Week 11: Clear on Danger in Data Breach

Is Your Private Information Safe? 

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Entering your information in a website could potentially be dangerous in the long run. The databases that hold your information could be compromised. If that happens, millions of people's information will be released, possibly to the public. Once a companies data is breached, they could have long term access without the company knowing. 

Many companies have been shunned in the past for their insecure databases which have ultimately led to millions of people's credentials to be released to hackers.  A firm example of this is the Playstation Network's massive data breach. A hacker that manipulated the system's security was able to extract millions of user's account information.

 This includes, but is not limited to:

• Their Name
• Their Address
• Their E-Mail Address
• Their Password that they may have used on other secure websites
• Their Credit Card Information

This will lead the company to run into lawsuits and a large reduction of sales. Who would want to buy from a company that just went through a terrible incident like that? I wouldn't trust a company that allowed a hacker to take millions of people's credit card information! The people who's information was leaked could potentially file a lawsuit against Sony for having their personal information made public to malicious users such as hackers due to the company's poor security system. For years now, people will think twice before putting their information on the playstation network again. Also, the government may have to intervene in some instances and have Sony follow set rules. Doing that will cause the company to lose many sales because they aren't focusing on profiting, just on meeting requirements. 

This is extremely relative to the business work because you may enter your personal information on a website and it may be in the wrong hands without you knowing. You may invest your companies' dollars into a company that has been breached. This could cause potential losses in profit and you may have to find other places to invest in. You must be very careful with your money and what you do with it!

An article i found particularly interesting was:

http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/data-breach

This article explains what a data breach is in depth and really helps one understand the concepts. It was a great read!

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

Week 10: Clear on Basic Database Functions and Tables

Basic Database Functions and Tables

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This week I was able to surround myself with databases and basic Microsoft Access functions. I am running a Windows computer and used Microsoft Office Access 2007 to go through the Scavenger Hunt Questions and learn how everything works.

First, I practiced the use of tables in a database. Creating a table is easy, all you need to do is go to the Create Ribbon Bar in Microsoft Access, then Click on table in the top left hand corner. From there you can add new fields to the table by simply clicking on New Field in the Datasheet Ribbon Bar. In design view, you can add a description of the field as well! 

A Primary Key is extremely important when starting a blank database.  This is a value that is unique for each record in the database, and you only have one of these specific keys.  A Primary key can easily be set by right clicking on the field you wish to make a primary key, and clicking "Primary Key". You can also click on this field and select Primary Key on the ribbon bar. 

Also, you can configure a field to only accept a certain value by configuring it's validation, which can be found by going into Design View, clicking on a field, then clicking on the Property Sheet on the ribbon bar. You can enter a validation rule and validation text for when the rule fails. Need to import excel or CSV data into a new table? No problem! Simply go to the External Data Tab, choose the file you'd like to import, navigate to your file, then follow the Import Spreadsheet Wizard!

These concepts are very important in business because implementing Microsoft Access and databases into a company can help them become more organized. Doing this will help keep records for a companies employees, or anything that they'd like to have on reference. It is simple to create a database and very easy to reap the rewards of one by creating queries and forms. Databases are a must for businesses!

A great resource I found while researching databases was found here:

http://www.articlesbase.com/databases-articles/microsoft-access-in-todays-business-693002.html

The author explains exactly why modern day businesses should incorporate databases into their daily routines! It is a great read! 

Thanks for visiting my blog! See you next week!

Week 7: Clear on Open Source

Open Source Software

"nom nom nom" by Matt McGee

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What is Open Source Software?

Open source software is always freely distributed software that contains the source code of the program. When developers include the source code with their software, they are giving you the opportunity to find errors in the software, or develop your own version of the software and make changes to the existing software.

What can you do with Open Source software?

You can do the following things with open source software:

• You can develop your own version of the software
• You can create new features to the software
• You can fix errors in the software (and make money doing it)
• You can distribute your own version of the software

So what are the downsides to using Open Source Software?

As seen in the picture above, with having a dog comes other responsibilities. The dog must be fed, walked, and tended to daily. Much like a dog, open source software that you develop may have problems, or you may need to hire other individuals to change the existing code for your company. Once these changes are made, you can sell the software.  Why is this important in business, you ask? Your company may be just starting up and may need to decide whether they would like to pay for their software, or use open source software as an alternative. This may be very cost-effective, and can bring the company off the ground if they develop their own strains of the open source software.

What are some examples of Open Source Software available today?

Some of the most popular examples of open source software include (but are not limited to):

• Mozilla Firefox
• Filezilla
• RealVNC
• WGet
• Audacity
• Gimp
• OpenOffice
• Linux
• Apache

And many, many more!

A great source that I've found while researching Open Source software can be found here:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question435.htm

This website will help answer anything you are unsure about with Open Source software!

Thanks for reading! See you next week!

Week 5: Clear on Presentation Design and Layout

Presentation Design and Layout

Make your presentations stand out. Keep your audience awake!

"Matt Asleep" by Jasmic

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It's a great feeling to have your audience fall asleep on you!

Presenting information to your audience that you want to STICK is a very difficult concept if you don't know what NOT to do.

Some no-no's when it comes to presentation design and layout:

• Extremely large blocks of text that seem to never end
• Images from anywhere on the internet
• Boring Lists with 6-8 Bullets
• Clutter on your PowerPoint slides
• Bizarre, unprofessional , Gothic fonts 

Some things to focus on when creating a presentation:

• Images with copyright licenses (Creative Commons)
• Easy to read slides
• Simple yet harmonic backgrounds
• Sans Serif fonts
• Your voice is the BEST Audio!
• Simple Pictures or videos that will captivate your audience

     All in all, you need to keep your presentations simple. The more complicated and crowded that your slides become, the harder it will be for your audience to stay involved. Typing one word on a slide and describing its prominence in your own words can help you tremendously instead of posting 6 hard to read graphs and typing a paragraph about the topic. I've always found that using themes already created in PowerPoint can help spice up your presentations dramatically.

     This is extremely important in the business environment because you may have a great idea or topic that needs to be shown to your bosses. Presenting that idea in a PowerPoint with aspects from the "no-no" area of this blog may turn out to be a bad idea. Knowing how to keep your audience interested in your presentation relies directly on how you portray your information in your presentation. After all, who would remember anything you said after reading 10 slides full of text?

While researching this topic, a very interesting resource I used was:

http://www.techrepublic.com/article/10-slide-design-tips-for-producing-powerful-and-effective-presentations/6117178

This is a 10 tip webpage that explains numerous tips on how to keep your presentations, neat, gorgeous, and effective.

Thanks for reading! I'll see you next week! :)