Week Twelve

Time for the last blog.....

I have a lot of work to do this week. I already got annihilated by a test I had this morning in MGT 312 and still have three quizzes and two tests left this week. Granted, one of those tests is for this class and I'm pretty set in my grades for this class. Nevertheless, I'm sure I will be studying for it. Basically, I'm really looking forward to next Tuesday at about ten in the morning because I will be all done with this semester. I have really enjoyed this class because it is actually interesting to me. Some of my other classes, like MGT 310 and 312, for example, have not been the greatest classes ever. I am beyond ready for it to be summer. Almost there....

Week Eleven

I really enjoyed today's class. The Prezi layout of today's lecture along with the content made today very enjoyable. Although it did make me a little paranoid about the security of all my valuable information, it was an interesting topic. It is always cool to see someone like Kevin Mitnick illegally manipulating, hacking, and using various data. Also, I think people are more interested in the illegal aspects of security as opposed to the legal ones. It is much more enjoyable to talk about people doing bad things. Today was a fun way to begin wrapping up the semester. This time next week we will have completed the course. Just need to do some studying between now and then.

Week Ten

I had to go home for a medical emergency this past week so I don't really have anything pertaining to MGT 455. However, I did spend my week getting blood work done, having an MRI, and seeing a neurologist. I had some pretty scary symptoms so seeing doctors back home in MD was what seemed best. I'm back at school now and am looking forward to finishing the semester. Summer can't come soon enough.

Week Nine

Last class we had an exam and I'm pretty sure I did well on it. Nevertheless, I am still antsy to get it back and just make sure. Hopefully I can get the grades I need to exempt the final exam. Also, I noticed we have two more creative inquiry assignments to do. I plan on starting these soon so I can get them over with before the big stack of work begins to pile up. Today is such a nice day outside and coming off a class where we just had a test and also a week full of work for myself, my mind is kind of drifting while I'm blogging and sitting in class. I'll admit that I am pretty ready to get outside and go enjoy the nice weather. As exciting as technology is, the weather outside excites me a lot more.

Week Eight

Getting back into the swing of classes is never easy to do after a break, however today's class came with some good news. I was relieved when our test got moved to next week because I already have a lot of school work to do this week. Although I was admittedly kind of zoning out today due to the fact that it was the first day of classes after break, it was productive in that I was able to do some work on my Google docs assignment while also catching the important information from the lecture. It is crazy to me that there are only a few weeks left in the semester, but as unbelievable as it is, I know I need to focus and get this work over and done with so it can finally be summer. I have already done the Web 2.0 assignment and just finished the Google docs and Yahoo! Pipes assignments. Both were actually fun and easy to do and I can definitely see how they could come in handy. As is the case with the other assignments in this class, it was both fun and enjoyable to work on these assignments. Now, it's time for a break, though.

Week Seven

This week, we didn't have class on Monday which was nice, but today we returned to class. Although everyone's enthusiasm, including my own, seems to be slipping in preparation for spring break, it was still a fun class as always. Also, I'm glad that our test will now be after spring break instead of before it. Well, right now I like that, however I'm sure that when I come back from break, I'm going to be wishing that I had already taken it and gotten it over and done with. What was good to get out of the way, though, were the two papers that were due by today. I actually enjoyed writing these two papers because they were things that interest me. I liked the Apple movie and I also enjoyed going without a cell phone for a day. So after getting those things officially done with, I felt good. Not long into class, I felt great. The "Leave Britney Alone" video, courtesy of Chris Crocker, was entertaining as ever and gave me a good laugh. Today's class seemed to fly by.

Week Six

Last week we finished up the Macintosh movie and talked about the possible topics to include in our papers. Having already turned it in, I admittedly let everyone else discuss the topic more thoroughly. Thereafter, we continued learning a bit more material in preparation for our upcoming test. I sat there and contemplated how I would go about completing the cell phone assignment. As expected, it wasn't the paper that was the tough part, but being without my cell phone wasn't bad either. Luckily, I went home to Maryland from Wednesday until Sunday and was with my girlfriend almost the whole time. This made it a lot easier. She is really the only person I keep in contact with all the time so being without my cell phone was actually good. I liked blocking out the rest of the world and if I really needed to talk to somebody else, I borrowed my girlfriend's cell phone. Although it would definitely be tough to envision myself without a cell phone, I really did enjoy not using it for a day. It made life a whole lot simpler.

