Secure Email

I downloaded the Thunderbird application but all my mail is already being forwarding to microsoft outlook. So i sent all my mail through outlook :-) (below)

The following article discusses how a growing need for patient feed back through e-mail is growing. The article (or Blog) wants to know your feelings on this new doctor patient interaction and if you would use it or not, so that these new usage for secure email can take off or plummet to the ground. The patient - doctor confidentiality is a huge concern especially now with the ever so growing popularity of e-mailing. It is talking about how patients are communicating through secure email to their doctors. They can e-mail concerns and with in the business day the doctor can respond accordingly to that patient. Eliminating the face to face interaction. It opens a lot of doors through detailing medicines and prescribing prescriptions if a person does not have to go into the office it would be "spoiling" the client, but it would save huge minutes in a work day.Since secure e-mail is secure it would be a great revolution in the patient-doctor confidentiality and a revolution for time savers everywhere. It does however say to make sure of the prices when switching to an e-mail form of interaction as to be careful the it is more beneficial to you and not just your doctor.

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/healthmatters/2010/04/13/patient-feedback-needed-as-use-of-electronic-health-records-grows/

Week 14: Muddy

This week was really hard for me. I have to be honest I am still befuddled in what i read watched and took a quiz on. I understand that you should always back up your work but besides saving it to a flash, CD, etc., I really would not know where to begin. I do understand that this chapter was more pushed towards the business perspective, I am still not completely sure what it is I learned. It would be good for hospitals, banks and businesses that hold major security details on people to back up their data to another drive so that information would not be lost or damaged. But that is really all I got out of this week. I think that if i ever need more help on this situation i will definitely be hiring an IT person :-).

Week 13: Clear

Security risks are a very scary thing for computer users, especially those that work on confidential information for example, like the IRS (since tax day is approaching :-)). It is possible that all the information on your computer could be "hacked" by a hacker. The term hacker used to have a good meaning, now it is referred to as an unpleasant one. A hacker, or cracker, is a person that breaks into a computer. Some hackers now create virus's (programs that damage files mostly through email), worms (programs which duplicates itself multiple times making your computer run slower), and Trojan horses (which is non-replicating but acts like it is useful while letting unauthorized access to your computer). Security breaches happen most often through this hazardous viruses and cause huge risks for you and your computer. Not only could you loose all the data which your computer holds, but, it could also fall into the wrong hands and cause serious infractions for either a business or ones personal life.

It is strongly suggested that you use a anti-virus software on any computer you may use. not only if it is holding sensitive data but any kind of data that would be harmful if was linked, i.e., online banking information. You can purchases anti-virus software online or buy it in stores to bring home and upload to your computer. I use McAfee, http://us.mcafee.com/root/landingpages/affLandPage.asp?affid=0&lpname=19329b_perf, but there are a ton of different types out there. Also, I suggest backing up your data on a flash drive, CD, or whatever you prefer so that if your data is lost of destroyed you always have a copy readily available.

*The Picture is of "The Beast" a type of Windows-based backdoor Trojan horse

Week 12: Clear

This week information and systems development was pretty much what i was expecting it to be. It was all about systems. A system is a set of components that interact to achieve a common goal. In the book they gave examples of a highway and how we do not realize that we use system all the time. As some of us may realize the systems when using that portion of us may or may not realize that behind every system there is a business creating it and with that business holds a team and key individuals to organize, research and develop this system.
A business working on a project, i.g. a highway, needs a main system developer also known as a program manager, is the key person in the system development cycle. A system development project usually needs a project team which is developed by the company. A project team works on the project from beginning to end and is made up of at least one person from each different area. The team usually consist of users, systems analyst, and other IT people. For each system development project you need to create a team consisting of this people to complete the project efficiently.
The development cycle is split into five phases.
1. Planning
2. Analysis
3. Design
4. Implementation
5. Operation, Support, and Security
Each phases also consist of a series of activities that the developers go by. There are also three guidelines to follow during the phases.
All this put together creates our systems that we use daily, most of the time without realizing. It is pretty interesting, and if you are caught captive and wanting to know more check into the engineering department on campus.

