Thursday 23 May 2013

e-commerce

Have you ever purchased anything online? How do you feel about online shopping - is it something that you use and trust? Do you shop with a credit card? or Paypal? What kinds of things are you willing to purchase online? Why or why not?

Yes, I have purchased things on line and was very satisfied with the purchases I made. I'm not a big on line shopper and when I do shop on line it is always just clothes from a couple of stores that I am very familiar with. I dont think it is a bad thing that a lot of people like to  shop online. You should always be smart about it though and look for reviews to see if what they are saying/selling is legit, especially if it is a new place you are trying to online shop with. I myself ship with a credit that has a small limit, but like I said I'm not a bit online shopper. If I had a good job then maybe I would be an extreme online shopper :P but as of right now I'm just a student with a limit. Things I am willing to purchase online is most likely just clothes. But in the future my mind could change and I could be finding alot more online besides just clothes/shoes. 

Wednesday 15 May 2013

Digital Divide

On page 348, there is a discussion of the "Digital Divide" in the United States. Do you think there is a digital divide in Canada? Explain your answer in terms of what you have experienced. If you think there isn't a divide, why do you think so? If you think there is a divide, how do you think we could change that?

According to the reading I did on page 348 in the text book, digital divide separates people who have easy access to computers and those who do not. I never really noticed a digital divide of where I am living and in surrounding communities but then again I have never really thought about it. I guess it is because most people have access because most schools and public libraries have public computers for people.  Like we discussed the world wide web is growing more and more every day so today there are a lot of people who have computers, laptops, etc in there home as apposed to lets say 10 years ago if even.  So no, I do not think there is a digital divide in Canada. 

Law enforcement-advantages and disadvantages

Law enforcement agencies share the information in their databases with each other. What advantages and disadvantages does a computerized law enforcement system have for law-abiding citizens?

One advantages I think would be that all the law enforcement agencies all over would have  information about offenders. They could send information back and forth to other law enforcement making them aware of an offender that they are trying to catch. Also the advantages of computerized law enforcement for law-abiding citizens are that hackers, stalkers. etc. should not be contacting you or your information and people that are trying to go into your computer have a harder time now because privacy laws are getting harder to get around.   A disadvantage would be that a law abiding citizen could be mixed up with someone else who could possibly have the same name. They could look the same as an offender or they could have their identity stolen and other serious mishaps or illegal indiscretions. I'm sure there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages out there and one would have to do some research to figure out what is what and what is going on to this day with law enforcement and their databases. 

Computers don't make mistakes

The statement: "Computers don't make mistakes, people do" is often used to support the reliability of computer output. Is this statement true? Explain the statement in light of your experiences with computers in the first week of class... think back over some of the experiences you had as you learned to use xhtml...

I think it differs whether the computer makes mistakes or not, it varies from whatever task you are doing. My experience with xhtml was quite confusing and when I did it over and over again the computer was the only one there telling me my mistakes and where to fix them. But then there were other times where everything was right and the computer was wrong. I guess this is where that expression comes to mind "nobody is perfect", just like a computer because is some ways a computer is a very intelligent human. Man did invent it didn't they. Anyways I would have to say for me that I strongly believe computers can make a  mistake. Maybe not a great amount of mistakes but they are there. 

Computer Industry

Do you think the computer industry has more of a positive or negative effect on preserving global ecosystems? How can you, in your own life and use of computers and the Internet, take steps to be "green" - that is, how can you be an environmentally conscious computer user?


I think pretty much almost everything in this world that is man-made has negative effects upon “preserving” global ecosystems. True, there is a thing called ‘recycling’ but you can only go so far with that. I use my computer a lot, like everyday whether it is for homework or checking mail or to play games. It's just something I do, something that I have done for quite some time. Sure, if I was to try limit my time on the computer I would put in a lot of effort, I wouldn't say I'am addicted to the internet because there have been times where I had no access for a large amount of time and I did just fine.

I always turn my computer off when I'am done using it or I set it to sleep mode if I'm leaving for a bit then coming back to what I was doing. When I turn it off I almost always make sure that everything is off that focuses on the computer itself. There is just no point in shutting one thing off and then leaving another on. That makes no sense to me. But hey who am I to judge, I'm not perfect. Sure I do my part but there is times where I could probably be more environmentally conscious.

A big step would be to unplug the computer itself when you are away for long periods of time. I mean why keep it plugged in all day long while your away, sucking unused energy for nothing when you’re not even using it? The small things really do make a different so doing something as little as turning down the brightness of the monitor or the volume makes a difference. 

Word Processing

Some people argue that word processing reduces the quality of writing because it makes it easy to write in a hurried and careless manner and it puts the emphasis on the way a document looks rather than on what it says. What do you think? Explain your answer from your own perspective.

I think in a way that it does reduce the quality of writing because it does take a lot out of the actual writing that one might do. To me it focuses more on how the paper looks rather then the actual writing portion. Say if you have a essay that is due, you might wait till the last minute because word processing is so easy to work with and it catches all your mistakes, where as, if you were to hand write it you have to sit and think of what your going to write and think of the right way to write it. It does not give you the option to look carefully and teach you how to catch the mistakes and spelling. But like I said in an earlier post that again, it helps people who need it for work. I'm sure it helps out a secretary a lot when it comes to writing letter after letter for her boss. Don't get me wrong it is only my opinion but for me I really do use word processor a a lot and enjoy that I have it there as an option.

World Wide Web

The World Wide Web has been around about 20 years. What impact does it have on your life? What difference would it make in your life if it didn't exist?

I don't know if it has a "great" impact on my life but it does impact my life in some cases. I mean without it I wouldn't know the answers to a lot of the many questions I have, still to this day I'm always asking questions that some people could not give me the answers to. Which is fine because I can always search it up and usually the majority of the time it leaves me with knowing. :) I'm not saying that I depend on it all the time, but for the most it is always there and helps. It helps a great deal in school with projects and if I do not know how something works I can always search and there it is. Yes, I suppose that my life would be different without it. I wouldn't have something to turn to for my many answers that people cannot not give me. I guess for many people it would be different. Like many jobs would not be as easy as they are today, for example banking, teaching, etc... I guess I would not be sitting in this computer class right now learning about all the different things you can do with a computer/web. It just depends on the person i suppose, because some people live without it and have been since the day they were born.