Viruses, Spyware, and Malware: What's the Difference?

Reading Reaction Journal #5  

Reference:  Rubenking, N. (2011, February 8). Viruses, Spyware, and Malware:   What's the Difference? Pc magazine. Retrieved February 27, 2011, from

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2379663,00.asp

Summary:

          In this article, the author explains important terms that are used every day by people. These are related to computer and internet field. For example among these terms are Virus, Worms, Trojan, Spyware, Adware and Rootkit. The author divided these terms into two groups; the first one was by the way they spread and the second one by what they do. Also, the author showed the importance of knowing the anti-viruses software and said that we should examine this software to use if it is useful or just fake.

Reaction

            Everything in our new life depended on the computer and the internet. Therefore, we should pay attention to the problems that affect to our computers and that may cause malfunction or allow important data to be stolen. There are many terms used to define these problems like Virus, Worms, Trojan and Spyware. I am very interested to know the details and how they work. Many months ago, I was responsible for a computer lab in my college; during that period, I faced many problems related to how to keep maintain the computer lab in a good status while all the viruses and other problems become widespread. I read many articles and tried many kinds of software to eliminate the action of this malicious software.  In this article, the author mentioned a very clear definition for most rogues' software.   He used very simple ideas to explain the dangers of this software. Truly, I like the easy way to explain any term to spread the information to every person who needs to know about the new problems. This article helps me to be refreshed on my information and to stay in touch with the newest terms in my field.

                                                

Portable GPS 101: Understanding FM Transmitters. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from

Reading Reaction Journal #4

Reference:  sciencewrap . (2011, February 2). Portable GPS 101: Understanding FM Transmitters. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from

http://sciencewrap.com/2011/02/02/portable-gps-101-understanding-fm-transmitters/

Summary:

          In this article, the author talks about one of the newest features in a portable Global Positioning System GPS, which is the FM transmitter. The author mentions the differences between a portable GPS and a built in car GPS. He shows how it is easy to fix it on the dashboard and connect it to the lighter to get the power. An FM transmitter which is located in the portable GPS will send data to the FM audio in the car. Finally, we can use the portable GPS in many cars because it is light and it is easy to carry.

  Reaction

            I chose this article for many reasons such as scientific and personal reasons. This article is much related to my field, which is computer engineering. It talks about the portable GPS features and how to transmit and receive the signals between this device and the FM radio car. The author explains how to transmit the signal from the GPS in a low power and in a specific frequency to receive it with the audio car.  These details are much related with my subject. The second reason is a personal reason; I am very interested in the new technology especially which interacts with us in a real time. Real time devices -like portable GPS-are very useful in our lives. The author explains many points that the people prefer about the portable GPS; for example, it is cheap and also no different in the work, with the highest price GPS which is built in the car .In my country, we use the GPS but not too much like here in the USA because of the bad situation and the government and the police every week are blocking a new street and opening the other one. If we need to use this technology in my country, we should update the city maps every week. And also we do not have a huge data base to cover the big city like my city. This article added to my information new things about how to match the GPS with the radio car to get clear audio guide to your road. Before this article, I did not know what the differences were between the portable and built-in GPS in our car. Finally, I hope to use this technology frequently in my country as soon as possible(in the future).

Teenagers, Friends and Bad Decisions

Reading Reaction Journal # 3 

Reference: Parker-Pope,  T. (2011, February 3). Teenagers, Friends and Bad Decisions. New York Times blogs. Retrieved February 8, 2011, from

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/03/teenagers-friends-and-bad-decisions/?scp=1&sq=teenager,friends%20and%20bad%20decisions&st=cse

Summary:

          In this article, the author shows the new study about the teenagers' behavior. This study focuses on the effect of the teenagers' friends on their decision and on their behavior when they become together. The researcher makes an experiment on three groups of people by examining their brains while playing a specific game. He checks the brain signals for all the participants while they are alone and when they are watching with their friends. After that, he compares the results in two situations; he found there is a big effect on the teenagers' decisions when they are watching with their friend; their decisions become more risky and stupid.   

 Reaction

               Before I read this study, I already had information about the effect of friends on the teenagers' decisions and behavior. But this study confirms this effect in a scientific way even when the adolescent not in the same room. It is very important information for the parents and all society. We should take care when we are dealing with teenagers especially when they become with their friends because they may be treated in a bad way by us. This study explains the bad behavior of the adolescents with their parents with them, particularly when the parents are trying to advise an adolescent in front of their friends.  Although I was very excited when I read this article, there are many points in this study I want to discuss it. First, I think the number of people who participated in this study was very small. Also, the researcher analyze of one specific situation. If we are looking for a perfect result in this study, we should examine a very large number of people in different ages and in many situations. Finally, the presence of friends in the lives of adolescents is not always bad; there are many adolescents who become more innovative when they stay with their friends.