Microsoft Excel is amazing.
The things you can do with it are endless and it is very useful.
I know this because I once worked as a Trainee at a company for their Accounting and Finance section and these spreadsheets were the only things that I saw day in and day out.
Some of the tasks were quite simple and normal because I'm used to it.
However there were some other tasks qhich got me stuck but I learned how to deal with it and so everything was good.
Excel is amazing and I will use it more soon and I know for sure this won't be the last time I'll be using it.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Word.
The tutorial today was very simple because I have used Microsoft Word since a long time ago. The normal things like bolds, italics were a norm. It got a bit harder when I had to do mail merging and similar tasks to that. I have never done these tasks before because I did not know of its existence and it was never an issue. Now I've learnt something new hence I will be using Word more efficiently.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
The Essay.
The Revolution of the iPod, MP3 and its effects.
In 1987, a German company, Fraunhofer, began working on a system for creating digital audio files that used up very little storage while still sustaining its quality (William, 2005)
. The ultimate result of this work was something called the MPEG Audio Layer-3 compression standard or more commonly known now as MP3. Thanks to MP3, a standard four-minute song that would normally take up 40MB of hard drive space will now only use up 4MB(William, 2005).
The availability of more compact and cheaper storage media hard drives made MP3 an appealing option for use on home computers and eventually, portable music players. However, MP3 came to its own thanks to another piece of technology, the broadband internet (Harry, 1971).
In the days when much of the world accessed the internet with extremely slow modems, downloading a 4MB song would take ages(Ryan, 2005). When that file could be downloaded in a minute, it became an interesting plan, particularly among teenage and college kids who get fast-speed internet in colleges and have a keen interest in music (Ryan, 2005).
Given that MP3 was a growing concern among such a significant portion of the population, manufacturers of audio devices began incorporating MP3 technology into their products(Rufus, 2006).
Nearly everyone who keeps up with technology knows about Napster’s file sharing service where MP3 files were swapped across the internet from user to user for free. This created a major problem for the recording industry as they were losing large amounts of money due to this “sharing” service (Hong, 2004). Napster users did not have to pay any money to download their favorite tracks and this was what made it a huge success. From this on, manufacturers realized that although people were pleased enough to play these files on their computer, it would be better if they could do it on the move(Rufus, 2006).
After courts determined that such devices were legal, various MP3 players began entering the market such as the Rio 600. (Hong, 2004)
Unfortunately, such devices could only store less than an hour of music without the addition of expensive media storage cards. Moving MP3 files from the computer to the player over the player’s slow USB connection also took a long time (Geist, 2005). Although the technology was fascinating, only some people were likely to replace their inexpensive CD players with these costly devices.
Even with such limitations, portable MP3 players still sold in respectable amounts(Laughton, 1996). From this, a brand by the name of Apple smelled an opportunity and created a player that had a large storage, fast-transfer rate and free from navigation problems (Techdigest, 2007). What a huge success this was.
On October 23, 2001, Apple held a press conference in Cupertino, California, to announce a new product. Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, announced the iPod. Some of those in attendance were disappointed(Techdigest, 2007). Then Apple did a smart thing by handing everyone in attendance an iPod of their own. Apple realized that to truly appreciate the iPod, you had to hold it in your hand, admire its sleek design, swiftly wheel through its menus and listen to its rich sound (Techdigest, 2007).
The tactic worked and nearly every review gave positive comments (Techdigest, 2007). Despite the $399 price tag which was quite costly and the fact that it only worked with a Macintosh computer, the iPod became the music player to own and they sold 125,000 of them in 3 months and people who never even thought of owning a Mac simply bought it just so that they could use the iPod(Techdigest, 2007).
The iPod expanded by releasing a second iPod model in March 2002 that featured an extra 5GB of capacity. Although many hoped that subsequent iPod models would be less expensive than the original, the second iteration cost $100 more(Laughton, 1996). Apple tried to lessen the sting by accompanying the iPod with a better and faster software and made the it more functional by including a phonebook, on board equalization, the option to shuffle a playback by song or album and other extra little bits here and there(Laughton, 1996).
On October 17, 2002, a new generation of iPods was announced (Geofftech, 2007). They introduced a larger capacity iPod and in addition to that, extra new features such as a calendar, a new touch-sensitive scroll wheel and redesigned earbuds. Subsequently, iPod released different types of iPods to cater to different demographics and is still continuing to do so (Techdigest, 2007). iPod Mini, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle and iPod video are some of the newer generations (Geofftech, 2007).
The possibilities for Apple are endless and only they can say for sure where the iPod future lies. However, given their inclination for innovation, it is safe to say that today’s iPod is only the beginning(Techdigest, 2007).
