Comment One:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8117231295550149245&postID=3435180541295599241&page=1
Comment Two:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5522596475792783454&postID=843628908685937135&page=1
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Zotero and CiteULike Assignment
The URL:
http://www.citeulike.org/user/Littleelmquist/library
For most part I did not have a whole lot of difficulty with this assignment. I found the CiteULike has a lot of articles, but not for 2 of my interests, so I had to go a little bit further from what is really relevant to what is relevant for rural librarianship and the history of librarianship.
I think I am going to keep updating my folders, seeing as though I needed some of the stuff for assignments and it is such a good way to keep track of materials you know you could use in the near future.
http://www.citeulike.org/user/Littleelmquist/library
For most part I did not have a whole lot of difficulty with this assignment. I found the CiteULike has a lot of articles, but not for 2 of my interests, so I had to go a little bit further from what is really relevant to what is relevant for rural librarianship and the history of librarianship.
I think I am going to keep updating my folders, seeing as though I needed some of the stuff for assignments and it is such a good way to keep track of materials you know you could use in the near future.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Week Six Reading Notes
UTube - "Common Types of Networks"
I really liked the ease of this video - he explained it in a simple and clear manner without tons of examples to bog you down or confuse you.
The most common networks in order (1-5) according to him:
1. Personal Area Network - like a personal computer's printer, this is the most common network
2. Land/Local Area Network - in 1 building, or in one type of facility
3. Wide Area Network - large geographic area
4. Campus Area Networks - spans over several different facilities connected through either wire or wireless on college campuses
5. Metropolitan Area Networks - many many connections - very big and ever expanding
Wiki's: "Computer Network"
This is a little more in depth than the UTube video. It gives a definition of computer networks - a group of interconnected computers which are classified according to their characteristics. These characteristics are scale, connection method (hardware technology to connect), functional relationship, and network topology (the way in which devices in the network see their logical relations to one another). Wiki goes into much more detail to explain the different types of networks such as the global area network (GAN)and their connections such as what is internetwork (intranet, Internet, and externet). GAN is basically a model for "supporting mobile communications across an arbitrary number of wireless LANS, satellite coverage area, ect." One of the most interesting things I learned is how the Internet is not considered to be a part of intranet and externet and the differences between the three networks. Wiki also talks about the basic hardware components which are network interface cards, repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches, and routers. The most interesting thing I learned about the network hardware components is about the router being a networking device which forwards "data packets between networks using headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path to forward the packets." I found this interesting because a router is a common enough piece of equipment many people rely on, but not necessarily ever thought about how it works/what it does.
Wiki's: "Local Area Network"
More of a historical look at how the LAN developed. It gives the advantages of LAN over WANs - such as their "higher data-transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and the lack of need for leased communication lines." This article talks about the history of the earlier systems, then the personal computer, and finally cabling. It also talks about the technical aspects such as how ethernet is the most common data link layer protocol and IP, but that there are still many different options that are being used by smaller groups of people. The most interesting thing I learned from this article is that eventually LANs can become MANs, WANs, or a part of the Internet depending on how the connections are made.
Karen Coyle's "Management of RFID in Libaries"
I found this article to be the most interesting in this week's set. There are so many possibilities with RFID's and although there are some things which must be worked on and other problems that must be solved, I really think RFID's could help change the ways libraries manage their materials and in a less expensive way too.
Background on RFID's:
I really liked the ease of this video - he explained it in a simple and clear manner without tons of examples to bog you down or confuse you.
