Milestone III: Googling- The Ins and the Outs

So, while I was reading this section of the book about searching the internet and getting the most out of what you are searching for I came across a point that I never learned. This is the whole use of AND, OR, and NOT. Three simple words that could make a huge difference in what google brings back to you in its search of the web. First off, I knew that if you used quotation marks that it would search for the exact phrase in the quotes, but I never knew that adding these types of words might aid in your search more than quotation marks. The word "and" helps when you are trying to find two words that should appear together (ex. Italian and restaurant), which then looks for combinations with Italian and restaurant together. If "or" is used they are going to look for websites that include both words on the side or them together. Then the word "not," allows you to narrow your search to not include certain things that might be associated with the words that you are searching for. Wow, these are going to helpful as I continue my use of the internet and grow in my knowledge of information technology. Google has been a very useful tool as I have continued my education just because it allows you to get a variety of sources very quickly without the hassle of randomly going through sites. Google has also set up a pageranking system which seems like it would be very useful. By going through the website and picking up what would seem as the most relevant choice for what a user is looking for allows for a person to figure out the websites needed a lot quicker and with more ease. Googling is a great tool while using the internet. Google something and find out for yourself, and use the quick and easy tools to gain a better search of what exactly you are looking for.

Searching for College Made Easier

In the Article States Simplify College Search Via Web talks about the ease the internet has made for searching for colleges and financial aid. It is incredible how much the internet has helped people on a very usual task of looking into colleges and trying to figure out which one is the best fit for the student. There are 35 states right now that have a website that helps people to look into colleges that are in the state and the colleges that are not included in that listing can always be found at www.princetonreview.com.

The more I thought about these individual state websites with the colleges, the more I thought about how much just the internet as a whole as helped with college enrollment. The ease of going online and finding a school and seeing pictures and information about the school allows for everything to be done right at home. Along with the individual state college searches a person can fill out an electronic application which increases the ease of sending in an application, without mailing. On top of that it gets to its destination a lot faster, which makes there be faster acceptances or denials.

With the ease comes the increase of college enrollment. In the article it is stated, "North Carolina's cfnc.org, which launched in 2000, has been credited with helping increase the state's college-enrollment rate from 57 percent to 68 percent of high school graduate." This is a great percentage increase for students to go from high school to college. The internet has become a staple in the lives of human beings and has allowed for transitions that are usually stressful into fun times on the internet.

Milestone II: Marking Up With HTML

OK...So this whole chapter was a milestone for me. Even though I feel that I can do almost anything on a computer, HTML is one of those scary things that keeps me away from even starting to figure out what it is all about. Starting from the simplest things with HTML saying that it is a hidden formatting tag that describes how the text looks, I would not of even of been able to tell you that I knew that. I thought HTML just had to do with being online, but it is the designing of the Web page look. I hope some day I can come back to this book and actually try this out. It is cool to be able to look at the mumble jumble on the page and actually start to understand it. I knew nothing about HTML until I started this class and now reading this chapter has taken me one more step closer. I am starting to impress myself with the knowledge that I am gaining just by reading a book about computers. So from here I just wanted to try this out and see if I could actually make something that would be used in HTML to see how much I am really, truly gaining...

Jordanna is learning to be FIT.

YAY! I figured it out. That is a great tool to learn to do especially if you work on computers and the internet frequently. I was able to figure out how to write what I wanted in bold, italics, and a color with really no problems. This will probably help me in the future as I go into the real world of working.

War On Drugs Targeting Their Prime Audience

White House Uploads Anti-drug Videos to YouTube

Finally, the government is starting to lean towards the generation that is growing up right now. The government has learned that the best way to target people 25 and younger anymore is through the internet and on a website that has been attracting a lot of peoples' attention lately. YouTube, a website where you can download videos, has been extended to be a platform for the government to continue the War On Drugs. I think it is interesting to see that through the years, that the target is younger people and the media is the internet. Things have changed so much from media to media and from target to target. They also tried humor in these videos to catch the attention of younger people. Hopefully, it will help to deter kids from trying illegal substances. Through videos like this the digital divide is working its way to be smaller because people are able to just go online and see whatever they want to see. These type of videos help kids who spend most of their time on the computer nowadays. This makes a difference when people start to think about policies that have to deal with younger adults because the amount of time younger adults are on the internet is amazing. So for the White House to actually see this as a big thing is great because hopefully they will start bringing more policies out online and allowing younger adults to be more involved in what is going on in the nation.

