Christopher E- As Applied Ict 06/07

Studyn`

2008-06-06T16:21:00.001-07:00

This blog is closed now, temporarily for studying but more than likely it wont be updated again but i will use the radios above until im finished :-P

Cn911.exe

2008-02-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

As of late a virus by the name of cn911.exe has spread itself amongst usb flash devices on the majority f st. columbs computers.

I have since( I hope) developed a method to halt its spread. Important to note that this not cure the virus but rather prevents you posseing it. If you fear your home computer is affected by the virus then i suggest downloading anti-virus prtection. Computeractive regard AVG highly and therefore i recommend it as i now it cures the virus and furthermore its FREE! (download link: http://www.computeractive.co.uk/vnunet/downloads/2129071/avg-antivirus-free-edition)

I've tried this amongst my usb sticks and so far so good. Note this will only work if not affected by the virus on the memory key. To ensure this format your usb memory key (ensuring files are backed up else-where) and begin at step 2.

1. Ensure your windows can see hidden files and folders, and extensions.
To do so My Computer>Tools>Folder Options>View tab>Under Advanced Settings check “Show hidden files and folders” & Hide protected operating system files is unchecked; hit apply and ok.
2. Make a Notepad file, leaving it blank saving the file as Cn911.exe (to do so slecet to save as all files so its not cn911.exe.txt which is the normal save settings)
3. repaet only this time design one under the name of Autorun.inf
4.Now right clcik on each file, select properties and at the bottom ensure read-only setting is checked.
5. Now make sure both these files are located on your memory key.
6. This should work however if any difficuilties are experienced reply to this post.

Dont worry if these files dissapear on your memory key later, thsi means the virus has re-attempted to attack your memory key and in doing so has made both the files hideen. Dont worry however it was unable to modify the files because of their read-only feature.

That reminds me make sure that hidden files is unchecked on yoru computer again so you dont delet any important system files.

If i feel like it this post may be updated with screenshots and more in-depth explanatiosna nd instructions.

2007-11-07T12:09:00.000-08:00

http://groups.google.com/group/sketchuphowto/browse_thread/thread/3cc981cf88860f7d/d05c1f05f0543a81#d05c1f05f0543a81

2007-10-18T06:02:00.001-07:00

Awh john, you think flattery will make me do the most work. As usual I draw the short straw, so im the graphic co-ordinator????

I’m expecting some insightful video now to go alongside some “block-rocking beats” !!

GIMP Error

2007-10-17T14:25:00.000-07:00

Again, my re-attempted effort of installing GIMP for my composite images. And computers were supposed to make life easier.

Google Sketchup

2007-10-16T16:44:00.001-07:00

Having previously used google skecthup to design my IPod and attempted structures i have learned vast amounts of uses for google sketchup

SketchUp makes it particularly easy to manipulate lines and planes. Draw a shape, highlight it with the Pull/Push tool, pull it up, and voilà: you have a three-dimensional object.Using these tools and principles, you can create anything however whilst trying to mimic my transport system I encountered several difficuilties in doing so. The design of the transport system has lead to increased difficuilty and im currently hoping to recieve some asistance.

The currrent development resembles:

Forum:http://groups.google.com/group/SketchUp3d/browse_thread/thread/e26d2e069302b801/d1f086e186b530b6#d1f086e186b530b6

GIMP

2007-10-16T16:39:00.000-07:00

When trying to install GIMP for windows this error message is prompted and phrohibiting me from installing the program and designing my composite images. If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations that would be appreciated as i can't get the work done and Mr. Barr isn't going to be a happy chap.

How to design tables in HTML

2007-10-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

As many of the class have realised number 6 of Mr. Barrs questions requires the summary of photoshop, microsoft paint and GIMP into a table under various headings. Currently no wizard is provided and therfore must be designed using HTML.

To do so effectively when publishing the post flick between the tab at the top right hand corner of the text box where it reads" edit html & Compose" . Select "Edit HTML" and now you need to theory to do so.

http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_tables.asp is an effective website with in-depth explantion of how to do so but in particular visit...

http://www.w3schools.com/html/tryit.asp?filename=tryhtml_tables

this allows for on the spot trial and error and to subsequently preview your design. Having used this for mine i recommend it.

