Google nukes thousands of Gmail accounts

Basically, about 150,000 Gmail users lost all of their emails throughout the past day. People wrote about what they recently experienced and it is sad that they lost so many pictures and important information. People are now wondering if "the cloud" will fail. People will be less likely to trust the anonymous servers. The simple moral of the story would be to be sure to back up information that is important to you daily.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/28/technology/gmail_outage/index.htm

Technology

Mr. John was back today. He talked to us about the technology that we have at our fingertips, yet do not use properly. I totally agree with him. By attending SJA, we are given laptops that should be used for learning instead of facebook 24/7. I personally feel that technology in general has gone too far, however, I do not think it is going to stop or go out of style. By using our computers for good and learning, we will be better informed about what is going on in the world. School is important, yet if we just use the laptops we have to look up news around the world once a day, we will be better informed individuals. I love SJA, yet I sometimes miss eye to eye contact that I feel is lost in our community. I mean in middle school, we actually had to talk all day instead of being in our computers. Basically, his little talk was another eyeopener to me! :)

Is 'American Idol' voting about to hit Facebook?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/social.media/02/24/american.idol.facebook/index.html

The article said that Facebook could be the new place to vote for American Idol. EW reports viewers will be able to vote for contestants 50 times on the site. Lastly, according to leaks reported by People magazine, "X Factor," the upcoming talent show to be hosted by former "Idol" judge Simon Cowell, also plans to introduce Facebook voting. Therefore, the article shows that everyone wants to be involved with Facebook to better further their shows. I think it is funny that the internet has gone so far! :)

Sports fans could soon tune in to YouTube

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/23/sports.youtube.mashable/index.html

Basically, the article said that YouTube has been talking with the NBA and NHL to broadcast games live. Last year, YouTube started live-streaming Indian Premier League cricket matches and received a good number of viewers. Lastly, Google is apparently talking with other pro sports leagues. I love sports so this article struck my eye and point of interest.

The Smithsonian wants your favorite video games

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/02/22/smithsonian.video.games/index.html
I found this article today and it is about how the Smithsonian Art Museum is going to debut "The Art of Video Games" next month. You can basically go onto their link and vote for 80 out of 240 games to be assembled in the museum. It is pretty random, yet it caught my eye today. :)

Teacher's Blog Sparked Debate

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2052123,00.html
The article is about a teacher who posted some comments on her blog that were not very nice about her students. She now has to go to court. Basically, this article allowed me to realize that I need to be careful about what I post on my blog as well as anything on the internet.

What I want to learn about in Comp Arch

1. How do you fix a latch?

2. What are the parts of a computer?

3. How do you take apart a computer?

4. What is the coolest thing that you have ever learned about computers?

5. How to legally get free music?

Google gives Google Earth, Picasa, and Chrome Downloads to Iran

I found the article a while back, but thought it was intersting. Google made Google available to Iran. The company will continue to block IP addresses associated with the Iranian government. Print Journalism and cell phone lines were closed during the rise of the protests that erupted in Iran following the presidential election in June 2009. YouTube and Twitter were cited by journalists, activists and bloggers as the best source for firshand accounts and on-the-scene footage of the protests and violence across the country. United States export controls and sanctions programs prohibited software downloads to Iran. The products are specifically designed to help people create, communicate, and share opinions and find information. The U.S. began allowing tech companies to export online services like instant messaging, chat, and photo sharing to Iran.

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2011/01/19/google-gives-google-earth-picasa-chrome-downloads-to-iran

Cleaning up

Today, we helped clean up a little bit. We tested different computers and monitors to see if they worked. Also, some of the girls hooked up some printers to test them as well. Layne and I spend most of the hour transfering differernt things up and down from the library to the classroom. Also, we went with Mr. John to get another computer, monitor,and keyboard. It was moreover a very productive hour. :)

Desktop

Today in Class, Claire was our moderator or teacher. Mr. John was showing some people around the school. So, she had us look at at the inside of a Dell Desktop. We were in groups and she came around and pointed a few things out to us. We saw the hard drive and the Ram and some other pieces. It was pretty interesting, although it was dusty. She let our group actually take take apart the hard drive which was also really neat.

Watson

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/watson-technology-jeopardy/story?id=12869629&page=1 The link above is a story Mr. John told us about today in class. Watson, the computer, will play on Jeopardy against the all time champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Although Watson is only a computer, it is thought that it can will jeopardy. The article is really interesting and creepy in the same way. They also have some video links on it as well about Watson. I was pretty amazed by the article and will have to keep track of Watson. :)

PC vs. Apple

I think more people in the world probably have PC's rather than Apple. PC has more to offer such as Dell, Fujitsu, and Tashiba. Apple is pretty much just Apple. Basically, PC is probably better overall.

Online Storage

Are online storage places safe?

I personally do not really know, but would probably say "NO" they are not safe. Someone can hack into it. My famous thing is "If you want something done right, do it yourself." Basically, I would probably never use an online storage place. I honestly didn't even know they existed until today. :)

Skype

I finally got a skype today. I have been hearing about it and see people use it all the time, just never took the time to get one. It is basically a way to chat and you can have a status like facebook. You can also video chat with somone who has a web cam. It is a pretty cool program and I can't wait to actually play around with it and use it more.

Crossover Cable

No class today because of icy roads. We made a crossover cable yesterday in class. You leave one end of the cable as a Cat5 and put the other one as a Cat 6. The colors for the Cat 6 side are as follows: 

White-green, green

White-orange, blue

White-blue, orange

White-brown, brown

Then when you check to see if you have it correct, you put both sides into the little orange device that Robin has and the numbers should appear as follows:

3/1

6/2

1/3

4/4

5/5

2/6

7/7

8/8

If this pattern is correct, then you have successfully made a crossover cable.

Attempt at Network Cable

Today, I attempted to make the network cable. When I tried it out, it did not work. So, tomorrow I have to try again. Robin tested it with this orange contraption and was able to show me which color wire was not appearing. All I have to do is fix one of the ends, which is a good sign. I guess practice makes perfect!

Land Cable

Today in class we learned how to make a land, patch, or network cable. I am ready to try it out! I thought the process was going to be long and tedious, yet it was rather quick. First, you just have  to cut about 3 meters of cable and score the cable. Then you cut off part of sheath. Then you cut off thread and you have 4 pairs of wires. You seperate them and make them straight. You put them in the order from left to right: white-orange, orange, white-green, blue, white-blue, green, and white-brown, brown. You then make all the wires even by cutting them straight across. You put the white piece on. You then use the Cat 5 crimper to make sure the white piece stays secure. Lastly, you do the same thing to the other side and then you can test it out to see if it works. You turn off your internet and plug your cable in and test it.
I really liked learning this and can't wait to try it on my own tomorrow!