Week 3: Clear-Understanding Hardware

Week 3 now down 00001011 more to go (binary), still trying to get it. I did find a nice website that has an application that translates binary, just click the link.

Now on to this weeks material:
This week we watched lectures and read material on Networking concepts. Though a lot of the material was above what I already knew, I did find most of it very familiar and NOT above what I am capable to understand. I already had the basics of home networks, as I have a desktop, 2 laptops, a printer, and my TV all on my Home Network. But the technical parts like making sure I have the proper wireless security and types of cabling was new to me. My next step for my home network will be a backup system as was discussed in this week's material. I plan on using a spare hard drive and connecting it to my wireless router to backup any important information I may keep on my computers, such as previous tax returns, photos, and other important documents.

"Image created by (Will Bostwick). http://www.flickr.com/photos/thestanding/3115399121/"



My home network is not quite that intricate, but it does seem to keep growing into something that resembles this one in the photo.

Another bit of interesting facts that I learned about were the different WiFi types (802.11). I learned that I must know what type of wireless Network Interface Card my devices have to make sure that they are compatible with my router which is an 802.11g. (I really wanted to move up to an "N", but have not had a real reason yet as my wireless devices seem to operate very nice as they are, even streaming Netflix on my Sony Google Television.

Needless to say, today I came across a problem with my cable modem, it stopped working!! I don't know why it stopped, but I was able to go online in the morning, then my internet access was disconnected. I went round and round going through the steps of trying to get it going again. I called Cox cable to have them refresh the signal, I tried using a different cable outlet and nothing!! They offered to set me up with an appointment to have a technician come out, but I politely declined thinking, why would I pay $60 for a technician to come out to tell me my modem isn't working anymore? So I took my chances and went to BestBuy to purchase a new modem. I brought it home, called my Internet Provider and gave them the MAC address, plugged it in and boom, off to the races I went! The only thing that puzzled me a bit and still has me puzzled is that I never had to go through the setup process with the CD that was included with the drivers and such. But still, I have my internet back!!

Well looking forward to next week! Stay tuned!

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Week 2: Clear-Understanding Hardware

This week in ISM3004 we read and watched lectures on Understanding Hardware. Even though it started out kind of tricky, being that I had no idea or understanding about binary and circuitry, it became very clear when we moved on into Personal Computers.
I have always had a keen interest in computers and how they work. I can remember back 19 years ago when I first started playing on computers. I started out mostly playing video games such as the Wolfenstein SS game.



 Photo by: http://www.flickr.com/people/boogah/

How addicted was I after that? Wow! I mean really! It was a pretty exciting game but not enough to keep me from browsing through the computer and looking at the files and playing with some software. I then began using a very good graphic software and was able to make great looking pictures, scenery, and newsletter templates. From that moment, I was hooked, I had found something I really enjoyed doing.

In my years, I have had a few computers and some that have crashed. The first time that it had happened to me I was horrified, it was about 10 years ago on my laptop and I didn't know what to do. But I did remember that every so often (6 months or so) I had done a system backup on some CD's. So I inserted the CD and the booted on the computer. A few steps later and some hours I was back in business, thou all of my data was not saved, I at least had my computer runner with a working operating system again! I was so relieved.

I had then gone a few years now with no problem until a desktop computer that I had bought had crashed, the hard disk was not working and it would make noises. I then thought, this computer is only like 3 years old, I can't afford to replace it, or even have it worked on. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands, blindly I went to a local Electronics store and bought a hard drive. I got it home popped open my computer and said, oh this can't be that bad! I followed the instructions that came with the drive hooked it up and boom, off to the races I went!

So when I began reading this week's material, I was like...Bam!! Right up my alley, a subject I enjoy and something that I know a little about. Though there was quite a bit of information that I actually learned and will help me in the future, especially when looking at Core Processors and knowing what is the difference between them and also looking into the RAM and the type of disk storage offered. I really enjoyed this week's lesson and looking forward to some more!

*Permission granted for reuse by Standard YouTube License.