It is important to note that upon completion you will be prompted with an error...in order to publish your post as intended you will need to remove "< html >< body >" from the top of the coding and "< /body >< /html >" from the bottom

Using a TABLE, compare and contrast the features available in these 3 graphics packages:- Microsoft Paint- Photoshop- GIMP

2007-10-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

6) Using a TABLE, compare and contrast the features available in these 3 graphics packages:- Microsoft Paint- Photoshop- GIMP

	Microsoft Paint	Photoshop	GIMP
Tools	Selection Tools, Eraser Tool, Fill Tool, Eyedropper Tool, Zoom Tool, Pencil Tool, Paint Brush Tool, Airbrush Tool, Text Tool, Line Tool, Curve Tool, Shapes Tools	Elliptical Marquee, Rectangular Marquee, Lasso, Polygonal Lasso, Magnetic Lasso, Slice, Healing Brush (Photoshop7), Brush (Paintbrush), Clone Stamp, History Brush, Airbrush, Background Eraser, Paint Bucket, Blur, Smudge, Dodge, Horizontal Type, Horizontal Type Mask, Direct Selection, Pen, Add Anchor Point, Convert Point, Rounded Rectangle, Polygon, Custom Shape, Colour Sampler, Notes, Hand, Colour Selecting box, Mode Selector	Selection Tools, Brush Tools, Transform Tools, Color Tools, Path Tool, Color Picker Tool, Magnify Tool, Measure Tool, Texttool
Cost	FREE	Normal=£569.88Extended=£887.12	FREE
File Formats	BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, PNG	PSD, BMP, GIF, EPS, JPEG, PCX, PDF, PCT, PXR, PNG, RAW, SCT, TGA, TIF	XML, GIF, JPEG, JNG, MNG, PNG, SVG, TIFF, XMP, DNG, XCF plus many more.
Avaliabilty	Free with Windows Operating Systems	Online or Local Retailer	Free online under GNU Documentation.
Professionlism/User friendly	Easy but limited	Most features however rather complex	Weel rounded software

What are the characteristics of the following graphics file formats?

2007-10-16T15:48:00.000-07:00

5) What are the characteristics of the following graphics file formats?

Bitmap: A pixel based image which is of low quality but are also easy to use and manipulate

GIF(Graphic Interchange Format): A form of computer image that moves as an animation, because it consists of frames, like a movie with no sound.

PNG(Portable Network Graphics): which is a bitmap image format that uses lossless data compression.

JPEG(Joint Photographic Experts Group): JPEG is a standardized image compression mechanism.

XCF: A GIMP image file format; It supports saving each layer, the current selection, channels, transparency, paths and guides

PSD(Particle Size Distribution): Image in layers supporting masks, color spaces, ICC profiles, transparency, text, alpha channels and spot colors, clipping paths and doutone settings.

SVG(Scalable Vector Graphics): XML-based language used to describe 2D vector-based graphics. The graphics are defined using mathematical expressions, allowing them to scale flawlessly.

References: www.google.co.uk, en.wikipedia.org

What is an alpha channel? How can this be useful in your coursework project?

2007-10-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

4) What is an alpha channel?

In graphics, a portion of each pixel's data is reserved for transparency information. The alpha channel is really a mask; it specifies how the pixel's colors should be merged with another pixel when the two are overlaid, one on top of the other.

How can this be useful in your coursework project?

This is especially important for animation, where the background changes from one frame to the next. This may prove useful when we eventually incorporate all data togethre ina persentation and this will ineviatble enhance its apperance. (Rendering overlapping objects that include an alpha value is called alpha blending.)

Currently Alpha channels are useful because they allow us to incorporate two images together and succesfully design a realistic composite image. I have to use a program like GIMP or Photoshop in order to alter the transparency and design a composite image of our selected transport system within Derry, as if currently in use.

Reference:http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/A/alpha_channel.html

What does “RGB” have to do with graphic files?

