Zotero: A Research Must Have

I decided to use Zotero for my cloud based tool tutorial. To see the presentation of my findings please click HERE!!!

Useful Cloud Based Tools

Dropbox

Dropbox is a free cloud based storage tool. Any file you save to Dropbox also saves to your computer and other devices. It also saves a copy on the secured Dropbox website. This makes your files accessible from any device that has Dropbox on it, with or without an internet connection. The storage limit is 2GB for unsubscribed users and up to 100GB if you sign up. Another nice feature of Dropbox is it's sharing capabilities. You can create shared folders by just inviting your friends, family, or co-workers to the folder. Then its almost like you saved the folder onto their PC's. This makes sharing pictures to only those you want to see them simple and easy. Many cellular devices support Dropbox including iPhone, iPad, Android, and Blackberry. This lets you access your files from anywhere you are in the entire world.

ZOHO

ZOHO is a business related free cloud based tool. It's main goal is to provide businesses with many different applications needed to get their work done. ZOHO offers over 20 different applications to aid business in collaboration and productivity. All apps are run through a web browser, allowing ZOHO to maintain your work online and help to keep your information safe. For quick collaboration, ZOHO offers chat and meeting apps, project management and document management apps, Email, and a share application. Some of their productivity apps include Calender, Notebook, Planner, Sheet, Slide, and Writer. These last three are datasheet, slideshow presentation, and word document apps similar to those used in Microsoft Office.

Zotero

Zotero is a free research-related free cloud based tool that is a must for students in research-heavy classes. It is used to collect and organize your research in a way that makes keeping up with your research materials easy. You can collect information on books and other sources with just one click. Zotero gives you the ability to archive entire websites and any related files of many formats. Zotero has a "iTunes- like" feel to the display allowing for quick organization. Dragging and dropping is another useful way to keep things together. Zotero lets you take notes right beside what you are researching at anytime. It has a drag and drop bibliography, a plug in for Word and OpenOffice, and comes preset with all major citation styles. You can sync your work to any computer in the world, including mobile devices.You can then publish your research online for public view.

ooVoo

ooVoo is a free video-chatting free cloud based tool that allows you to chat with anyone at anytime. With ooVoo you can chat one-on-one or have a group chat with up to 6 people. It is compatible with Mac, PC, and most mobile devices making chatting on the go easy. ooVoo can run directly from any web-browser as long as the one hosting the chat has the free download. If one of the users does not have a camera, you can still see the other person and hear them as well. When making phone calls on ooVoo, ooVoo-to-ooVoo phone calls are free but there is a small fee for ooVoo-to-phone phone calls. You are able to share you screen over a ooVoo call using the Desktop Sharing feature. Small businesses can use ooVoo for presentations and can display there work directly from their PC and make it viewable for others. ooVoo allows the sharing of files up to 25MB.

Slideshare

Slideshare is a free cloud based video, presentation, or document sharing tool. Users simply sign-up, then upload their chosen file and it is instantly viewable by anyone. Slideshare content often spreads fast through blogs and social network sites like Facebook. Anyone can view presentations & documents on topics that interest them. They are then able to download that file and can reuse or change the document to work for them. Zipcast allows for easy web meetings and requires no downloads. You are able to sync mp3 audio files into your presentations or embed videos from Youtube.

Newest IPhone 5 leak

According to the latest leaks, which are said to be extremely accurate, the newest IPhone 5 will be different from the IPhone 4. There will be a few redesign changes in order to make the newer design much thinner than the IPhone 4. The IPhone 5 will use a vented A5 processor, the same processor used by the IPad 2. If this leak is true the newest IPhone should have unsurpassed performance and battery life. After the discovery of Sony's involvement in the image sensor, the newest IPhone will include an 8 (yes, that's right), an 8 mega-pixel camera. The latest word is that the IPhone 5 will include NFC technology, that was supposed to come out with the IPhone 4. This is a mobile payment making technology for billing and services to be accessible directly from your mobile device. For baseband chips, Apple will switch over to Qualcomm which is the largest chip supplier in the world. Although there isn't much info available on the upcoming IPhone 5, I was able to find an image that has a round-a-bout overview of everything you can expect from the new IPhone. You may have to zoom in on the image to read the overview. 

IE9: Is it really better?

   

     Everyone who has used a computer has most likely used some version of Internet Explorer. Many versions of IE have gotten different responses since the time its creation. On March 14, 2011 Microsoft released Internet Explorer 9. Since its release it has received many positive responses. With those responses also come a few complaints about some of the new additions to IE9. The developers at Microsoft tried to take the best features of today’s most popular web browsers and make them better. 

