Conclusion

Looking at the title of this blog it shows the ending of a journey. A journey that began some months ago where I knew a tiny little bit about HTML and CSS and know I learned so much. Below I shall be highlighting some of my experiences. 

At first bloging each week I taught it is going to be a boring task but to my surprise I enjoyed bloging and to be honest I learned much more this way. Explaining your own material and small project is really helpful and putting up a blog had to make me fully understand what I was doing as if I didn't understand what was happening and doing I couldn't have bloged. 

This course helped me in every kind of way. We spoke about things related to web which are mostly in use now a days. We tackled HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript, XML which I am sure that I will be needing them very shortly even for my final project of this year. At first I started a bit on a slow gear but then as time went on I started getting the grip on things better. 

When it came to second live it was fun and even in class we had a laugh however in my opinion I would have prefered spending those 4 weeks doing more PHP and javascript in more detail and taking things a bit slower as I think they are two really important languages that can develop something extraordinary with them. Probably I didn't find SL that interesting because I don't really see the use in it for know but if in the future it gets to people I will be one  of those that have some knowledge and knows what's happening. 

Our lecturer always made his utmost so that he doesn't deliver the material in a boring way and keep us very much interested with the lesson. Discussions where held during class where everyone had the opportunity to point out his point of views and everything was discussed.

That is it for me for now! 

Happpyyy Blogging everyone! =) 

Week 18 - Cloud Computing

Introduction

Cloud-Computing... A very interesting subject. Probably one that you are making use of without knowing! Cloud-Computing is making use of multiple servers on a digital network. The term cloud is used because the the cloud image represents the Internet or a kind of network environment. Instead of having messy data pipes, routers and servers there are now services. Google-Docs and Gmail is driven on cloud-computing. Also a good example of this is dropbox.The term private cloud-computing refers to having data at the tip of your fingertips and ready for use, having data which is transferable and can be instantly accessible. Cloud-computing can be based on mobile phones

Irrespective of what type of cloud it is either a private or a public it should have the following characteristics: 

• Quickly to allocate and relieve resources when it is required by clients
• A real-time backup should be offered to clients for maximum up time
• Should satisfy users requests without involving clients with the management of the service

There are three types of cloud-computing Saas (Software as a Service), Paas (Platform as a Service) and Iaas (Infrastructure as a Service)

• Saas - Having the software built by the service provider and configured by the end users depending on their needs.
• Paas - This is a platform used for different purposes
• Iaas - Infrastructure is offered on demand. Any required thing like spaces, expenses and personnel can be saved

Advantages of cloud computing

Pros can be divided into six main categories being:

• Reduced Cost - Paid incrementally therefore saves organizations money
• Increased Storage - Can store more data than on a private computer system
• Highly Automated- IT people won't need to worry about keeping software up to date.
• Flexibility - Offers much more flexibility
• More Mobility - Information can be accessed from everywhere rather than from your own desk
• Allows IT to shift focus - No need for server updates and other computing issues

Personally I think that you are not limited to one desk is the biggest advantage. Accessing your data from everywhere is a thumbs up. You would work comfortable if a good internet connection is provided however I doubt if bad connections still exist, if they do I don't think they will remain for long as connectivity is improving really fast and as it improves so does cloud computing. As mentioned in the introduction cloud computing can be done with mobile phones. You can have all your data in sync all day long. 

Security is another advantage. Cloud-computing are pretty much secure also real-time backup is offered which means less data loss. Cloud systems aren't as prone to hacks or DDoS attacks as other systems this is because people don't know about where the data is exactly. 

Using cloud computing won't require you to buy additional servers or any other peripherals so it will reduce hardware costs. 

Servers running inside a virtual machine can be stored in one image file containing the entire system configuration and settings. In case a server crashes, you don’t have to start from scratch to perform  re installation and reconfiguration. Simply take a copy of the saved image, restore data from last backup and the server will  be back up and running again.  In this manner time, effort and resources are saved.

Electricity Bills will be reduced as there will be no need to maintain a temperature room to cool down the server.

Replacing or upgrading a server specification can be easier to execute using cloud computing. If the parent server is overloaded and specifications are not sufficient anymore, we can easily upgrade the specification or move a virtual machine to another, more powerful server

Disadvantages of cloud computing

After mentioning the advantages some disadvantages are to be mentioned as most of the time where there are some advantages there is a disadvantage. 

The main disadvantage of cloud computing is that if the data centre crashes all the virtual machines will be affected. 

Backing up your data will obviously help in prevention of any data loss is that it requires a good and stabilized internet connection, if you don't have a good connection you can't expect it to give you good functionality

Another disadvantage is if having intruders targeting the parent server and hacking it. 

