I am once again at another meeting.  I will return tomorrow, but unfortunately, be away again on Thursday.  Today and on Thursday you will be watching the only movie that we will watch in class this year, Firewall, and answering the attached question sheet on the concept of "ethical hacking".  The movie and articles attached to the question sheet will act as a springboard for our exploration of computer ethics and digital citzenship.

We will be discussing computer ethics tomorrow, including hacking and security, as we start our exploration of networks.  If you would like to learn more about firewalls, you should take a look at this website.  

The last response on the question sheet will make a nice framework for an entry in your blog (yes, it will be evaluated).  Some of you seem to be struggling a bit with your blog entries, so I have included this handout to reinforce some of the strategies that we have talked about in class. 

Students are to use this period as a work period to

1) finish up their culminating project proposals (if they are not already handed in).  Some students might want to rethink the quality of their proposals, and resubmit.  Inferior proposals will have to be rewritten until they meet specifications.

2) Work on their blogs.  Possible blog topics include a reaction to the following tech stories:

Hard Drives Could Become Scarce

In Your Face Advertising Consumers Might Love

Blogs will be evaluated over the week, and comments will be provided for completition, quality and quantity of articles posted.

Students are also expected to have completed all assignments that have been given to this date.  If you need to use this period to get caught up, then do so.

Very interesting article on IT skills that are in demand.  All the stats are based on U.S. figures, but should be very similar to the situation in Canada.

We are finishing MS IT Academy Windows 7 Basic this week week, and I'm excited that Microsoft has decided to add a new entry certification (Microsoft Certified Technology Associate) that should be within easy grasp of most of the students taking TEJ this year.  Certifications are great ways to distinguish yourself in already crowded job market.   If you are interested, please see me for more details.

Today we will be looking at accomplishing two more goals:

1) Starting IT Academy, and working towards certifications in Windows 7.

2) Starting this project.

We will have our hands full, considering, most of you still have not demonstrated a dual-booting Ubuntu-Windows box (I would like you to show me that today).

Because of safety issues (I am away during this period today),  you are not allowed to work on your machines.  Make sure that by the end of Tuesday's class you can demonstrate the following to me (so you may need to come in at lunch on Tuesday to catch up):

-a computer formatted with two partitions
-dual booting Windows XP (w/ all drivers) and Ubuntu (w/ at least 3 programs that are useful in the classroom...you will need to defend these choices to me orally)

Today's job:

You need to keep updating your blogs without having to be prompted by me.  But with two significant tech stories happening in the last week, I would like you to chose one and respond to the event (article links are listed below).  Recap the article in your blog, expand on it (you may need to do some research), personally respond to the issue (ie. is this a big deal?, what could happen next? etc), and provide links to other websites/blogs that may provide more information.

How long should it be? Long enough to fully answer the outline listed above. 

The issue/the article:

Does the death of Steve Jobs mean the beginning of the end for Apple?

Will India's $35 tablet have a significant impact on the world of computing?

You also may want to consider looking at websites that specialize in technology, such as:

CNET
Engadget
Wired
Gizmodo

With the time is left over, spend time researching your Culminating Activity, and start creating a time line of events that will need to happen in order for you to reach a successful conclusion to your project.  We are going to clean up our proposals, have a brief meeting with me (each and every one of you), and then you will take your proposals home to have your parents "sign off" on them.  Remember...challenge yourself.  Also, DO NOT FEEL that you have to spend any money to have a meaningful project.

This will be the last day to present Emerging Tech projects for those who have been avoiding/delaying/stalling/sick/etc.  We need to get these out of the way.  I still have not received many of the written reports that are to accompany the oral presentations.  Please email them today.

We are starting Operating Systems today, and will be taking advantage of the class being the last period to start loading Windows XP on to our test systems.  We will also be discussing the role and functions of the "driver", and be collecting the needed pieces of software for our hardware from various sources (which may prove somewhat difficult given that our test machines are approaching 6 years old).  There are various shortcuts and pitfalls that you need to be made aware of, so please pay particular attention and take notes throughout the process.