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This page last updated on Thursday, December 15, 2005 18:06:06
It won't be long before wintry weather threatens the Omaha area. If poor weather conditions force the University to close for all or part of a day, your most reliable source for accurate information is the Creighton University weather hotline at 280-5800.
After the Final
Thursday 12/15 - I am still grading the final exams. Hope to be finished with them today! When I am finished with them, I will staple them closed and put them in the folder outside my office door.
Final Exam Stats - Curved by 17 points
N=18 High=150 Low=78 Average=111 Median=115
Tuesday: December 13, 2005
The Final Exam is today. I should have some graded quizzes, etc. to return to you as well.
Thursday: December 8, 2005
Last chance for TechTips today!
Most home PC users lack security - let's talk about this today
"Podcasting" is officially a word now, according to the New Oxford American Dictionary
Tuesday: December 6, 2005
If you are looking for me today, I am at home getting a new furnace. If I can't make class I have lined up a substitute, and there will be a quiz. If you have any questions, email me. If I am not in class today, those who want to do their TechTips should hold them and do them on Thursday.
Someone is finally fighting back against the RIAA music-downloading lawsuits
Windows Vista will allow you to update without a reboot - gee, just like Unix has been doing for 40 years!
The latest scam: spear-phishing
Blending your TV and PC is not that easy
Is there a shortage of numbers in Area Code 402? What happens? Let's talk about POTS!
Final Exam information - Reminder, it is Tuesday 12/13 at our regular class time, 4:45 - 6:00pm.
Thursday: December 1, 2005
FCC advocates "a la carte" cable TV pricing - this sounds like a great idea: You pay for the channels you want, and not for the ones you don't want.
Is system lockdown the secret weapon? So, do you let your users run as 'administrator' or as 'power users' or as 'users' or even less-than-users?
If you don't make your car payments, your car won't start
There is a trojan that affects IE that is out in the wild, and there is no patch yet from MS....
Tuesday: November 29, 2005
Class topics in these last days of classes:
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Fourteen
Only three more days for TechTips - remember that, in order to get full credit, you need to give me a printed description of your presentation.
Extra Credit Assignment - if you are interested in some extra credit. Depending on the quality of the assignment, up to 50 points may be added to your total points.
Who are the worst-dressed class of employees?
The Federal Elections Commission (FEC) has ruled that bloggers are journalists
Is Apple getting ready to announce an iBook with an Intel processor at MacWorld in January?
A Chinese computer firm is falsifying Intel processors
Texas is now suing Sony over their DRM software as well
Using flash memory to speed up boot time
The most common reasons for "Mobile accidents" according to 300 Swedish retailers:
- Dropped the mobile on the ground.
- Squeezed the cell phone in tight jeans/pockets.
- Used the handset in the rain.
- Throw the device on the ground in rage.
- The dog/child got hold of the mobile.
- Dropped the cell phone in the toilette.
- Dropped the handset into the sea.
- Forgot the cell phone on the roof of the car.
- Perspiration on the mobile during workout.
- Dropped the handset in the snow.
Tuesday: November 22, 2005
Reminder: NO CLASS TODAY due to Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 24. See you on Tuesday.
Thursday: November 17, 2005
Gaming fanatics show hallmarks of drug addiction - so, are you addicted? Learning is recognized as an important underlying mechanism of addiction. In becoming addicted, people start to associate cues that are normally neutral with the object of their craving. To a crack addict, for instance, a building in which they have used the drug is more than just a place they have been – it becomes a trigger for craving and can, on its own, reignite a need to use the drug again after months of abstinence.
The next versions of Windows server products will require 64-bit processors
The new beta version of Office 12 is out - here are some screenshots. Expect a new UI
Tuesday: November 15, 2005
PC vendors are plagued with a rash of bad capacitors - Gateway was hit with this a few years ago, I had a computer in the Dean's office that went through six (yes, six) motherboards before Gateway replaced the computer. Eventually I replaced a dozen faculty machines with this problem, so don't mention Gateway E-3400 systems to me! But it is not a Gateway problem, it is happening to any vendor who uses Intel motherboards.
Sony stops it's DRM trojan (related article) Look how many computers are infected with this
If you want Microsoft Access, I have made an ISO available at \\itm\MSDNAA\Access2003 - you must be on campus or connected via the VPN. Note that this is an ISO, and you must then burn it to a CD to use. I will then issue you a serial number to use when installing.
Thursday: November 10, 2005
Just a reminder from class: The web page assignment due date has been moved to Tuesday, 11/15. However, I want to see some progress on your bio.html page. During class on Thursday we will look at everyone's bio page, so get cracking!
