CIOS 110 Lesson 11 #2

There are three "big" OS on the market today: Windows, Mac OS and Linux. However, Linux has a tiny fraction of the market in comparison to the others, even though devotees will corenr you for hours to tell you how superior the system is. If it's so great, why are so few people using it? I think it comes down to a few issues: ignorance, convenience and public perception.

Ignorance: As a free OS, Linux certainly isn't making money selling systems. And if it's not making money, it certainly doesn't have a lot of money to spend on advertising. I don't read computer magazines, so there may very well be Linux ads that I'm not aware of, but I doubt it. The main way people hear about Linux is through word of mouth, and that usually means one computer geek talking to another. It's hard to imagine word of mouth managing to trickle down to someone like my elderly aunt who can barely figure out how to connect to the Internet. She is not and never will be a Linux user.


Convenience: Most people hope that when they make a major purchase, they will not need to put in additional efforts afterward. I know that I would not buy a car if the motor was not installed yet, even if the price included a perfectly good (or even superior) motor. For me, when I decide to spend the money on a car, I want it running right away. Many people feel the same way about computers, which is why companies like Dell can thrive. They offer a complete package: a computer with an OS, monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, etc. No shopping for peripherals, no deciding between numerous options. This is why Windows is the most-used OS. It is the standard OS on all PCs. It comes already on the machine, and the new owners don't have to worry about anything other than plugging in. For most computer users, the idea of installing their own OS is terrifying, let alone installing an unknown OS. People take their computers to the shop when Windows starts crashing instead of trying to fix it themselves.

Public perception: Despite the problems of both ignorance and convenience, there is still a group of loyal Linux users. To cast a broad generalization, they are usually computer nerds, the sort of people who will happily build their own system and install their own OS. And unfortunately, when the public thinks of Linux, they think of these nerds. And nothing strikes fear into the heart of an average computer user like the thought of having a nerd try top teach them how to install an unknown OS.

Until Linux can find a way to convince the lowest common denominator that it is easy install and use their OS, their share of the market will remain limited to hard-core computer enthusiasts.

CIOS 110 Lesson 11 #1

On the surface, it may seem as though Mac OS X is just prettier than OS 9. Sure, there's the dock and the scalable icons, and we can't forget the little drop shadows under each open window. It definitely puts the G in GUI, and looking back at OS 9 makes one realized how dated and archaic 9 looks. But under the surface of the pretty graphics are some serious changes.

The multitasking abilities and memory protection of OS X allow the system to run many applications simultaneously without the system bogging down. The system is based on Unix, meaning that Linux software can be reconfigured to run on OS X.

Currently, Mac is moving forward with OS X, and each new development is emphasizing the visual elements and the "digital lifestyle" applications like the iLife suite, which includes iTunes (music purchasing, organization and sharing ... how this program is not considered music piracy is beyond me), iMovie and iDvd (which combine to let users easily import their raw video footage from camcorders and create movies with effects such as titles and transitions, plus dvds with menu templates and chapters). Need more proof that the OS is evolving? Well, a picture is worth 1,000 words. (Apologies for the Windows comparisons - I found the image online.)

CIOS 110 Lesson 10 #2

WebDAV is one of those terms that I heard thrown around a lot at work before I actually found out what it was. I use something that is similar to WebDAV, as most of the University is migrating web sites to the Roxen CMS. So instead of focusing on WebDAV, I'm going to focus on Roxen and CMS in general.

CMS is a great way for people to get their fingers into the Internet. Starting with simple blogs and moving up to sites maintained via a program like Roxen, it really makes the web accessible for people. Web design can be intimidating, even using a program like Dreamweaver that gives you WYSIWYG design. It's just hard for people to understand unless they have the time to devote to studying it. With a CMS, those same people can log into a site and make changes to a web page without feeling like they're writing HTML code. They are usually familiar with filling out forms online, so they probably find it comfortable to enter a headline in one field and body text in another. Ta da!! A web page.

I've had to go through a lot of Roxen training at UAF, and I've seen people who seem to have difficulty doing ANYTHING on a computer start to get the hang of the program. It scares me to think of such technically-challenged people maintaining websites just because it's a part of their admin job, but at least with a CMS, I know they won't be accidentally deleting images or pages.

