Mind Mapping

Mind maps are the construction of of ideas, theories, arguments, facts, or other things organized around a central idea or concept. They provide organization as well as structure for the material or idea that is being studied. I have used and made mind maps myself, although I was unaware that they were dubbed as such. I used to create mind maps while taking notes during long lectures. I would make the maps on the back of my notes, kind of like a road map of where the lecture and my notes were going. I have also used my maps to prioritize my schedule of events, finances, and work.

File Transfer Protocol

I read the beginner’s  guide to FTP @/www.ftpplanet.com. The site explained what file transfer protocol is, how it works, and even shows the new user a simulated FTP session in a FTP client. I was able to send a picture of a previous screen shot I had saved in my documents to the required address in no time at all. FTP is a secure,  easy way to transfer files to and from your computer via a host page that allows you to organize and save your files.

Burv’s blurbs.

What is a podcast/podcast client?
A podcast is the next advancement in RSS feeds, by adding audio and/or video content to the XML feed. Just like an RSS feed, the XML contains small amounts of information that refer to a larger source – in a podcast it is audio or video. A podcast client takes the XML data from the feed and downloads and watches or listens to the media that the XML refers to.
Which sites have the most popular podcasts?
Currently on the iTunes Store, the top podcasts are from NPR, Chicago Public Radio, ESPN and Comedy Central.

Podcast Summaries

1. The January 24th, 2007 Nature Podcast was very interesting and informative from a scientific and fairly Liberal point of view. Topics from the January 24th, 2007 pod cast varied from Astrology to current and future hurricane trends to eight new species of marsupial remains/fossils discovered in an elaborate maze of underground caverns in Australia that are remarkably similar to today’s species.

2.  Another Podcast I subscribed to  was The Best of National Geographic Magazine, which had the more bare-bones, hard hitting facts and evidence that I appreciate. The media was straight forward and easy to follow, from forensic archeology, geology, to social issues abroad. I apprecitate the delivery of information and how the format of this podcast was ran…facts first, theories second.

3.  At last I found an informative, yet intriguing podcast that could be found @ NPR: Fresh Air; exclusively covering Alice Cooper the person, musician, person, and personality.   From childhood to early career successes and pitfalls, to inhibriations and sobriety, Mr. Cooper’s candid, yet serious approach to his mark on the music world was engaging and entertaining. I did not know a whole lot about  “Alice Cooper the man” vs. the “Stage Personality”, and to say the least he is night and day on and off stage. He is well articulated, educated, and methodical in life and in his art. This was an interesting and pretty cool podcast.

Screen shot of my iTunes Podcasts:

Berkley Lectures

1.  http://webct.oregonvos.net:9000/SCRIPT/CIS121/scripts/serve_homeI happened to choose a lecture from: CS 61A The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs, detailing decimal vs. Hexadecimal, vs. Binary, as well as converting between hex and decimal. I will admit, this lecture was completely over the top of my head. I am no where close to being a player in this league of discipline. I followed the lecture with great pleasure in the professor’s teaching style while trying to digest what he was saying. I feel that if I had a broader foundation in computer operating systems and higher math skills (I stopped at pre-calculus), I could grasp the information more.

I kind of felt like a deer in the headlights watching the material, taking notes on concepts I did not understand. I will try my best to get my feet wet in this discipline, as lectures from UC Berkley, are a bit intimidating!

 2. http://webct.oregonvos.net:9000/SCRIPT/CIS121/scripts/serve_homeFor the second lecture I chose to watch was the lecture on scheme interpreters from the following class: The Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs. I chose to watch the lecture for no particular reason, as I am new to all of this. However, I was able to correlate the meaning of programming values as commands, much like substituting functions in algebra. I still cannot grasp the total concept of what the lecture is teaching.I hope that we will not be in this realm of computer technology anytime soon, as I will be totally lost. I am fairly up to date with knowing how to use the internet, build small video and photo projects and I can actually type 85 words per minute, but that is about the extent of my computer knowledge. I hope I am not the only person in the class that feels inferior, because that is exactly how I felt after watching both of these lectures.

Hello world!

My first site I looked at delt with new desktop technology and new products @ http://www.engadget.com/category/desktops/. I found an interesting blog talking about Acer, the manufacturer who seems to have moved up quickly in the affordable pc market. One note of interest concerning Acer’s alleged patent infringement of HP, was relevent with recent sales. Acer led the industry in growth last quarter and is on track to surpass Dell as #2 (according to IDC).

Another site I found a very interesting blog concerning the privacy of wi fi hot spots, and how your screen can or could be viewed by another user at a considerable distance away. http://hardware.slashdot.org/hardware/07/04/20/2048258.shtml

Ok, I’ll admit…I had no idea what a rss reader was. I subscribed to the service Google offered, choosing 6 news feeds and 9 sports feeds. Very cool indeed. All the information I care about comes right to me with out having to look for it. Now I need to find one with fishing updates!