We restored the operating system of our virtual machines on Wednesday, which is crucial to troubleshooting a computer. If a program that has recently been installed is causing issues with the computer, but simply uninstalling it does not solve the issue, a system restore can be performed in order to set the computer back to a previous state - one before the software was installed. At first this would cause concern about the files saved on the computer, but the system restore tool does not affect saved files; only what programs have been installed and uninstalled on the system. This saves the user from having to remake all of the files that would normally have been removed.
We learned about how severe red/green colourblindness can be and how it would affect someone using a website with the condition. There are several ways to make things easier to see for someone with this disability, one of them being to use a different CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) file for those who tell their browser to use it.
Another disability that severely affects computer users is dyslexia. More often than not, most fonts that are easy for non-sufferers to read and understand will be significantly more difficult for a sufferer to read and understand. The same can be said for certain colours; most computer monitors these days have an option programmed in to them that allows a user to tell the monitor to use a specific shade of a colour that makes large chunks of text easier to read, however not all computer users will know about this in-built feature, thus forcing web coders to use either a specific set of colours and fonts that will be easy for everyone to comprehend, or have a different stylesheet again for those who suffer from dyslexia.
In place of our Professional, Communication and Digital Skills lecture we had a woman come up from the main campus on Infirmary Road and show us how to use the resource finding tools that the college provides. This is incredibly convenient and well-timed considering we are being given a large assignment next week that will require us to use this service that is very similar to Google Scholar.
Arrays came up in programming. They're pretty much just fancy lists that start at 0 as opposed to 1, which is illogical - though I guess it wouldn't be the same if programming followed the logical conventions of society.
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Friday, 22 November 2013
Week 9: JavaScript and Operating System Tools
So this week we've been playing around with JavaScript in HTML and manipulating our web page to do something that HTML cannot achieve on its own.
We got an example to work through to get a basic understanding of what the code can do and how it's written, which threw us off at first but we eventually managed to grasp what it was doing. The JavaScript allowed us to view an image by clicking on a thumbnail, which then displayed a new image on the page. When you clicked on another thumbnail, it displayed a different image in place of the original one without going to another page.
Even though it was just a basic piece of script inside the web page, it was impressive to see what the code itself could achieve.
Last week we installed an operating system (Windows 7) on to a virtual machine using VirtualBox. The C:\ drives on the computers here are regularly swept clean of non-crucial files and folders, so every time we want to use the "machine" we used the week before, we have to unzip a zip file on to the hard drive and compress it again once we're finished with it so that we have all of the settings saved. This proves to be a bit of a pain, but it's something we're managing with.
On the "machine" itself we went in to the administrative tools and learned what all of the different services provide on the system. We also used the task manager to view how much memory is allocated on the machine and how much is being used at any one point and how much work the processor is doing. We will no doubt come back to this in the future and talk about the different hardware and software you can use to find this information.
On Thursday Nick and I interviewed the manager of the Abraham Heights Hotel case study. The interview lasted around ten minutes and we got an answer for all of the questions we pitched to him. When we were evaluated on how we performed during the interview, we scored 31/40. We lost marks for not keeping quite to the ten minute schedule that was set and we lost a few marks each for not wearing more formal clothing. We have been asked by the hotel to write up a report on what is wrong with the current system and what can be done to improve it. Scott and Jasmine have interviewed the head receptionist and have their findings with them, so we will collate all of this information in to our own individual reports.
Nothing on the sausage roll front, still.
- Alex.
We got an example to work through to get a basic understanding of what the code can do and how it's written, which threw us off at first but we eventually managed to grasp what it was doing. The JavaScript allowed us to view an image by clicking on a thumbnail, which then displayed a new image on the page. When you clicked on another thumbnail, it displayed a different image in place of the original one without going to another page.
Even though it was just a basic piece of script inside the web page, it was impressive to see what the code itself could achieve.
Last week we installed an operating system (Windows 7) on to a virtual machine using VirtualBox. The C:\ drives on the computers here are regularly swept clean of non-crucial files and folders, so every time we want to use the "machine" we used the week before, we have to unzip a zip file on to the hard drive and compress it again once we're finished with it so that we have all of the settings saved. This proves to be a bit of a pain, but it's something we're managing with.
On the "machine" itself we went in to the administrative tools and learned what all of the different services provide on the system. We also used the task manager to view how much memory is allocated on the machine and how much is being used at any one point and how much work the processor is doing. We will no doubt come back to this in the future and talk about the different hardware and software you can use to find this information.
On Thursday Nick and I interviewed the manager of the Abraham Heights Hotel case study. The interview lasted around ten minutes and we got an answer for all of the questions we pitched to him. When we were evaluated on how we performed during the interview, we scored 31/40. We lost marks for not keeping quite to the ten minute schedule that was set and we lost a few marks each for not wearing more formal clothing. We have been asked by the hotel to write up a report on what is wrong with the current system and what can be done to improve it. Scott and Jasmine have interviewed the head receptionist and have their findings with them, so we will collate all of this information in to our own individual reports.
Nothing on the sausage roll front, still.
- Alex.
Tuesday, 19 November 2013
Week 8: Fact Finding and Ethics
So this past week we have been talking about the different ways used to gather information and facts and the ethics.
We decided that the best way to gather information would be to do an anonymous questionnaire; be it online so that the user can simply click "yes/ no" buttons or a physical questionnaire that can be filled in in a short space of time. The idea behind still using a paper-based questionnaire is that the piece of paper will be getting in the way of whatever it is the employee is doing and they will fill out the form to get rid of it.