CIOS 110 Lesson 10 #1

It seems like the best way to protect yourself from viruses is to get a Mac. Just kidding (sort of).

It's pretty easy to avoid viruses if you use some common sense. Don't open attachments in e-mails from unknown people, for instance. Be careful about downloading and opening programs from the Internet. If it's not a trusted site, don't do it. However, you can also install software such as Norton to keep an eye on things. Norton will automatically scan all things you download. It can also be set to run regular checks of your computer looking for any viruses that may have gotten through.

In short, to avoid viruses, use a combination of software and common sense.

CIOS 110 Lesson 9 #2

Hmmm. Living in the woods, I don't have any security set up on our wireless network. Maybe that's not such a good idea, especially since I came across the concept of Wardriving and wireless hacking. Am I foolish for thinking that living remotely makes me safer?

At work, we have high security on our networks. We use Cisco and VPNs, which I will be using as I access the network from Connecticut during a family emergency. This is the problem with technology - I may have to leave the state for a while, but I'll still be able to work. Boo!!! I think that this is probably the greatest asset of wireless security, though - being able to access servers from anywhere in the world allows a company to have employees in different locations to still have access to the same resources.

Cicso offers Firewalls, attack and intrusion protection, spam and virus protection, virtual private networks and network admission control. 3Com has firewalls, secure NIC cards, wireless intrusion prevention and unified security platforms. I tried poking around the Alcatel-Lucent website as well, but their navigation system took me in many circles and I was unable to find information on what they offer, only long blocks of text telling me that they offer security.

If I were shopping for security options for my network, I would skip Alcatel-Lucent because their website was frustrating and didn't tell me anything. While 3Com offers several good security measures, I would probably opt for something from Cisco because we use it at work. If the Dept of Defense and the supercomputing center think it's good enough, it probably will work fine for me.

CIOS 110 Lesson 9 #1

Sharing files over a network

Since all of your computers are connected to the LAN, they are all able to communicate with each other. In order to share folders and thus be able to work on the same files, you will have to adjust a few settings.

Locate the folder you wish to share and right click on it, then select "Sharing and Security" to pop open a control box. Under the "Sharing" tab, make sure that the "Share this folder on the network" box is checked. You will need to assign a name to the folder. Please make sure that this name is unique and easily accessible. For instance, if you choose to share your entire C: drive, please rename it MyNameC. If you do not do this, it will confuse your computer to find two C: drives.

After you have shared the folder, you will need to allow others to make changes to the contents. To do this, make sure the "Allow network users to make changes" box is checked.

To access a shared folder, use My Network Places, which you will find below My Computer in the Start Menu. You can use the "Add a Network Place" option on the left side of the screen to select frequently used files and set up a permanent connection.

CIOS 110 Lesson 8 #2

Two steps to backing up your computer

Before you install any new program, make a system restore. If something goes wrong, the technician can quickly set your computer back to the way it was. Go to Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore. Select Create A Restore Point, click Next and type in a brief description, then click Create.

To create a back up for either 2000 or XP, go to Start>Run and type NTBACKUP. Select the Backup Wizard and select Backup Everything On This Computer.

CIOS 110 Lesson 8 #1

If you're going to set up shared computers for a group of employees, you'll need to create multiple accounts. One of the first thing you will want to do is set up two administrator accounts. Make sure you set up at least two so that if one administrator is not in the office, another person will be able to log in and make changes if necessary. Each of the employees will need their own local user account in the workgroup, and these will be limited accounts. You'll set up the initial passwords, and employees will be able to change them when they log in.

CIOS 256 Lesson 10

Ah, Fireworks. I've never used this program before this lesson. Based on what I've learned, I'm not certain how much I will use it in the future. Most of what we did was basic stuff that I'm used to doing in Photoshop. Can Fireworks do it better and possibly quicker? Probably. But there's a saying about old dogs and new tricks. I've been using Photoshop for print editing for years. It will take a while before I default to another program.

I do find it easier to resize images for the web with Fireworks. Also, I don't have to "Save for Web." It's already planning on saving for web. Only time will tell how much I use it, though.