It is hard to ignore some of the effects that the above-mentioned technology has caused. This does not necessarily denote that there are only negative ones as positive ones are aplenty.
The wonders of the broadband internet is that everyone in the world can access it. Through online file-sharing, there is an incredible opportunity to listen to music from everywhere in the world. This means that more emerging artists can get their “big break” and record companies will benefit from this.
Internet music stores such as iTunes have enabled people to actually buy music online and for only 99cents per song. This means that consumers are able to choose what song they want instead of purchasing a whole album )
(Geist, 2005). This in turn saves their money and brings profit to record companies because they can reach a wider audience
(Geist, 2005).
Illegal file sharing over the internet does cause several negative effects. As music can be obtained on the internet for free, CD sales have dropped tremendously and record companies are not profiting as much as they were used to(Hong, 2004). Over a billion songs are swapped illegally on the internet in a week and although it makes unknown musicians “known”, record sales for famous and well-renowned artists drop (Rufus, 2006).
In conclusion, it is fascinating what technology is capable of and how it is evolved over the years. One can only wonder what lies 20 years ahead. As for Apple, we can only wait in excitement for what they have to offer in time to come.
References.
Duckworth, William (2005). Virtual Music: How the Web got wired for sound. Great Britain: Duckworth.
Lincoln, Harry (1971). The computer and Music. UK: CUP
Breen, Christopher (2005). Secrets of the iPod and iTunes. USA: Pitchpit
Williams, Ryan (2005). Digital Music for Dummies. Canada: Wiley.
Pollock, Rufus (2006). P2P, Online Sharing and the Music Industry. http://www.rufuspollock.org/economics/p2p_summary.html
Geist (2005) Piercing the peer-to-peer myths: An Examination of the Canadian Experience http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_4/geist/
Hong (2004) The Effect of Napster on Recorded Music Sales: Evidence from the Consumer Expenditure Survey.
http://siepr.stanford.edu/papers/pdf/03-18.pdf
Geofftech (2007). A history of the Apple iPod, iTunes & the Music Store
http://www.geofftech.co.uk/obsessions/ipod/ipod_history.htm
Techdigest (2007).A brief history of the ipod.
http://techdigest.tv/2006/10/a_brief_history.html
Laughton (1996).Apple Computer The Early Days A Personal Perspective
http://www.laughton.com/Apple/Apple.html
End.
In 1987, a German company, Fraunhofer, began working on a system for creating digital audio files that used up very little storage while still sustaining its quality (William, 2005)
. The ultimate result of this work was something called the MPEG Audio Layer-3 compression standard or more commonly known now as MP3. Thanks to MP3, a standard four-minute song that would normally take up 40MB of hard drive space will now only use up 4MB(William, 2005).
The availability of more compact and cheaper storage media hard drives made MP3 an appealing option for use on home computers and eventually, portable music players. However, MP3 came to its own thanks to another piece of technology, the broadband internet (Harry, 1971).
In the days when much of the world accessed the internet with extremely slow modems, downloading a 4MB song would take ages(Ryan, 2005). When that file could be downloaded in a minute, it became an interesting plan, particularly among teenage and college kids who get fast-speed internet in colleges and have a keen interest in music (Ryan, 2005).
Given that MP3 was a growing concern among such a significant portion of the population, manufacturers of audio devices began incorporating MP3 technology into their products(Rufus, 2006).
Nearly everyone who keeps up with technology knows about Napster’s file sharing service where MP3 files were swapped across the internet from user to user for free. This created a major problem for the recording industry as they were losing large amounts of money due to this “sharing” service (Hong, 2004). Napster users did not have to pay any money to download their favorite tracks and this was what made it a huge success. From this on, manufacturers realized that although people were pleased enough to play these files on their computer, it would be better if they could do it on the move(Rufus, 2006).
After courts determined that such devices were legal, various MP3 players began entering the market such as the Rio 600. (Hong, 2004)
Unfortunately, such devices could only store less than an hour of music without the addition of expensive media storage cards. Moving MP3 files from the computer to the player over the player’s slow USB connection also took a long time (Geist, 2005). Although the technology was fascinating, only some people were likely to replace their inexpensive CD players with these costly devices.
Even with such limitations, portable MP3 players still sold in respectable amounts(Laughton, 1996). From this, a brand by the name of Apple smelled an opportunity and created a player that had a large storage, fast-transfer rate and free from navigation problems (Techdigest, 2007). What a huge success this was.