2007-10-16T15:36:00.000-07:00

3) What does “RGB” have to do with graphic files?

RGB is a colour model; where red-green-blue are combined in various ways to reproduce other colours. In specific relation to graphics, RGB color model is the display of colors on display, such as a television or a computer’s monitor. Through a combination of red, green, and blue intensities, many colors can be represented. Typical display adapters in 2007 use up to 24bits of information for each pixel. This is usually apportioned with 8 bits each for red, green and blue, giving a range of 256 possible values for varying colour intensities.

Referance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model#RGB_and_displays

What is the difference between VECTOR and BITMAP graphics? Explain both terms.

2007-10-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

2) What is the difference between VECTOR and BITMAP graphics? Explain both terms.

Vector may be defined as photo designed using mathematical paths i.e defined through points creating lines & curves etc. When enlarged or magnified the picture does not loose any quality. Clearly represented by the picture.

In comparison to Bitmap which is developed through clusters of pixels or dots. Images boosting with high complexity of colour i.e the aligned photograph looks acute whilst viewed at recommended resolution however the pixels do not fit that well together when magnified. These are usually in the form of Bitmaps.

Reference: http://www.adobe.com/support/fireworks/workflow/fwmx_modeless_editing/fwmx_modeless_editing02.html

What is a pixel?

2007-10-16T15:19:00.000-07:00

1.) What is a pixel?

A pixel refers to the smallest element displayed on a video screen. E.g. Television, computer, camcorder. A video screen may contain thousands of pixels each consisting of one or more dots. Pixel derives from "pix" (for picture) plus "el" (for element).

Reference: http://www.enotes.com/science-fact-finder/mathematics-numbers-computers/what-pixel

2007-09-20T05:39:00.000-07:00

http://gimp-savvy.com/BOOK/...questions answers

http://members.home.nl/m.weisbeek/gimp/...tips using gimp

http://gug.sunsite.dk/?page=tutorials&PHPSESSID=db174d210e5d310c907394a23d391f05...features using gimp

Google Sketch Up

2007-09-12T00:10:00.000-07:00

Chcek those out for skills using Google Sketch up>>>>>.lol

Could you imagine Derry City playing there?

Data protection act 1984 + 1998 h/wk

2007-02-25T05:24:00.000-08:00

The 1998 data protection act extended that of 1984, including paper based data.The law was introduced to help answer those what-if questions...who will be able to access the information?,will it be vunerable to hackers?, may my information be sold on?...
However they were exceptions to the law...if the information required was to safeguard the national security, if used for the prevention/detection of crime and if the data was used strictly for the collection of taxes.
Therefore the rights of individuals include to have any errors corrected, compensation for any distress caused as result of the act being broken, to see data held on themselves within 40 days days of payment and to prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress.
The act generally provided individuals with certain rights and impossed penalties for the breaking of the law.

VIP: This homework set by Emmet and the previous homework from Phillip should be reffered to in our coursework we are beginning.

Software and data misuse h/wk

2007-02-25T05:07:00.000-08:00

The homework from Phillip was to find, type and publish the aims & penalties of each act along with three other examples.

Computer Misuse Act 1990:

Aim: An Act to make provision for securing computer material against unauthorised access or modification; and for connected purposes.

Penalty:A person guilty of an offence under this act shall be liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale or to both.(£5000)

Example:

(1)Any act which causes an unauthorised modification of the contents of any computer;

(2)To impair the operation of any computer;

(3) To impair the operation of any such program or the reliability of any such data.

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

Aim:It gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways in which their material may be used. The rights cover: Broadcast and public performance, copying, adapting, issuing, renting and lending copies to the public. In many cases, the creator will also have the right to be identified as the author and to object to distortions of his work.

Penalty:2 year imprisonment and a fine

Example:

(1)Using software under the terms of the liscence

(2)Illegal copy or distribution of product unless strictly for back-up purposes, under the terms of the liscence.

(3) Fair dealing with a literary, dramatic, musical … for the purposes of research for a non-commercial purpose does not infringe any copyright in the work provided it is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement.