CIOS 256 - Lesson 9

So we're not doing the group blog anymore, but this lesson exhorts me to keep up with the posting on my individual blog. Even better, it encourages me to write about anything at all, not necessarily class materials.

Well, let me introduce you to my real blog, aka blog posting central. You'll probably learn far more than you ever wanted to know about me. (In fact, you should definitely skip the entry that begins with all the "TMI ahead" warnings from last month.) But if you want blog posting, that's where I do it.

CIOS 256 - Lesson 8

Hmmm, check some of the sites I regularly visit to see if they are CSS or XHTML? Man, it seems that the only thing I visit with any regularity are graphic design blogs. And those had better have some fancy designs.

Let's look at a basic site. This a coworker's personal page, as linked from our company website. Greg Newby is our chief scientist. His page is pretty simple and straightforward. One long page of text with center headers, text links and big letters for the start of each paragraph. But he does use a stylesheet, newby.css, to achieve all this.

A much fancier site I visit daily is the gossip site Jezebel. The page source for this looks MUCH more complex than Greg's page, but it still has stylesheet, or rather several of them, linked in the head of the document.

CIOS 256 - Lesson 7

Typography – one of my favorite subjects! No, really, I can go on for hours about fonts. People often smile when I say that, but then when I actually get started, they get nervous.

Anyway, to take up the challenge of the group blog (even though the group blog is apparently no more), I present good and bad typography sites.

The good: Superfresh / Finch
Unusual font for a header. I like the color blocks for the dates, which help to visually set each entry apart. And excellent white space (or gray space, as the case may be).

The bad: Mark Boulton
For a blog that is supposed to focus on design and other web matters, I find his typography difficult to read. Part of the problem is that the page is just too full of text. Technically it’s a 3-column layout, but it’s very jumbled. The fonts are small and there is not much size, weight or color distinction between them.

For online typography resources, you don’t need to look much further than ilovetypography.com which will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about fonts.

If you’re in the market for some new fonts, try dafont.com or urbanfonts.com. Veer.com has excellent fonts as well, but you’ll have to pay for those.

I think the lessons are getting a little better. It’s more due to the design of the course, as we are now creating our own pages rather than just completing the assignments from the book. As I’ve said before, I want to feel like I can design my own pages, not just make changes to existing pages.

CIOS 256 Reflection #1

Well, I suppose I'm coming at this reflection a little late and from greatly changed circumstances. When I signed up for this class, I was anticipating doing a little web site maintenance for one of my UAF jobs, and thus wanted to study Dreamweaver a bit. My attempts to start the course were greatly delayed by a change of jobs, and now I find that I have had to build sites from scratch for my new position. They're not by any means pretty, but I did them. Now if only they had been put up instead of languishing on someone's desk for the past months, I could show them to you.

I think in terms of the speed of the class, the lessons thus far have been proceeding at a good pace. My first instinct was to say that we should have done more than just putting a few lines of text on the first pages we created. However, I can say that because I have done more than that in Dreamweaver. For a beginner, I think that working through to the point of creating files and putting that line or two of text up is more than enough.

Lesson 7

Three backup utilities:

Acronis True Image Home 11

Runs from within Windows or a Liunx-based boot disk

Exact copy of the PC or only backup important data

Test software is safe mode, then decide whether or not to install it

Continue working during backups

Symantec Norton Save & Restore

Full system and incremental backups

Backup file encryption

Restore from system failure or recover data without OS

Create an exact backup copy

NovaBackup

Wizard guides for PC Luddites

Select all files of a certain type, no matter where they are on your hard drive

Disaster Recovery cd to completely restore the computer

Backup computer across a network with Peer-To-Peer

Lesson 7

Don’t get so nervous about viruses! While it’s true they are out there, they are not as omnipotent as you might think. A little prevention can go a long way.

One virus you might encounter is an executable virus. These live in the .exe files that we often click on without thinking twice. They are actually extensions of the executable files, and the virus loads itself into the memory and puts copies of itself into other executable files, thereby proliferating.

Another common virus is a Trojan virus. These are independent programs that disguise themselves as a program you might actually want to run.

