Other Information Systems

Office Automation Systems

I found the other information systems. Basically it has two which is Office Automation Systems(OAS) and Knowledge Work Systems. For now i will explain just one of that, it is Office Automation Systems.

Office automation systems (OAS) are configurations of networked computer hardware and software. A variety of office automation systems are now applied to business and communication functions that used to be performed manually or in multiple locations of a company, such as preparing written communications and strategic planning. In addition, functions that once required coordinating the expertise of outside specialists in typesetting, printing, or electronic recording can now be integrated into the everyday work of an organization, saving both time and money.

Types of functions integrated by office automation systems include
(1) electronic publishing;
(2) electronic communication;
(3) electronic collaboration;
(4) image processing; and
(5) office management.
At the heart of these systems is often a local area network (LAN) . The LAN allows users to transmit data, voice, mail, and images across the network to any destination, whether that destination is in the local office on the LAN, or in another country or continent, through a connecting network. An OAS makes office work more efficient and increases productivity.

Office automation is intended to provide elements which make it possible to simplify, improve, and automate the organisation of the activities of a company or a group of people (management of administrative data, synchronisation of meetings, etc.

Advantages

Office automation can get many tasks accomplished faster, eliminating the need for a larger staff. Less storage space is required for data, and copies can be easily transferred off-site for safekeeping in case of fire or other emergency. Multiple people can be updated simultaneously in the event of schedule changes.

Disadvantages

Older staff members may have a harder time adjusting to the new technology and be unable to use it efficiently. Also, if something is "misfiled," it can be a lot harder to find. Other disadvantages include the amount of money required to implement and the cost of maintenance of certain equipment.

References
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G2-3401200109.html
http://www.ehow.com/facts_4842952_advantages-disadvantages-office-automation.html
http://en.kioskea.net/contents/bureautique/burintro.php3

System Information for Windows

I have found something interesting for me..beside information system i learn in a class like TPS, MIS, DSS, ESS and others. This is new information system for windows. This system give the information about your computer devices and system.

SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner.

SIW can create a report file (CSV, HTML, TXT or XML), and is able to run in batch mode (for Computer Software and Hardware Inventory, Asset Inventory Tracking, Audit Software Licenses, Software License Compliance).

The system information is divided into few major categories:

• Software Inventory: Operating System, Installed Software and Hotfixes, Processes, Services, Users, Open Files, System Uptime, Installed Codecs, Software Licenses (Product Keys / Serial Numbers / CD Key), Passwords Recovery.
• Hardware Inventory: Motherboard, CPU, Sensors, BIOS, chipset, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP Devices, Memory, Video Card, Monitor, Disk Drives, CD/DVD Devices, SCSI Devices, S.M.A.R.T., Ports, Printers.
• Network Information: Network Cards, Network Shares, currently active Network Connections, Open Ports.
• Network Tools: MAC Address Changer, Neighborhood Scan, Ping, Trace, Statistics
• Miscellaneous Tools: Eureka! (Reveal lost passwords hidden behind asterisks), Monitor Test, Shutdown / Restart.
• Real-time monitors: CPU, Memory, Page File usage and Network Traffic.

SIW is a standalone utility that does not require installation (Portable Freeware) - one less installed program on your PC as well the fact that you can run the program directly from an USB flash drive, from a network drive or from a domain login script.
SIW can be distributed freely (ftp, archives, CD-ROMs ...).

Client Platform: Windows 7 / Vista / Windows XP / 2000 / NT4 / Me / 98 / Media Center / Tablet PC / WinRE / Bart PE / Winternals ERD Commander
Server Platform: Windows Server 2008 (R2) / Windows Server 2003 (R2) / Windows Server 2000 / NT4

SIW (System Information for Windows) does not contain any form of malware, including but not limited to: adware, spyware, popups, viruses, Trojans and backdoors.

reference : http://www.gtopala.com/

Career Advice and Sharing in Information technology (IT)

    Based on the lecture given yesterday, we have found that there are bright future for those who are interested in IT job field even for the person who are not major Degree in Information Technology courses. Actually for your information,  IT covers a multitude of different jobs in processing, analyzing, storing and conveying information, whether that means working on the internet or the most difficult systems for such as guiding rockets. Graduates with work experience and strong technical skills will be snapped up first.

