Leave

I know I announced this in some of my classes, but I wanted to make a public mention of this.  I will be taking a leave of absence from PCCC next year.  Since I am tenured, this is not an end, but rather a chance for me to take some time and recharge. The College has supported me in this, so I thank them for that.

My plan is to return in the Fall 2011 semester.  I still plan on updating this blog and being around, and of course I will be at graduation this year (and next year).

10/SP Grades

I am always happy to see technology make things easier for people.

I remember when I first adjuncted a class in 2001, my students wanted to receive their grades.  They told me it took them weeks to get the information from the College.  I was happy to email the grades to them, but this being 2001, many of them did not have email (and the College didn't buy a portal until 2004 or so).

It used to be that we would have to fill out paperwork, send that paperwork to another office, and then that office would manually enter this information in to the computer.  Yes, I would take my electronic files, turn them in to paper copies, and then have someone else turn the paper copies in to electronic copies in the College's database.  Then someone would print letters, put them in envelopes, and put them in the mail, and a month later, students would get their grades.

Now, it's all electronic.  When I enter grades, the Registrar's Office just hits a button and students can access their grades.

I sent grade information in for all my classes by Wednesday of this week, so at this point, all students are able to see their Spring 2010 grades.  Two days to get grades...we have come a long way since it took a month to get them.

I think most of our professors assume you know how to get the grades (this is what a College Experience course should teach you, among other things).  If you do not, you can find the information on the College's Web site:
http://pccc.edu/prospective/registration/grades

Blogging with Word

This blog is being done entirely in Word 2007 on my home computer. I've resisted using this so far because (as I've been discussing lately), sometimes retraining is hard for someone who is experienced with a tool. I am making a concerted effort to try to really use some of the new features.

I enjoy blogging (obviously - if I've been doing it here for four years). I typically use the Web interface to blog, but there are some advantages to using a new feature in Word 2007. Word 2007 will allow you to publish directly to many blog services, including Blogger (the site I use) and WordPress. For someone like me, who is familiar with the Web interface, this is not a big deal. However, let's take the case of a company that has no technical expertise. They want to add information to their Web site, and their Web person has integrated a blog in to their Web site (such as the site FutilityInfielder.com. Jay Jaffe (who I met a number of years ago at a Pizzeria Uno in NYC) has his blog set up through WordPress. He publishes directly to WordPress, and it shows up on his Web site. Many companies want this type of ability. The only problem is that Web blog publishing can be complex for a new user. A good Web developer could set up someone up with a Word 2007 blog and avoid the hassle. If the person knows Word 2007, all they would have to do is click on the Office Button and select "New", and then select "New Blog Post". The account setup only needs to be done once, so you could very easily give a less savvy customer a five minute demonstration and get them blogging. Now this user will have all the Word tools they are used to: spell check (with their custom dictionary), formatting tools, thesaurus, symbols, tables, and all the rest. Once they type the blog, all they need to do is click "Publish". Adding pictures becomes a little more complex to set up, but can also be automated. The ability to give a customer push-button blogging that integrates in to their Web site is a great little feature.

One other issue that I see is that sometimes, people want to keep a record of their blogs. For example, there was a site named Gaia that had a blog function. A colleague of mine was blogging there for a few years, and the site shut down. In order for her to save old blogs, it became a real pain. If one were to use Word 2007 to do this, they could very easily click "Save" and keep a local copy of all blog entries as they publish them.

Here are instructions on how to set this up: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA101640211033.aspx

What's also cool is if I make changes, I can just type them in to Word and click "Publish", and it knows to "Republish" rather than create a second entry.

Still haven't figured out how to add tags, but overall a nice feature.

New Blog Post

This is a post demonstrating that you can "push-button" publishing from Word to a blog.

From XP to 7: new features part 2

One of the new features in Windows 7 that I noticed was the addition of libraries.   Windows 7 has introduced a feature that allows me to specify a group of directories as a library.

Let's go with an example.  If you have a folder for music in your Documents folder.  However, let's say you also download song files through a program like Ares.  If you do that, you would typically have to move those files from the Downloads folder over to the Music folder in order for you to listen to the music.

