Week 3: Muddy- Protocol

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Communication protocol was a difficult subject to understand this week. I found the concept hard to grasp and what threw me off the most were the proprietary protocol and the standardized protocol. My question is, "Why do we need both proprietary and standardized protocol?" Wouldn't it be easier to have just one type of protocol that everyone can use than having both proprietary and standardized? In my opinion, there is no need for proprietary protocol because it is very restricted.

From the class video, I learned that communication protocol is a set of rules that govern the communication process. The process starts when information/data are placed into packets. By using the Ethernet Protocol, these packets will each be labeled with header, payload and trailer. The header contained an IP address as to where the packets are going. By using the Internet Protocol (IP), the packets will finally arrive at the exact location as the IP address has indicated.

Proprietary protocol is when manufacturers create their own protocol and patent the protocol to restrict anyone else from using it. Business that uses proprietary protocol is limited to that specific vendor only. Standardized protocol is basically open source protocol that everyone is allowed to use and distribute it. Standardized protocol enables products from different vendors to use the same set of rules and it allows them to operate with each others.

After doing my research online (most of my information came from Wikipedia), I was able to answer my question as to why some users continue using proprietary protocol and some do not. Proprietary protocol software such as Skype was able to gain popularity due to it's free application and its user's friendly technology. Proprietary protocol such as proprietary instant messaging protocol is not used by many due to network incompatibility. People from other networks were unable to communicate with their friends due to this reason. In conclusion, many people continue to use proprietary protocol because it comes with enormous amount of benefits to their users.

I found a very interesting video from YouTube that goes into details of how network protocol works. Enjoy!!!

Week 2: Clear- Cache

What is cache? Every now and then, I see this word appeared randomly in one of my computer's files; yet, I do not know what it is or what it does. When Professor Olson brought up this subject, I was thrilled to finally have someone to explain to me what it is all about. Thanks to Professor Olson's explanation in the video, the concept of cache was fairly easy to understand.
 

Cache is a memory chip built into the hard drive to stores commonly use dates or files into the RAM. The modern computer recognized that those dates will most likely be use again. The next time when you need those dates or files, the computer will be able to process them faster. The cache will made copies of those dates or files into the RAM. When you try to access those dates or files, the CPU will first check the cache before checking the hard drive. If the file in the cache matches with what the CPU is looking for, it will bring out the file in a faster manner instead of searching for it in the hard drive.

 

After doing some of my own research, I found out that there are other types of cache. There are cache built into the web browsers and the computer's CPU. Cache is very important because it allows our computer to performs faster. In the business world, everyone knows that time is money. It is important for us to learn how cache works because we can now understand how some of our dates are available instantly and some are not.We should also learn about cache because we need to know that there are times when we need to clear out the cache memory. Anyone can go into the cache file to steal important or confidential dates that were being stored in it.


The YouTube video below helped me to understand more about cache. The video contained the beginning step of how cache transfer the dates from hard drive to RAM. He also have great explanations of the different types of cache.

Week 1: Clear- Binary Numeral System

In this week's lesson, I learned the binary numeral system that is use for computer notation. At first, I thought it was going to be a hard concept to understand.  Having no knowledge of the binary numeral system, I can only recall seeing the infinite sets of 01001010100001 in the matrix movie. After watching the binary video for the class, I can officially title myself a binary scholar.

Almost all computers are built to use the concept of binary numeral system. While normal mathematics numeral system is based on the numbers 0-9, the binary numeral system is only based on two digits, 0 or 1. Using the numeral system of 0-9, humans were able to use them for calculation, counting, measuring and etc. The binary system can be described as the computer language, it is used to store memory in the computer by only using the two digit, 0 or 1, that can represent numbers, characters, or even alphabets.

To understand the binary system, let us first review our most basic numeral concept of 0-9. By using 0-9, we are able to count 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. Once we run out  of all the numbers that we can use, we insert an additional column to continue for the higher numbers, 10, 11, 12, 21, 33, 45 and so on. Notice that the second column is worth 10 times the value compare to the first set of the digits. Once we get to the number 99, the rule will repeats itself to add another column and continue the same concept.

The binary numeral system has the same concept by using only two digits, 0 or 1. Imagine using 0 as 0 and 1 as 1, after finish using the two digits we make an additional column. The second column will be worth twice the value, for example the number 1 0 will be worth as 2. Due to the concept of (1x2=2), 1 is in the second column, which mean 1 is equal to 2, only a 0 will be needed after 1. Another example is 11 will be worth as 3, by applying the same concept, 1 in second column is 2 plus 1 in the first column is 1 will be equal to 3 (2+1=3). After using all the numbers in the second column, an additional column will be added given 4 times the value compare to the first column.

 

Table was created by Yasmin Yuen

It is Important for us to comprehend the concept of the binary numeral system in the business world because most of the computers are using this system today. Since our everyday life revolves around computers, it is crucial to learn the system that our computers are using. It is also a new way to look at numbers, we can look at this numeral system for inspiration for future creation of another powerful system. 

If you wish to learn more about the binary numeral system and prefer to watch a video for the explanation, please take a look at the YouTube video below. 

EXTRA CREDIT: Creating an Avatar

Hello Everyone! I decided to post my wonderful avatar for my first blog. The reason why I started my extra credit extra early is because I love this assignment. The idea of making an avatar of myself is so exciting that I couldn't help myself making one as soon as possible. Going through the list of sites provided in the instruction, I decided to use the "Face Your Manga" page. "Why", you ask? It is because I love reading manga and the idea of looking like a manga character is very attractive. The web page was fairly easy to use and I love how my avatar turns out. It started off with a very simple avatar (apparently bald). On the right hand side of the screen, there were tabs with different styles of hair cuts, clothes, accessories, and etc. that you can pick to apply to your avatar. After applying all of these features, I can happily conclude that I love my avatar and I had fun making it!