Week 5 reactions

So, this week was tough for me.  I admit, I'm more of tech guy than a business guy.  Our mini-assignment was very difficult, not necessarily in the scope of work, but just coming up with an idea that doesn't exist.  It wasn't easy, I was racking my brain all week, even asking people to help me brainstorm.  I came up with a list of ideas, but for whatever reason, my best was a fantasy football site that combines all your teams into one site.  I have to admit, I would love a site like this.  It would be great.

 

E-commerce and E-business is huge in today's society, so I know this section is very important.  I know I have ordered many things online, whether it's Ebay, Amazon, iTunes or even just ordering new shoes off Footlocker.com because I'm too lazy to go into the store.  More and more people do business online each year and with the holidays coming up, e-business is going to be huge.  Black Friday deals, cyber Thurdays, or just ordering your gifts online because you don't feel like waiting in line, e-commerce is the way to go.  More and more, people will not necessarily be finding ways to provide sales over the Internet, but making people buy more, with ads and suggestions.  

Until next week...

Week 4 Reactions

It's that time again!

So I finished chapter 6, it was all about networks.  Networks are obviously very important, without them we would have the Internet.  These days everyone has a network.  Business us networks to link all of their employees and share information.  Even houses now are set up with a personal network, where they may share music, videos or pictures, or even have one printer that is used by multiple computers in the house.  It seem though that now more and more people are moving over to wireless networks.  I know in my house, I have a router that provides service to a desktop, a laptop, a cellphone, a tablet and even my PS3.  More and more "gadgets" are being connected to the Internet.  With a network set up, all of these devices can share files.  This chapter did seem to get a bit more technical than others, in my own opinion.

One thing I did not know, was all of the organizations out there that are maintaining the Internet.  Usually people think of the Internet as a "lawless" land, yet it still needs to be maintained or else it simply will not work.  I'm actually somewhat surprised that the move to IPv6 hasn't happened sooner simply due to the incredible rate that the Internet has grown over the years and the more and more devices that are utilizing it.

Our mini-assignment was about Twitter and it's impact.  If you didn't see my post, just a reminder you can follow me at http://twitter.com/#!/Bauce40

Week 3 reactions

Another week has passed.  This week we began our group projects by selecting 3 topics.  This is my first group project online and I'll admit, I am a bit nervous.  There is no "instant" interaction.  Everyone submits an idea or a suggestion and we have to wait for a response.  So far it seems to be working well, my group mates have provided some feedback and we seemed to have decided on our three choices.  Jason Lee Saxon, seems to have taken over the reigns as the leader (whether he wanted to or not, he stepped up and I appreciate that).

Our mini project this week was assessing the Zillow website.  I looked at it from a consumer point of view.  I have bought a house before and I've actually visited other websites similar to this, but never one with this abundance of information.  I really liked it, I wish I had known about it before this.  I had heard of Zillow before, but never actually visited it, it was impressive!

Finally, I read chapter 5.  This was all about database management.  It described the many ways to search and access data.  Again, this is something we do every day, whether it's googling something or even just entering information into your computer at work.  Data use is increasing all the time and the size is also increasing; however, people still need to quickly access their data.  Time is money and in this "instant" age, people want their data quickly.  Moving forward, the biggest key for IT workers is to make sure people can access large files quickly and securely. 

Week 2 reactions

Week 2 is now in the books and it seemed to be quite the shift from week 1.  Chapters 1 & 2 seemed to focus more on the business side of IT, whereas chapters 3 & 4 were quite a bit more technical.  I must admit, I enjoy the technical aspect much more. 

I have become very interested in smartphones these days.  I have an Android powered phone and have started "rooting" my phone and installing custom ROMs.  While learning how to do this, you see the words "kernel", "cache", "RAM", "OS" and others thrown around.  I always had a somewhat vague understanding of what these meant until now.  Now these terms in the chapters are being used for computers, but smartphones these days are practically small pocket computers and they keep getting more powerful every day!

Now, these chapters weren't about smartphones, they were about computers, but my interest in smartphones kept me very enthralled in them.  In general though, we spend every day using a computer in some form or fashion, but most people take this for granted.  I know that I've mentioned the word "cache" to people and they've looked at me like I'm crazy.  I had a decent understanding of many of these terms, but these chapters game me a great understanding of them.  It also taught me others I didn't know, for example, pipelines.  I also had not heard anything about RFID and I was not familiar with UNIX.  I also have a very small knowledge about programming language.  I did not know about the different kinds of programming languages. 

As far as the technologies to watch, I am really interested in cloud computing.  I currently use a few different forms of cloud services.  I used Dropbox, a cloud storage service and Google music, which stores my music in the cloud and allows me to stream my songs on any computer or on my smartphone.

So that's it for week 2, looking forward to see what week 3 brings!

Week 1 reactions

After wrapping up my first week in ITEC 610, I've learned a few things (which I guess is the point).

Whenever I thought of IT, I always thought of people fixing networks, computers, etc., I never really though about how much it relates to business.  I've ordered numerous products on ebay, amazon, best buy, etc. and never even gave a though about the fact that without IT, I wouldn't have been able to make those transactions.  Every business large and small has a website and so much business is conducted through eCommerce.  Even point of sale registers have to transmit data, thus resulting in the need for IT.

Much of what was taught in the first 2 chapters was information I already knew; however, I never gave much of a thought to it.  Everything in the first 2 chapters is used on a daily basis.  When you purchase an item at a store, do your assignments for ITEC, purchase an item online, visit a website, go to work and check your email, you are showing the vast need for IT.  Without IT, we wouldn't be able to do any of these things and as the business world continues to utilze the Internet and Intranets more and more, the need for IT jobs will continue to grow.

My Introduction to the wonderful world of blogging!

So this is my first blog post ever.  I have read thousands upon thousands of blogs and posting on the Internet throughout the years and it feels kind of good to finally get to post my own thoughts.  My name is Mark Suthard.  I am the proud father of two amazing little girls. 

I attended University of Maryland College Park (Go Terps!), but graduated from UMUC where I received my degree in Criminal Justice.  I enjoyed my experience there so much, I decided to come back for more! 

I currently work in post-production handling video editing and graphic design duties at a company called Vox-Cam Associates in Silver Spring.  A far cry from criminal justice, but I really enjoy it; however, the video industry isn't doing too well in the current economy, so I'm looking to IT to advance my career.  I'm looking forward to the challenge and the overall experience.