My Personal Computers Specifications and Recommendations

I find it interesting that the University of Arizona’s College of Law (COL) does not require their students to own a personal computer, while the School of Information Resources & Library Sciences (SIRLS) does. Although the SIRLS program specifies that students only need computers to have web access, and don’t have any further recommendations for the computer hardware, it does however require “basic software: a word processor, a spreadsheet, a database, and a web browser.” Meanwhile, the College of Law provides recommendations for exactly what hardware students purchasing a new computer should buy. I think it’s a good idea to provide students who may want to buy a computer with some specifications on what to look for before they make such a big purchase.

My personal computers consist of a desktop with that meets the COL’s specifications for 1 GB MHz Pentium central processing unit (CPU). It basically meets the other COL requirements; however it’s a few years old now so it doesn’t have all of the most advanced technologies. For instance, it doesn’t have a DVD player, it’s only CD ROM compatible, and it can’t burn CD’s. It does contains a lot of RAM; however since this processor was “built” by my dad and not purchased through a retail store, I’m not sure the specifics. When I contacted my dad last night he couldn’t remember the specs either, excpet that it is a pentium type processor. He works at a hospital as the systems administrator in the lab, so he gets to buy old computers (and other miscellaneous computer equipment) that the company wants to dispose of because they have replaced them with newer equipment. He then will soup up the CPU’s so that the shell’s contain updated hardware. This hobby of his is way too technical for me, but I can say that I was elated to receive this computer as a “going back to college” gift from him! It has Windows XP software installed.

I did buy my own laptop from an online retail store, so I can provide a little more on the specifications of this unit. After borrowing my husband’s laptop for class a few times, I definitely knew I wanted the smallest and lightest unit that I could afford. My husband’s laptop is an extra wide screen, so it’s great for graphics, like watching movies on or playing games on, but it’s not so good to have to lug around. I won’t go into the specs, since I rarely use it. I really wanted to buy an Apple notebook, but it was too expensive, so I shopped around by checking out reviews of cheaper laptops. I came across a very affordable laptop, the Avertec 3200 Series which I decided to buy due to overall favorable reviews in Mobile Tech Review and the Notebook Review forum.

This computer does not conform to all of the COL requirements because the CPU is not a Pentium M or Centrino and it only has a Memory of 256MB (COL recommends 512MB). However, the hard drive is 40 GB so it measures up to the COL’s recommendation of 30 GB Hard Drive. It also has some nice features: it’s very portable (4.5 lbs), has three USB ports, an Optical Drive with DVD player and CD burner, a wireless card and it came with Windows XP. I wasn’t too worried about the lower memory capacity, since I already own the desktop that has a 1 GB processor.

Both my laptop and desktop easily meet the SIRLS requirements, which isn’t too rigorous. However, I would have to recommend that anyone wanting to take SIRLS distance courses should get a laptop computer over a desktop if you can afford it. The main reason is that the convenience of taking your laptop with you wherever you need to go. I got a lot of use out of mine when I did an internship because I worked from home so all the data I compiled was on my laptop. I had weekly meetings with my advisor, so I just brought my laptop and a jump drive with me to share the information. Also SIRLS has a residency requirement so you might want a computer to use while attending class.

Regardless of what type of computer you purchase (laptop vs. desktop), I would strongly recommend a minimum two year warranty on any hardware, since you don’t want any problems with your machine while you are still in school. Also, it should have a wireless/ethernet card, at least two USB ports (to allow multiple applications like an ipod and jump drive), a CD burner/CD ROM, a reliable printer (black and white is fine), a router with a 802.11G, so you and your roommate, spouse or family can all be on the computer at one time, and an external hard drive. The external hard drive is ESSENTIAL for backing up your hard drive. You do not want to lose any important work that you have done in your classes (both current and former). It’s cheap to buy, and easy to do, but you can’t replace your course work files once it has been erased.

A home hi speed internet connection is essential, and they are fairly reasonable through your local cable company. DSL is price comparable too.

