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I began this class this semester not really knowing what I wanted out of it, just that I liked computers.  Throughout the course of the year I’ve learned so many intriguing things.  I half way expected this to be just another “come in, do the work, go home” kind of class, but it doesn’t have to be just that.  Dr. Brown told us something that I will never forget.  The students make the class, not the teacher.   Sure the teacher can draw out a syllabus and plans, but it’s the students interactions and conversations with the instructor that make the class.

Some of the things we learned in class I had previously studied or been around in either high school or just in my own time, but some of the things would equal about 1/10th of the class.  I learned about so many things that I never even knew existed. It’s a different learning experience because it’s always changing.  The technology is always changing.  In most classes it’s just the students learning, but during the semester Dr. Brown was learning just as much as we are which creates a different learning experience for the class.  The activities in the class will vary depending on the relationship you build with the teacher.

From html to assembly language.  From theory to databases.  If you have any like or compassion for computers or just technology in general then you should love this class.  I would recommend this class to anyone who has ever been interested in computers.  However, if you aren’t interested I don’t think that this is the place for you.  It’s something that you have to like to want to learn.  The information is vast… and the work can be tedious and intimidating sometimes.  For example programming, and all of the trial and error that goes with robotics.  From the beginning to the end I can say that I’ve learned more in this class than all of my other classes combined.  If you have any interest in computers or technology I advise you take CSIT 1110 with Dr. Brown.  You won’t regret it.

Michael Wallace

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I’ve had personal experiences with virtual worlds from a gaming standpoint.  I used to be a WoW player.  From meeting new people and running dungeons/raids with groups of people to venturing out to do small quests with friends.  WoW is definitely a place where one can escape everyday troubles and basically live a second life inside the game.  The game can actually become quite addicting.  At one point while I was playing I found myself in a routine of hardly sleeping or even eating.  However I can recall a ton of good times I had playing the game.  I stopped playing around the time I started my first semester at PSTCC because I knew that if I kept playing I would be less likely to do homework and even go to class.  The games are extremely fun but you need to be careful not to play them too much.  Even the creators of World of Warcraft have said that it is “just a game”.  Although many people won’t agree with that statement because they believe it is more than that.  But in the future games will become more in depth than they even are now.  I’d suggest these games to people just because they can be fun, and it’s a new experience, but before suggesting them I’d warn the person not too neglect everyday chores and duties just to play.  Overall I can say that the time I spent playing the games I enjoyed more then not.

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A.I. or Artificial Intelligence is what society is moving toward.  Today a.i. shows up in common day things such as cars that can break on their own if they driver isn’t paying enough attention, refrigerators that can order products from the store when they are running low, and all kinds of other things.  As we move into the future I think to myself and wonder how long it’s really going to be until we have the artificial intelligence capable of doing all of the things that we’ve written about and made movies about.  I believe Dr. Brown made a good point when he said that it’s almost like we’re “passing the torch” to the things that we create.  I mean what could be more successful than learning how to replicate a human?  I can’t really think of anything that could surpass that.  It makes me wonder where the world will be in 50 years and who will still be in control.  Will robots with artificial intelligence just be running fast food places and building cars or is it possible that someday we may have a robot for a president?

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Robots are very fascinating “creatures if you will.”  Although I’m not too sure I can really call them creatures anymore with how lifelike they can be.  Robots are expanding and the features they present are being increased everyday.  Eventually robots will be able to do our tasks for us and possibly even replicate themselves into better more efficient ones then we could have ever created.  Robots are used vastly throughout our world such as putting cars together and all sorts of other things.  They have software put on them and then run those software programs over and over until switched off.  Then there are smaller robots such as the Lego’s Mindstorm NXT robots that can do small tasks like moving around or using a claw to grab something.  They can also be set to play music as they do these tasks.  Robots functions are growing everyday and I wonder where we will be in 10 years.

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Hacking… How this term has changed over time from one meaning to another is amazing.  It used to mean someone who was a master over a computer or electronic device.  Now it symbolizes an enemy of the economy.  To find out that Phone Phreaking was really the first form of hacking was a surprise to me.  I figured hackers started with computers, but to find out that it started with the phone system was interesting.  ”Captain Crunch”  When I first heard the name I thought of the guy was probably a nut case.  He is actually a very smart individual.  How else would he have figured out that a whistle out of a box of captain crunch could generate a perfect 2600 frequency, the same frequency used by the phone companies to register money being put in the phones..  It’s weird to think that the best network security people are the best hackers.  But as hacking develops so does it’s counter part, network security.  I guess they just go hand in hand.

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Week 8.. Scratch.  What is Scratch?  Well it’s an easy way to learn programming, that’s for sure.  I found it very fun to use the program and to play around with all of the features it offers.  From being able to send messages to other sprites within the program and make them do different things was extraordinary.

Randy Pausch must have been a great role model to many young programmers and people of computer science.  Although I haven’t seen any of his previous lectures I think it is safe to say that his last one is his best one.  As I watched the speech I began to realize he was directing it towards his kids more than anyone else in the audience.  For is last speech to be to his kids was a great idea.  I believe that Mr. Pausch was a great father as well as a great man.

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Week 7… Half of the semester is gone and I feel like there is still so much to learn.  This week we learned about databases such as SQL and we finished up making our HTML web pages from scratch.  Making the web page was a pretty fun experience although I had done it before in high school.  It was a good refresher on the information that I had forgotten.  However, databases was a whole new experience.  I learned about how powerful and useful databases can be for any company and how much help they are to anybody trying to find information.  I can only hope that week 8 will be as interesting as week 7 has been.