Taking Blogging A Little Too Far??

Worker suspended over blog wins back pay

In this article on msnbc.com in the Tech news, a man is accused of blogging on company time and writing stuff against a small town in Virginia. He was suspended from his job for two weeks and won his case, saying that state policy does not have anything against blogging on work time. Since then the Department of Business Assistance banned blogging on agency time.

Wow...blogging, blogging, blogging. I have never heard of so much blogging until recently. It is like one of those things you never hear about and then when you do EVERYONE is talking about it. Blogging is an interesting concept, yeah it can be cool and fun if you like to journal or put your opinions out there for everyone to see, but in some respects it is a little too personal and putting yourself out there for people to see. I do not think this guy was in the right by blogging during agency hours, but if he really wants to put his opinions out there that is his decision. I think it is too much to be doing it on agency time and that he should do it in his own personal time. Blogging...do it on your own time! :-D

Milestone I: Is my information really safe?

As I sit here and read chapters 2 and 12 I see that even though I think I am knowledgeable about some things on the computer I really am not. But my first ah-ha moment came when I was going through Chapter 12- "Computers in Polite Society-Social Implications of IT," and thinking about how I decide on my passwords for everything that I do and how easy it would probably be for someone to get into my stuff. I, myself, do not think that I would be able to break anyone's password, but some people out there can probably do anything and everything if they put their mind to it. It has kind of set me back just because I never really thought about making my password as intense as the book says to make them. I just think why would anyone want to get my information or my stuff offline? Creepy to think that someone out there just wants any one's stuff that they can get their hands on.

It is interesting to really understand how to develop a secure password, through guidelines that help solve a problem, that is not algorithmic (or heuristic, in IT language). First off by using a phrase instead of just a word and then shortening it down to how many characters needed is a great way to have a more secure password and secondly, by using symbols in the words that kind of look like the letters. (I never really thought about doing this) These are things I would never of even thought about doing, because I try to do something that I would remember really quick, and not thinking about security. Along with all of this, since I am on the computer all the time I should be able to remember the passwords just by "total recall." So...all in all...I need to secure my stuff with more complex passwords, and know that there are a lot of creepy people out there that are looking for whatever they can get their hands on. Scary...

Opening the Doors of Networking

In a story called Social Networking Comes to Casual Games tells of how much technology is changing in our everyday lives...

• "A service the company launched Wednesday lets users create their own Web site to write and share game reviews and earn rewards in a referral program. It takes the community aspects of popular sites like MySpace.com and tunes it for a crowd of casual gamers, who are mostly older women..."

It is great to finally see that through time the digital divide might be closing up a little where people who did not really grow up with technology like we all have are getting a chance to network online as well. This new service that Big Fish is launching on the world wide web is letting people receive incentives for networking and getting to know others online. Friends gain discounts to refer other friends on games that they want to play.

While I have been growing up technology has always had a place in my life starting off in elementary school taking computer class on Macs to going to college where everyone I knew had their own computer. Big Fish has been targeting a different generation who have not been as into computers as the younger generation. They are trying to pull more people into technology. Computers have allowed people to stay in touch better and more efficiently than ever before, through AIM and networking websites like Facebook and MySpace, and now through Big Fish.

I think networking has become one of the biggest advantages on the world wide web right now. It allows people to keep in touch with others and it also helps to break the uncomfortable feeling of picking up a phone and calling, where now you can sit at your computer and send a quick message to see how people are doing. Even though the computer has depersonalized keeping in touch, it has allowed people to just keep in touch more than ever. I think about being a part of Facebook and MySpace and just think of the people that I am still in touch with now, that I probably would never of talked to again after high school or after hanging out with them a few times. Big Fish has allowed for networking just by playing a casual game, and become more knowledgeable about technology by designing websites (which many people, even ones who have grown up with computers, do not know how to do) and downloading games. I hope this is a glimpse into the future of networking and increased technology knowledge for many more people online.