Technology is MMGood

Algorithmic design and data structure techniques are fundamental to developing organized and maintainable software programs. For those new to programming, it's important to understand these concepts and how to apply them effectively. Algorithms are "a process or set of rules to be followed in calculations or other problem-solving operations, especially by a computer." (Oxford Languages, n.d., n.p.) Some algorithms are more efficient than others and, depending on the problem and the input data, a sorting algorithm that works well for small lists may not be suitable for larger datasets. Data structures are used to store and organize data efficiently. The choice of data structure depends on the type of data and the operations you need to perform on that data. Common data structures include arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, and hash tables, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. To apply algorithmic design and data structure techniques, you must first thorough...

Installing Java on my machine was, shall we say, a challenge. I installed JDK 21 multiple times, but no matter how many times I executed the downloaded file, or restarted my machine, it would not show up as a program in my start menu. JRE 8 installed with no issue at all, but when I downloaded Eclipse, JRE 8 was not recognized by the IDE. I uninstalled everything and started over. This time I downloaded the executable file for JDK 17 for Windows from  https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/downloads/#java17  and followed the installation instructions step-by-step from  https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/17/install/installation-jdk-microsoft-windows-platforms.html#GUID-DAF345BA-B3E7-4CF2-B87A-B6662D691840 . I still wasn't sure if it had downloaded correctly because Eclipse still didn't want to find the JDK. So I uninstalled Eclipse again and downloaded NetBeans instead. Lo and behold...SUCCESS! Using the Hello World! tutorial at  https://docs.oracle.com/javase/t...

     In today’s age of computers and the prevalence of their use in our daily lives - both personal and professionally - it is more important than ever to make sure we safeguard our data.      In our ping command exercise, we used the requests to test the number of packets sent across a network. “Normally, ping requests are used to test the connectivity of two computers by measuring the round-trip time from when an ICMP echo request is sent to when an ICMP echo reply is received.” (imperva, n.d., n.p.) Ping commands can also be used to launch a Denial of Service attack by overloading the target network with request packets, which consumes bandwidth and slows the target network considerably.      To launch the attack, the attacker needs to know the target’s IP address and needs to have access to more bandwidth than the target network. Distributed Denial of Service attacks through a botnet work better just a ping flood alone as it is coming fro...

     Although I have very little experience with the construction industry, I have lived in some extremely old houses that were built before modern tools and computer blueprints - with hand-hewn beams and wooden pegs instead of nails.      In a 1983 article by Murray A. Muspratt, he states “The impact of computers on the construction industry can occur during design, fabrication, and construction; this impact must be evaluated in terms of cost, speed, reliability, versatility, convenience, and user acceptance.” (Muspratt, M.A., 1983, 14(3), 45–52) He also noted the increasing use of computers as the prices of hardware had “decreased exponentially”. With the decrease in cost came an increase in the use of technology in the industry to the point where now, everything relies on technology and computers.      “By automating tasks, reducing costs, and increasing accuracy, technology is changing the way construction projects are managed.” (Boesch, ...

     This topic really brings me back to my roots. When I first started out in my job 22 years ago, most of what I did was in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access. Although I still use Word and Excel extensively, I don’t get to use the others much, if at all, anymore.      In documenting a day in my life, I found the most appropriate software to be either Excel or Word. Listing the tasks I most often perform each day and the amount of time I do each of them worked well in Excel and being able to add in the pie chart to show the breakdown is a great visual. Word allowed me to describe each of the tasks more thoroughly.      PowerPoint was a bit more challenging as it felt repetitive and simplistic compared to the others, but I do understand the point of it and PowerPoint definitely has its benefits for demonstrating things on screen.      We didn’t really use a database application on this assignment, but most of the software that...

     In addition to Google.com, I chose to ping and traceroute CentralBank.ie (Ireland) and WordlStandards.eu (Europe). Ping Activity      For Google, there were four packets sent as well as four packets received, none were lost. Response speed ranged from 43 to 107 milliseconds with the average being 63 milliseconds. Central Bank also had both four packets sent and received with none lost. Response speed for this one ranged from 49 to 58 milliseconds with the average being 53 milliseconds. Lastly, the ping on WorldStandards also resulted in four packets both sent and received with no loss. Response speed for World Standards ranged from 116 to 119 milliseconds with the average being 117 milliseconds. Traceroute Activity      None of the sites failed before reaching their destinations, but there was a lot of time outs, especially with the foreign sites. With Google, the traceroute travelled through 11 routers with two timing out before reach...

     The app that I've chosen is TAP The App, which is an app I use frequently for my pool team. It is designed to not only track your statistics as a competitive player, but also to do live scoring during matches. When scoring, there are a variety of options to choose from based on the play made by the shooter; the options chosen then feed into the stats for the player. If a player is on both an 8-ball and 9-ball team, they can see their combined stats for both teams or they can break them out for one type of play over the other.      Something I would add to the app, if I could, is a random coin flip so we don't have to search for a quarter before every match. Every Tuesday and Thursday you can bet on being asked if you have a coin--you'd think we'd learn to keep one in one of our cases, but alas...      One thing I don't like about the app is some screens work just fine if you are holding your phone normally, but some need to have the phon...