On October 23, 2001, Apple held a press conference in Cupertino, California, to announce a new product. Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, announced the iPod. Some of those in attendance were disappointed(Techdigest, 2007). Then Apple did a smart thing by handing everyone in attendance an iPod of their own. Apple realized that to truly appreciate the iPod, you had to hold it in your hand, admire its sleek design, swiftly wheel through its menus and listen to its rich sound (Techdigest, 2007).
The tactic worked and nearly every review gave positive comments (Techdigest, 2007). Despite the $399 price tag which was quite costly and the fact that it only worked with a Macintosh computer, the iPod became the music player to own and they sold 125,000 of them in 3 months and people who never even thought of owning a Mac simply bought it just so that they could use the iPod(Techdigest, 2007).
The iPod expanded by releasing a second iPod model in March 2002 that featured an extra 5GB of capacity. Although many hoped that subsequent iPod models would be less expensive than the original, the second iteration cost $100 more(Laughton, 1996). Apple tried to lessen the sting by accompanying the iPod with a better and faster software and made the it more functional by including a phonebook, on board equalization, the option to shuffle a playback by song or album and other extra little bits here and there(Laughton, 1996).
On October 17, 2002, a new generation of iPods was announced (Geofftech, 2007). They introduced a larger capacity iPod and in addition to that, extra new features such as a calendar, a new touch-sensitive scroll wheel and redesigned earbuds. Subsequently, iPod released different types of iPods to cater to different demographics and is still continuing to do so (Techdigest, 2007). iPod Mini, iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle and iPod video are some of the newer generations (Geofftech, 2007).
The possibilities for Apple are endless and only they can say for sure where the iPod future lies. However, given their inclination for innovation, it is safe to say that today’s iPod is only the beginning(Techdigest, 2007).
It is hard to ignore some of the effects that the above-mentioned technology has caused. This does not necessarily denote that there are only negative ones as positive ones are aplenty.
The wonders of the broadband internet is that everyone in the world can access it. Through online file-sharing, there is an incredible opportunity to listen to music from everywhere in the world. This means that more emerging artists can get their “big break” and record companies will benefit from this.
Internet music stores such as iTunes have enabled people to actually buy music online and for only 99cents per song. This means that consumers are able to choose what song they want instead of purchasing a whole album )
(Geist, 2005). This in turn saves their money and brings profit to record companies because they can reach a wider audience
(Geist, 2005).
Illegal file sharing over the internet does cause several negative effects. As music can be obtained on the internet for free, CD sales have dropped tremendously and record companies are not profiting as much as they were used to(Hong, 2004). Over a billion songs are swapped illegally on the internet in a week and although it makes unknown musicians “known”, record sales for famous and well-renowned artists drop (Rufus, 2006).
In conclusion, it is fascinating what technology is capable of and how it is evolved over the years. One can only wonder what lies 20 years ahead. As for Apple, we can only wait in excitement for what they have to offer in time to come.
References.
Duckworth, William (2005). Virtual Music: How the Web got wired for sound. Great Britain: Duckworth.
Lincoln, Harry (1971). The computer and Music. UK: CUP
Breen, Christopher (2005). Secrets of the iPod and iTunes. USA: Pitchpit
Williams, Ryan (2005). Digital Music for Dummies. Canada: Wiley.
Pollock, Rufus (2006). P2P, Online Sharing and the Music Industry. http://www.rufuspollock.org/economics/p2p_summary.html
Geist (2005) Piercing the peer-to-peer myths: An Examination of the Canadian Experience http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue10_4/geist/
Hong (2004) The Effect of Napster on Recorded Music Sales: Evidence from the Consumer Expenditure Survey.
http://siepr.stanford.edu/papers/pdf/03-18.pdf
Geofftech (2007). A history of the Apple iPod, iTunes & the Music Store
http://www.geofftech.co.uk/obsessions/ipod/ipod_history.htm
Techdigest (2007).A brief history of the ipod.
http://techdigest.tv/2006/10/a_brief_history.html
Laughton (1996).Apple Computer The Early Days A Personal Perspective
http://www.laughton.com/Apple/Apple.html
End.
Hunting.
The treasure Hunt
1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin?
-1502 pounds (www.bigpumpkins.com).
2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Grant Hackett?
- Get my mate Ephraim to call him, he is also on the Australian Swim team
3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?
- A fully grown male giraffe's 74 cm in length (http://faculty.washington.edu/~chudler/tasty.html).
4. How would you define the word 'ontology'?
-In philosophical terms, ontology is the study of being or existence.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology) In my own words it means the subject of existence.
5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film?
-Stereo (1969)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cronenberg).
6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?
- January 8, 1986(http://www.mala.bc.ca/~soules/media112/hacker.htm).
7. Why do all phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?
- Because the '555' area code is not assigned to customers in real life.(http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2357,00.html).