     The most visible change in IE9 is its overall look and feel. Like Google Chrome, they used a minimalist appearance to help hide some of the clutter of previous versions. The one thing that users are most pleased about is the speed. Compared to all other current web browsers, IE9 is either equal or slightly faster in loading speed when tested on heavy java sites like Facebook and Gmail, and also flash-based sites like Youtube. This is mostly due to GPU acceleration, which passes on the heavy processing of web animations to your computers chipset. IE9 is more stable and experiences less crashes through the better use of hardware resources and the new HTML5. The new font is darker and more visible and is able to fit more input per line. The web address bar has been combined with a search bar. When you insert something to search, IE9 displays icons of search engines you choose to use. After selecting an icon, IE9 displays the search results from that particular search engine.

     Another new feature IE9 adopted from Chrome is tear-out tabbing. The user is able to drag and drop tabs to create a separate window. Then, the user can drag an open tab in the new window and drop it back into its original window. Pin-able links is a new feature in IE9 where the user can pin links to the task bar creating click-able icons. Finally, major efforts were made to reduce the amount of unnecessary pop-ups and alert messages, while keeping the same excellent browser privacy and security that came in IE8.

     Even with all the good reviews some complaints were made. At the default setting, IE9's interface looks great. When the user reveals the favorites bar and the command bar underneath the address bar, it becomes a bit more crowded. Add on the status bar at the bottom of the interface and its really crowded. Also, the address bar and tabs are located on the same bar. When a user opens multiple tabs, the tabs get narrower and narrower the more you open. IE9 also comes with some weird color coding. Tabs for different sites may come up different colors when having multiple tabs. These colors do not seem to represent a purpose.

     IE developers added a dialer page, made famous in Opera, to keep track of the top 10 sites the user visits. These pages are displayed as thumbnails with bars underneath them. These bars are supposed to be longer depending on how much the site is viewed but this really isn't explained clearly just by seeing it. These bars are also color coded, but do not seem to serve a purpose. The new download manager is a bit of an improvement from the older versions. Although some types of files are not recognized in the download manager. This is particularly common with image files. Like almost every other web browser, IE9 didn't create an easy way of editing bookmarks.

     Probably the one thing that could make or break IE9 is the fact that it is not compatible with any version of Windows from XP and earlier. This is a push by Microsoft to get users to upgrade their operating systems in order to get the newer version of Internet Explorer. This could me a major flaw in Microsoft's plans of keeping up with current browsers such as Mozilla, Chrome, and Opera, which all have versions compatible with XP.

Link to Site   Link to Site

Firefox 4

        The release of Mozilla Firefox 4 has gotten many different reviews. A lot of users think it isn't really a step up from version 3.6. Although it is faster and uses a lot less resources now, a lot of things were taken out of version 4. Through the use of extensions, users are able to improve the speed and regain absent options. You can also customize your browser and add in features that are found in other browsers.

         The Firefox button is supposed to utilize the most popular menu items and stores them What you need is Personal Menu! This add-on contains all the tools you need to transform the Firefox button so that it shows the options you want to see. You won't have to show the menu bar again. You might like the functionality of the Firefox button, but find its position in the browser toolbar far too intrusive. Movable Firefox button rectifies that particular problem by allowing you to recreate it as a more discreet app-like tab on the Tab bar, which can be positioned where you like. You could try re-coloring it using App, or make it less visible by rendering it transparent using App Button Clear instead. Like all the rest, it is configured to work with multiple operating systems.

          


Fasterfox is a new app to help speed up the process of your computer. Since the status bar is made unavailable, Status-4-Evar brings back the now removed. All in all, in my own opinion, Firefox 4 isn't the greatest out there in the browser world yet. Maybe over time, with more apps becoming available each day, Firefox will make the changes necessary to have a speedy, reliable web browser.

Link to Site

Private Wireless Home Networks

        I recently took on the task of creating a private wireless home network in my home. I wanted to be able to connect my PC in the living room to the modem located by the PC in the bedroom. I gave myself a budget of $125 dollars to get what I needed to set up the network. I went to Best Buy to check out what they had to offer. I wanted to get a router that would be fast enough to handle online gaming. I also wanted to be able to wirelessly connect my PS3 in the living room to the network. I decided to go with a Linksys E1000 Wireless-N Router.