You have probably also heard of worm viruses. These do not reproduce throughout your computer, but instead take advantage of a network connection to spread the virus to other computers.

Using an antivirus program on your PC will help keep you safe, as the program will scan your computer for viruses periodically. Human effort can also keep viruses out of your computer. Don’t download attachments if you don’t know where they come from, and know where your software comes from before you install it on your computer!

Lesson 6

There are several options available when installing Windows 2000 and XP. One of these, Remote Installation Services, allows installation by either a scripted or image installation. A scripted installation involves placing shared files on a network. Any computer that is hooked up to the network can connect to the location and start the installation from there. Scripts are used to select all the options and components needed. It’s like having a tech person in your cubicle, telling you which options to pick during the entire installation. In comparison, an image installation is a copy of a hard disk volume with an OS and preinstalled application software. The image can be stored on a cd or a network. The image is copied from the source to the local hard drive.

Lesson 6

When it’s time to upgrade your OS, you want to make sure that all of your current hardware will work with your new system. Before you begin, you’ll need to check the Hardware Compatibility List at www.microsoft.com/whdc/hcl/search.mspx. What do you do if you can’t find one of your hardware devices on the list? The list serves as a general, but not comprehensive, guideline. Check the discs and documentation that came with the hardware device or the manufacturer’s Web site for the proper drivers for the hardware. You should be able to locate the drivers you need to install a new OS and keep your hardware running.

Lesson 5

Well, it’s never good news when someone has to explain a new noise. It doesn’t matter if it’s a car or your computer – strange noises often aren’t good. In this case, a continuous high-pitched squeal is a sign that the hard drive on your computer is about to die. The good news is that it’s giving you a warning signal instead of just suddenly failing. I’d recommend you get a hold of an external hard drive and back up your hard drive immediately. Once all your data has been secured, we’ll need to install a new hard drive on your computer. I hope you kept all the discs for those programs.

Lesson 5

Hey, it’s always scary when the tech department says they’re going to upgrade your computer, especially when you don’t know your FAT32 from your NTFS. Usually, though, you can trust that those guys know what they’re doing. In this case, they’re giving you a more advanced system of file organization for your hard drive.

To put it simply, FAT32 is the system you currently have. FAT32 takes your file and breaks it into pieces, then stores those pieces in little slots of predetermined sizes. If you have just a little information, the rest of that storage slot cannot be used. Imagine you’re putting your clothes away in your dresser. But each drawer can only hold one outfit. One drawer might have a sweater, shirt, pants, belt, socks and shoes. That drawer is almost full, so it’s a good use of space. But the next drawer just has a dress and shoes. There’s more space left, but you can’t use it because of the one-outfit-per-drawer rule.

NTFS is another way of organizing and storing your information, but it is much more secure than FAT32. NTFS stores a copy of backup information in the middle of the disk, which provides protection against losing information. It is like spilling coffee on a report, but the coffee just gets the edges of the paper wet. That information in the middle is safe. NTFS also lets you control who can access which files. Because we have multiple users on computers, it’s important to make sure that the person who works the shift after you can’t get into your files and change them. NTFS also reduces the amount of storage space you need because it allows compression of files. So simple – why didn’t they think of that before? Finally, NTFS is much more customizable in terms of drive setups. If you realize you need more information on a volume, you can quickly and easily reallocate space.

NTFS is becoming more common as people upgrade their old computers. It’s what I’ve got on one of my computers at home.

CIOS Lesson 4

Sorry to hear that the file is giving you trouble. Here’s a quick way to delete it. Hold down the Window key and press R. Type CMD in the box and press enter. This opens up the Command Prompt. From here, you have to get to your folder. Type D: and press enter. This will bring you to the right drive. Type CD EMPLOYEE and press enter to get to the employee directory. This is where you should be able to find the file by typing DIR, but since it’s hidden, we need to un-hide it. Type ATTRIB and press enter. You should see the payroll.xls file, and it should have an H before it. Type ATTRIB –H PAYROLL.XLS and press enter. To check if this worked, type ATTRIB again and look at the list. If that H is gone before the file name, the file is now un-hidden.