The most common networks in order (1-5) according to him:
1. Personal Area Network - like a personal computer's printer, this is the most common network
2. Land/Local Area Network - in 1 building, or in one type of facility
3. Wide Area Network - large geographic area
4. Campus Area Networks - spans over several different facilities connected through either wire or wireless on college campuses
5. Metropolitan Area Networks - many many connections - very big and ever expanding
Wiki's: "Computer Network"
This is a little more in depth than the UTube video. It gives a definition of computer networks - a group of interconnected computers which are classified according to their characteristics. These characteristics are scale, connection method (hardware technology to connect), functional relationship, and network topology (the way in which devices in the network see their logical relations to one another). Wiki goes into much more detail to explain the different types of networks such as the global area network (GAN)and their connections such as what is internetwork (intranet, Internet, and externet). GAN is basically a model for "supporting mobile communications across an arbitrary number of wireless LANS, satellite coverage area, ect." One of the most interesting things I learned is how the Internet is not considered to be a part of intranet and externet and the differences between the three networks. Wiki also talks about the basic hardware components which are network interface cards, repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches, and routers. The most interesting thing I learned about the network hardware components is about the router being a networking device which forwards "data packets between networks using headers and forwarding tables to determine the best path to forward the packets." I found this interesting because a router is a common enough piece of equipment many people rely on, but not necessarily ever thought about how it works/what it does.
Wiki's: "Local Area Network"
More of a historical look at how the LAN developed. It gives the advantages of LAN over WANs - such as their "higher data-transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and the lack of need for leased communication lines." This article talks about the history of the earlier systems, then the personal computer, and finally cabling. It also talks about the technical aspects such as how ethernet is the most common data link layer protocol and IP, but that there are still many different options that are being used by smaller groups of people. The most interesting thing I learned from this article is that eventually LANs can become MANs, WANs, or a part of the Internet depending on how the connections are made.
Karen Coyle's "Management of RFID in Libaries"
I found this article to be the most interesting in this week's set. There are so many possibilities with RFID's and although there are some things which must be worked on and other problems that must be solved, I really think RFID's could help change the ways libraries manage their materials and in a less expensive way too.
Background on RFID's:
- RFID - R(Radio) F(Frequency) ID (identifier) = consists of a computer chip and an antenna
- Metaphor given helps understand better what an RFID is - "RFID is like a barcode but is read with an electromagnetic field rather than by a laser beam", but that the similarities end there (486).
- More advanced than a barcode - does not have to be visible to be read, can carry a more complex message, the chip can carry many bytes of information (hopefully will expand even more in the future)
- It is not a single technology - different RFID products on the market today such as tags that are used for automated toll taking, card keys to gain entrance, or those to track animals
- Considering future use of them to stop counterfeiting of many products
- And what varies between them is the amount of information that they carry
- Libraries use the lower priced ones - with short ranges and limited functionality
Should Libraries use RFID?
- Privacy Issues
- In defense of the library using RFID's: "Libraries use new technologies because the conditions in the general environment that led to the development of the technology are also the conditions in which the library operates."
RFID and Library Functions
- RFID for tracking in and out items rather than barcodes- because items are returned it is not considered a "throw away RFID" and makes sense since it costs less than barcodes = more bang for their buck
- Can be used for security too - checked-in and checked-out tag can be read by the security gates. But there are problems - can be shielded by Mylar, can be removed easily
- But there is savings for security because a single RFID tag can do multiple functions (not just a security tag, not just a barcode, ect) = integrated circulation and security system
- RFID's (unlike barcodes) can read multiple tags at once allowing one to check out a single stack of books with a single transaction
- Can be read on the shelf - time of taking inventory goes down, as well as the cost goes down, and more inventories can be completed
Justifcation and Return Investment
- Because libraries do not measure profit as part of their equation, it makes it harder to demonstrate the RFIDs are worth their cost
- See Laura Smart's article for 14 gains of libraries if they used this technology
- Can become 100 % self-check out or have a 50-50 between choosing what one you want to do - THE ONLY PROBLEM - replacing librarians for machines - less jobs available for librarians
Some Problems Remain
- Problem of less sturdy and oddball items such as cases, magazines, CDS, and sheet music
- If this does not work for such items then the alternative system still needs to be maintained - two systems running at once - ends up being more expensive, more time consuming, and probably causes more confusion
- Which way are RFID tags leaning? Towards durability to carry information or to eventually be thrown away and not durable? Libraries need durable tags, and if the market shifts towards throw-away ones, there could be many problems
Muddiest Point from readings: Hubs - and why are they used for specific places - and why they aren't use for all network hardware?
