, according to the textbook Discovering Computers 2009, computer literacy "also known is digital literacy, involves having a current knowledge and understanding of computers and their uses."

Beholding the trait of being computer literate is an essential skill in today's society. Computers are a critical component of what makes the world go round. Computer literacy is not just confined to being able to manage a personal computer. You interact with multiple computers on a daily basis ranging from:

• mobile phones
  
• microwave ovens
  
• car navigation systems
  
• ATMs
  
• alarm systems
  
• calculators
  
• watches
  
• airplanes
  
• video games
  
• traffic lights

Being computer literate is a critical skill that is almost necessary for all jobs. Today's employers are not looking for individuals that are only familiar with Microsoft Word and Excel, they are looking for individuals who are able to understand and perform a variety of functions on a computer that may include updating company listings on the Internet, filling prescriptions, making telephone calls, managing client relationships...as well as simple tasks such as looking up the weather report, finding directions to a specific location or downloading an educational tutorial.

We are interacting with computers when we do not even realize it. As technology advances, the demand for computer literacy increases. Computer literacy is not a trait that makes someone stand out from the rest of the crowd anymore, it is a necessity in order to provide and fuel the technological advancements of today's society.

Enjoy this YouTube link titled "The Case For Computer Literacy" that explains why computer literacy is extremely important for today's day and age. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-KqDXHB__M