Conclusion

Cloud-computing should really keep advancing I think that it is great and the better internet connectivity gets the better it will be.  Probably people won't like the idea of having data accessible from anywhere as they might get the wrong ideas. Trusting your data might be a big issue but finding a good provider will do. 

week 17 - Social Networking

Introduction

Social Networking is something big, huge, that made a big impact on our daily lives and makes a huge part of our daily routine. It is a place where you interact and meet people over the web. Social Networking  has the ability of interacting with people not only your friends but also people you don't know on-line, sharing with other people your details, date of birth, name, surname, age. This is a structure made of nodes tied together by interdependency like friendship, relationships, common interests, beliefs and more. 

Social Networking History

This goes way back in time round 1978 were BBS standing for Bulletin Board Systems were being used. These use to exchange data over phone line. Later in 1994 Geocities was founded, Geocities was the first social network sites to be created. 3 years later there was sixdegrees another type of social network that allows people to create their own profile and have friends just listed. In the 20th century different types of social networks were created.  Friendster which was created in 2002 was another social network which allow people to contact other members. It was also used for dating, discovering new events, bands and hobbies. This was mostly popular in South-east Asia. A year later there was Myspace and hi5 and the biggest change was in 2004 where Facebook was created. Originally Facebook was created by Harvard students, they used it so that Harvard college students could connect with each other. However this was expanded into other colleges in Boston area, Ivy League and Stanford University and added support for student to other universities and later to anyone who's age was above 13. Although as seen on several reports that are around 7.5 million who violated this term and accessed Facebook under the age of 13. In January 2009 this was ranked as the most used social network service. In the mean time twitter was launched and now that we are in 2011 Google+ will soon be open for public as it is still undergoing some tests.

I remember using IRC years ago. This was based on internet text messaging known as chatting designed for group communications each group was called a channel and if for example you wanted to join a chat with Maltese people you type #Malta. That was a different type of social network type. Modern social networks offer sharing of  pictures, videos, tagging other people and more. Nowadays I remember a few months ago there was a tremor in Malta I confirmed it by seeing people posting on Facebook. Things spread faster on Facebook then on local news.

Facebook 
As I said before Facebook was launched in 2004. As seen by latest statistics by 2011 around 750 million users are active on Facebook. Users first register an account. Users have to declare themselves as being older than 12 years old. Then they can set their personal account having a profile and add friends, exchange messages, tagging and much much more. Workplaces and collages can be organized and one can join that group.  Mark Zucherberg founded facebook together with his room-mates and some other computer students. Facebook recently also introduced video chat which is based on Skype technology. Video chat is only limited to a number of users but in the future it will be open for everyone.

In my opinion Facebook was what made an explosion to social networking.Seven years ago I use to make use of Hi5 but when I migrated my stuff Facebook around 4 years ago it was a huge impact and big difference. I remember there where days when I had to log on Facebook every single day. I also think that Facebook made a big hit because people are very nosey sometimes and want to know what's happening in everyday's people lives and with Facebook one can get to know what's happening as if someone went in a relationship people change their statues if they broke up its another statues change, if they are having a massive party they post it on their wall every single thing that they do, people post it on their wall. Nowadays companies, businesses and organization no matter the size are using Facebook as publicity and advertisement about their company.

Google +
A few months ago Google+ emerged. This is another social network that is already evolving amongst people. Till know already around 10Million users are G+ users. Google+ didn't automatically let anyone join in, people needed an invite to be able to join Google+ and it wasn't open for people all the time.  So each time Google+  opens a number of people join in.  Google+ is known for hangouts, sparks and Circles.

1. Circles - These are like groups which allow you to group people according to your preferences. Like you can have a circle or friends, a circle of enemies, a circle or work mates and another one of families. Circles allow you to post things which can either be viewed by everyone or else you can specify the circle you want to share it with. A good example of this would be you are want to ask someone about a client at work and you share your question with only the work mates circle.
2. Hangouts - This allows you to start a web-cam session with a particular circle. 10 persons at a time can join a hangout and when a particular person is talking that person will appear with a big camera.  You will need a Plug-in in before you start using hangouts. 
3. Sparks - With sparks you can search about any interest that you like and share it with others. 

Conclusion

Social Networks evolved in an extreme way and they keep improving. I enjoy spending time on Google+ and Facebook however sometimes I do stop and think about certain issues like privacy. There are certain privacy settings that one can set. In my opinion people who exaggerate with postings and pictures are videos. Certain privacy is reduced as you never know in which hands your information will end. What if people want to use your picture for bad use or need your address for something? Therefore although social networking is fun it has the negative side of it. To contradict this issue however who doesn't want to risk privacy can opt to not have a profile.