Now, with the addition of Libraries, you can specify a number of folders that contain music, and simply browse to it.  For example, under your Start Menu in Windows 7, you will see an area called "Music".  This is a link to the library.  This will show you music files in all folders that it recognizes as music folders.  Right clicking on it and selecting it will allow you to add or remove folders from this list.  You can do this for pictures, videos, and documents by default.

You can also create your own custom libraries.  For example, I have three locations that I am typically using for school stuff.  The locations are my downloads folder (where electronic files I need to check go), my documents folder (where I typically keep some information), and my desktop (where I put stuff I really don't want to forget).

It is also very cool that programs optimized for this (for example, most of the Office suite) can use these libraries as well.

Though you CAN include folders from an external hard drive, you can NOT include locations on a USB drive.  That is one negative I have.  If someone is technically proficient, it should not be a problem.  For example, my USB drive is always assigned to a drive letter of "H".  Any non-work USB drive gets "F".  I think I understand why they wouldn't allow this - but there should be an option to override it.  In my case, there will never be confusion between my main USB drive and others, and I think that is why Microsoft disabled this option.  I wouldn't mind if it gave me all sorts of annoying warnings, if it allowed it.

Cool feature, though the USB drive being excluded is a bummer.

Link to more information (with pictures)

From XP to 7: Using the new features part 1

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I went to a conference in the city and they demonstrated the new features of Windows 7.  This got me thinking that I should start using the new features.  Since I skipped Vista as an operating system, some of the things I am learning were new in Vista, and some are new in 7.

Here are some new features I am going to use:

• Flip 3D: Since the old days, holding down the ALT key and hitting TAB was the way I switch between open programs.  Windows 7 has a new feature called Flip 3D that is similar.  If you hold down the WINDOWS key and hit TAB, you can switch between programs, except with a 3D effect.  This is a very neat little feature that I will add to my bag o' tricks.
• Windows+Arrow: I have two monitors at home.  I have times where I want to switch things over to other windows, and I have thus far been dragging things from one monitor to another.  Who knew I could simply hold WINDOWS and hit the RIGHT ARROW to move it to the screen on the right, and WINDOWS and LEFT ARROW to move back to the left screen.  This is a pretty neat little feature that saves me some mouse clicks.
• Problem Steps Recorder: There are times where I want to show people problems I am having, and I end up taking screen shots (using print screen).  The problem is I then have to type up the steps and do work to show this.  This tool will let me simply record step by step what I am doing, so I can create a report and just mail that with very little effort.  I can imagine this is going to be a great tool for technical support professionals in the future as well.  Link to more information

Interesting Computer Stuff Wayback Machine: 4/17/2010

Trent at The Simple Dollar does this thing where he looks back and says "what was I doing at this time last year".  I thought I might check it out for my blog and see what happens.

Wayback to one year ago (April 2009):
Just because security is an illusion doesn't mean you can't be safer
How readable is your Word document?
Nissan vs. Nissan
I discussed how motivated hackers can get in to most any system, and how your goal should be to not be the weakest link.  I also discussed "readability statistics" in Word (which I recently demonstrated in my CIS 125 classes).  I also discussed the case of Uzi Nissan, who owns Nissan.com and is constantly sued by Nissan, the car maker.

Wayback to two years ago (April 2008):
Secure, Random Passwords
What not to do in PowerPoint
People want passwords that are easy to remember.  Sometimes, for security's sake, it is worth it to memorize a difficult password.  PC Tools has a link that will create a difficult to hack, random password.  And when I say "memorize", I don't mean "write it on a sticky note and put it on your monitor".  I also had found a PowerPoint video that I still use today: "Life After Death by PowerPoint".  This is a comedy routine that a comedian does to show common presentation mistakes.

Wayback to three years ago (April 2007):
Massacre of Virginia Tech
Wow.  The College was in the middle of closings due to the flooding of downtown Paterson (sound familiar?), and the Virginia Tech shootings had just happened.

Wayback to four years ago (April 2006):
Hello World
The blog had not been created yet, but it was close.  I started the blog on May 6, 2006 after attending a conference at NJCU.