Linksys E1000 Wireless-N Router        

        One of the benefits of the Linksys E1000 is it gives visitors simple and more secure internet access. It has WEP, WPA v1, WPA v2 and other enhanced security features. It also features MAC Clone, DHCP Server, UPnP, Firewall, Parental control, Upgradeable firmware, Dynamic DNS, DMZ, QoS, and Logging. It's supported frequency is 2.4 GHz and a wireless speed of up to 300 Mbps. Installing the router was very simple. The included Cisco Connect software gets you set up quickly and offers powerful tools for managing your wireless network. It has 2 internal antennas and an antenna gain of 1.5 dBi. With a price of $59.99, I felt it was exactly the router that I need to start setting up my network. Now as for the wireless adapter for the computer in the living room, I decided to go with a NETGEAR N300 Wireless USB adapter.

       NETGEAR N300 Wireless USB adapter

        The N300 allows enough speed for faster downloading and online gaming. I can surf, chat, and email and perform simultaneous downloads. One feature is the Push 'N' Connect push button security. It uses WPA2-PSK, WPA-PSK, and 40-bit (also called 64-bit) and 128-bit WEP data encryption. It contains 1 integrated internal wireless antenna and had a better range than the N150 model. The Easy Smart Wizard allows for easy installation. Sold at $49.99, I was able to stay just inside my budget after sales tax.
        After installing the router and adapter, I set up the wireless network so that I could share public files between the two computers. I also set up my printer on the network, so I would be able to print wirelessly from the living room. Once i was finished with my set up, I connected my PS3 wirelessly to the network. Now I am able to access the same files and folders on both of my PCs and my PS3. This process only took about a total of 35 minutes to complete.

Dell Streak 7 Tablet PC

    The Dell Streak 7 tablet is the latest 4G tablet PC. The operating system is an upgradeable Android 2.2. This over the air upgradeable ability allows for OS upgrades in the future. The processor is a NVIDIA Tegra 2 mobile processor. The large 7 inch screen makes viewing videos and photos easy. With a 1.3 MP front facing camera, you can use Skype for video chatting. Connect with 3G/4G or Wi-Fi and stay in touch with your friends and family. The Streak 7 is Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS equipped and has 16 MB of internal storage.
    With Adobe Flash 10.1 already installed, you can surf the web, check your e-mail, and watch videos on Youtube. Access over 700,000 eBooks that are easily viewable and the multi touch screen makes the process of reading almost the same as reading an actual book. The preinstalled multimedia programs make watching videos, listening to music, and looking at your photos convenient and easy. You can purchase one around 200 dollars plus a two year activation with T-Mobile.

Link to Site

Wireless Home Networking

    Setting up your home with a wireless network is pretty easy with todays technologies. Wireless has become the more widely used network in small businesses and colleges. To be able to have a wireless  network in your home you will need a few different things.
    First your gonna need a wireless router and a wireless network adapter for each system on the network. You can then access the router and configure the DHCP to automatically assign IP addresses to the computers on the network. Also configure the firewall settings to help protect your network from malicious attacks.
    After you have configured the router, all thats left to do is configure the wireless network adapters on the systems connecting to the network. After this you will be able to share printers, files and folders, and even applications across your own private wireless home network.

Link to Site

Virtual Computing

Since this weeks assignment is on virtual computing, I guess it would be a good time to blog about it. Virtualization was first created in the 1960's to partition large mainframe hardware. In the 1990's, VMware created virtualization for the x86 platform. VMware is currently the global giant in the x86 architecture virtualization. The reasoning behind using virtualization on the x86 platform was to help the underutilization of the infrastructure. Also the cost for maintaining or even expanding the physical infrastructure was rapidly increasing. Virtualization would take care of the need to upgrade the mainframe. Thus cutting business expenses and adding a ton of new possibilities for the infrastructure.

Link to Site

This is a short video on some of the new ways that CISCO, EMC, and VMware are coming together to try to combine the best virtualization has to offer.

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping is a new technology that I am very interested in. It started back in the mid 1980's in California. It is used to help decrease costly mistakes early in the design process. This is going to help manufacturers create better products in shorter amounts of time. Although the models created in prototyping aren't typically strong enough to be a final part. Over time I am sure technology will find ways to prototype final parts using stronger materials because the process is rather simple. After taking the computer created design and importing it into the rapid prototyping machine, the machine builds the design layer upon layer. I would love to get my hands on one so I could play with it!

Link to site

CTS 287 - Introduction

Hey! My name is Jeffrey Glover and I am a current Information Technologies student at Edgecombe Community College. I only have a few more classes left before I get my degree, so I guess you could say I have a somewhat extensive background in IT. I have been enrolled in the IT program since January 2009 and will hopefully graduate at the end of this year. I have been known to my family as the go-to guy when someone has a computer problem. Its rare to see a problem that I don't know how to correct or know someone who does. I hope to learn a lot about current emerging technologies in the IT field. Technologies are always going for the biggest and newest ideas, so I am anxious to learn about them.