Friday, September 19, 2008
Muddiest Class Point for 9/16 Lecture
Why can't a computer language be written to mirror our language? Why don't we develop it so that it is not a separate language from the one we speak/write?
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Week 5 Readings
Blogger is not coming through for me to post my reading notes... at least not for my reading notes... so I hope this works and this is just to say that my post is in the blackboard under "blogs" for week 5.
Sorry for any inconveniences, I'll try to get it posted up here as soon as it works.
Again Muddiest Point: All the problems I have been having with foxfire since I have downloaded the newer version!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry for any inconveniences, I'll try to get it posted up here as soon as it works.
Again Muddiest Point: All the problems I have been having with foxfire since I have downloaded the newer version!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Comments on Week 4 Posts
Comment 1: Melanija's Blog
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8029602389736197544&postID=5058611067929963371&page=1
Comment 2: Corrine's Blog
https://courseweb.pitt.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_9047_1%26url%3D
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8029602389736197544&postID=5058611067929963371&page=1
Comment 2: Corrine's Blog
https://courseweb.pitt.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_9047_1%26url%3D
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Week Four Readings
"Database" - Wiki
Metadata is a term used to describe many different forms of data by many different professions. Each profession may use the term in a different way but what they have in common is that they are communities that "design, create, describe, preserve, and use information systems and resources" (1). All information objects have three key features: content, context, and structure which are all reflected through metadata.
In our field, library metadata has focused on providing intellectual and physical access to content whether through indexes, abstracts, or catalogue records. Another aspect of our field, archival and museum studies also uses metedata to organize their information. But in this area, they focus on context - preserving the context is what preserves the value of records and artifacts.
The structure of information has been focused on less in this field, but even so, it is still an important component because the professionals realize that the more organized the structure is, the more it can be used to search for information objects.
Metadata outside the repository is explained and used for a broad scope of describing different acts and information. For an example, with the Internet it could refer to the information being encoded into HTML. To an electronic archivist may use it to refer to "all the contextual, processing, and use information needed to identify document....an active of archival record..." (3).
The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set is acknowledged in this article as identifying simple sets of metadata elements that can be used by any community to describe and search across many different information resources on the WWW. This is necessary in order to make sure that the different descriptions of metadata can be searched for and found throughout the WWW.
This article further categorizes metadata so that it is easier to understand within different terms. The categories are administrative, descriptive, preservation, use, and technical metadata. Metadata also has certain attributes and characteristics such as the attribute method of metadata creation with the characteristics of automatic metadata generated by a computer and manual metadata created by humans (5).
Figure 1 makes it easier to understand the life cycle of objects contained in a digital information system (the phases that information goes through during their life in a digital environment). These phases are: Creation and Multi-versioning, organization, searching and retrieval, utilization, and preservation and disposition.
So why is metadata important? Because it increases accessibility, it retains context, expands the use of information, and can heighten the interest in multi-versioning of the information. It also helps legal issues, the preservation of digital information, and allows system improvements both technological and from the economical standpoint.
Muddiest Point: Why does the technological professionals allow metadata to describe so many things? You think (and I have) that people would become confused and just be like "okay, lets come up with a better term for this distinctive set of metadata."
"An Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model"
At first, the article is very "muddy" and hard to understand. I think their introduction and DCMI Requirements were chock-full of terminology which may throw off a less-technical savvy person from reading and understanding the DCMI.
But thankful, the article gets easier to understand, for a short period of time at least -I get the ideas of its following goals of internationalization, modularization/extensibility, element identity, semantic refinement, identification of encoding schemes, specification of controlled vocabularies, and identification of structured compound values. I think the important thing is for a student to understand the DCMI's goals to create an easy to use description that is able to succeed at the global level. So in theory, the DCMI importance is to be able to provide each property defined by a unique identity along with "human readable labels and clear semantic definitions."
