Final Portfolio Assignment- Website

Here is the link to my website: http://lefthandedness.weebly.com/.

Portfolio Assigment 10

The people in my group were Auston Hunt, Sean Kuhl, and Dan Schupple. We decided to come up with an electronics company that creates and repairs computers and installs home theater systems. This combined the interests of different people in the group. Auston is interested in music, while Dan enjoys building computers. Sean has a good amount of computer knowledge and experience. I have some computer knowledge as well, but it is more limited. My contribution to the presentation was that I wrote the slides for marketing plan, profitability, and payments and shipping. I also explained why we chose to sell our products on eBay instead of through a website. In our fictional company, I would be in charge of customer service and customer support, since I have experience in customer service and am good at customer interaction. This is the link for our presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10abCQ9MGJU1zKMbmEJKyFmcqEVRWcqHrVo3CZU5qUNg/edit.

Portfolio Assignment 9

Parental Control Software

The topic that I chose for this assignment is parental control software. There are many different types of parental control software. I have chosen 3 products to discuss in depth.

One example of parental control software is AVG Family Safety (Rubenking). AVG Family safety has the basic features of any parental control software, such as controlling the websites that the children can visit and when children can use the Internet (Rubenking). Additionally, this program can limit the games that children are playing based on their ratings and monitor their instant messaging conversations (Rubenking). AVG Family Safety can also connect to the router so all devices that are connected to the Internet have protection using this software (Rubenking).
Another example of parental control software is SocialShield (Parental Control Software Reviews). SocialShield is software that is based on social networking sites (Parental Control Software Reviews). This software tracks the child's activity on any social networking site that they use (the software claims to cover Facebook, Twitter, Google+, MySpace, and FormSpring) (Parental Control Software Reviews). The parents can receive notifications if there is suspicious activity and the software will track pictures, posts, or friends that it deems suspicious (Parental Control Software Reviews). Parents can view their alerts online anywhere, which increases its convenience (Parental Control Software Reviews).

A third example of parental control software is PhoneSheriff (PhoneSheriff). PhoneSheriff is different from the other two in that it is for a different platform, the cell phone. PhoneSheriff is compatible with most smartphones (PhoneSheriff). With PhoneSheriff, parents can limit the time that their children can use their phones, so that their children can not use their phones at school or late at night (PhoneSheriff). This software also has a GPS feature, so the parents always know the location of their child (PhoneSheriff). PhoneSheriff will also make a log of all calls and text messages that are received (PhoneSheriff). The log will allow the parents to view the text messages, word for word (PhoneSheriff). Parents are also able to make a list of keywords and are notified if their child receives or sends a text message containing those words (PhoneSheriff). PhoneSheriff will also immediately send a copy of any picture or video that is taken with the phone to the parents (PhoneSheriff). Using this software, parents will be able to know what website their child is viewing, as well as block them from viewing specific websites (PhoneSheriff).

These three examples of parental control software illustrate the complexity of the information age. Not that long ago, it was enough to have software that would block mature websites. Today, parents have to worry about social networking sites and all of the things that children can be exposed to because of the features that are available on smartphones.

Works Cited:

"Parental Control Software Reviews." Consumersearch. N.p., Mar. 2012. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. <http://www.consumersearch.com/parental-control-software>.

"PhoneSheriff." Top Ten Reviews. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. <http://cell-phone-parental-control-software-review.toptenreviews.com/phonesheriff-review.html>.

Rubenking, Neil. "Keep Your Child Safe Online." PCMAG. N.p., 13 Dec. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2012. <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346997,00.asp>.

Portfolio Assignment 8

Password Managers

It is recommended that passwords should be complicated and difficult to guess. They should be more than 8 characters, contain letters, numbers, and even special characters (Create Strong Passwords). A password manager makes it possible to store all of your passwords so that you do not have to remember dozens of hard to guess passwords (Rubenking). You only need one main password to access all of your other passwords (Rubenking). There are a wide variety of password management tools available, each with different features.