Today's class:
- Review everyone's bio.html page
- HTML questions from the class
- TechTips (everyone that we have missed so far)
- Database discussion
Man held without bond in spreading computer viruses
What happens if you have a Windows product, and Microsoft wants to use that name?
CA is using Sony for the "rootkit" that they use for DRM on their CDs And, now the first trojan to exploit this rootkit has been found in the wild and here's a fix
Class webpages to review for today
You can download the WS_FTP program from here. Just save to your desktop, then double-click on it to install, and then you are good to go. When you install, be sure to check "I am a student" and "I am at an educational institution" when those checkboxes show up.
Tuesday: November 8, 2005
Here's what you can get me for my birthday!
Here's Tim Berners-Lee's and the first webpage online
Grokster downloading service shuts down, saying "There are legal services for downloading music and movies, and this service is not one of them" after being sued by the RIAA and the MPAA.
History's worst software bugs - you think your HTML coding has bugs in it? Ha!
Thursday: November 3, 2005
Is the XBox 360 shortage a marketing ploy? #1 and #2 and #3
SGI is going to be removed from the NYSE (see also)
Hardware News: IBM slows down light!
Assignment Three is being handed out today, and is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, November 10th. When you are creating webpages, remember that 10-20% of the population, mostly male, has some form of color blindness. Be sure to take that into account!
Here are some resources for use in determining colors and seeing how
colorblind you may be:
Ishihara Test
Hidden Talents Test
#1 and
#2
Color Blindness homepage (with
some great information)
Next week: Chapters six and seven (databases)
UPDATE at 12:20: It appears that the University is having some
problems with our network connections. I'm waiting to hear back from
the DOIT network guys, but my symptoms are time outs, inability to reach
hosts off-campus, etc.
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2005 16:17:28 -0600
From: "Mattson, Ken" <KennethMattson@creighton.edu>
To: jaynet-alert@creighton.edu
Subject: [jaynet-alert] Network Status Update
Creighton Community,
This is an update to today's (12:00 pm - 12:45 pm) network stability issues
Status: A compromised computer was being used to attack computers attached
to the Creighton network and the Internet. DoIT has taken steps to stop the
compromised machine.
Kenneth V. Mattson III
Network and Data Officer
Creighton University
DoIT
(402) 280-2743
(402) 981-1140
DOS ATTACKS OKAY IN BRITAIN
A British court has acquitted a teenager of unauthorized data modification
and tampering with systems, charges stemming from a denial-of-service (DOS)
attack that he allegedly launched against a former employer. The teen was
charged under a section of the Computer Misuse Act (CMA), which was enacted
in 1990. In the end, the trial hinged on the question of whether DOS attacks
are a crime under the CMA, not on whether the attack had taken place.
District Judge Kenneth Grant ruled that because the CMA does not
specifically address DOS attacks, the actions of the defendant cannot be
considered as violating any British law. Many in the United Kingdom have
called for an update of the CMA to reflect changes in the past 15 years, and
this ruling will add fuel to the fire for such revision.
ZDNet, 2 November
2005
Tuesday: November 1, 2005
A rootkit-carrying worm is going around AOL's IM
New Orleans - what people lost (backup!) (PDF file)
Tuesday's class: Turn in Assignment Three, a Quiz, some TechTips, and then the rest of the network lecture.
Thursday's class: It is very important that you attend - we will be covering an introduction to HTML, and if you are not in the class you will be behind. Please google HTML coding and come prepared to do hands-on work. At the end of the class I will use NetOp School to display everyone's website to the class.
Your Rights Online:
Sex.com Hijacker Captured in Mexico
Posted by Zonk on Friday October 28, @09:15AM from the
longest-slashdot-story-ever dept.
Thursday: October 27, 2005
Assignment Two is going to be due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, November 1, 2005.
TODAY:
Movie on networking called
Warriors of the Net. You can
download it locally here, or in various sizes and languages from
their download site,
but be careful as it is 122 megabytes in size.
TechTip signups for the remainder of the semester (don't let me forget!)
Tuesday: October 25, 2005
Welcome back from Fall Break!
Microsoft and Yahoo to merge their IM networks - it seems that you will continue to use your favorite IM program, but the two networks will merge, so you can have buddies on both sides.
Gmail became Googlemail in the UK, due to trademark disputes
Should I start to Podcast our class lectures like this guy?
Thinking about printing some currency on that color laser printer? You might want to NOT do that!