Jobs in this area(IT) remain a significant feature of graduate recruitment, and the long-term outlook is positive in global terms. There is growth in e-commerce, mobile telecommunications, networking and digital media and the use of databases have influence many companies outside in choosing the right workers.

Entry requirements for graduate IT jobs

There will continue to be exciting and varied opportunities, with competitive salaries and training on offer. Demand will continue both for those with degrees in subjects like computer science and electronics, and for those who want to start a career in IT without a related degree (like we in this class) and who can show appropriate skills in analysis and problem-solving, and attention to detail.

Increasingly, employers are looking for good interpersonal skills and management potential in addition to technical aptitude.

Graduate careers in IT

The most common first IT role for graduates is trainee software developer or analyst programmer. This could lead on to work as a senior programmer / developer, systems analyst or consultant, and in the longer run to a management position.

In engineering and defense companies, the jobs are more likely to be described as software engineering. Others jobs use specialized titles like web designer or database analyst, or focus on providing technical support and training for users. Some jobs are more business-oriented than technical, like IT sales and marketing. For me this is the right field for us that taking Management field but interested and in the same time having some ability or skills in IT area. Mostly graduates with some commercial experience, and those with languages, are highly sought after.

Sample of job for graduate in IT:

• Data analyst
• IT sales staff
• Software engineer
• Systems analyst
• Systems manager
• Systems programmer
• Technical / end-user support specialist
• Web / internet services designer

            We hope that this information will useful for all visitor to our blog. At least you all can get an image of what are the opportunities in this IT field that could interested your career choice in future. Do not hesitate to ask or share with us if you have something that could benefit to all our classes members,TQ! Source from http://www.get.hobsons.co.uk/advice/IT

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE (BI)

Business Intelligence (BI) represents the tools and systems that play a key role in the strategic planning process of the corporation. These systems allow a company to gather, store, access and analyze corporate data to aid in decision-making.

Generally these systems will illustrate business intelligence in the areas of: 

• Customer profiling 
• Customer support
• Market research
• Market segmentation
• Product profitability
• Statistical analysis
• Inventory and distribution analysis

Most companies collect a large amount of data from their business operations. In most cases, a company will either hire an outside agency or create their own dedicated BI group. This group will then gather information from inside the company about how well the company has been performing and where improvements may be made. The group then looks to outside sources, which may include public records of other businesses in the same sector, market analysis by third-parties, and customer survey information. The group may then dig further into specific competitors; both by examining their public information and business model, and in some cases by using an industrial spy to covertly gather information.

Although traditional business intelligence systems were delivered via host terminals or paper reports, the typical modern deployment of a BI application is over the web, via Internet or intranet connections. It is also possible to develop interactive BI applications optimized for mobile devices, smart phones, and e-mail.

Well-designed BI applications can give anyone in a company the ability to make better decisions by quickly understanding the various “information assets” (customer databases, supply chain information, personnel data, manufacturing, sales and marketing activity, etc) in the organization and how this information interact with each other, and once a BI system is in a place, a company can expect to find improved turnaround times on data collection, ideas for new business initiatives, more targeted marketing campaigns, a much more precise picture of customer needs and desires, and a strong understanding of how best to compete with top competitors.

As a conclusion, BI is more exciting if you have to humanize data using the right technology and digital tools, as Albert Einstein was once quoted, “Computers are incredibly fast, accurate and stupid. Humans are incredibly slow, inaccurate and brilliant. Together, they are powerful beyond imagination”, with the right BI you can empower your business whether it a small, medium or large-sized organization. There are still many people in the Malaysia who were completely unaware about the importance of business intelligence in making the right decision because the cost of wrong decision is becoming more expensive nowadays…….

Reference:-

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-business-intelligence.htm

http://www.informationbuilders.com/business-intelligence

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/B/Business_Intelligence.html

Decison Support System(DSS) used TO FACILITATE DECISION MAKING not to BEING TAKE AS FINAL DECISION!!

