Week 10- Muddy: Database Skills Track

Let's start this blog by saying that: "I Do Not Like ACCESS!" Well, that came out too strong and I once felt the same way towards Excel. Now that I have to use Excel for my daily life, I am used to the program and I actually enjoy using it very much. Access confuses me a lot, I can not see the benefit of using Access yet. It is still a very new experience for me to get used to. I also feel like Access is very similar to Excel, so what is the differences between the two? I am trying my best to be open minded when it comes to this program. One website that I found was very helpful was the Microsoft Office website.

Microsoft Access is a database tool that helps you understand your information and provide a easy way to access, enter, and navigate your data. One of the tool that I have problem understanding in Microsoft Access is the "Queries". What is queries? Queries allow the user to ask questions and being able to answer these questions. For example, if you have a data file with all the cell phone numbers you have on your phone. Input the criteria you want, for example female. All the cell phone numbers belong to a female friends will be listed.

Now my second question is when should I use Microsoft Access or Microsoft Excel since they share so many similarities. To decide which is the best program to use, we all need to answer this question first: is the data relational or not? Data that can fit into a single table of worksheet is called nonrelational data or flat. For example, if you are creating a list with data that can fit into a worksheet, then Excel is the right program. If you are creating a more complex list, then Access is a better choice.

Some Rights Reserved-Creative Common:Attribution 2.0 Generic

Now that I understand a little bit more about Microsoft Access, I hope that I can do good on my project.

Citation:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/using-access-or-excel-to-manage-your-data-HA010210195.aspx?CTT=5&origin=HA010264081
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/

Excel Project

The Excel project was a great learning experience for all of us. As we all know, Excel is a very popular application software. Almost all companies use Excel today to manage the company data, numbers, tables and etc. In this Excel project, it is consisted of 1000 subjects with 21 heart rate measurements from time 0:00 to 20:00 for each subject. Using the skills we learned from the lesson videos, we need to format the data according to the instructions that were given to us.

In the Excel project, we learned different types of functions that are needed to become an expert. Well maybe not an expert but having the basic knowledge to perform different tasks. We learned the basic structure of Excel, how to create formulas, the different functions and how to create the pivot tables.

The biggest challenge I had in the Excel project was learning how to use the Pivot Table function. It was a bit challenging for me because it was a new concept. I work with Excel everyday but I never came across using the pivot table. Overall it was not hard to understand as long as you practice using the function. I enjoyed doing this project very much!!!

Week 9: Clear- Moore's Law

Moore's law was a very easy concept to understand this week. The Moore's law stated that the performance of a chip will doubles for approximately every 18 months. This means that you can purchase a computer twice as fast with the same price after the 18 months period. How do we know that this concept is true? Well, let's suppose that you bought a computer 18 months ago or 2 years ago and compare it to the computers in the store today. Notice that the computers in the store today may have higher RAM, or better hard drive than the one you have right now. The difference is caused by Moore's law; chip, computer, and technology today improve their performance over time.

Will Moore's law last forever? Some said that Moore's law can not continue to last much longer due to the three interrelated forces, size, heat and power. These three forces can slow down and stop the Moore's law because as the chip get smaller and smaller, the electrons will get tighter. As the electrons get tighter and tighter, more heat will build up and eventually destroying the chip. Scientists and inventors will need to find a way to cool down the heat to solve this problem.

Some Rights Reserved-Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic

Why is it important for us to learn about the Moore's law? Dr. Means pointed out several good reasons as to why we should consider Moore's law as a very important concept. It is important for us to learn about this concept because the changes that can impact towards our businesses. The rapid pace of the computer's world can impact the way a business needs to be function. As the business managers of the future, there are several questions we need to ask ourselves due to Moore's law. How long will my computer equipments remind useful? How is this going to affect my capital budget? How many maintenance cost? and lastly, how many training cost?
 
I found a funny video about the Moore's law in YouTube. Enjoy!!