The ethical side of the information gathering process is that you may come across critical information about a company's infrastructure; network passwords, employee details, and the sort, will all need to be kept private. This information should not be shared in a report under any circumstances. Leaving documentation about this information laying unsecured is also unethical and the company can take the violator to court and sue on grounds of breaking the Data Protection Act (1998).
Re: the sausage roll situation.
No action has been taken to increase the number of sausage rolls available to the students. This will probably not go down well with the class. Anarchy surely follows. Take to the hills for safety. Shall keep you posted.
- Alex.
We decided that the best way to gather information would be to do an anonymous questionnaire; be it online so that the user can simply click "yes/ no" buttons or a physical questionnaire that can be filled in in a short space of time. The idea behind still using a paper-based questionnaire is that the piece of paper will be getting in the way of whatever it is the employee is doing and they will fill out the form to get rid of it.
The ethical side of the information gathering process is that you may come across critical information about a company's infrastructure; network passwords, employee details, and the sort, will all need to be kept private. This information should not be shared in a report under any circumstances. Leaving documentation about this information laying unsecured is also unethical and the company can take the violator to court and sue on grounds of breaking the Data Protection Act (1998).
Re: the sausage roll situation.
No action has been taken to increase the number of sausage rolls available to the students. This will probably not go down well with the class. Anarchy surely follows. Take to the hills for safety. Shall keep you posted.
- Alex.
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Week 7 Extra: Student Rep Meeting
This week I automatically became the deputy student representative for the class.
Before we broke up for the week holiday Nick was nominated as the student rep for the class. This meant that he would be attending several meetings throughout the year regarding student worries and suggestions for the rest of the board.
However, he's ill until further notice. So, we needed someone to stand in for him, and you're looking at the person who put those boots on. Yes, I stood in as deputy for Nick and have been told to relay all information and minutes taken throughout the meeting to the main rep.
We covered all points raised by the other students in the class - a list was compiled and annotated by myself and several students. We talked about:
Before we broke up for the week holiday Nick was nominated as the student rep for the class. This meant that he would be attending several meetings throughout the year regarding student worries and suggestions for the rest of the board.
However, he's ill until further notice. So, we needed someone to stand in for him, and you're looking at the person who put those boots on. Yes, I stood in as deputy for Nick and have been told to relay all information and minutes taken throughout the meeting to the main rep.
We covered all points raised by the other students in the class - a list was compiled and annotated by myself and several students. We talked about:
- "Is the course how you thought it would be when you signed up?"
A lot of the people in the class said that they thought it would be more applied than what it currently is. This was addressed and I was told that the first year touches all bases and gives you a very generalised idea of what the course is about, what subjects and paths we can take in the second and third years. - "Do you have access to the information and resources you need?"
We said that we knew about the eBooks that were available to us via the college, but we had no idea what to do or where to go in order to get them. This was addressed this morning by our tutor, Steve, who showed us how to get to the books. - Other points.
We wanted a bigger sausage roll budget, which the curriculum manager, Bill, said would be answered gladly: a lot of students have said over the years, apparently, that food might sometime run low on busier days during the week (Wednesdays and Thursdays especially).
We asked if it was possible to sort out some sort of common room, like many universities and sixth form colleges/ schools provide for their students. I was told that there was a common room set up on the ground floor near to the library in previous years, however that was converted in to a private learning suite.
The "2X Server" is incredibly slow and tedious to load up: we use Notepad++ via the 2X client and it takes time to connect and download the software each time we need it (especially when we all connect to the client at the same time). Apparently this has been an issue for some time and we are appealing to get the software installed on to the individual machines at some point in the near future.
The meeting took place yesterday (Wednesday 6th November) and some issues have already been addressed today, as mentioned in the paragraphs and pointers above.
I will hand these notes on to the head rep when he is next in.
I will hand these notes on to the head rep when he is next in.
- Alex.
Weeks 5 - 7: An Update
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been more of the same.
We had a Systems Analysis and Design task to complete, which involved drawing up an information flow diagram and then two data flow diagrams (one level one and one level two diagram). When we had completed these diagrams, along with a context flow diagram we had a meeting with Joyce about the progress that we had made and she provided feedback on what we could improve on.
At first the diagrams were really hard to understand and draw up, but after looking at examples for long enough we eventually got the hang of them and produced diagrams that were of a good standard.
We had no work to complete over the half term holiday, thus giving us the entire week to ourselves. Success.
Nick was nominated as the student representative for the class and we had a short meeting with the entire class about any issues and doubts we were having about the course, which would then be taken up with several lecturers on the campus.
One thing we all decided on was that the canteen here at Tapton didn't have a big enough sausage roll budget. I imagine that will be an interesting point to make in the meeting. Have fun with that, Nick.
- Alex.
We had a Systems Analysis and Design task to complete, which involved drawing up an information flow diagram and then two data flow diagrams (one level one and one level two diagram). When we had completed these diagrams, along with a context flow diagram we had a meeting with Joyce about the progress that we had made and she provided feedback on what we could improve on.
At first the diagrams were really hard to understand and draw up, but after looking at examples for long enough we eventually got the hang of them and produced diagrams that were of a good standard.
We had no work to complete over the half term holiday, thus giving us the entire week to ourselves. Success.
Nick was nominated as the student representative for the class and we had a short meeting with the entire class about any issues and doubts we were having about the course, which would then be taken up with several lecturers on the campus.
One thing we all decided on was that the canteen here at Tapton didn't have a big enough sausage roll budget. I imagine that will be an interesting point to make in the meeting. Have fun with that, Nick.
- Alex.
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