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This week we learned how to do basic HTML.  HTML is the language people use to create the most basic of web sites.  I actually had prior knowledge of HTML before we started this in class.  In high school I took a web site design class where the first thing we learned was how to use HTML and we built basic web sites with it.  HTML can actually turn out to be pretty impressive.  It gives people who don’t really know much about building web sites an easy way to create simple web sites that they can show off to other people.  Hopefully I will learn more about HTML then I did in high school.  It can be a really useful tool when you need to just add something simple in to a web page.

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As the title above indicates this week we focused on the Assembly Language Simulator or ALS for short.  I had trouble with the ALS and figuring out how exactly the simulator works.  However, it is a very good scratch written program and I think that with practice I could learn exactly how to use it and what all of the outcomes mean.

Other then the ALS this week we took a look into the lives of some of America’s biggest entrepreneurs, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and both of their companies, Microsoft and Apple.  I got to see how they got started and how they view their lives and opinions up to this point.  They are surely some of America’s greatest minds and have obviously been well rewarded for the hard work they’ve put into their companies and the path they’ve laid before them.  I learned new things this week such as that neither of the 2 actually graduated college.  They both dropped out and still became very successful people.

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I’ve been asked to assemble a computer and to put down the parts and links to the parts that I’d use to make this machine.  I’m going to put together a gaming machine because that’s what I need.

Case- Logisys Pre-Assembled Clear Acrylic Case with 3 Blue LED Fans

http://www.xoxide.com/xopacl1.html

I chose this case because it comes with 3 x Blue LED 80mm Fans, 7 Expansion slots, 4 x 5.25″ Bays / 2 x 3.5″ Bays / 6 x HDD, Drive bays, and has Front USB & Audio for convenience.  The case is also on sale for 25% off, so on top of being what I need I get a deal on it.

Monitor-  Hanns·G HW-191APB Black 19″ 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 700:1 Built-in Speakers

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254023

I mainly chose this monitor because of its size and that it was on sale for $30 off.  It also has a good refresh time on it.  It comes with build in speakers so I don’t have to buy speakers.

Mouse/Keyboard- Logitech Wireless Desktop MK300 Wireless Keyboard

http://www.walgreens.com/store/catalog/Accessories/Wireless-Desktop/ID=prod6038398-product?V=G&ec=frgl_&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=sku6036896

I chose this keyboard and mouse because it’s currently what I have on the computer I own right now.  I like the simplicity of the keyboard yet it still has many programmable keys for quickly opening programs and files.  It is also a good deal.

Power Supply- Sunbeam / CaseGears Black Steel 580W Power Supply w/Blue LED Fan

http://www.xoxide.com/casegears-blacksteel-580w-bluepsu.html

I chose this power supply because it is cheap and comes with a blue LED fan that matches my other fans.

CPU- Intel BX80613i7980X Core i7 980X Extreme Edition Processor – 3.33GHz, LGA 1366, 6.4GT/s QPI, 12MB L3 Cache, Six Core, HyperThreading, Gulftown, Retail CPU w/ Fan

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=9461&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=VRqCjC7BBTkwCjCECjCE

I chose this processor because it is the top of the line gaming processor right now.  It is currently the best, and every gamer knows that what you need is the best.

Motherboard- ASUS Rampage III Formula LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131666

I chose this motherboard because it has 6x 240 pin memory slots, supports DDR3 Memory, and is compatible with the processor I chose.  It also comes with SupremeFX X-Fi 2 on-board Audio.

RAM- CORSAIR XMS3 12GB (6 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model HX3X12G1600C9 G

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145235

I chose this memory because it’s compatible with my motherboard and it was on sale.  Since I am building a gaming machine it is also important to have a lot of RAM.

Video Card- XFX HD-585X-ZAFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ Eyefinity

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150477

This video card is top of the line.  For a gaming machine it is a perfect match.  It’s also on sale and as everyone knows it’s always good to save money.

Ethernet Card- Intel EXPI9301CTBLK 10/ 100/ 1000Mbps PCI-Express Network Adapter 1 x RJ45

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833106033

This Ethernet card has good reviews and was cheap.  It also comes with a 3 year warranty.  Very reliable.

Hard Drive- Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EADS 2TB 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5″ Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136344

I chose this 2 TB internal hard drive because it was cheap and offers tons of storage space.

Cd/Dvd Drive- HP 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 12X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM USB 2.0 External CD/DVD Drive Model dvd1270e LightScribe Support

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827140052&cm_re=cd/dvd_drive-_-27-140-052-_-Product

This CD/DVD drive was a good price and also had a good warranty on it.

Operating System- MICROSOFT E85-05683 Windows XP Professional Edition (Full Version) w/SP3 Single-Pack Bulk

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10010426&prodlist=froogle

Now that I have chosen all of my parts for the computer I will list the order I would put them in.

1- Put the power supply in, screw it in.

2- Place the CD/DVD drive in the bay, screw it in.

3- Place the Hard Drive in the bay, screw it in.

4- Carefully place the motherboard in the case and screw it in, and connect it to the power supply.

5- Place in the CPU.

6- Place the Video card in the slot, screw it in and connect it to the motherboard.

7- Place the ethernet card to the slot, screw it in and connect it to the motherboard.

8- Securely seat the RAM on the motherboard.

9- Plus all of the power up, Put the case back together and plug all of the wires in to the back of the tower, turn it on and install Windows.

10- Install the keyboard and mouse software then proceed to install all of the programs you want on your new gaming machine.

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