Consequence on Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Complex on 11th of March 2011

System Software            

RODOS (Realtime Online Decision Support System for Nuclear Emergency Management)

According to B. Van de Walle(2005) stated that, “RODOS is a software that firstly being develop in Germany and being used to manage support users in making decison in nuclear emergency situation.It is being develop following the nuclear accident from Chernobyl and it seems have cover all aspects to manage nuclear emergencies. RODOS as a computerised tool consists of various components to answer the many questions which might arise from the request of the decision making team. However, such a system has to focus on the needs of the decision making process.Therefore, the evaluation tool Web-HIPRE was recently implemented into RODOS providing support for the emergency management team in evaluating the overall efficacy of possible countermeasure and remediation strategies”.

Demands to and experience with the Decision Support System RODOS, 2nd International ISCRAM Conference (B. Van de Walle and B. Carlé, eds.), Brussels, Belgium, April 2005

It seems like RODOS is the perfect answer for managing nuclear emergencies and it considered all situation will happened if there any accident related to nuclear occured because it has take consideration on  accident happened in Chernobyl.But what we can see things happened in Japan gives totally different idea. At Fukushima Daiichi the third nuclear reactor explode and it gives negative consequense and effects not only for Japan but also to other country such as contry in America and Europes.

WHY IS THIS HAPPENED????

Actually in the building of Fukushima Reactor Nuclear Complex have considered on facing earthquake of 8.2 scala richter and Tsunami of 6.5 metre high. But what actually happened on 11th of March is they are facing earthquake of 8.9 scala richter and tsunami of 10 metre high.Although the reactor can adapt with the earthquake problems occurs when electric supply being cut off creates big problem in the complex cooling process.When the reactor over heat it release a wap and finally explode like what happened in three mile nuclear reactor before.

Source from Muhamad Samudi Yasir Rencana, Berita Minggu Ahad 20 Mac 2011

LESSONS LEARNS

From cases above Decision Support System helps the decision making in building Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Complex but DSS not fully considered what will happened. It trully goods in prevention where the nuclear reactor can adapt with the earthquake but one thing that the decision support system(RODOS) miss consideratin is to manage situation when electricity cut off.DSS trully facilitate decision making by giving option or direct way of making decision but futher research need to be made before final decison being made.

                Same in our life technology could gives benefit for us if being used in appropriate way. But as a person we need to used it wisely so it can continue to gives us benefits and wrong decision making made could sometimes will lead to FATAL!!!!!

10 Tips to avoid Identity Theft

Internet helps a lot in improving peoples everyday lifes.It faciliate people with better way in doing something such as information searching, communication, bussiness and others. Everyone has their own identity thats tells who own or use the computers.Although we put wrong information when signing up things( illusion of autonomy)  we can be detected by using our IP adress.However Identity theft grows along the improvement of the internet used.

A case occurs on 20 January 2010, Where a women(HalimatonDIn) was declared bankrupt following a suit filed by Bank Muamalat (M) Bhd against her for defaulting on her car loan although she did not makes any transaction about it is one of identity theft cases occurs in Malaysia.(source : The Star online) To avoid this our groups list out 10 tips to avoid identity Theft that is:

1. Only Make Purchases On Trusted Sites 

2. Order Your Credit Report
Your credit report is your window into your ID security. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act, passed by the Federal government in 2003, mandates that each of the major credit bureaus supply consumers with a free copy of their credit report each year.

3. Know How To Spot Phishing
Phishing is a technique used by identity thieves to get your sensitive information by pretending to be a site you trust. Phishing schemes are successful because you believe that you're just signing into your bank or credit card account, when it's really a ploy to get your important information. When logging into these accounts, make sure that you're not being asked for any information that you usually wouldn't be required to provide to log in.

4. Secure Your Network
If you have a wireless network at home or work, make sure that you secure it. A hacker can gain access to anything you do over an unsecured network in a matter of seconds. If you look at the documentation for your wireless router, you'll be able to find out how to lock your router and encrypt your information. It won't affect the way you use your wireless network, but it will keep intruders from getting a hold of your information.

5. Can the Spam  

Be very leery of "spam" (or junk e-mail) that works its way into your inbox. Not only are these messages often from phishers, but they can also contain Trojan horses (viruses) that can get into your computer and send your information back to their unsavory creators. If you have the option, install spam-filtering software (or ask your e-mail provider whether it can add spam-filtering to your account). Not only will this cut back on going through your daily pile of junk e-mail, it can also keep your data safe. 