Learning Technology

One of the problems with teaching technology is that everything changes.  Many times, people just sort of stick with the features they know and just look for the spot where that same feature is, rather than learning the new features of a program.

The most recent example I can come up with is Office 2007.  People got very frustrated with a new interface, even if it is a simpler interface.  One company even created a program to make Office 2007 look like Office 2003, and charges $30 for it.  People will pay $30 to stick with the old interface!  (To be fair, businesses don't like dealing with retraining, because it costs money).

This does go beyond new versions of software.  I remember when I was in college, we were being taught the C programming language (something we computer people use to actually create computer programs).  The college upgraded to a newer version of the language called C++, and I did not bother to take advantage of the new features.  For those who know programming, C is designed to be procedure-oriented, while C++ is designed to be object-oriented.  It took me years to gradually accept the object-oriented programming method.


The reason this is on my mind is because I went to a conference in the city last week, and they included a demonstration of Windows 7.  I have had Windows 7 for a while at home as my primary operating system.  I didn't realize how many features I haven't been using, because much like the programming days in college, I have been using Windows 7 like it was still Windows XP.  I am planning on spending some time playing around with the new features this weekend and re-learning my behaviors a bit, because that's what a technology person should be doing, right?

Hacking Facial Recognition Software

One thing that I see often in TV is facial recognition software.  For example, in the current season of "24", Chloe O'Brien is able to very easily figure out who someone in based on the digital image of their face.  The way these software programs work is similar (though not as advanced as in "24").  They take a facial image and scan it to determine what the features of the person are, and then compare that to a database of people's characteristics.

Of course, the easy way to beat this would be to wear a ski mask or something, but it would be way too obvious if you were walking around in public with one on.  I often wondered if some sort of plastic surgery would make you harder or impossible to detect, and that certainly is an option.

However, a computer programmer was able to reverse engineer this software to find ways to beat it, in theory by using makeup patterns.  He had three sets of images.  The first set were basic images with no makeup, the second set was images with random patterns, and the third set were images that exploited what he considered potential weaknesses in the facial recognition software.  His conclusions?  The patterns he created all fooled the system, while the random patterns and the blank patterns did not fool the system.

His conclusion?  The images represent potential anti-surveillance makeup.

Now, if someone was walking around with the makeup you see in the images, it might look weird still...but the potential is there.  If someone can wear a weird makeup pattern and throw off these systems - well, these systems need to be more mature and figure these things out.  I am sure the companies will say "well, no one is going to walk around with that makeup" publicly, while privately scrambling to find a fix.

Needless to say, if a graduate student came up with an idea like this...imagine what terrorists who do not want to be found will come up with.


http://ahprojects.com/c/itp/thesis

Probably Bad News

If there is one thing I like, it is looking at the world around me and being amused by it.

Probably Bad News is a site that accepts user submission of bizarre and poorly worded newspaper, online, and television news reports.  It's definitely worth a click, though it may not be safe for work!

probablybadnews.com

Animator vs. Animation

This is an interesting use of Adobe Flash and also very creative.

Adobe Flash, of course, is the program that we use to create animations.  Most home users have Adobe Flash Player installed, which allows them to view these animations (but not create them).  Many companies like this feel they can give away the viewer, and if people actually want to design things with the program, charge for that.

The animation below is pretty cool because in my CIS 273 class, I teach Adobe Flash, and it's cool to look at an animation and just understand how it is done.  My Web Graphics students, past and present, should understand how much work went in to this person's animation.  Cool stuff!

Link to animation

Cat-proof your computer

So, I ran across this site today and, it's interesting to say the least.  You can buy software to cat-proof your computer.  Really, for those cat owners out there, is this a problem worth software for?

I think my favorite feature is the one that detects cat-like activity, and plays a sound that annoys cats to chase it off of your keyboard.

This is not a joke, from what I can tell:

http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/

Professionalism and what they don't teach you in college

All of a sudden, I feel like the committee that put together our schedule was brilliant.  They scheduled it on  the week of Daylight Saving Time, which gives us all a week to get used to the new time schedule.  If it were planned, I would be impressed, but I do get the feeling it was not actually planned and is just a coincidence.