Presenting information h/wk pt.1

2007-02-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

Information may be presented in a range of formats however it is vital that the information presented is done so in the most appropiate format. This would depend on several factors such as the nature & complexety of information, the needs, target audience, life-span of information etc.

Below is a spider diagram set by Karl summarising the different methods of presentation:

Internal & external information h/wk

2007-02-21T15:55:00.001-08:00

This topic was provided by Ben and for homework he assigned four questions to be answered.

What is interal information?
Internal refers to produced or required information retrieved within the bounds of the company. i.e. is directly related to the resources, transactions etc.

What is external information?
External is produced or required information retrieved by individuals or organisations outside the compnays boundries.

Distinguish the different methods of communicating the information:

Internal ---> Internal
External ---> Internal
Internal ---> External

Give examples of each:

information such as accounts, performance reports, development plans & historic anaylsis.
data relating to reports generated on general trends, customer/client perference etc.
Shareholders, government bodies and financial institutions require information to keep tabs on the company.

Different characteristics of information pt.1 & pt. 2 h/wk

2007-02-21T15:34:00.000-08:00

The below h/wk was set by David Galbraith to ensure his topic was revised effectively:

What are the four headings that come under the category "Source"?
The four headings are Internal, External, Primary and Secondary.
What is the name of the category where quantitve, qualitive, formal and informal come under?
Category name: Nature Of Information.
Explain what is meant by a strategic level of information?
Strategic information is used by high level management. An example of this is report forecasting a rise in interest rates.
Name the three headings that time comes under.
Historical, Current and Future are the three headings.

Overall David addressed the class about different characteristics of information by providing examples and explanations.

Part two involved the creation of a spider diagram to summarise the information taught by Josh:

The quality of information h/wk pt.1& 2

2007-02-09T04:07:00.000-08:00

Below is the spider diagram set for h/wk from John and my addition on the quality of information: Freemind was unavailable so i created one using word:

Information: value & cost pt.1 & 2 h/wk

2007-02-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

Information Value:
Good information ( that is timely, accurate, up-to date, complete etc) adds value to the organisation in the following ways:

To aid decision-making: provides better surafce for essential decisons hence improving organisation`s succesfulness
To monitor and control: This process may enhance the company as information will help the organisation stay informed and ensure overall efficency generally.
Target resources: information about customers' buying habits are extremely valuable etc and can help the company become more profitable.
To gain competitive advantage: information will alow indication of the strenghts and weaknesses and help improve its competitive edge.

To conclude information needs to be of good standard to add value to the company and more so, incure cost.

Information Cost:

In order to produce good quality information, data must be...

Data collection: Data collected directly for example questionnairs or indirectly were a third party may have to recieve payment to gain acces to the information in their possesion.
Data entry: Data will take some time to add and in such a case operators may be paid to do so.
Data processing: Once the data is entered it must be proccesed which will need software, costing money and improve the organisations ICT resources.
Data maintainence: Similarily their are costs envolved ensuring data remains accurate and up to date, this will only occur if changes are reported and the appropiate records are amended. This involves communicating with cutoimers and verifying that their details are correct.

To summarise; to produce good quality information this will ineviatble cost in terms of time, money and human resourcesn

Data,information & knowledge in action h/wk

2007-02-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

Below shows the powerpoint exercise set for homework summarising the information taught by garret:

Basically, data is processed to provide information to contribute assistance for whatever need. Anaylsts futhermore apply the knowledge on trends etc and subsequently draw conclusions.

Data, information & knowledge h/wk

2007-02-08T03:31:00.000-08:00

1)Data may be defined as a collection of values.
2)Information is data that has been made meaningful, i.e. the potenntial meaning of thedata has been realised.
3)Knowledge maybe defined as a broad understanding of thecontext in which a particular piece of information occurs.
4)Data represents a collection of values(facts & figures) hpowever offers little meaning until is processed.
5)Inofrmation must be processed into a form accesible for it to serve a purpose; you may do this by transforming data into a different format, sorting and grouping it, organising it into a table etc.