Database Project

I learned A LOT about Access during this project. I literally did not know anything before starting this project, so it was really eye opening. I learned how to do all the reports, forms and queries and found that I like using this a lot better then using Excel. I learned how to group data, validate data and sort out what I do not need to view only what I would like to see. I found that these skills are going to be very helpful in my work life and can not wait to make people jealous with my skills.
I way i would enhance the functionality of the database would be to be able to edit feilds by clicking on them to rename. That way you could rename a feild while out of design view. You would have to create a locking mechanism so only the editor would be able to edit, but I found that I was editing a lot and sometimes it was a pain to keep switching view. Also in design view for the table you should have different options on feilds. They could be just basic options like gender, and then to specify have an option for Male/Female. Having basic options would save a lot of time in most cases and time=money. Just a thought.

Avatar Adventure

I created my avatar using the portrait illusration maker. I was quite fun actually! I kept playing around with all the different types of hair does and things. I got a kick out of the wrinkles and after much consideration decided to skip out on that part. It would not let me save the image to my desktop, but I was able to screen capture the image and upload via paint to my blog. It was pretty easy, now I have my friends creating them to!

Week 11: clear

This week was pretty smooth sailing. I have used acess at a previous work place, but this has really helped me understand it. In most cases it seems the a database would be much more pratical to use then excel. It is great to use if you have large inventory, and need to now when, how much and etc., when you need to re-order. You can create a table that lets you know exactly where you are on usage, for ordering information. A table is a set of important inforamtion, it is all the data that you are using depending on the data type you have to name it a unique name so that the database can recognize it. If you have a ton of different information you can use a query to help identify what exactly you are looking for throughout your tables. A query will find the exact data you are looking for (e.g. alll students named Alexia), you can change, sort or combine data from different tables as well. A lot of memebrship companys use this to delete memebers that have been inactive for a extended period of time. Microsoft is a great tool for those of us who are not computer programmers and need a visuably pleasing and not to advanced program.
Access is not the only database program out there, sunbase star, dBase, Alpha Five, and many others. You have to pick which is confortable for you. Access is helpful to me becuase there it is so widely used that you can always find help.

The photo above is of a query. It is pulling all the inventory from that certain month in that certain year. A database provides data integrity meaning the data is valid, accurate, complete, verifiable, and formatted correctly. A database should also avoid data redundancy and no duplication of data, and provide data security.

Week 10: Clear

This week was actually interesting to me. I knew a lot about networks and how they are used already but it really painted a much clearer picture for me as far as DSL, FTTP's, ATM's and so on and so fourth. Also i found very interesting the different types of WiMax , IrDA, and WAP. I began to think to myself, that if there are so many different types of wireless connection's out there how come we are provided with so-so service.

I am a resident in Newberry, FL which is about 20 minutes west of Gainesville, it is pretty much in the boonies, but are Internet is horrible. I wonder when Internet will become just another utility bill? It would be awesome to have a fast operating system out in Newberry with having to pay outrageous cost to build a T1 line or something crazy that for just an everyday Internet surfer. I was not aware of the wireless connection capability and how it could be available to people.

WAN, which stands for a Wide Area Network, connects computers in different areas through telephone lines and radio waves. This is convenient for people how might work lets say on campus, (CAN for example) and work in more then one building but need he same documents or information for both places, they can have the same info. in one building on one totally different computer and then go to the next across campus and retrieve the same info. at a different desk. It allows people and company's to work more efficiently together and through their computers. There is also a smaller network available for smaller business's which is LAN, Local Area Network. This provides computers in the small general area the network, usually the space to which the business occupies. This network would not be sufficient on a larger scale basis.

There are five different types of networks out there though: WAN LAN, CAN,MAN, HAN Using the different types of networks really helps business's, students, and professionals be more efficient.

Excel Project

This excel project was extremely time consuming for me. I had no idea how to do any of the required steps and had to re-watch the lectures multiple times. I opened the link at the beginning of the semester to just skim over the requirements for each project and at the time i thought to myself " O! this will not be that bad", boy was i wrong! I started the project late, unfortunately, and spent a long time trying to figure things out. All this information and learning is a good thing though as i have recently been employed and we use excel a lot! So hopefully all this tasks will come in handy.

The freeze panes were really confusing for me to figure out because the option at the top only gives you the option to freeze the first row only. It is really a good thing to know though so when you are working at the bottom of a work sheet and you need to have the labels visible at the same time it is sooo convenient. All the beginning things were pretty simple for me to fix and edit after having done the excel scavenger hunt. Like renaming he tabs and add columns, i would not have known how to do those things if i had not done the scavenger hunt before.

