Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Internet. Show all posts
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Reading Notes #6
Tyson Internet Infrastructure
How stuff works makes difficult topics very simple by putting them into more common language. The Internet is a series of networks. You can connect with an internet service provider (we have Comcast at home) or a LAN. There are also different points of connection, like NAP and POP (Network Access Points and Points of Presence).
An internet router helps to send information from computer to computer, making sure the right information gets to the right location. Routers are common in personal internet computer connections, both wired and wireless.
The internet backbone was created by the National Science Foundation in 1987 called NSFNET and made of fiber optics, making the internet faster and able to handle a larger capacity for information.
IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses are in decimal format but represent a binary code that computers can read. There are different classes of IP addresses, but it identifies an individual user/computer.
The domain name system makes it easier to remember the names of websites, instead of memorizing their IP addresses. This way, a URL as we know it connects to the right IP address. It was created in 1983 at the University of Wisconsin. A URL is a uniform resource locator that includes the domain name, allowing users to access specific content, by automatically retrieving the IP address.
An internet server and clients have a static IP address, usually connected to your home modem, but if you dial up for internet, you are assigned a new IP address every time.
Ports also make the internet possible and HTTP stands for hypertext transfer protocol. I knew some of this information, but howstuffworks.com definitely explained the internet step by step.
Dismantling Integrated Library Systems
This article addresses the introduction of technology to libraries and its incompatibility with ILS, leaving libraries to either create their own programs or purchase new options. However, these programs can be expensive, but the author of this article maintains that compared to other library costs, it is more based on stubbornness of librarians' budgets than true expense. The advent of this new product has also led businesses who sell these products to reassess their business models. The "chicken and the egg" appendix/thing I think is the focus of his thoughts: do librarians or vendors truly control this market?
Inside the Google Machine
This video features a talk with Google's co-founders, Brin and Page. I really loved the earth graphic, showing people logging on to Google from all over the world, showing Google's international reach. For Google, power= internet= google searches. Visualization definitely helps one to understand Google's global scale, and the way in which information literally travels. Even showing all the search terms that occur in ONE SECOND on their slideshow was amazing. I think we are all aware of how much Google is used, but to see all those words together was remarkable. Google also has the ability to track popularity by location and time, which gives us additional data about how we as a social function. I also thought it was really interesting to hear that the U.S. is only 30% of Google's searchers.
They also discussed the Google Foundation and Google Grants given to other charities by using Google advertisements. He also mentioned Okrut, which I had never heard of, who wanted another social network, that sounds a lot like an early version of Google +. The innovation comes from Google's 20% policy, where 20% of an employee's time can be spent on a budding project they believe in, and this was how Google News was created. They cited Mendel as the inspiration.
They also mentioned "new" projects, though this video was filmed in 2004: Deskbar, Google Answers, Froogle, as well as physical projector enclosures. Google itself is really employee-friendly, from laundry machines and dogs! They even talked about how the Google logo changes daily and user-relevant ads, that keep the Internet growing and searching becoming more productive.
How stuff works makes difficult topics very simple by putting them into more common language. The Internet is a series of networks. You can connect with an internet service provider (we have Comcast at home) or a LAN. There are also different points of connection, like NAP and POP (Network Access Points and Points of Presence).
An internet router helps to send information from computer to computer, making sure the right information gets to the right location. Routers are common in personal internet computer connections, both wired and wireless.
The internet backbone was created by the National Science Foundation in 1987 called NSFNET and made of fiber optics, making the internet faster and able to handle a larger capacity for information.
IP, or Internet Protocol, addresses are in decimal format but represent a binary code that computers can read. There are different classes of IP addresses, but it identifies an individual user/computer.
The domain name system makes it easier to remember the names of websites, instead of memorizing their IP addresses. This way, a URL as we know it connects to the right IP address. It was created in 1983 at the University of Wisconsin. A URL is a uniform resource locator that includes the domain name, allowing users to access specific content, by automatically retrieving the IP address.
An internet server and clients have a static IP address, usually connected to your home modem, but if you dial up for internet, you are assigned a new IP address every time.
Ports also make the internet possible and HTTP stands for hypertext transfer protocol. I knew some of this information, but howstuffworks.com definitely explained the internet step by step.
Dismantling Integrated Library Systems
This article addresses the introduction of technology to libraries and its incompatibility with ILS, leaving libraries to either create their own programs or purchase new options. However, these programs can be expensive, but the author of this article maintains that compared to other library costs, it is more based on stubbornness of librarians' budgets than true expense. The advent of this new product has also led businesses who sell these products to reassess their business models. The "chicken and the egg" appendix/thing I think is the focus of his thoughts: do librarians or vendors truly control this market?
Inside the Google Machine
This video features a talk with Google's co-founders, Brin and Page. I really loved the earth graphic, showing people logging on to Google from all over the world, showing Google's international reach. For Google, power= internet= google searches. Visualization definitely helps one to understand Google's global scale, and the way in which information literally travels. Even showing all the search terms that occur in ONE SECOND on their slideshow was amazing. I think we are all aware of how much Google is used, but to see all those words together was remarkable. Google also has the ability to track popularity by location and time, which gives us additional data about how we as a social function. I also thought it was really interesting to hear that the U.S. is only 30% of Google's searchers.