- A Computer Database = structured collections of records or data, organized by a database model, that is stored in a computer system
- The computer database relies upon software, known as database management system, to organize the storage of data
- The first database management systems (dms) were developed in the 1960s with the two key models being CODASYL (network model) and IMS (hierarchical)
- IDMS were also the rave in the 1960s with PICK and MUMPS databases as the most popular
- In the 1970s, the relational model was proposed, but for a long time it was only an academic interest with more of a theoretical perspective which did not appear until the 1976 with System R and Ingres, but even then it was not a commercial product, only research prototypes
- By the early 1980s relational computer database became commercial products with the launch of Oracle and DB2
- 1980s research focused on distributed database systems
- 1990s research was focused on object-orientated databases
- 2000s - innovation focused on the XML database
- Database Model Structure
- Hierarchical model - data is organized into an inverted tree-like structure with a downward link in each node to describe nesting.
- Network model - records can participate in any number of named relationships - each relationship associates a record known as the owner with multiple records of a member
- Relational model - information is represented in columns and rows
- Database Management Systems: Relational database management systems, post-relational database models, and object database models
- DBMS internals
- Storage and physical database design - such as flat files, ISAM, heaps, hash buckets, or B+ trees (most common are B+ trees and ISAM)
- Indexing - most common is a sorted list of the contents of some particular table column with pointers to the row associated with the value (allows it to be located quickly)
- Transactions and concurrency - should enforce ACID rules of: atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability but many DBMS allow these rules to be relaxed for better performance
- Replication - closely related to transactions with concepts including: Master/Slave replication, quorum, and multimaster
- Security - to protect the database from unintended activity through an access control, auditing, and encryption
- Locking - how the database handles multiple concurrent operations with locks being generally shared (take ownership one from the other of the current data structure) or exclusive (no other lock can acquire the current data object as long as the lock last)
- Architecture - a combination of strategies are used such as OLTP systems use row-orientated datastore architecture
- Applications of databases - the preferred method of storage for large multiuser applications, where coordination between many users is needed
- Some DBMS products that might be familiar: BerkeleyDB, Datawasp, FileMaker, IBM IMS, Interbase, and Microsoft Access
Metadata is a term used to describe many different forms of data by many different professions. Each profession may use the term in a different way but what they have in common is that they are communities that "design, create, describe, preserve, and use information systems and resources" (1). All information objects have three key features: content, context, and structure which are all reflected through metadata.
In our field, library metadata has focused on providing intellectual and physical access to content whether through indexes, abstracts, or catalogue records. Another aspect of our field, archival and museum studies also uses metedata to organize their information. But in this area, they focus on context - preserving the context is what preserves the value of records and artifacts.
The structure of information has been focused on less in this field, but even so, it is still an important component because the professionals realize that the more organized the structure is, the more it can be used to search for information objects.
Metadata outside the repository is explained and used for a broad scope of describing different acts and information. For an example, with the Internet it could refer to the information being encoded into HTML. To an electronic archivist may use it to refer to "all the contextual, processing, and use information needed to identify document....an active of archival record..." (3).
The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set is acknowledged in this article as identifying simple sets of metadata elements that can be used by any community to describe and search across many different information resources on the WWW. This is necessary in order to make sure that the different descriptions of metadata can be searched for and found throughout the WWW.
This article further categorizes metadata so that it is easier to understand within different terms. The categories are administrative, descriptive, preservation, use, and technical metadata. Metadata also has certain attributes and characteristics such as the attribute method of metadata creation with the characteristics of automatic metadata generated by a computer and manual metadata created by humans (5).
Figure 1 makes it easier to understand the life cycle of objects contained in a digital information system (the phases that information goes through during their life in a digital environment). These phases are: Creation and Multi-versioning, organization, searching and retrieval, utilization, and preservation and disposition.