Regarding the software, I would recommend any word processing programs including Microsoft Office (especially if it's free with your computer) or Open Office freeware. Anything else that you know you want, like an HTML editor etc (I bought FrontPage since I use it at work and it’s cheaper than Dreamweaver). I would recommend installing Adobe Reader since it’s free, and you’ll need/want to view a PDF at some point.

Be aware that recently a laptop loans service has made available through the main library. This is a great way to offer students (especially anyone doing a residency requirement) the opportunity to borrow a laptop for their classes, or for other use.

Advertising's Evolution to Adapt to People's New Technology Driven Behaviors

“EBay Gambles on Google Partnership for Success of Skype, the Internet Phone Service”

I ran across this headline today in my NY Times Technology RSS feed and thought I should post about it in my blog because, as future librarians, we already know (and love?) Google, hasn't eBay been around forever?, and my fellow Intro to Tech students are getting to know (and love?) Skype.

EBay is hoping its new partnership with Google will help it find new ways to make money from Skype, its Internet calling service. But experts wonder if enough people are willing to make the switch from traditional phones to talking through their computers.

The main issue at play seems to be that people prefer to use landline telephone systems and “that only 10 to 15 percent of people choose to talk using their computers, and that this proportion is not increasing.”

I just don’t understand the insistence of a landline, since I haven’t had one for years. I’ve long ago switched to a cell phone; an added bonus was to stop the telemarketing calls. Now that I’ve learned how Skype works, I plan to share this technology with my parents and friends who all live out of state, so we can make calls for free (or after the cost of a set of headphones, anyway.) I really think it's only a matter of time for people to become more comfortable with PC based calling, and the landline will go the way of the Dodo bird.

Anyway, the gimmick is for this partnership is to increase company profits through increasing advertising dollars. To do this, Google will provide a feature to

allow users to talk to advertisers by way of Skype, instead of just clicking through to the advertisers’ Web sites. Users of this feature, called click-to-call, would also have the option of using Google’s own Google Talk system or standard telephones.

Apparently eBay is also experimenting with Skype by including it in their online auctions, the “Skpe Me” feature so that buys can talk directly to sellers. Ironically, eBay also plans on increasing their advertising revenue by branching out to feature Yahoo ads featuring products that auction sellers are competing to sell.

This leads me to the other interesting and related article I also found in the NY Times Technology RSS feed: “In a TiVo World, Television Turns Marketing Efforts to New Media”.

Basically, advertisers are waking up to the fact that traditional outlets for commercial spots are being bypassed by current technologies and that they need to develop new marketing strategies adopted to people’s new technologically driven behaviors.

It took us more than six months to get our TiVo hooked up because we didn’t have a landline. I wonder if TiVo would consider a “Skype Me” option for setting up their service, instead of making customers go through the hassle and expensive of setting up a landline service. It’s probably only a matter of time.

My Questions for Tim Berners-Lee

My blog on Tim Berners-Lee will consist of questions written as if I’m asking them directly to the man. I would like to ask him the following questions:

Q1. I’m struck by the allusion to books in the 1999 Times article (the naming of your browser Enquire after the encyclopedia "Enquire Within Upon Everything", and the journalist describing your internet invention as “almost Gutenbergian”). So what books do you recommend reading and why? Also, what are you currently reading?

Q2. Why did you decide against selling out and instead decide to work to keep the internet "open, nonproprietary and free"? Also, please tell me more about your ideals in relation to the internet as we now know it (any future plans or “wish lists”)?

Q3. What is your opinion on collective intelligence and folksonomies? Do you think this is a growing field or do you think that something else will replace it? How about an evolution (or in your case, return to your original idea) that a web browser should also be an editor; do you think this will happen in the next 25 years? If so, will that make blogs and wikis obsolete or do you see that as a separate and distinct categories?

Q4: How do you reconcile findability of quality resources to your description of the internet as “a garbage dump”? Also, if browsers facilitated writeability, how would certain internet sites be able to retain their credibility? For example, medical information websites. In your opinion, are there levels of who should be an internet “authority”?

Q5: Do you think it’s fair for journalists to ask you about your culpability in the undesirable aspects of the internet (for example child porn or stolen identities)? Do you think that other product inventors receive this same treatment or are you held to a different standard?

