What's Your PIN?

WEEK 7.

Security and Protecting Yourself on the Internet.

The Gist.

hello! what i've today is going involve a can of worms. that's right. worms, viruses, spywares, phising and hacking. ugh. the dumpsters of the internet. the bane of computers. Norton, save us please!

So What Else.

fortunately, there's no need. what you need is a good dose of COM125 from sensei Abel Choy and your computer is going to be fine! to learn how to remedy a viral-infected computer, we need to know the problem. a computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself to infect a computer. things like malware, spywares, worms, trojans and rootkits are different from viruses. these things instead exploit vulnerabilities in the computer's security and may harm data and hinder performance. so what is the prescription? firewalls, anti-virus, surveillance and parental control are just but a few of them. although they do not immediately remove the dirt totally, at least they can minimize the damage caused by the worms and viruses.

Why Should We Care?

as mentioned, worms and viruses may hinder performance or cause a loss of data. some data could even be stolen and be forever gone. unless you want to be an instant celebrity and lose some naughty photos, you be warned to put some preventive measures. also, prevention is better than cure. if you got a suspicious email claiming it's a relative from Nigeria, go look yourself in the mirror, then report the mail as spam. ditto for surfing. try not to surf websites that are not protected. verify, verify verify! and of course, have passwords that are as long as the Great Wall of China.

"if you think that it's going all wrong, then you're probably right"

WEEK 6.

-Out for CNY-

BRB.

Tools for Fools

WEEK 5.

Using Common Internet Tools

The Gist.

the internet would not be as popular as it it is now if not for its ease of accessibilty. imagine going through various channels, buttons, clicking and more clicking just to get it started. wouldn't it be an epic fail? it is thanks to these basic internet tools that have made our lives easier.

So What Else.

Google. Yahoo!. Bing!. Baidu. Alta Vista. search engines are the fulcrum in every internet usage. what these tools do is provide an ease of access to whatever we searching. they help cut down search timings, so long as you word your search accordingly. filters, categories, fonts and colors also play an important role.

Why Should We Care?

without these common tools, i do not know how to access my favorite soccer sites, or watch my beloved anime. heck, i might be even too frustrated to use the internet and instead retrieve my information from other sources such as books, newspapers and even the television. but of course no fool would create something that even he cannot even properly operate. nokia was tops for years because of its user friendly operations and application. therefore the search engines work in the same way that they facilitate our usage, thus making browsing the internet a smooth and enjoyable experience.

As Easy as A-B-C

WEEK 4.

E-Learning and Virtual Education

The Gist.

hey there! today's COM125 class attendence was full. Mr Abel Choy must be overjoyed. haahaa, i'm jus kidding. how he wish it was so, just even for once. but it will certainly be possible with E-learning and virtual education. attendence would finally be fulfilled!

So What Else.

is this really possible? yes, in fact many developed countries are adopting this strategy because it serves many purposes. one, it saves money. there is no need for teachers and classrooms, no textbooks or pens. everything a student needs is a computer in his/her home, with internet access. on the school's side, just an administrator armed with the study program will suffice. two, there is efficiency. there's no need to wake 1 -2 hours earlier to prepare for class. in places like korea students take up to 3hours of travelling time, leaving little for rest because we know they work and study for 20 hours per day. just joking.

Why Should We Care?

E-learning is becoming more of a reality these days. for example, UB's nutrition courses are all done online. students are encourage to do up blogs as these would result in less marking. typing is obviously faster than hand-written ones. clicking is a billion times faster than flipping a page. however, that is not accounting lag or any potential hanging from the computer. computers are also subjected to failures so an online exam could be detrimental if the system decides to have a bad day.