So why is metadata important? Because it increases accessibility, it retains context, expands the use of information, and can heighten the interest in multi-versioning of the information. It also helps legal issues, the preservation of digital information, and allows system improvements both technological and from the economical standpoint.
Muddiest Point: Why does the technological professionals allow metadata to describe so many things? You think (and I have) that people would become confused and just be like "okay, lets come up with a better term for this distinctive set of metadata."
"An Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model"
At first, the article is very "muddy" and hard to understand. I think their introduction and DCMI Requirements were chock-full of terminology which may throw off a less-technical savvy person from reading and understanding the DCMI.
But thankful, the article gets easier to understand, for a short period of time at least -I get the ideas of its following goals of internationalization, modularization/extensibility, element identity, semantic refinement, identification of encoding schemes, specification of controlled vocabularies, and identification of structured compound values. I think the important thing is for a student to understand the DCMI's goals to create an easy to use description that is able to succeed at the global level. So in theory, the DCMI importance is to be able to provide each property defined by a unique identity along with "human readable labels and clear semantic definitions."
Google Desktop Discussion
I thought that he may make a discussion group for the Desktop question, if so, I'll copy and paste it from here to there - but otherwise I'm playing it safe and putting it on here...
The ability of Google Desktop to search all the files on my computer just amazed me. After looking at the three options to download I chose the Google Desktop. What do I think this means to the future of the library and to librarians? For one, if you click the Yahoo download the X1 advertisement begins and one of the things it says it "Tired of the organization battle?" Tools like Google Desktop will begin to have a large impact on how people rely on other applications to find more and more information - even on their computer! The information overload is apparent in every situation in life - even your desktop - and Google has begun to realize how much time librarians (and people in general) would save if they could just find that one document they used for this essay or the one email that had all the answers to that ..common reference question... So with this tool people can rely less on their memory of what the document was called and more on Google Desktop to quickly find it. And I have worked as a reference librarian so to me, this means less time searching for such things and more time for me to complete other tasks that need to be done in.
The ability of Google Desktop to search all the files on my computer just amazed me. After looking at the three options to download I chose the Google Desktop. What do I think this means to the future of the library and to librarians? For one, if you click the Yahoo download the X1 advertisement begins and one of the things it says it "Tired of the organization battle?" Tools like Google Desktop will begin to have a large impact on how people rely on other applications to find more and more information - even on their computer! The information overload is apparent in every situation in life - even your desktop - and Google has begun to realize how much time librarians (and people in general) would save if they could just find that one document they used for this essay or the one email that had all the answers to that ..common reference question... So with this tool people can rely less on their memory of what the document was called and more on Google Desktop to quickly find it. And I have worked as a reference librarian so to me, this means less time searching for such things and more time for me to complete other tasks that need to be done in.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Week Three Comments
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8616439771751223038&postID=6555204566696578378&page=1
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5720842264846496247&postID=144324376817901087&page=1
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8117231295550149245&postID=3240127541408633912&page=1
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5720842264846496247&postID=144324376817901087&page=1
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=8117231295550149245&postID=3240127541408633912&page=1
Week 3 Additional Reading Post
"What is Mac OS X?"
This article helped with identifying (more than the wiki article) what exactly makes a Mac OS X so different from a PC with Microsoft Windows system, even though the author isn't contrast and comparing them directly. The architecture "tab" is a little beyond me in computer language and I am guessing most people who are thinking of buying a Mac... but the features and software part would be most helpful for those considering whether or not to switch to Mac. My only two concerns are is that he specifically lets people know this article should not be used for reference and (2) right in the beginning he is talking about giving a hacker "over-friendly" information about the Mac OS X system. Once again, as discussed before, this is something I am surprised to see being tied in with UP classes.