HOW CAN WE HELP YOU? When Darrell Brown, 48, called
IBM customer support for help with a balky laptop computer, the tech entered
the serial number of the machine and up flashed a note that the computer had
been reported stolen in a burglary. The tech notified police in Lincoln,
Neb., and gave them the man's address. Police executed a search warrant,
recovered the stolen laptop and a gun reported stolen 16 years ago, and
arrested Brown on suspicion of burglary. (Lincoln Journal Star) ...Proving
that customer support will do anything it can to avoid actually repairing
busted laptops.
Happy 60th birthday to the IBM Research Labs!
"IBM inventions and discoveries include the programming language Fortran
(1957), magnetic storage (1955), the relational database (1970), DRAM
(dynamic random access memory) cells (1962), the RISC (reduced instruction
set computer) chip architecture (1980), fractals (1967), superconductivity
(1987) and the Data Encryption Standard (1974). In the last 12 years, IBM
has received 29,021 patents--more than any other company or individual in
the world.""
Tuesday October 18 and Thursday, October 20, 2005
; no classes. See you on Tuesday the 25th.
Thursday: October 13, 2005
Quiz four has been posted
Midterm grade calculations:
4 quizzes
1 TechTip (50 points if you did a Tip and submitted
documentation, 25 points if you just did the Tip)
1 Assignment
1 In-class assignment
1 Midterm
Tuesday: October 11, 2005
HBO is poisoning the BitTorrent stream with bogus copies of Rome
A history of the Apple Lisa - it was first with the features we expect on computers today Link to a brochure and Link to a PDF of the brochure
Sergey Brin: No office suite from Google (warning: graphic picture)
Record labels want a bigger cut of song sales (and more...)
Do you print photos at home? Here's why people aren't doing that...
An interview with Kevin Mitnick
Microsoft and Real make peace (for about $450 million)
Interesting trivia:
Finally a word about Apple's big announcement next week. I'm told that if
you try to access a page on the Apple web site that doesn't exist, something
like http://www.apple.com/mis253n
you get a "page not found" redirect. But if you try
http://www.apple.com/movies you
get a "forbidden" message. (Try it, this is true)
Rest In Peace
Carl A. Dahlbom, one of the key figures behind multifrequency (MF)
signaling, died last week at age 93. If you've ever heard and enjoyed those
quick little tones after you dialed a long-distance call, or if you've ever
used a blue box,
Carl is the man you have to thank for it. He is probably most famous for the
article
"Signaling Systems for Control of Telephone Switching", co-authored with
C. Breen for the November 1960 issue of the
Bell
System Technical Journal.
Instead of a moment of silence, honor Carl with a burst of
2600 Hz followed by
some MF tones.
Comments from my telecom guru buddy, Krusty the Fone Klown:
Although I have never heard of him before, his work is forever
memorialized in Pink
Floyd's "The Wall".
Recall the part where the Operator is placing a person-to-person, collect
call "for Mrs. Floyd, from Mr. Floyd. Will you accept the charges - it's
from the United States". Then the called party hangs up. When replacing the
call, the tone burst is clearly heard.
There's an Operator out there, quite likely deceased now, who is famous and
probably never knew it.
Having been such an Operator, the woman's handling of the call was
non-standard and clearly qualifies as a "defect" during an observation: "Is
there anyone else there besides your wife to answer the phone?" (None of her
business and non-sequitur to a person-to-person call anyway.)
I haven't heard that tone burst for YEARS. Methinks it went away (at least
audibly) with the proliferation of
SS7 (Signaling System 7) - that's still used today.
Thursday: October 5, 2005
Dell is now offering a PC without an OS
Are you cyberslacking (here or at work?)
Google is going to offer online word processing and spreadsheets Forbes said it's no big deal, but InfoWorld thinks otherwise - what do you think?
Two Internet backbone providers are feuding, and customers suffer
Tuesday: October 3, 2005
It's our Internet and we are keeping control!
Is it a DCMA violation to have your phone unlocked?
Microsoft confirms Service Pack Three for Windows XP
Truants in Rome had better watch out!
It looks like junk faxing is back
When you open that printer cartridge, are you agreeing to a contract?
Supreme Court nominee was involved in Microsoft case
What are Google and Sun up to?
Quiz Three answers are here These questions will appear again on the midterm exam.
Added today's handouts on the Supplements Page
Assignment Two is being handed out today
Thursday: September 29, 2005
Apple admits a problem with iPod Nano More information here and here
Eight charged for releasing "Star Wars" early
Do you understand all these TLAs?
