Green IT

So this past week we had a guest speaker that discussed the theory of “Green Information Technology.” This technological tool is seen in a lot of electronic devices we use today. If you have seen any device with the energy star logo on it then you have seen a device that promotes Green IT. The guest speaker also mentioned the Tellus Science Museum located in Cartersville Georgia. He discussed a house that was built by Georgia Tech students during a solar decathlon. The house utilizes solar panels and a water reclamation system of which are just a few key components to make this house self-sufficient. You can read more about the Solar House on the Tellus Science Museum’s website or here on the Georgia Tech website. Years ago my daughter was able to visit the Tellus Science Museum for a summer camp field trip. While there she was able to tour the house. I recall now that she had mentioned the house after the field trip and how interesting it was. Although I have never been to the Tellus Science Museum, I plan on making a trip there with my son possibly even this weekend. Maybe you should plan a trip of your own as well.

Keeping Up With Your Training!!

     Here we go again, another week and another blog.  This past week I found my administrator account at work disabled for a lack of training.  Partly due to an over sight and other piece was due to the Information Assurance Officer putting his own spin on the regulated guidance.  The Information Assurance Office thought that my Acceptable Use Policy was out of date.  This item is an annual requirement for all users whether they have elevated privileges or not.  Ned les to say the requirement was within one year and therefore not expired.  Another requirement is the privileged user agreement, this one also is an annual requirement; however, the annual requirement is new this year.  In previous years it was a check the block type of item.  If you have the item you are in compliance.  And for the final reason my account was disabled was due to another new requirement.  This requirement is being trained in the correct computing environment for the systems on which I operate.  So needless to say I have a lot of online training to accomplish before my administrator account can be reinstated. I am currently working on the Windows 7 Computing Environment and will be following that up with Windows Server 2008.

Mind Block!!!

    Have you ever needed to write something but were unable to think of the right words to say?  Some professional writers go through periods of “writers block” a period of which the writer cannot seem to put his or her words to paper or in this day and age the computer. I believe students have this happen to them more often than not as well.  Take this week for example, I am supposed to write in the blog each week, but as the weeks draw closer to an end for this semester I find that the content of my blog gets, how shall I say it… non coherent.  It is a bit difficult to write on demand for something that may or may not interest the reader.  The challenge is to find an interesting subject or a catchy title that lures the reader into reading the proposed work.  That might work for an actual novel, but for a blog?  What can you do to keep the blog going?  Do people really want to hear what happens in a complete stranger’s life?  Or in this case read the views and or opinions that the author of this blog has to say?

Time Management!!

          Wow this week was a definite test of my time management skills.  Or should I say the lack of these skills.  I know what is said about academic use of Wikipedia but it defines time management as “the act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the amount of time spent on specific activities, especially to increase effectiveness, efficiency or productivity.” I am fully aware that the poor time management is directly related to my other responsibilities either for family, work, or extracurricular activities. 

Last Thursday we had a snafu with our class door.  The battery had died in the access control system (also known as an electronic door handle) so class was cancelled.  I should have used this time off more wisely instead of procrastinating.  But I settled for the latter.  And as a result, I waited to complete the twelve quizzes and the remaining 24 writing assignments until the last possible moment.  WOW! That was not fun at all.  I completed the quizzes and writing assignments with time to spare.  However, I felt rushed all day.  Shhh…don’t tell but I even completed several of the written assignments at work. Well nit several but all the writing assignments.  Needless to say I will be brushing up on and modifying my time management skills before I attempt to utilize them again. 

World Wide Web

                The World Wide Web is truly worldwide.  We all know that electronic information passes thousands of miles in the World Wide Web in a blink of an eye. But this hits home for this student for many reasons. As a photographer I have posted several photos and videos to the web for media outlets to use worldwide.  These images or videos are sent via an FTP site to a location here in the United States from anywhere in the world.  Gigabytes of data are transported across continents and faster than other means of getting the requested images to the desired location. 

                When we started this blog for class I was unaware of the resources that were a part of the “Blogger” website.  After only posting for a few weeks I noticed that I didn’t have many visits to my page.  However, an interesting utility is the ability to see what web browser a visitor used to pull up the blog and even more interesting from what country.   As I mentioned I haven’t had many visitors, only 58 page views, but my blog was visited from Turkey of all places.  Granted it could be attributed to a simple search through one of the several search engines looking for a few key words.  Still yet it’s interesting how fast the World Wide Web truly is.

Following Instructions!!

     One of the key learning elements is the ability to follow instructions.  Whether written or verbal, instructions play an instrumental role in understanding what tasks are to be accomplished.  This past week I misunderstood the difference between the blog and the journal and totally thought they were on in the same.  I was wondering why my classmates kept talking about the journal AND the blog. Well it was brought to my attention last Thursday and now there is a bit of catching up to do.

     So back to the following instructions… have you ever installed a piece of hardware or software and this is something that you have installed many times before but this time it just doesn’t want to work properly?  It happens to the best of us.  Either we are going too fast to realize we missed a step or a popup window during the initial install. Or there are minor changes to the installation process for patches and fixes.  It’s always a good idea to brush up on the procedures required for task at hand.  Thereby possibly reducing the risk for any potential malfunctions that may arise due to… you guessed it… not reading and following the instructions!