They also discussed the Google Foundation and Google Grants given to other charities by using Google advertisements. He also mentioned Okrut, which I had never heard of, who wanted another social network, that sounds a lot like an early version of Google +. The innovation comes from Google's 20% policy, where 20% of an employee's time can be spent on a budding project they believe in, and this was how Google News was created. They cited Mendel as the inspiration.
They also mentioned "new" projects, though this video was filmed in 2004: Deskbar, Google Answers, Froogle, as well as physical projector enclosures. Google itself is really employee-friendly, from laundry machines and dogs! They even talked about how the Google logo changes daily and user-relevant ads, that keep the Internet growing and searching becoming more productive.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Reading Notes #5
LAN
I have heard the term LAN before, especially in terms of LAN PARTIES, that computer geeks attend to play games. Plus, sometimes it says on the bottom of Windows machines LAN Not Detected, or something similar. According to this article, this also includes ethernet, which I had not realized was a part of this local area network. Using this all through college before wireless internet was available allowed all students to be connected to the school's server/internet. Both ethernet and Wifi create this local area network among a specific group, be it a party or a whole university (which could be debated, is a party). It is a critical part of how we connect to technology in the 21st century, and I think most people who use computers and connect to the internet don't think about what a LAN is, or even need to know, until the connection is lost.
Computer Network
A computer network is "is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communications channels that allow sharing of resources and information." If I understand this article correctly, a LAN is a type of computer network, and there are also personal area networks and home networks, which can also facilitate DSL TV. A computer network allows us as users to send messages, files of documents/images, even making phone calls. There are campus networks, like I cited above, and other networks I had never heard of before, like a backbone network. There are also different configurations of networks, something I think as a single user, did not realize, including a bus, star, or ring network layouts. Routers and firewalls were also familiar terms, but I did not know anything about switches and bridges, devices that work "behind the scenes." A big factor in computer networks is security. This is a big topic that surely has its own wikipedia page that was not discussed here, and I can't say I am anything near an expert on that!
Management of RFID in Libraries
In this article by Karen Coyle in 2005, she addresses the use of RFIDs in libraries. RFIDs are radio frequency identifiers of a computer chip with an antenna that had contain information about the book as well as location. They are used in other industries, like livestock and warehouses, to keep track of many objects. The question in this article is its use in libraries. It could help manage large collections and tracking individual items. Anyone who has gone to look for a book by its call number, only to find out that it has been reported as missing, is very disappointed. Coyle cites circulation and security as two library functions that could be assisted with the use of RFIDS. It would be possible to know if a book had been checked out or just taken from the building if they were used. She also questions its "return on investment" or ROI of these devices. It depends, however, how much these devices make the check out process easy and placed on the user, so that a circulation staff would no longer be required, saving the library tons on salaries. However, the books would still need to be reshelved when they were returned. Coyle gives both pros and cons for this possibility. In conclusion, she advises readers not to ignore this new technology, and to see how it can help libraries become more efficient.
I have heard the term LAN before, especially in terms of LAN PARTIES, that computer geeks attend to play games. Plus, sometimes it says on the bottom of Windows machines LAN Not Detected, or something similar. According to this article, this also includes ethernet, which I had not realized was a part of this local area network. Using this all through college before wireless internet was available allowed all students to be connected to the school's server/internet. Both ethernet and Wifi create this local area network among a specific group, be it a party or a whole university (which could be debated, is a party). It is a critical part of how we connect to technology in the 21st century, and I think most people who use computers and connect to the internet don't think about what a LAN is, or even need to know, until the connection is lost.
Computer Network
A computer network is "is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communications channels that allow sharing of resources and information." If I understand this article correctly, a LAN is a type of computer network, and there are also personal area networks and home networks, which can also facilitate DSL TV. A computer network allows us as users to send messages, files of documents/images, even making phone calls. There are campus networks, like I cited above, and other networks I had never heard of before, like a backbone network. There are also different configurations of networks, something I think as a single user, did not realize, including a bus, star, or ring network layouts. Routers and firewalls were also familiar terms, but I did not know anything about switches and bridges, devices that work "behind the scenes." A big factor in computer networks is security. This is a big topic that surely has its own wikipedia page that was not discussed here, and I can't say I am anything near an expert on that!
Management of RFID in Libraries
In this article by Karen Coyle in 2005, she addresses the use of RFIDs in libraries. RFIDs are radio frequency identifiers of a computer chip with an antenna that had contain information about the book as well as location. They are used in other industries, like livestock and warehouses, to keep track of many objects. The question in this article is its use in libraries. It could help manage large collections and tracking individual items. Anyone who has gone to look for a book by its call number, only to find out that it has been reported as missing, is very disappointed. Coyle cites circulation and security as two library functions that could be assisted with the use of RFIDS. It would be possible to know if a book had been checked out or just taken from the building if they were used. She also questions its "return on investment" or ROI of these devices. It depends, however, how much these devices make the check out process easy and placed on the user, so that a circulation staff would no longer be required, saving the library tons on salaries. However, the books would still need to be reshelved when they were returned. Coyle gives both pros and cons for this possibility. In conclusion, she advises readers not to ignore this new technology, and to see how it can help libraries become more efficient.
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