Saving sore thumbs - Printing Files

Done! My left thumb aches and my thumbnail is black. Oh no, the message does not look right on the tablet.  The sentences do not line up and the whole message would look better if I turned the tablet 90 degrees. And I must make five more copies of this message. Back to square one and a lot of stone chipping. I will have to sharpen the chisel and carve out a bunch of tablets. I have a bunch of work ahead of me.

With Office applications, I can quickly change this with a few mouse clicks and the message will look the way I want it. I can change from portrait to landscape, line up the margins, and in the print menu, make multiple copies. From carving out stone tablets, scraping parchment, to having scribes copying messages and even using photocopiers, the digital age is a real time saver and physically safer.

As I progress in the technological journey, my stone carving skills can focus on artistic endeavors, and I can save my thumbs from errant hammer blows!

Communication Evolution

Spring has sprung, days are longer and warmer. Time to get the word out to break wintering camps, follow the migrating herds and head out. Now to send out the messengers/runners with the instructions.

Hmmm??? Now to decide whether to send verbal or written instructions. I hate writing since chipping out the message on stone or imprinting on wet clay takes time, but the runners may forget key pieces of information if it is verbal, what a conundrum. Plus, the weight of the tablet slows them down. Hope in the future, humans develop a better way.

In the 21^st century, humans now have a better way. Thanks to Al Gore inventing the internet 😉 and the use of word processing applications, getting the word out is so much easier. No need for runners/messengers, heavy stone or clay tablets and worrying about messenger forgetting key pieces.

I spent the past few weeks learning about how the internet works, breaking down files into packets, transmitting them and then reassembling them. Most importantly I spent the past eight weeks stumbling through the word processing application Microsoft Word. I learned how to create documents, use several types of lettering or fonts, format paragraphs and pages, create and modify tables, insert pictures and diagrams, and manage references. All of this can be done quickly once mastering the word processing application versus the stone carving, imprinting on wet clay, inking with a pen, or using a typewriter. Errors can be corrected and most importantly, the output can be formatted easily for visual appeal and then sent via the internet at the speed of light. Faster than any messenger can run, mounted on horseback or via airmail.

Spring has sprung, so as I sit at my computer, I am using my word processor to craft my messages, sending them via the internet as we get ready to move out. Humans developed a better way. The messengers’ feet and backs thank you!

Internet Protocols, that’s the key!

It’s fall, and I'm out on the plains, hunting and see a petroglyph of a few Antelope.  Over the next rise, I look out and see the herd.  We’ll be set for next winter.

Rock paintings, petroglyphs and cairns were simple methods to communicate water holes, hunting grounds and important information to early humans.  Simple and direct, the person saw it and understood somewhere nearby there was what the image communicated. Early rules or Protocols?  I doubt early humans used that term.

However, when I was told about the Internet, my neanderthal mind was blown. How did all those networks all over the world, in all the countries, businesses, schools, cities, universities and homes send and receive all that information?  The Internet follows a set of rules or protocols which determines how the information is packaged, then sends it across the network. 

As I learned, there are various types of protocols (rules) for information depending on the situation.  For example, for perfect data, we use Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), but it has drawbacks since it slows down the transmission.  For speed, we use User Diagram Protocol (UDP), but we can end up with missed information packets, which may end up with halting video when watching a streaming video.  For security we use Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) with a Transport Layer Security (HTTPS), which encrypts the data along the link allowing users to send confidential data without worrying about it being intercepted and read.  

So, this fall, I can hang up my spear, bow, and arrows, and don’t have to worry about looking for petroglyphs or rock paintings to stock the larder.  I can log onto the Internet using TCP/IP, use a website with an HTTPS address to order online, sit back and watch a streaming video using a UDP protocol and wait for delivery of the vittles. Hopefully, I don’t gain too much weight.  Technology!!!

Ice Age Safety vs. Internet Safety

Yikes! Roaming around during the Ice Age plains was a lot safer! If a mammoth was going to stomp you, you saw it coming and could duck out of the way, not so with the Internet. I thought I'd be fine with spear phishing, but it wasn't the type of fishing I thought it was. Oh well! This week learned about the types of various types of social engineering attacks, response and precautions you should take.  

After this week, I can safely face the Nigerian scams and the other Internet threats with the same confidence I did the Ice Age ones.

My First Technology Nugget

This week I learned how to use rules to sort emails in my inbox into separate folders, decluttering my main inbox. This is a real time saver.  I really liked the ability to move emails dealing with college events into a separate and move those dealing with coursework into others.  Using this function, I can focus on the class/coursework emails and review college events at my leisure versus scanning through all the emails in my main inbox an possibly missing an important class/coursework announcement or assignment notification.

This Tech nugget = working smarter and saving time!

Don Smilo: The Journey Begins

Creating this blog has been an exercise in patience and persistence, but it is up and running and I am able to "blog.".  This blog is a requirement for a college course I am taking at the College of Southern Nevada, IS101, and is my first ever foray into the "blogsphere." 

So, over the next few months, as I learn and adopt this new technology in class, I'll use this space to document my journey from an Ice Age Neanderthal to a functioning 21st Century citizen.