Powerpoint in practise exam (January 2006)

2007-02-06T00:22:00.000-08:00

For the purpose of this section we had to create a powerpoint presentation outlining the importance of virus protection sofware on behalf of Rocketshakers and help define the purpose and meaning of disk and file managment. The presenation was also to include an introduction, the use of the master slide with the inclusion of action buttons: Below shows the beginning of the task with the layout of the master slide evident(view>master>masterslide.)
Currently I am experiencing difficuilty in not knowing the correct information to include; I intend of having this task complete for thursday otherwise get help from Mr Barr.

Freemind Exercise

2007-02-05T04:33:00.000-08:00

Earlier on the school year we were asked to use freemind to design a spider diagram about several applications for the computer... here is a screenshot showing the result:
Freemind allows for effective sumary of information and this particular document explained application software in who they are used and several examples. This tool may prove useful in revising for exams etc.

Excel in practise exam (January 2006)

2007-02-05T04:23:00.000-08:00

Task one asked for several things: insert text into particular cells, use count, format cells to currency and simple formulas:
Task two required several changes also including:Absolute cell referncing, formula view:
Finally task three and four asked me to produce an IF statment, simple formulas, formula view and fit all relevant data into one a4 page:
This concluded the excel section.

Word section in practise exam(January 2006)

2007-02-04T16:12:00.000-08:00

The first request of the word processing section was to copy out a letterhead exactly and incorporate merged fileds into it through mail merge using the NOFEES query. Ensuring only members from Lisburn appeared. Below shows the word document exaclty as requested:It thens continues to ask for the fisrt and last letter which belong to Michael Devine & Anne Limb.

This ends the Word Processing section.

Database section in practise exam(January 2006)

2007-02-04T14:50:00.000-08:00

Task 1 required me to open the database table AGEGROUP and add a new field EXACTLY:

Task 2 needed a validation rule created and validation text to complement it: The rule was "A" or "B" or "C" ...

Task 3 asked to use the relationship feature to create a one to many relationship with the AGEGROUP and FEE table(right click> select realtionships>right click>showtables>insert table> drag and drop> tick the box enforce referntial integrity.):

Task 4 just asked to insert new data into the firld Feecode: (Ensure all data copied as appears exactly on exam!!):

Task 5 needed a query to be created. To do so i selected "query>design view and insert relevant table and fields-in question- and then under surname sort:ascending and for criteria for feespaid "no" and date joined "<01/10/05"(neither>

Task 6 just asked for a screenshot produced on the design view showing all criteria:

Unfortunately i was unable to complete the 7th and 8th task. I am unaware on who to create a report and even though the 8th apperas simple i need to use the report created so am unable to complete. I need to ask Mr Barr to explain for me.

This now ends the database section of the exam.

Performance Evaluation during the first term.

2007-02-04T13:46:00.000-08:00

Evaluation of Previous Year

Attention / Conduct in Class
Throughout the previous year I have messed around and chatted continuously and contributed to disrupting my neighbors and inevitably slowed down their rate of progress. This is not acceptable and during the upcoming terms I hope to change and become more attentive and contribute more in class. I admit that even though I have not been particularly worried, I need to work continually and progress. I have not been scolded by the teacher a lot but he has had to speak with me to remind me to stay focused on some occasions.
Academic Performance
I feel my acadmeic performance to date has been pretty good.Intially I have coped well in end of uint class exams; passing them all by several marks however much of my information needs to be refined and I must begin to revise as proved by my disastorus christmas mock exam proves were I achieved a U.I guess that my exam technique was poor and that I have to begin to review past information to ensure my success at the real exam in May. Through constant repetation of work and revision of Data I should be able to achieve this target of getting an A.
Practical Skills Acquired
Throughout the previous year I have done all work asked of me which helped me with my practical skills and also additional worked carried out at the house assisted in improving this. However after evaluating my christmas exam performance I need to improve further to help my chances of achieving a good grade in the final exams in May. By spending more time developing techniques etc I will most certainingly gain from more time in my exams and sufficent work. I have attempted to use several methods in applications to achieve specific goals and were the most of this im confidant using however I need to tweak and improve some also.
Time Spent Out of Class
During the last term I have not used the study to my benefit as I failed to use it on numerous occasions as it was too much of a bother for me which is definitely the wrong attitude to take. Granted I have came into school early and practised some of the methods/techniques shown during class time. Also I have used the house a lot in doing homeworks and general revision. I made use of the resources as I copied some of the programs from school as I could experiment with them at the house and also sometimes I used the library during my study periods for As Applied ICT.
Responsibility for Own learning
Generally I have responded well to independent learning and ineviatable coming to class prepared as homeworks were always done(except one occasion), all required knowledge was known(e.g. password) and I updated my Blog on a regular basis. I constantly reffered to Mr Barr`s blog for work updates and assignments. Also I came to class with the specified books etc and when unsure about who to go about things I would ask the assitance of Mr Barr. To conclude however there is definitely room for improvement for my overall approach and attitude to the subject.