One password manager is Kapersky Password Manager (Rubenking). Kapersky stores passwords and will also save your login data and makes it easier for you to access the site later by allowing you to click on the site and log in automatically (Rubenking). Another password manager is 1Password (Aguilar). 1Password is a slightly more expensive program that has several more features (Aguilar). The desktop version of the program allows users to sync information to an iPhone, iPod Touch, or an iPad (Aguilar). It is also able to store information to auto-complete forms and has a security component that deletes a password from the clipboard after 90 seconds (Aguilar). A third password manager is LastPass 1.72, which has a basic version and a premium version (Aguilar). LastPass gives you the convenience of being able to access it from any computer because it is stored online (Aguilar). Upgrading to the premium version gives you the option to sync your information to your mobile devices (Aguilar).

Many different password managers exist with different features. Each person needs to decide which features work with their needs and lifestyle. The most important thing is to make sure that everyone’s online account information is protected.

Works Cited

Aguilar, Mario. "Account Hacked? These Password Managers Keep Your Everything Safe." Gizmodo. N.p., 16 Jan. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. <http://gizmodo.com/5876508/account-hacked-these-password-managers-keep-your-everything-safe>.

"Create Strong Passwords." Password Generator & Checker. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. <http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/passwords-create.aspx>.

Rubenking, Neil J. "Six Great Password Managers." PCMAG. N.p., 11 Mar. 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2381432,00.asp>.

Portfolio Assignment 7

The first website creation tool I used was Weebly. Here is the link to my demo for Weebly: http://screencast.com/t/LkuO3KOVkBT. The second website creation tool I used was Yola. Here is the link for my demo for Yola: http://screencast.com/t/iD7RqXIw. The third website creation tool I used was Google Sites. Here is the link for my demo for Google Sites: http://screencast.com/t/EZj8EkCC. I performed the same tasks in each demo in order to illustrate how to create a new page in each site.

One difference that I noticed about the different website creating tools was the availability of pictures. One thing that I really liked about Weebly was that you were able to use photos from Creative Commons. This enabled me to find pictures to make my site more interesting. In order to use pictures on a Yola site, you had to pay, and Google Sites did not seem to have any public pictures available at all.

Another difference that I noticed about the different website creating tools was whether they were user-friendly. I tried to use Wix, and I could not really figure it out. It would tell me to click somewhere to edit and then nothing would happen. Google Sites was a little difficult for me to navigate. The main page gave directions, but the directions were confusing. There are also a lot of options in the sidebar, which was somewhat confusing. Yola was fairly simple, but it did not seem to have as many options as the others, or they were just more difficult to find. Weebly seemed to be the most straightforward to me. It had all of the tools across the top and easy to access, and you did not have to worry about searching for directions on how to do something.

If I was asked to create a site right now, I would use Weebly. I found it the most user-friendly and it makes it easier to use pictures to make my site look better. It also gives an option to use HTML, if I ever want to post something from another page that is written in HTML.

Portfolio Assignment 6

I created an account on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a site that helps professionals in the same industry network with one another. It can also be used to find job openings and for employers to seek employees. The site provides a free account as well as paid accounts that allow employers to get more profile information. LinkedIn will also search your email contacts to find the people that already have a LinkedIn account so that you can start networking. Here is the link for the demo to this site: http://screencast.com/t/1vUpHy5Wu. Here is the link for my profile: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/rachel-murphy/5a/205/a23.

Portfolio Assignment 5

My Twitter page is https://twitter.com/rachelmcmsy.

Portfolio Assignment 4

The topic that I would like to create a website about would be left-handedness. I am left-handed and I have always been interested in the statistics related to the topic, from famous left-handed people to the fact that males are more likely to be left-handed than females. Although there are some websites that sell left-handed tools and gadgets, my site would focus more on the statistics and facts about left-handed people.