I was thinking about something this morning, and it has to do with professionalism, and how these things are not formally taught in a classroom.  Specifically, I was thinking back to a moment about ten years ago, and how I personally didn't understand professionalism once I got in to the workplace.  My first place of employment out of college was an Internet startup, and the standards there were, shall we say, lax.  It was a rather informal environment, and it was a perfect adjustment for me coming out of college.

However, the Internet startup days were ending, and the company wasn't meant to succeed.  Many of the employees saw the writing on the wall and started to look elsewhere for employment.  A friend of mine worked at a place in Clifton, and I was hired there.  It was quite a change.  At Montclair State in graduate school, I remember we talked about this thing called COCOMO in a Software Metrics class, and we discussed how large companies and small companies differ.  I understood that on a logical level, but going from a company of 40 people to a company of 40,000 (really) was a culture shock.  Where I used to walk in to work in a football jersey and jeans, I now was expected to be in business casual attire.  Where I was used to not needing to be in the door EXACTLY at 8:30 am if I didn't mind staying later, I now needed to be.  Where I was used to being able to use the Internet at lunch time and at various points in the day to check personal email, it was now monitored and reported to supervisors.  I struggled with this, because I was doing a good job, and I didn't see why this other stuff mattered.

There was building access at ITT 24 hours a day, and there were times I needed to come in during off-peak hours to work on things.  I came in on a Sunday and worked 10 hours one day, because there was a limited number of systems we could use to test our software, and it made our lives easier.  Since it was a Sunday, and there was rarely anyone else there, I didn't think it was a big deal to come in wearing jeans and a t-shirt.  To make a long story short, one of the more established members of my department was also there, and told my boss, and he talked to me about it.  Another time, I was working overnight for the same reasons as I mentioned before, and I brought in music and a radio.  Since no one was around, I had the music playing loudly.  A similar situation arose, where someone mentioned it to my boss.  My reaction at the time was to wonder why these people were not minding their own business.  However, I sort of understand it now.  I had to drop my ego in order to really start to succeed in the business world.  I dressed the way that was expected, acted as if someone were around, even if they were not, and generally tried to behave the way other people in the company were.  I bristled at this, but it was my route to success.

I say this because I know employers complain about students sometimes, and the complaints typically are not about technical capabilities, but in the business savvy, or "soft skills".  A friend of mine was recently laid off, and I know from my personal relationship that they can be somewhat abrasive and irresponsible.  Companies, many times, make personnel decisions based on the way you fit in to a company.  Even if they say that they are laying you off because of cut backs, many times that is just a way to fire someone without having to show cause.  Things like dress code, business communication, taking constructive criticism...these are things that people are not necessarily taught.  My feeling is that college should be part of that.  When you as a student deal with a professor, it's a chance to practice interacting with a boss and authority figure.  When you are in college, some of the things you can get used to that will help you professionally are timeliness, maturity, responsibility, and how to be less egocentric.  These were some of things I had to learn, at least.

Other uses for Facebook

We've been discussing Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter in my CIS 101 classes recently, under the guise of social networking.  Business folks refer to the collection of technologies like social networking, wikis, etc. as "Web 2.0" content - more interactive Web pages.

Aside from the obvious uses, there are other things that these sites are used for.  One thing that you have seen in certain areas is police departments asking for help.  For example, in the link below, a New Zealand police department caught a thief by posting a security image on Facebook.  This is an article from last year, but it's still an interesting application of social networking.

Link to Story

Watching TV on your PC

I like watching TV shows, and I finally broke down and got a digital video recorder (DVR) at some point, because it was a pain to program my VCR to record all the shows I wanted to see (and yes, I said VCR).

I know many people like the idea of watching television on the PC, because you can do it from locations (like work), and you aren't on the network schedules.  Hulu is a great site for this.  It's free (advertising supported), legal, and lets you view episodes of many shows that have aired recently, even if you don't pay for a television package.  Unlike sites like megavideo, you also don't have to worry about legal issues, time restrictions, and spyware.

www.hulu.com

If you are like me, you can also hook up an old PC to your television and use Hulu to watch shows on your TV.  I took an old machine, wiped it out, put a basic operating system and security suite on it, and it's now my TV computer.