Internet Activities

The numeric IP address I retrieved from the whatismyip website in Activity 2 was: 68.228.53.242. After I retrieved this number, I copied and pasted it into the ARIN's WHOIS webpage. This only gave me the information that my IP address is attached to the physical address of Cox Communications Inc., at 1400 Lake Hearn Dr., in Atlanta Georgia. Because Cox is my cable and high speed internet provider, this IP address is attached to the company’s location. However, my search results for the IP address 66.253.148.213, turned up some very different results.

Searching for this IP address on the WHOIS webpage provided me with not only the service provider’s (Distributed Management Information Systems, Inc.) physical address, but also the physical location of the Royal Entrada Real Oeste Apartments on University. I was curious to find out why my IP Address only gave the Cox address and why DMIS gave locations of the IP address, so I did what anyone would do when they want some information: I googled it! This led me a Property Solutions industry news article where I learned what exactly this company is:


Noment Networks and Distributed Management Information Systems, Inc., providers of broadband Internet services to multifamily properties and planned communities, have merged to form Fusion Broadband. Fusion’s leaders said that the combination will allow them to offer more support hours and greater local representation in customer markets.

Obviously, this provider links IP addresses to each multifamily property or community location, making it apparent to anyone searching for an IP address a location to where the user’s PC is housed. Not very private is it?

When I did the trace route activity, I observed how the internet is setup; it demonstrated for me the path taken to a desired location. When I first did the tracert activity, I tried to trace the route my computer takes to get to The Nest because it’s a website that I frequent. Of the maximum 30 hops that this trace route command allows, it took me 16 hops to find The Nest. From the command prompt, I could see that my request first went to my internet provider, where the request timed out. It automatically retried the request again. After about 8 more hops I located the IP address for The Nest. However, when I tried to do another trace route on the University of Arizona, it timed on the 14th hop until the trace completed at the 30th hop. I tried another trace with the SIRLS url, but it timed out again on the 14th hop until it was completed.

Next, I looked up some of the “cryptic numeric IP addresses”. I the first hop listed on my successful trace route to The Next was IP address 192.168.2.1 and according WHOIS this is an organization called Internet Assigned Numbers Authority located in Marina Del Ray, California. A google search on this organization tells me that this organization’s mission is “Dedicated to preserving the central coordinating functions of the global Internet for the public good.” Who knew? Obviously, the last IP address was registered to The Knot, Inc., which was the website I was searching for.

I had not previously heard or knowingly used of any of the network commands found on the Computer Hope list. However, after doing the WHOIS exercises to find IP addresses and trace route to find IP address locations, I recognized the WHOIS and TRACERT commands.

Anyone who has been using email, forum discussions (like internet message boards) and listservs is bound to come across some netiquette violations ranging from the minor to flagrant. I have witnessed numerous communications that violated the Number One Rule in Netiqute: THEY WERE SHOUTING AT ME FOR NO REASON!

And of course anyone with an email account or that belongs to a chat forum is vulnerable to those pesky spam messages, a violation of Netiquette Rule Number 5. Isn’t there always a stock opportunity that you just can’t pass up? And for some reason every message board has a few people posting totally unrelated comments. Also mentioned in Netiquette #5, I got flamed in a message board for accidentally posting my message twice. It happened when I refreshed my browser which somehow caused the message to be posted again. Whoops!

All the text messagers out there, like myself, already knows all the common abbreviations in Netiquette Number 7, so I won’t go into that.

And finally, as personal aside, I think a new rule should be added to the netiquette list. I can’t help but be annoyed at the overly frequent use of emotions used in emails. Do I really need to see all those smiley faces? I get your point after the first one, so PLEASE people, do your part to stop smiley face abuse! :-<

Live Bookmarks

I began the Live Bookmarks assignment by watching the movie tutorial on how to set them up. It was really easy, so I went ahead and put Professor Glogoff's blog into a live bookmark folder in my favorites, which I titled "Professor & Classmates Live Bookmarks". Next I added five of my fellow classmates to this folder.