The first site that I found was http://www.lefthandersday.com/index.html. This is a website called Left-Handers' Day. There does not seem to be just one author for this site. The bottom of each page just has the copyright dates and name of the website. Although it is a .com site, the contact information indicates that the site is actually from the UK. The site was updated August 7, 2012. The page seems to be somewhat subjective. It is obviously slanted toward left-handed people, since it is celebrating left-handedness. The page has a lot of information. It has a left-handed info tour, downloadable left-handed posters, and other links, including a link to buy left-handed products. The design of the page is nice. It is not anything spectacular, but it looks good and all of the pages have the same design. The page is functional. All of the links work. I like that the page combines content and entertainment and that it has a lot of information.

The second site that I found was http://www.left-at-the-start.com/. This website also does not have an author. This site is objective, giving information about the history of left-handed people and famous left-handed people, statistics about left-handedness, and information about products. This website does not have as much information as the previous website. It has more information about left-handed products and tools than statistics and facts. This website is a smaller website than the previous website. The design of this website is very basic. All of the links work and it is functional, but it does not look very exciting. One part of the design of this website that I did not like is that the links to the different pages are at the bottom and they are very small. They are easy to miss at first glance, and I feel like those links should be at the top, so that you know what the website contains.

The last website that I found was https://www.leftyslefthanded.com/default.asp. There were not a lot of sites that I could find that were devoted to left-handedness. This site sells a wide variety of left-handed products. There is no author for this site. It is unclear when this page was last updated. This site is objective as a site that sells almost exclusively left handed items can be. (It does have an ambidextrous section.) The scope and depth of this site is that it is working to market its products. There is not really any information given, beyond descriptions of the products. The website is nicely designed. There are pictures of all of the products. The website is also functional. All of the links work, except for the "Bookmark This Site" link, but it is possible that it just was not compatible with my browser. I just did not really like the purpose of this site. I am more interested in the facts and statistics about left-handedness than left-handed products.

If I were to design a site for this topic, I would definitely include a lot of information like the first website did. I would make sure that it was well organized, just like the first website. I would make sure that my links were either on the front or the side of the page, where they are visible, like the first and third websites. I would like my website to be a little flashier than the websites that I found. The design on all three websites was pretty basic and not very exciting.

Portfolio Assignment 3

The link for my online presentation is: http://prezi.com/qo-ri04iemus/academic-databases/.

Portfolio Assignment 2

The article that I chose discussed the legal dispute between Zynga and Electronic Arts (EA). In August, EA sued Zynga, stating that Zynga's game "The Ville" infringes on EA's game "Sim Social". Zynga argued that simulating games have been around for a long time. In addition, they said that the game "Little Computer People" was released by Activision fifteen years before "The Sims" was released by EA. Zynga also accused EA of illegal business practices in employment. Zynga is using the same lawyers that Samsung is using in their legal battle with Apple. The article can be found here.

I think that some companies are taking copyright infringement too far. I understand that companies do not want their products to be duplicated, but some similarities are bound to happen. A gaming company should be able to produce a game without having to worry that another company is going to think that the people in their game are too similar to the people in the other company's game. I think that Zynga had a good point when they said that those kind of simulation games have been around for a while. Zynga had a Facebook game, YoVille, that was also somewhat of a life simulating game, and EA didn't sue them over that game.

I have learned several things from this unit, but I would not really say that my view has been changed. I was unaware that any intellectual property that was produced was automatically protected by copyright. It was interesting to learn the difference between copyright, patent, and trademark as well as about fair use. I already knew some things about piracy. I remember when Napster was a free service and I remember when they shut it down. I guess my views have changed since then, because I remember being frustrated that I couldn't download music anymore. Now, I understand that the reason that they made Napster a paid service is that the artists need to be compensated for their work.

Portfolio Assignment 1- Introduction

My name is Rachel Murphy. In taking this class, I hope to learn more about computers and the Internet. I know some basic things about computers because my first computer was built for me by my father, so I had to learn how to install things like CD-ROM drives. Most of my knowledge about the Internet is more about connectivity and browsers, and less about how the Internet works. I am interested to learn more about how the Internet and websites actually work.