8. What is the cheapest form of travel from Crete to Rhodes?
- By Flight(http://www.statravel.co.nz/cps/rde/xchg/nz_division_web_live/hs.xsl/travel_guide_to_greece.htm?dest=131046&sec=transport.xsl).
9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?
- 'I'll Never Find Another You' - The Seekers (http://www.onmc.iinet.net.au/topspot/1965.htm).
10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?
- The Black Assassins(http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/2005/content/standard.asp?name=StockwellS
1. What is the weight of the world's biggest pumpkin?
-1502 pounds (www.bigpumpkins.com).
2. What is the best way (quickest, most reliable) to contact Grant Hackett?
- Get my mate Ephraim to call him, he is also on the Australian Swim team
3. What is the length of a giraffe's tongue?
- A fully grown male giraffe's 74 cm in length (http://faculty.washington.edu/~chudler/tasty.html).
4. How would you define the word 'ontology'?
-In philosophical terms, ontology is the study of being or existence.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology) In my own words it means the subject of existence.
5. What was David Cronenberg's first feature film?
-Stereo (1969)(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Cronenberg).
6. When was the original 'Hacker's Manifesto' written?
- January 8, 1986(http://www.mala.bc.ca/~soules/media112/hacker.htm).
7. Why do all phone numbers in Hollywood films start with '555'?
- Because the '555' area code is not assigned to customers in real life.(http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-2357,00.html).
8. What is the cheapest form of travel from Crete to Rhodes?
- By Flight(http://www.statravel.co.nz/cps/rde/xchg/nz_division_web_live/hs.xsl/travel_guide_to_greece.htm?dest=131046&sec=transport.xsl).
9. What song was top of the Australian Pop Charts this week in 1965?
- 'I'll Never Find Another You' - The Seekers (http://www.onmc.iinet.net.au/topspot/1965.htm).
10. Which Brisbane band includes Stephen Stockwell on keyboards and vocals?
- The Black Assassins(http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/2005/content/standard.asp?name=StockwellS
MSN VS 3D
The reason why I use MSN all the time is because it is simple and easy to use. It makes catching with my friends here and from other countries easy and cheap. It doesn't take up much space on your computer and it is pretty safe from virus and other threats to my computer.
The 3D chat is a very interesting idea. There is an interaction. Unlike MSN.
However, sometimes when I use MSN, I do use a webcam and some of my friends who own webcams will use it too. In that way we can interact and see each other. It is more real.
I dont think I'll be coverting to the 3D chatting way anytime soon because it takes up too much space on my computer and I have a feeling it will make my computer slow down and lag. It is also too much hassle. If I'm really REALLY bored then I might consider using it for a few minutes because I'll get tired of it after awhile and just wanna resort back to MSN - something that I'm more accustomed and used to.
The idea is fantastic but it won't catch on that fast.
The 3D chat is a very interesting idea. There is an interaction. Unlike MSN.
However, sometimes when I use MSN, I do use a webcam and some of my friends who own webcams will use it too. In that way we can interact and see each other. It is more real.
I dont think I'll be coverting to the 3D chatting way anytime soon because it takes up too much space on my computer and I have a feeling it will make my computer slow down and lag. It is also too much hassle. If I'm really REALLY bored then I might consider using it for a few minutes because I'll get tired of it after awhile and just wanna resort back to MSN - something that I'm more accustomed and used to.
The idea is fantastic but it won't catch on that fast.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
photoshop.
I don't know what came over me but this is my first photoshop experience. They were just random pictures I got off the net and started to mess around with. It's not good I know but hey it's my first one and I know I'll get better coz it's quite fun.Actually there is a theme to this randomness. Body image? Beauty? Somewhere along those lines. Something our society is obsessed about now.
It's pretty straight forward with the models and the "big" ladies but why do you guys think the baby is there?
Food for thought. =)
Friday, March 30, 2007
Random Pictures.
I chose this picture to describe university life. It's basically uni kids walking out of uni while carrying books and bags. That's pretty much what you do in uni.
Nothing says more about summer than the sun, the beach, the surf and the sand!
Unconventional? Yeah, I think so.
I chose a picture of a newspaper article from the Sydney Morning Herald because the newspaper is all about the news. It was the first way in which people could read about the news, before the television and internet. Although there are newer ways of getting the news, the newspaper is still here to stay.
The robot picture is for the "High-tech" theme. Whenever I think about the future, I'll think about how it will be run by robots and machines. This particular robot can actually do things that humans are capable of doing so it's pretty hightech!
The above picture is for the theme "Friends". It is actually a picture that my friend sent me online and it was a during a picnic they had a few weeks ago. I chose it because they are my friends and the picture looks friendly!
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