Week Five

This class was the first one since our test and we started learning some basics about the new material we are about to cover. I liked talking about websites that are useful, entertaining, and a mixture of the two. We got put into groups to come up with some examples of these and our group came up with clicker.com, wikipedia.org, and espn.com for the three respective categories. When we talked about these different types of websites as a class, I liked some of the examples we chose to explore some more. Chatroulette.com was a very interesting and entertaining website as was wildmoodswings.co.uk. We were discussing these websites in more detail than just for these reasons, though. We talked about the business aspects of all these websites and how they go about making money too. As discussed, coming up with a technology that is fun and easy to use while also being in existence for a purpose and being useful is the key to coming up with a successful venture that will make a profit. All in all, I enjoyed this class discussion. Now I'm just crossing my fingers and hoping for a good grade on my test.

Week Four

Well there doesn't really seem to be too much to blog about this week since we ended up not having class at all. I was hoping to get my test back on either Monday or Wednesday because I am unsure of how I did. Hopefully, if we do end up having class again next week, we can get them back and I can see how I did. Otherwise, besides not having class and wanting to get my test back, there isn't really much more to blog about since these topics are supposed to pertain to class in some form. So I'm done blogging for now and will be back at it again next week.

Week Three

This week centers around our test on Wednesday. Although it might have seemed like the class was "dead" today, I know that for me personally, it was because I was unsure about a lot of the terminology and made me realize how much I need to study. So, as I was sitting here thinking about all the work I need to do for my classes, I decided to blog instead of study because I am not looking forward to reviewing and learning it. I do enjoy all the things we talk about in class and I want to learn about them all, however the thought of studying always gets to me. I have never been one to study much, or at all, because I usually pick up on terms and ideas pretty easily. When talking about all the things pertaining to our class and this test, it is almost like a new language. However, I looked at the study guide terms and have been to every class and I feel as though I have at least a decent grasp upon the material and am sure I will do fine. So for now, I'll call it quits for blogging and begin studying for our test on Wednesday.

Week Two

Again, I liked how this week in class, as always, we began with talking about technological news. Also, I liked the Utah shirt that Professor Thatcher was sporting. Although Andrew Bogut and Alex Smith didn't pan out to be the best picks in their respective sports, I am a fan of that university and know someone who will probably be attending there next year. On the topic of class, however, we were informed that we will be having a test next Wednesday. As opposed to other classes, I am actually kind of looking forward to studying for this test. Technology has always interested me and I've never had the discipline to sit down and learn some more about it, even though I do enjoy technological applications. Having a class like this and actually having to sit down and learn the material will be good twice over for me. By learning the information, I will presumably receive a good grade on the exam and will also be more knowledgeable about a topic that has always interested me, but I have yet to pursue more thoroughly. Hopefully this will be just the beginning of my learning and it will give me the spark I need to learn even more about these topics.

Week One

I like how at the beginning of every class, or at least for the ones we've had so far, we discuss any technology related news. In a couple of my other classes, we've talked about Google's China operations and what we thought about it all. I know we only briefly touched upon it, but it interests me. Whether it was Google being naive, or these hackers being that advanced, I think it proves a point to businesses out there to be more careful about those dealing with their networks. Companies everywhere, not just Google, need to realize the loopholes in their systems and be more protective of their online operations. Hopefully it has taught Google a lesson and, as bold as the statements coming from Google representatives have been, I hope they are true. I hope that Google really is considering leaving China and abandoning one of the premier markets in the world so as to conduct their entire operations, not just online, in a way that is no longer susceptible to hackers. Although this will probably never be entirely capable of happening, as there will always be people trying to interfere via the internet, Google would be making a statement by leaving China due to the government's interference with their organization. Google probably should have to follow some rules and regulations while operating in China, but it should not be open to hacking by members of the Chinese government. Lesson learned Google: be more wary of who you are dealing with and how secure your operations really are.