This article helped with identifying (more than the wiki article) what exactly makes a Mac OS X so different from a PC with Microsoft Windows system, even though the author isn't contrast and comparing them directly. The architecture "tab" is a little beyond me in computer language and I am guessing most people who are thinking of buying a Mac... but the features and software part would be most helpful for those considering whether or not to switch to Mac. My only two concerns are is that he specifically lets people know this article should not be used for reference and (2) right in the beginning he is talking about giving a hacker "over-friendly" information about the Mac OS X system. Once again, as discussed before, this is something I am surprised to see being tied in with UP classes.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Week Three Readings
"An Update on the Windows Roadmap"
This article focuses on reassuring the customers of Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and future customers of Windows 7 that Microsoft really "cares" about the concerns and problems that they have been experiencing since the debut of Vista. I wish I could have read this article a year ago when Vista began to be used at one of the regional Pitt campuses where I was beginning my senior year. So many people had problems, and many students completely avoided the use of computers in certain halls because they knew the systems were Vista.
The article/letter begins by explaining that XP users will receive support until 2014. It goes on to let consumers know that they can still purchase XP until they are comfortable enough to switch over to Vista. I believe that the interesting discussion at the bottom of this article brought up many interesting debates that are going on with switching large companies from XP to Vista. Such as costs, time of training, system support/failure, and the realization that Windows 7 will be released around 2010. I agree with the larger companies, that have the money and the people and want to be competitive should switch to Vista whereas small businesses, libraries, and even some schools such as elementary schools would be best off waiting for the Windows 7. Many of these smaller businesses and libraries don't have the money to update, nor the people to train the staff to use Vista. When a new system is right around the corner, I believe they would be better off spending the money in other much needed areas.
Another interesting part of this letter/article was how Microsoft created a "comprehensive 'telemetry system' that lets us gather anonymous information about how real customers are using Windows Vista, and what their experiences are with real applications..." I would be interested to know those who are more technological savvy than myself whether or not this really helped, or was used for more than just that purpose. The article states that they helped them copy files up to 50% more quickly and were able to diagnose and fix top problems of customers. I would have to agree with the article, because I really do not know much about technology.
Finally, he closes his letter by reassuring that Microsoft Windows 7 will have the same core architecture as Vista so that investments made by users pay off because the Windows will be compatible. I think this is trying to customers not to hesitate (as much as many did) to buy the new Windows 7 when it comes out due to prior experiences with Vista, but rather get them excited about a new, more advanced Windows.
"Mac OS X"
First of all, I must admit that there is a very interesting conversation going on in "Lindsay's blog" about the use of wiki articles for class.
But I will say that this article tries to be objective about the Mac systems that have come out in the past and are set to come out in the future. I'm not too familiar with Mac, only having used one for an art class for one semster, that my muddiest point would have to be what is the "BIG" difference between Mac and PCs? What is the big rave about Mac being so much better, but than this article highlights how many problems they have had with their systems and how many times they have had to change it/make new ones? Just like Microsoft, this article claims that the launch of Mac OS X in March 2001 was recognized as important because of it was realized from the beginning that it was "a base on which to improve." At the customers expense... same as Vista's problems, right?
Muddiest Point: MAC vs PC and the big rave about Mac when this article seems to show that Mac has experienced just as many setbacks and problems with new systems as Microsoft.
"Introduction to Linux: A Hands on Guide"
This article focuses on reassuring the customers of Microsoft Windows XP, Vista and future customers of Windows 7 that Microsoft really "cares" about the concerns and problems that they have been experiencing since the debut of Vista. I wish I could have read this article a year ago when Vista began to be used at one of the regional Pitt campuses where I was beginning my senior year. So many people had problems, and many students completely avoided the use of computers in certain halls because they knew the systems were Vista.
The article/letter begins by explaining that XP users will receive support until 2014. It goes on to let consumers know that they can still purchase XP until they are comfortable enough to switch over to Vista. I believe that the interesting discussion at the bottom of this article brought up many interesting debates that are going on with switching large companies from XP to Vista. Such as costs, time of training, system support/failure, and the realization that Windows 7 will be released around 2010. I agree with the larger companies, that have the money and the people and want to be competitive should switch to Vista whereas small businesses, libraries, and even some schools such as elementary schools would be best off waiting for the Windows 7. Many of these smaller businesses and libraries don't have the money to update, nor the people to train the staff to use Vista. When a new system is right around the corner, I believe they would be better off spending the money in other much needed areas.
