Tech Buzz

  IT Careers Connection to Fundamentals Careers in information technology (IT) encompass a wide range of roles that directly apply the foundational knowledge of information technology. Professionals in these IT careers leverage the experience they’ve gained in hardware, software, networks, security, and other IT-related roles to support and enhance an organization's technology infrastructure. Prospective students must learn the basic foundation of information technology and any additional technical skills required for their future careers. Concepts of IT Information technology careers relate to every aspect of concepts of IT, computer science, and the history of computers. The first computers, built in the 1940s, had thousands of switches and occupied entire rooms (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019). In order to operate machinery this massive, there had to be people specially trained to run these machines. As the years have passed, professionals in IT careers have worked hard to improve ...

Network Security Network security is a crucial concern that organizations and individuals should have as our lives go more digital. As technology advances and our dependence on networks for e-commerce, communication, business, education, etc., so does the potential for cyber threats. Network security encompasses a wide range of measures and protocols to help protect us against cyberattacks, unauthorized access, and data breaches. There are different types of ping attacks, email spam, and social engineering that can impact anyone.  Importance of Information and System Security      Information and system security is crucial for organizations and individuals for various reasons. Having security in place serves as a shield for protecting sensitive data such as social security numbers, financial records, medical history and protects against identity theft for individuals. For organizations, protecting extensive amounts of confidential data such as those of employees an...

Computers in the Workplace     I've been working in the healthcare industry for the past 13 years. In that time, I've worked in different roles and departments, allowing me to see the wide range of uses computers are used for. Computers play an extremely vital role in healthcare as they maintain digital patient records, including medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, surgical history, and laboratory test results. This allows healthcare professionals to provide safe and efficient care. Computers also enable providers to do virtual consultations, remote monitoring of patients, and exchange medical information. Computers also help manage medication orders, dispensing, and inventory control in pharmacies, which can ensure accurate dosing to minimize medication errors. Another really cool thing computers can do is medical education for simulations, virtual surgeries, and training modules. Most critically, computer...

Traveling Through a Network       Ping and traceroute are useful tools that allow us to see the inner workings of network communication back and forth. The ping command allows us to see the roundtrip time it takes for a packet to travel from our device to a destination server and back in milliseconds. Traceroute provides additional details on the precise route information, router by router, as well as the time it took for each hop. When I was completing the ping and traceroute commands for Google, Amazon AU, and Yahoo JP, I saw the difference in the time it took for the packets to be sent and returned. For instance, when pinging Google, the roundtrip time was so much lower than when I pinged Amazon Australia and even longer for Yahoo Japan. The difference in how long it takes to send the packets there and back is due to the physical distance that the packets must travel to reach their destination; the further the distance, the longer it takes. From my screenshots abo...

Comparison of Applications A word processor creates formatted text (Vahid & Lysecky, 2019). Different word processors are available, such as Microsoft Word, Pages, Google Docs, etc. These programs allow you to create text documents with formatting. A spreadsheet processor like Microsoft Excel, Numbers, or Google Docs Spreadsheets will enable you to enter data into tables. These tables can then be formatted with formulas to calculate data, analyze data, or create charts using that data ((Vahid & Lysecky, 2019). Presentation applications like Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote are used to create slideshows that include text, images, and videos. These slides can also have animation to make the presentation more appealing. Presentation software is typically used when a user needs to present information to an audience which can help them visualize it. Database applications like Microsoft Access or MySQL are systems that create, maintain, and access databases (Vahid ...

Leslie's Mobile App Review      Leslie's is a well-known pool store that offers products pool-related products and services. The Leslie's mobile app is intended for consumers who own pools. The mobile app allows you to track and test your water, shop for products, find Leslie's store locations, and keep track of your rewards earned from shopping with them.  When the app functions as it should, it is fairly simple to navigate and use. To test the pool water, you simply take a picture of your test strip, and the app reads the information and provides results. It will then offer a treatment plan based on your pool test strip results. The design is simple, clean, and appealing in design. I like that you can quickly navigate to the section you need to use. The functionality is not great when it does not work as expected. I tried to sign into my Leslie's account to obtain better screenshots, but part of the issue I have with their website crosses over into their mobile ap...

  Experience with Scratch       As I started the Scratch program, I found it quite challenging to get my sprite to do any exciting actions. I played around with it first and got stuck. I watched several tutorials and felt inspired that you can create so many cool things using the program. After a few tries, I could make a simple scenic program. The difficulty I had was understanding how to get the code to do different things besides meowing and taking ten steps. The other difficulty was not realizing that if I wanted to add different sprites, they each had to have their own actions and how to get them to sync up and start simultaneously. After watching the tutorials, most of these difficulties were overcome by trial and error.  Experience with Scratch and zyBooks Activities While I initially struggled with the Scratch program, I found it more enjoyable than the programming languages in zyBooks. In Scratch, you were able to let your animation run while you...