Teaching Exercise by Christopher Elliott

2007-02-02T07:04:00.000-08:00

For the purpose of this exercise I will be delivering a class lesson about The quality of information; specifically the areas “timely, Up to date, Has User Confidence and Relevant.” To do so I will create a lesson plan with the aid of a PowerPoint to visually enhance the information im teaching and will continue to give homework to test the topic I taught.The homework being a simple exercise of reviewing the information in the design of a spider diagram. I will continue to mark this and review and evaluate my performance as teacher. This learning experience may help me in appreciating the difficulty of teaching a class and inevitable improve my class attitude. Furthermore i should take in the topic im teaching more so , hopefully.

Below are screenshots of the powerpoint presentation I was to teach the rest of the class with(Also not included was a lesson plan):

Spreadsheet Progress

2006-11-17T07:16:00.000-08:00

Spreadsheet Progress to date: So far I have learnt to perform several mathmatical formulas, "If" statments,conditional formatting, chart productions,basic functions such as changing the font, altering rows/cells(deleting,addining information,merging,changing size etc.) protecting cells,relative referances(changes when the formula is copied) & absolute referances (dosen`t change when the formula is copied.)

Year 13 AS Applied ICT course

2006-11-13T00:49:00.000-08:00

Since the beginning of Year 13 in As Applied ICT we have learned various topics regarding computer aspects with Mr Barr. So far we have covered:

Computer health & safety
Operating systems
Utility programs in Win Xp
Disk, memory and file management
Possible computer upsets (Viruses & worms, Spyware, Phising, importance of updating and overall security of the computer.)
Presentations (mainly using Microsoft PowerPoint)
Word processing (Involving Microsoft word e.g. templates, table of contents, captions, footnotes, outline function, mail merge etc)

Letter

2006-11-10T07:22:00.000-08:00

Dear Mr. Barr & Ms O`Carolan,
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you both for assisting me in achieving my Grade A in my AS Applied ICT examination.
To achieve this grade I had to ensure I stayed on top of my work from day one and consistently meet deadlines set by yourself for my assignments which were always completed to the best of my ability.Via uploading work and retrieving work from the blog I was able to keep up to date with my work and maintain a sufficent revision schedule for work purposes.Throughout the course I attended class punctually and paid attention during those periods. By bringing my subject books to class I was undoubtly able to fulfill my true potential in the subject and achieve such a good grade.
I enjoyed being taught by you immensely; via your clear explanations and in-depth examples I was able to understand and carry out various tasks using the computer. The way you presented yourself in class and your notes allowed me grasp many concepts which unquestionably contributed to my overall grade. You are both excellent teachers and a credit to your profession; you have inspired me to continue learning with an open and positive mind. I appreciate all your hard work and time you have spent assisting me, it’s meant so much to me.
Again, thank you for the teaching the course efficiently and for your devotion in helping me.
Sincerely,
Christopher Elliott

To ensure this blog is used to its full potential I shall not use foul language, which may in any way harm/offend anyone and only post relevant information regarding ICT and the course studied.

Visit: www.prideofnorthside.moonfruit.com