Week 9: EOC My Domain Website

At first when I started working on this project I felt very lost and didn’t know where to begin, but after I was pointed in the right direction, I found that using Weebly.com to make a website to be very easy to use.  The interface was structured very well and I didn’t have a lot of trouble trying to find the things that I was looking for to make the website.  I did like how they had things like the contact box already made so all one had to do was drag it into place on the webpage and it worked which made it extremely easy on the users part.  Another thing that I liked was how you could put a button which would prompt a call to action and that could be placed anywhere that you wanted in the columns of text if you chose to do so, this was one space saving feature that was helpful to users.  The only thing I wish I had figured out sooner was how to edit the image on the header, but once I had that figured out it was really easy to change to something that you wanted to fit more appropriately to your website.  One thing that I didn’t like was the fact that when you put up a contact form it would span the entire width of the website and I couldn’t figure out a way to trim it down so that makes a lot of wasted space on a website.  Also I was hoping that you fill up the text boxes with filler text like what you can use in Adobe InDesign but that didn’t seem to be the case unless I was doing it wrong.  I did notice that they had several themes to pick from to make your website to be more fitting for what you are trying to use it for as well 

Week 8 EOC: Privacy Issues on the Web, Two Companies that can Spy on You

I had to think for a while so I could find two companies that would spy on you through your computer and this is what I came up with.  First company, would be Google, now their intentions may be legal but the fact is that they are using keylogger software to track what your web history is, this is used in order for them to deliver advertising they feel would be best for that individual.  The more advertising they can deliver to people and get products sold the better it is for Google and the companies that hire Google to deliver these ads.  The software can track users in the following aspects:

All keystrokes including username/password of various programs and websites, incoming/outgoing emails, and online chat conversations, etc.

Websites people visited recently, including URL, site name, page title and time stamp.

Programs executed on the computer, including the user name, program title and time stamp.

File/Folder operations, including create/delete/move/rename actions.

Capture entire screen snapshots periodically andautomatically in the background just like a secret camera directly point at thecomputer monitor.

Keylogger software is not always used by criminals and hackers there are legal reasons that companies can use this software to protect themselves and their products.  Some company's use keyloggers to track their employee's activity and to monitor the use of the company's computers and Internet by the employees.

One of the advantage of a keylogger such as Spector Pro or eBlaster is that they can be used for back-up purposes in case of system crash, it is useful to know that you are always have a back-up of whatever you type.

Keyloggers can monitor all the keystrokes made on acomputer, and some even have the ability to take screenshots, record both sidesof IM conversations, and record audio. When most people think of keyloggersthey think of hackers and malicious usage, but there can be some good reasonswhy people wish to install keyloggers on their own PCs or MAC.

Another company if you can refer to them that way is the United States Armed Forces, I can personally speak from experience that all the branches of the United States military use keylogger software to track to their employees as well as to monitor things that can concern our safety.   This is not just so people can say that big brother is watching, there are some very real threats out there can potentially harm many people that are not just limited to Americans, the programs are in place not just for security but safety as well. I did manage to find a possible that they may use to keep their systems in order

Safebit

Week 7 BOC: Garageband

When I was using Garageband on the computer at first I found the program very frustrating due to the fact that I have no music experience what so ever.  So a lot of the information on the tutorials was completely going over my head.  This is a problem I could see for anyone who is not musically inclined or has no experience with music, so they would most likely have the same beginning with program as  I had at the start.  However, once I figured out the program I found it to be very easy to use and I can see someone who has an interest in music or possibly that is what they enjoy the most, they would find great use out of the program itself.  I like the fact that they did have a quite a lot of choices when it came to background music, someone could choose if they were trying to make their own music with a guitar or piano but were lacking the other instruments in the background to make the additions to make a normal song for themselves or for others.  Another thing that was nice was that you could take those loops and place them anywhere in the time of your song with ease to make the final song you were making a working piece.  Another nice feature about Garageband was the fact that if you wanted to learn how to play an instrument or a particular song with an instrument, there were tutorials with both audio and video to show you how to do it as well as, the ability to slow it down during difficult portions of that song.  When someone got comfortable with that portion, they could then play it back at normal speed with the artist hosting the tutorial making it feel like an even better accomplishment to the person using it.

Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Week 7 BOC: Obsession

Week 6 BOC: Video Challenge

Here's a video that I made of my friends and myself killing a notorious monster on a MMO that I currently play called Final Fantasy XI

Week 6 EOC: There's an App for That

It toke me awhile to think of something that someone would pay $0.99 when it comes to an app that they can put on their cell phone, and finally I found one.  The idea came from a multi-player online game that I currently play called Final Fantasy XI.  There are a lot of things that one can do on this game but and one of them is something called “Trial of the Magians.”  It is where someone or if so desired a group of people can get together and accomplish the same goal for each of their characters.  The way this works is you would get a certain trial for your character stating for each player to kill a certain number of monsters of a specific type on a certain day of the week in the games calendar or during the corresponding weather.  Since weather can be so random, a lot times it is just easier to plan on accomplishing these objectives on that specific day of the week.  How you can apply this to a mobile device is simple, one needs to make a calendar with the days of the week of the game on it and sync it with the actual calendar of the game, so they are in unison in real time.  Someone could download this app to their phone and see what exact day of the week it is on the game and if they wanted they could search for a specific day and when it would start and end in earth time.  This way someone could plan their day more effectively to accomplish something that they really want on the game without having to log on and wait till the game day needed starts.  There are quite a few people in the world who still enjoy playing this game and if there is something out there that they could use to make it easier for them to get what they want in this game, they would easily spend $0.99 to get it.

Week 6 BOC: Parking Panda

Parking Panda is a website that allows you to find parking anywhere in the United States, whether it is free or paid parking.  As well as how you can rent out a parking space to other people so that you can make money yourself.

Parking Panda is a rapidly growing start up founded during Start up Weekend in Baltimore in April 2011. With three full-time employees and three interns, Parking Panda has grown significantly over the past year thanks to help from some of its investors including Baltimore Angels, Fabrice Grinda, Jose Marin, Neil Kataria, among others.

 To find a parking space, simply enter an address. You can sort by distance and price, and view photos of the spot. You can also see how many others have “liked” or “disliked” a space 

 

The service is especially convenient due to the fact the apps that the service has and how easy it is for their users to take advantage of their services.  Thus allowing a faster way for someone who is on the go to find a very much needed parking spot

Parking Panda users can find available parking spots using the Parking Panda website,either from a web browser or a mobile phone web browser. If searching from a mobile phone, the site will use the user's location to automatically find nearby available parking, or users can enter a location to search. Users can see photos of spaces, and even pay for the spaces directly from their mobile phones.

Also if someone were interested in Parking Panda and how it worked and how the service could benefit them, they could simply go to their website below which contains a video on how everything works.

Parking Panda 

Week 5: What is Mogol?

Mogol is basically a program you can use to personalize your email and make it more attractive to the user, also you can attach it to whatever email program that you are currently using.  It has quite a few nice features that include email forwarding, webmail, two gigabytes of storage, POP/IMAP for Outlook, Mac, Mail, Blackberry, iPhone…. The nicest feature about Mogol is the fact that you can attach it to any existing email account so you don’t have a need to change your email address, which makes it easier for a user to have to let others know what their new email address is etc. There is a tutorial as well so if you don’t understand or are confused on how to do something, you can look it up and figure out how to fix the problem yourself.  From what I’ve read about the Mogol it is owned by Hover and the reviews that I have seen are all very good on their customer service.  The way they have their website set up is very simple, yet appropriate for what they are trying to do in terms of sales, they want you to use their service due to the convenience of it.  To get one it looks like a customer would need to pay a fee starting at $35 per year, which is really not that expensive, approximately $3 a month.  First thing one would do is type in domain name and see if it is available.  Also if one prefers to talk to a human being to figure things and out and can’t find what they are looking for on the website, there is a 1 800 number that you can call to have any questions or concerns.  You can renew your subscription as well, at any time which is convenient for anyone that travels a lot.