I am still not convinced that i am 100% on using and figuring out how to do them and input the data correctly, but, i guess it will reflect in my grade. I think that this project will help me in the long run in a future business career or even in my own work out and health routine. I am excited to show others what i have learned and help others if and when it is needed. The Pivot tables gave me a lot of trouble because i have never heard of them before this project and was not exactly sure what they were for or how they were used.

Week 9: Muddy

OK...so... at the beginning of this hunt and project I was extremely worried. I have worked with excel before but only once and I am not at all confident with the software. I have to admit I kept putting it off because I was worried the information was going to overwhelm me and that with the rest of my midterms I was just going to stress myself out about nothing.

I know that Excel plays a huge role in our business world today and was actually pleased to be able to work with it and find shortcuts for things while I was doing research for the hunt. Like how to format cells, and add columns and delete them, etc. I am so pleased now that having done this hunt and having found this little hints and shortcuts because it will help me out a lot in future projects at work. I would normally sit there and spend a couple minutes clicking on different toolbar functions trying to figure out what it is I was looking for, now with a list of functions I can use my little cheat sheet I created.

One thing that I learned that I did not know how to do before is how to rename a worksheet. It is so much easier to name them something help so I know where to look for exactly what I am looking for. I had asked people that use excel for their business and they did not know how to do that, so I was able to help and show them how to use it.

I will be using excel on upcoming work projects and I will not be subjective to it. I am excited about the new techniques I have learned and to use the new skills and further my knowledge in the excel project.

Week 7: Clear

WoW! I had no idea that you should be renewing and updating your security software so much! I probably had not done an update in forever! I just spent the whole day almost cleaning up my computer. Luckily, I did not run into any viruses along the way. I also went and checked out my personnal firewall, I have Vista, thankfully, which automatically enables itself. I though that this was all done on its own, that the computer would take care of its own self, haha.
I thought it was interesting that for Mac's it is not reccommended to defragment your computer but for pc's it is. I have both types of computers at home. So I will defrag my Dell but not my apple :). Since fragmentation slows down your whole computer, hopefully by defragmenting my Dell it will improve its performance. It will allow files to be saved then as, contigous sectors, instead of fragmented pieces.
Who knew computers were this invovled.
I always try and rememer to back-up important information already on my computers. I have a couple different USB from over the years. I find saving my work to a USB is the best option for me. Not only does it save space, it saves work from possibly being destroyed.

Web 2.0 Project

Wow! This project definitely give me trouble in the beginning. I had no idea what was going on, and no clue on to what to make a story about. After an afternoon of trail riding down our limestone rock rode, and having my mind to myself, it came to me, "i'll do my project on the business!". At the beginning I had a major brain block, so I spent a couple days on working different story boards out to decide which direction I wanted to take it. I thought about doing a sales video, lesson video, location video, and none really sat right with me. I decided I would take the opportunity to go over a few little details that dressage riders (or any riders for that matter) learn. I went with the idea "From hard hat, to top hat" because not a lot of people are aware of the difference. A hard hat is for riders first starting out riding in lower levels of dressage, and a top hat is used by riders who have mastered the elements, shown, and have proven scores in all levels. The pictures in the montage are all of my family, and friends. My mother the owner of SRF Sport horses, Inc, is pictured numerous times along with me, my niece and nephew, and one of my best friends Jillian, we all are what makes up SRF, and we all share the same passion.

I really enjoyed making the project overall, and plan on using Onetruemedia.com again to create more advertisements for horses that we currently have for sale at SRF. It is a great marketing tool to catch the attention and interest of viewers.

Please view and comment on my project and how I can improve. I have added the project to my facebook page for people to comment, below is the URL!! Also participate in the poll I have credited located on the side of my blog! Thanks!

