Meaningful Topics I Learned in CISB11

Julian Ortiz

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    This mini semester had gone by way to fast. I would have enjoyed being in the class a lot longer than the class actually is, only 6 weeks. Through these 6 weeks I have taken away various concepts and different types of knowledge with me, and as I move along with my life I know that these specific topics will be useful to me at a later point in time. The main topics that had specifically caught my attention, and particularly appeal to me in many different ways are that of; Application Software, Computer security and Privacy, Operating systems, and the World Wide Web.

    Learning about different application software was very important to me. Being that I use a computer in my life everyday, this is a really important topic for me to learn throughout this course. Before I had enrolled in this course I had never opened up Microsoft Excel. Some of our assignments were to create spreadsheets on research we had done. I was at a blank until I taught myself through common sense, and the books readings. This not only interests me in wanting to learn more about this program, but adds another weapon  to my arsenal of computing knowledge. We learned about the different programs and how to use them such as FronPage, KompoZer, Excel, even Microsoft Word. These programs are essential so succeeding in your career because many companies require you to have some sort of knowledge with the programs I had mentioned.

    Dealing with so many computers, it is also important that you have knowledge of computer security. You need to practice safe computing. This course opens your eyes to the potential dangers that are floating around the web everyday. You need to manage your surfing accordingly. Making sure you are not on a spoofed web page. Or even opening up some spam email that contains a link to another malicious website. If we are not careful people can harm your computer and have access to personal information. Keeping your passwords safe from others in your workplace, creating unique passwords and usernames. And knowing that the website you are entering your credit card information is on a secure web server with limited access. Keeping your passwords safe is the most important step in this whole segment.

    Microsoft is all I knew coming into this course. Before, all I thought about Linux was that it was an operating system that no one uses. Now that I have done research and listened to the lectures in class I see why some companies and other users choose this operating system. If you choose to go into the server industry Linux is something you will have to be familiar with. Learning the basics of Linux in this course helped me become more aware to the power of Linux and its open source code. I can take this with me to a more advanced course about Linux and be more prepared in doing do. In this CIS course I learned about the world of computers as a whole and not just about one Company.

    The world wide web being the worlds biggest WAN offers the world at the tip of your fingers. All the steps towards safe computing and security help me when I am using the world wide web. You can almost do anything on the web and this class showed us tools to take advantage of that. Specifically, I'm speaking about iGoogle and the personal Google Page we created. You have news updates, Email, Calendar, and Youtube all on one simple page that I created in 5 minutes. The Web is a very broad world and having the knowledge we learned in this course will help us navigate more efficiently, safer, and all around smarter.