Another interesting part of this letter/article was how Microsoft created a "comprehensive 'telemetry system' that lets us gather anonymous information about how real customers are using Windows Vista, and what their experiences are with real applications..." I would be interested to know those who are more technological savvy than myself whether or not this really helped, or was used for more than just that purpose. The article states that they helped them copy files up to 50% more quickly and were able to diagnose and fix top problems of customers. I would have to agree with the article, because I really do not know much about technology.
Finally, he closes his letter by reassuring that Microsoft Windows 7 will have the same core architecture as Vista so that investments made by users pay off because the Windows will be compatible. I think this is trying to customers not to hesitate (as much as many did) to buy the new Windows 7 when it comes out due to prior experiences with Vista, but rather get them excited about a new, more advanced Windows.
"Mac OS X"
First of all, I must admit that there is a very interesting conversation going on in "Lindsay's blog" about the use of wiki articles for class.
But I will say that this article tries to be objective about the Mac systems that have come out in the past and are set to come out in the future. I'm not too familiar with Mac, only having used one for an art class for one semster, that my muddiest point would have to be what is the "BIG" difference between Mac and PCs? What is the big rave about Mac being so much better, but than this article highlights how many problems they have had with their systems and how many times they have had to change it/make new ones? Just like Microsoft, this article claims that the launch of Mac OS X in March 2001 was recognized as important because of it was realized from the beginning that it was "a base on which to improve." At the customers expense... same as Vista's problems, right?
Muddiest Point: MAC vs PC and the big rave about Mac when this article seems to show that Mac has experienced just as many setbacks and problems with new systems as Microsoft.
"Introduction to Linux: A Hands on Guide"
- Freely available system to download from the Internet
- A clone of UNIX
- Linux developers concentrated on networking and services in the beginning, and now are focusing on office applications a the last barrier to be solved
- Well known for it reliability & stability
- Not only used for PCs but also for other electronic gadgets such as mobiles and PDA's
- Has everything a good programmer wants: compilers, libraries, development and debugging tools
- Realized that if Linux was ever to be a important player that they would have to create a system that was more user friendly
- New system is much different from older complex downloads - you don't even have to type a single character but you still have access to the core of the system when needed (and for those who want to do everything manually, Linux allows you to do that too)
- Open Source = people can adapt it, fix it, debug it, and then put it back out there so that others can use it. This allows more people working at it and therefore new discovers are made and problems are solved much more quickly than if it was a closed group of programmers working on it.
- Packages are available to fit most systems so that new users are more comfortable trying it out
- PROS: free, GPU Public License agreement, runs without rebooting all of the time, security, can add or remove packages to fit customers specific needs, and because so many people are using it and adapting it to their needs - sometimes it only take a few hours before a bug is discovered and fixed.
- CONS: more people = more opinions so there are many to pick from (can seem overwhelming), not very user friendly and can be confusing for new users, and people question whether it is it trustworthy because it is an open product?
- Based on GNU tools so it provides a set of standards of how to use and handle the system
- When asking what one should I install - hardware is the most important factor to consider when deciding if it work correctly on your computer
I used the outline this time for the notes because I feel that I don't have much of an opinion or knowledge on this article since I have never used Linux before (or know of anyone who uses it). Hopefully this will help me get the main points of this article, but I am still looking forward to what others have to say about it or know about it.
Muddiest Class Point for 9/2/08 class session
After the answer/small discussion about direct and sequential access I was confused by what can be or is considered direct or sequential access.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Ongoing Discussion
Another Comment:
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7943070653086840690&postID=2863922694743418879
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7943070653086840690&postID=2863922694743418879
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