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=a5323e22e81b3cd312a43e&skin_id=1603

http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.onetruemedia.com%2Fshared_facebook%2Fa5323e22e81b3cd312a43e%2F1603&t=My%20Montage%202%2F7%2F10

I have already gotten some feedback from viewers! I am glad to hear that people enjoyed viewing it as much as i enjoyed making it! I love my life and surrounding myself with these amazing animals makes it that much better. I will make the change to the slides though, I will consider slowing them down a bit. I had them at the speed they were because it was supposed to resemble a commercial but now i know that it may have been fast! Thanks a lot for the advice!! :-)

Web 2.0 Project

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Week 6: Clear

Wireless input devices are huge now! I see many different types of mice, keyboards and web cams being used on a daily basis. It is funny to see how people get attached to their new found love of a wireless mice or a wireless keyboards. Wireless mice typically use infrared technology to manage your pointer will on the computer. It is a fabulous thing to have wireless devices because it does dramatically reduce the appearance of cords around your desk and office area. As long as you know how to sync and change batteries properly it really is more appealing to the eye to have.
Different types of keyboards and motion sensitive devices help reducing RSI- repetitive strain injury. RSI is the repetitive use of the same motion. For example, if you rest your wrist on the desk while waving your mouse around all day you are more likely to develop an uncomfortable condition. Some of the conditions include tendinitis, and Carpal Tunnel syndrome. Both of these conditions and lead to major problems that can affect your health and work load. New technology helps reduce these problems by allowing you to use the keyboard and mouse in a different way and/or allowing you to change how you use them on a daily basis. Also, there is new technology that lets you actually speak to your computer and your computer will actually take the commends and follow through. The computer can pick up on phonemes that we all have and can detect what words we are saying. Of course this program needs training but depending on the training it could answer simple questions or have expensive and intensive training to comprehend a huge vocabulary. The use of speech recognition in computers can be costly for the training and will need extra components such as USB headsets and microphones.

All of these information help me further my knowledge into the ever expanding use of technology. It is a pretty amazing industry. I have a feeling that, soon, with extensive training in computers we will start to see more robots around helping out in the work force.

Week 5: Clear

Flash drives, floppies, CD's, all are common terms to me. Of course the revolutionary flash drive is a life saver and a little magical wonder when it comes to documents. I can be at one computer, store my documents on my flash and go to the next to have them upload on to different computer! CD-R is a wonderful invention as well. You can buy your music on i-tunes and customize your very own soundtrack. This chapter was very interesting but clear to me. It made me more clear on things I pretty much use everyday.

Computers are becoming faster then ever. Staying cool and mass storage are making our little wizards (computers) necessary need in our lives. We can back up all our work on so many different types of devices, making it more safe to store things away from damage or computer failure. There are many different types of storage that the consumer can pick out depending on there preference.

For example, take a traditional role of film from a camera. You only were able to get about 20-25 pictures per role at 5-15 dollars a piece. Now with the new and improved digital camera, you buy a SD-card and you can shoot anywhere from 20-2000 pictures with out having to delete or remove any photos from the card. Digital cameras have improved marketing and advertising aspects of business because now you can take power shots and not worrying about over shooting or replacing the film every 20-25 pictures. Also with the CD-R it is possible to upload your pictures from your SD card to your computer and transfer them to a writable CD where they can be stored without fear of computer failure or damage to the negatives. You must store your CD properly, of course, but a CD can hold many photos, videos, and music of your liking. You can choose any type on storing device you prefer, you just have to choose the one thats best for you.

Week 4: Muddy

So this week there was so much information that the reading became a little muddy for me to understand at some points! I could barely keep track of what i was reading let alone in the lectures. Shareware, Freeware, software, ugh, it was so tuff to undertsand them all with their names being so similar.
Shareware and Freeware are different because shareware is not free, but freeware is. Shareware can be used for free during a trial period, then purchased after the time expired if you want to use it after the expired time. Freeware is free, hence the name, but can not be incorporated in any applications you intend to sell. For example, many games on the internet you can use for free,but there are also some shareware games, which have to be purchased in order to play. Here is an example of a freeware game called "Cave Story" ...a lot of fun!
I learned a wide variety of software from business programs use to single user programs. I have used many different software programs, from tax prep, to Adobe Reader. I use most software in everyday use and have never thought about license agreements and how much work must have gone into building and creating these fabulous programs. It makes life a lot easier, and your work more efficient having them, especially since most everything you do these days is on the computer. Even now, by me typing on this blog I am using a communictaion software! Crazy I know!
We rely heavily on our computers and software programs make them that much more effective in our daily lives, and thanks to application software and the people that create it, we can have a more simple way to do our daily business.

