My Expectations for ICS3U.

The thing that motivated me to take this class was that I need this class if I want to accomplish my career goals.  I was motivated to take this class because I believed it would be essential if I wanted to become a computer programmer and work for companies that specialized in created computer programs, and computer based programs.  I was motivated to take this class because I took the grade 10 class the previous semester and I enjoyed being able to write my own code to make an application.  These reasons motivate me to take the Grade 11 Computer Science course.

This course helps me reach my career goals because I want to be able to work for the Apple Company in California one day.  What I want to do there is be able to be part of a team of programmers or designers who are able to create amazing Apple products.  So maybe I would be able to help program a new operating system or create a new editing software, something like Photoshop or iMovie.  With the help of this course I can get an introduction into the world of programming and it will help me get a head start on programming.  This course can also help me with Java to create my own games, so I will be able to design them, and also right the code for these games.  This is how this course will help me with my career goals.

From this course I expect to learn the coding language to JAVA.  Also I expect to learn how to create games, websites, and simple applications from this course through JAVA.  What I am excited to learn is how to create applications with JAVA and then use that information to maybe create a website or a game.  I also expect to learn the job opportunities that computer programming opens up for students and people looking for a career with programming.  These are the thing that I expect to learn from this course.

Brick On Blog

Learn more about this project
My assignment for the last two weeks were to create a game from a program called Scratch.  For those of you who are not familiar with the Scratch program it is a program that allows you to create games, and many other products are able to be created from using Scratch.  Scratch was a program created by students at M.I.T a such which is dedicated in the advancement of Technology.  So now I am going to tell a little bit more about my game.

My game is a similar game to the classic game of Brick and Ball.  The objective of my game is for the player to break all the bricks that are seen with the ball and paddle shown.  While using the mouse to control the paddle the player must make sure that the ball does not hit the red death bar that is on the bottom of the screen or they will lose the game and that means they suck.  It took me about 3 hours to create this game at home.  The sprites were simple to create and the scripts were common sense due to the teaching I recieved in the program and also I did recieve some troubles with the scripts but with the help of Google I was able to solve them.

Legal and Ethical Issues Concerning Internet Use

Hello once again my teacher has given our class an assignment.  This assignment we are to be explaining the legal and ethical issues concerning internet usage.  So I was given the task to describe legal and ethical issues related to the use of computers in these categories:

music and video file downloading

spyware 

identity theft

phishing

keystroke logging

cyber bullying 

Music and Video file Downloading
I will start off with music and video file downloading.  The illegal thing with music and video downloading is that you are downloading items that you are supposed to purchase.   Its affects society because since the material is not being bought and being distributed for free it may affect the stores because stores that have movies and music as the main theme of their stores may lose a lot of business because people would rather get free movies and music instead of paying 15 dollars for a music CD.
Spyware
The next topic I am going to talk about is spyware.  Spyware for those who don't know is a program that is put onto someones computer without their knowledge and what it does is secretly monitors their computer.  Also with this spyware some people on top of just monitoring what you are doing on your computer they can also get your personal information.  What is bad for you someone can completely steal your identity and start a life as you with all of your information.  This is illegal and is obviously not good when it happens to anyone.  Also it is unethical because it is bad to monitor someone who is thinking that they are using the computer privately and that their personal information that there keep on their computer is safe.
Identity Theft
Another topic I am going to explain about is identity theft.  Identity theft is when someone acts like someone else by taking their identity, they probably take the person's identity to get other stuff that goes with their name like bank accounts, money, and the benefits that come along with the identity.  Like rel-estate, accounts numbers, and passwords.  This is wrong because someone should not be able to steal your identity and pretend to be you and to be using your money.  Also is illegal because no one is allowed to steal someone else's identity.
Phishing 
Phishing happens when someone who seems like a reliable source but isn't and through maybe and email they try and retrieve your information like a bank account number and passwords, where you live, and other personal information.  This is unethical because it is a scam that tries and steals your money and personal identity.  Also it is illegal because the people who are sending you fake emails are masquerading as a reliable source to steal your identity and money.
Keystroke Logging
Keystroke logging is when a person without their knowledge is being monitored by what they are typing.  By this I mean someone is able to monitor what you are typing so when you are signing into your msn they can see your username and password being typed in and they can also see when you are opening up your bank account from home they are able to see every letter, number, or any button you pressed on your keyboard.  This way they are able to steal information like account numbers and passwords.  This is illegal because no one should be able to steal your personal information and they should not be allowed to monitor your personal computer or anything you believe is private.
Cyber-bullying
Cyber bullying is really just bullying but on the internet, or one a electronic device.  For example when someone sends hate messages to someone through instant messages thats cyberbullying.  This is unethical because it is wrong to treat people in a way that you don't want to be treated. 