I began with the first person listed in alphabetically order, Ms. Paulina Aguirre-Clinch's blog. I found her's to be very interesting and was wholeheartedly impressed with her writing style; I espcially enjoyed the Pat Mora quote she included early on, which really drew me into her introduction. I then went down the list and included every third person which included Daisy Decoster, Shana Harrington, Andrea Lhotka.

At this point I just skipped to the end of the row, which was Anthony Sanchez's entry. His title really cracked me up, it read "571 Course Introduction, what's your function?" I couldn't help thinking that it needs an audio clip of "Mr. Roboto" playing as you read. Another humorous point that Mr. Sanchez makes is how the blog has gone "from high school drama message board to essential communication tool."

Finally, I added two news sources to my toolbar: Wired News: Technology and my favorite online newspaper, The New York Times, Technology News. In Wired News, I read an interesting article called "Selective Breeding Gets Modern" about how, in response to objections over genetically modified food (especially from foreign countries), "biotech companies are creating superior plants using genetics technology that is advanced but which falls short of grafting genes from one organism into another."

In the New York Times, I read another interesting article about how YouTube is going to sell main page space for video ads. It will begin by running ads for marketing Paris Hilton's new (and horrendous) CD. This article is interesting to me because in recent news, TV stations had changed their objection to YouTube and began allowing YouTube to offer copyrighted clips of their shows. I guess it was only a matter of time (seconds?) before ubiquitous adventising would follow.

Introduction to the Class: Heather Hawley

I received my Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oregon, where I majored in Psychology and minored in Women’s Studies. I am originally from the green state of Oregon, but have lived in the Tucson desert for two years now. Currently, I work at the University of Arizona, College of Optical Sciences as the student librarian in the Fred A. Hopf Library. I have worked in the Optics library, which is a special collections library (not affiliated with the UA library), for one full school year, plus this semester.

At work my responsibilities include using a Microsoft Access database which drives the information in the OPAC, I regularly update the library webpages using Microsoft Frontpage, as well as performing reference service for optics staff, faculty, and students. I am also responsible for the physical maintenance (upkeep) of the library, shelving books and library materials, cataloging (includes some original cataloging), and donor relations. After I graduate in December, they will be looking to hire another SIRLS student, so let me know if you are interested or have any questions about what it’s like working at the Optics College. I have learned so much working there, both about the library and optics fields.

As I have mentioned, I am getting ready to graduate from the SIRLS program; this is my last semester. Besides this IRLS 571: Introduction to Technology course with Professor Glogoff, I am also taking IRLS 588-794: Medical Online Searching, which is also a hybrid course. About half of the classes I have taken here at SIRLS have been virtual (online) courses, so I am not new to this format, but I have only worked with the D2L system.

To access my course’s online resources, I mainly work from home (although I admit to doing some homework at work when I have downtime, which is rare.) Both of these locations have broadband connections (I can barely remember using the old dial up, screechy and slow, modems!) My home computers are a desktop and a laptop; the desktop CPU is an AMD Athalon XP (I’ve never heard of this brand before; my dad gave it to me when he heard I was going to graduate school. He is a computer geek, so he souped it up for me. Thanks Dad!) The desktop is about three years old; the laptop is an Averatec and is about one year old. Both of these computers have Microsoft Office XP operating systems and are protected by MacAfee security software for virus protection and ZoneAlarm for firewall protection.

Besides my computers, I own (and love) the Motorola Razr cell phone, which has a digital camera, can take 30 second video clips, has instant messaging and of course, text messaging. I honestly bought this phone (or at least convinced my husband we needed to buy it!) to practice with these technologies and now I’m hooked. I also own an iPod mini which I used to listen to the first course podcast while I was stuck in the Pima County jury duty pool on Tuesday. I do not own a webcam, or PDA; nor do I have any experience with video conferencing.

I do have an anonymous personal blog (very boring, I can reassure you) but it’s too embarrassing for me to link to it here, for everyone to see. Let’s just say that it’s similar to a diary; I like to post random thoughts in it, especially when I have a raging case of insomnia. I do however plan to setup a Blogger account to keep a copy of this blog, so I can link to it from my SIRLS ePortfolio (since this blog will be deleted at the end of the course.)

My Skype contact information is: heather.hawley You are welcome to add me to your contact list for your Exercise 3.