Dell is going for the high-end customer
Phishing alert! This page is still up today at 13:30. Let's take a look at it in class today and find out why it is so bogus.
Tuesday: September 27, 2005
How much does it cost to make an iPod Nano?
Assignment One is assigned today. It is due one week from today, on October 4th
MPAA is trying to get the broadcast flag back again
How many passwords are too many?
For those of you that were not in class on Thursday, 9/22, you can get a few points. We had an in-class assignment, so if you want some of the points do the following:
Post a
message in our class mailing list, mis253n@creighton.edu. The message should
have your full name in it, and a pithy comment or a joke. Once I see that
the message is there, you get the points for this question. (ten points).
You can't go home again, unless you set $HOME
Thursday: September 22, 2005
The new Yahoo email versus Gmail
Tuesday: September 20, 2005
Microsoft at ago 30 - and this article about how employees feel about working there
Google to offer their own WiFi service - in beta, in San Francisco. It also includes a VPN.
Here's a new technology to block people taking pictures with digital cameras
What is on that magnetic stripe on your hotel key-card?
Microsoft is reorganizing and "feature creep" in Office?
Today in class we are going to break from the lecture format and log into our Grackle accounts. Be sure to show up today as we are going over these commands and you will have an in-class assignment to do.
Thursday: September 15, 2005
I will be out of the office starting on Wednesday, September 14th and will return on Monday, September 19th. You will have class, there will be a guest speaker, Travis Graham. Travis will continue to cover the material and may give a quiz, and will take attendance. Don't forget the TechTips!
Tuesday: September 13, 2005
Need a faster printer? It's only about $1 million dollars and prints out 330 pages a minute!
Confused about the differences between the three (four?) versions of Windows XP that are out now? Try these new versions of the upcoming Windows Vista
What did - or didn't - happen today?
Twenty things the tech companies don't want you to know
32 gigabyte flash cards are coming from Samsung - think what this will do for your flash drives, for media players, etc.
Previews of Office 12, the next version. Kind of reminds you of Aqua, eh?
TechTips reminder: In addition to doing the TechTip, you need to email or print out a document listing your name, date, and TechTip information. If you don't do that, you don't get the full 50 points.
Do you clean off your old storage devices when you get rid of them?
Thursday: September 8, 2005
Better watch what you email at the office!
Apple introduces the new iPod Nano - Also a new phone, new iTunes, etc.
Tuesday: September 6, 2005
There goes one trivia question...
Powerpoints added for the hardware lecture
Thursday: September 1, 2005
Just added: The TechTip schedule page, and information about the TechTip. Also added the slideshow about Computer History
The RIAA is suing more file-swappers (another 754 people). Now, what is interesting is that studies have shown that file-swappers buy more music than those that don't share files. Where do you fit into?
Don't forget your keys, er I mean your flashdrive!
Tuesday: August 30, 2005
Who will mind the mainframes? What happens when these techies get older?
Some information on RFID technology
Who has the highest customer satisfaction in the PC business?
Inside Microsoft's Zolob situation room
Reminder: Students can get Microsoft Office 2003 from DOIT for $25.
Rumor Central: Is there an iPod cellphone in your future?
Update: Author of the textbook, student site
Everyone should have received a few emails from me, as I went ahead and subscribed everyone to the class mailing list. If you have not received any emails from me, see me after class and I can manually subscribe you to the list.
Thursday:
August 25, 2005
Welcome to the first day of class! Please check
back here at least every day as I update this page with class items, interesting
things, and whatever else
or else or else
or else or
else
comes to mind. You can check out my interests at my main page at http://eden.creighton.edu
or http://www.terrybegley.com
I have subscribed everyone's CU email account to our class mailing list, mis253n@creighton.edu. I have switched from Majordomo to Mailman for listserve service. If you want to join with another email address, use this link. Please use your Creighton email account as CU can guarantee delivery to this account, and not to Hotmail or other services. If you must use a free email service, I have found that Yahoo and Gmail are not bad.
Intro questions for today. Don't write your name on the paper!
Useful link: Random password generator
Happy Birthday Windows 95! Yesterday is the tenth anniversary of the launch of Win95. Here's a Washington Post article about the introduction. And, people are still using it! OK - class question: What was your first operating system used, and what is your favorite?
Google now has an instant messenger client. It's based on Jabber. Need an invite? If so, email me!
COBA now has NetOp School installed in BA 110 and BA 111! This software allows the instructor to remotely monitor and control the classroom computers. Be advised that the instructor can view your computer screen and take control of your computer at any time, without your permission.
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