Week 3: Clear

So week three in the readings were a bit more interesting for me at least. I knew that there was a difference between the internet and the World Wide Web but the text really put it into perspective! The web is just a service of the internet, weird but true, so e-mailing and web pages are not the "internet", they are web pages on the internet,confusing then check out, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet. So now when I am going to go on my computer I will say i am going to surf the web, because I am not just going on the internet. Haha.
I learned that the internet was started in a cool secret kind of way, ARPANET, was started by the U.S. Pentagon as a research project. It allowed scientist that were not near each other to communicate while working on military and scientific projects, through the internet. It started with just four computers, in 1969, located in four different places so that the researchers could collaborate, through e-mail. Today there are more then half a billion computer and all are doing much more then just sending e-mails. Fascinating to me! Its like a James Bond secret that has changed our lives!
Anywho...with the internet growing at such a fast pace, it is awesome yet a little disturbing that you can use e-commerce to buy anything for sale on the web. I do own a I-phone but I would never have thought that I would actually use it to do any sort of shopping. M-commerce the phase now coined to mean, mobile shopping, is where people on their blackberrys, I-phone, etc., and shop! I have bought a few things off of the web, but it sort of scares me to think how many people are on the internet and how, it is most likely, very easy to have your identity stolen.
There was a lot of information in the chapter but most information was a solid review or a more detailed look on things I have already known. The internet is a fascinately place, filled with so many options! It enhances the use of the computer 10-fold.

Creating my Blog

So this blogging thing is new to me! But I think I am starting to like it! I have been messing around with the elements that you can add and what all you can actually do with it. I probably will always be changing things like pictures and maybe writing about things I am experiencing, hope that is ok! I am also helping my mother fix and keep up with her blogging for her business! The blog URL is http://sunrisefarms.blogspot.com/ check it out!

Week 2: Muddy

I would have never guessed that computers are such intricate machines. Yes I know how to use them, and play on them, but truly had never thought about the coding schemes, and tiny chips that go into making them. To think we started with just a crank multiplying machine, whic was extraordinary at the time, to the new age mini laptop, wirless computers, is mind boggling. Hundreds of thousands of little working units in a single chip to decode all the information on your computer! Wow! Its like a mini genius.
From the Dark ages, to present time, the computer revolution is an amazing history. A history that is still amazing and continues to grow. The dark ages started with a crank multiplying machine, which just added numbers, then in the middle ages, 1958-1990, the developement of the computers own language, to the now, the present, with the tiny brains in the computer called chips, that do virtually everything on your computer for you by the touch of a button.
I look forward to learning more about my machine, as i was not very well informed that all this hard work and effort went in, not only to create, but to continue to make our machine, or little/big workers :-), more incredible.

Week 1: Clear

As a person who has grown up on computers you learn and develop these computer skills that many people older then myself are amazed by. For example, i can type with two hands rather then search for words and then type, LOL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LOL), which many find amazing! As a rather younger person I never thought that I knew much more about computers and the proper or improper use until someone in my family pointed it out. I divulge in this information because Internet etiquette I am aware of but as of this week i can use the proper terminology to describe "netiquette" (computer etiquette).
Netiquette is the term to describe proper computer etiquette. For example, WHEN YOU TYPE IN ALL CAPITALS, this imposes you are shouting or yelling. The person on the other end of the e-mail, text message might take your expression as rude or insulting. Nowadays with the Internet being such a huge source for business and personal relationships if one is not aware of netiquette on the Internet, e-mail, text, and/or blogging, could possibly work against them. Lets say you type something to your boss that you think would be considered a "short" and "sweet" response where in fact it could be taken as short responded and "sassy" or "rude". Many times now instead of getting a knock on the door, cubicle, etc., you will receive an e-mail from a supervisor, co-worker, etc., giving instructions through Internet instead of personal communication, so it is very important to know the proper use of netiquette to determine urgency, importance, or tone of the message. For example, lets say a document that needs to be written and the timely manner at which it needs to be submitted comes from your supervisor, there is no indication from them that it is urgent, but they write that they need it TODAY, if you were not aware that caps constitutes as shouting then you would probably not realize the urgency of the massage therefore setting your self up for a disappointment. Without voice recognition it might be hard to determine through written words the tone of a person when they communicate, whether they are being sarcastic, rude, or complimentary, that is why knowing and using netiquette has become a huge tool in the ever growing boom of the relationship between Internet business and personal relationships. Another example, someone could type "call me" so you would think it is not urgent but if they wrote "CALL ME" you would assume they are shouting and call as soon as possible.
To learn more about Netiquette please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netiquette, for full history and definition.

I am glad that i have learned the appropriate terminology to describe proper etiquette on the Internet!