Adaptive Technologies

My class receives assignments from my teacher every Tuesday and last Tuesday I received an assignment where I was supposed to choose three adaptive technologies and explain how they improve computer accessibility for people who are disabled or incapable of using a computer normally.
The first adaptive technology which I believe improves computer accessibility is speech-to-text technologies.  I believe that this adaptive tech is very important because it allows all people who have a microphone to use this tech where when you speak into the microphone and the tech changes the speech into text and outputs it to your monitor.  This tech allows people who have trouble typing and people who are deaf this speech-to-text will allows them to visually see what is being said to them which makes speech-to-text a very excellent adaptive tech to use to make computers more accessible.  Many hospitals use speech-to-text because many doctors may not know sign language so then speech-to-text makes it easier for the deaf patients to understand them.
The next adaptive technology i chose which I believed is a great adaptive tech is text-to-speech technology also known as the speech synthesizer.  Which is a computer program that is added to your computer hardware or software.  What the speech synthesizer does is that it takes any text, maybe from a word document, a blog, off of Facebook, or wherever text is and it converts the text into speech using an artificial voice it outputs the text to speech through the speakers.  This synthesizer already has pre-loaded words in its database which are then pulled and used.  The text-to-speech tech is an excellent tech because it can be used for blind people you cant see but can still hear and this way they can hear the synthesizer.
The final adaptive technology I chose was a ergonomic keyboard.  Which is an actual keyboard but it is designed in a fixed-split way where there is two groups of keys on the same keyboard but unlike a typical straight keyboard it is curved and at a certain angle to relieve muscle stress.  This is an excellent tech because it is wonderful for people who have muscle strains or arthiritus.
This concludes my choices of Adaptive Technologies.

Did You Know?

I have watched a video a couple of days ago called "Did you Know" and it showed me how the world was changing and I have answered a few questions about that video.

What is your overall reaction to the presentation?

I was very surprised by the results I seen durning the presentation.  This is because I had never realized how quickly the world was changing and how quickly technology was evolving.  When I say the world is changing I mean that everyday a baby is born and that baby is a new life and a new person who is going to help change the world with their ideas.

How does this affect you as a computer science/studies student?

It affects me as a computer science student because technology is changing and I will be learning about those technologies that are changing.  Also it shows us the advances of technology and students like me need too understand how everything works.  Also with the technology always changing I may not be learning about the modern technology being used but instead I would be learning about technology used in the past.

How does this affect you in general?

Since I am a person on this world and technology is slowly taking over then I should be worried that it may affect my future.  Also since I use technology and technology will improve our lives and make things simple and easier.  Also it would better our education and school systems.  Also it affects me because I use technology everyday even when I am writing this.

How does this affect your future?

Since I plan on becoming a computer engineer it affects me because since technology is changing that means new ideas will be used and that means more projects and more job options for me.  but also technology could take over and leave less jobs out there for other people making it difficult for people to achieve their goals but for the people who do manage to get jobs, technology will make their jobs easier.   

How will this affect schools/education?

I believe that it would make the education system better.  Since the school system would be enhanced that would me there would be more graduates from high school and university.  Also since the technology is more advance that would mean in schools there would be more academic competition for universities but meanwhile people will be learning more and learning quicker. Also instead of textbooks everything would be on our computer and it would  be e-books so everything would be on a faster internet service.