6. Don't Store Sensitive Information On Non-Secure Web Sites
As more and more useful Web applications start springing up (like Backpack, Facebook and Google Calendars), it's important to make sure that you're not storing sensitive data on non-secure Web sites. While online calendars, to-do lists and organizers are really useful, make sure that your account numbers and passwords don't make their ways onto these sites, which often aren't protected the same way a banking or brokerage Web site would be.

7. Set Banking Alerts
Many financial institutions are beginning to offer e-mail and text alerts when your accounts reach certain conditions (being near overdraft, or having transactions over $1,000, for example). Setting alerts for your accounts can ensure that you find out about unauthorized access as soon as possible.

8. Don't Reuse Passwords
As tempting as it may be to reuse passwords, it's a really good practice to use a different password for every account you access online. This way, if someone does find out what your password is for one credit card, they won't also be able to access your checking, brokerage and e-mail accounts. It may take a little more organization to use different passwords for each site, but it can help marginalize the effects of unauthorized access to your accounts.

9. Use Optional Security Questions
Like with using different passwords for each account, it's a good idea to set up optional security questions to log into your accounts. Many financial institutions ask security questions that a third party wouldn't know, but you can often set up multiple optional questions that can increase the security of your account. Remember to use questions that don't have answers available by public record. For example, choose questions such as "What was the color of your first car?" over "What city were you born in?"  

10. Don't Put Private Information On Public Computers
If you're away from home, make sure not to save private information onto a computer used by the public. If you're accessing a private account at the library or cyber café, make sure to log out completely from your accounts, and never choose to save login information (like your username or password) on these computers

Tips Source : www.forbes.com

I WANT TO BE A HACKER

 There are two common perception by two different type of computer users when they heard about a word “HACKERS”.When someone is not very good in using computer,something going out in thier mind is ‘DESTROY,DESTROY,DESTROY’. Another groups is differents, they wants to be a hackers to get easy access to used software freely and to get something they wants not in proper way.This two perception are totally wrong and their perception is towards CRACKERS NOT HACKERS.

When you have an ambition to be a hackers you should follow hackers code of ethics, So your what you do will bring goods to everyone not to make worse.Down here there are ethics that hackers should follow..

Kevin Mitnick is one of the most famous hacker in U.S.

1. Hackers are usually very knowledgeable, usually knowing several programming languages, and are able to use a wide variety of operating systems efficiently. 
2. Hackers keep up-to-date on security related issues involving computers, and generally have a firm understanding of the more technical aspects such as TCP/IP protocols. 
3. For hackers, penetrating a system is a thrill, a challenge that excites the hacker.
4. The hacker enjoys exploring the system inside and out, searching for misconfigurations, bugs, and holes that would allow him to break in. Once the hacker has broken in, it is against the hacker’s ethics to alter any data other than the logs to clear his tracks.
5. The hacker has no desire to alter or destroy the data on a machine, his only desire is to learn more, hacking more difficult systems, and learning more about the operating systems, and files on the machines.
6. Hackers should never take unintelligent risks; hackers must know his abilities before he attempts something that could cause harm to a system.  
7. Hackers should not distribute, use, or collect pirated software

credit to :-

1. http://www.goodthiftshop.com/tag/hacker/

ANGEL HACKERS VS DEVIL CRACKERS

Nowadays technology has become  parts of our lives.Everything we do have technology.Technology meaning are very wide but in this post we will talk about computer technology. Improvements come to us to give benefits but there are negative effects also ig technology being used not in proper way.There are two main character to be introduce that are Hackers and Crackers. Below shows the different between those two. 

CRACKERS

A cracker is a person who attempts to break into a system by guessing or cracking passwords, by brute force. Most crackers are youth who are very malicious and get their laughs by destroying or changing the files on a computer system, and planting viruses that destroy or alter the functioning of a computer. Usually the cracker has very low knowledge of computer systems and their inner workings

HACKERS

Hackers are different, They usually very knowledgeable, usually knowing several programming languages, and are able to use a wide variety of operating systems efficiently. Hackers keep up-to-date on security related issues involving computers, and generally have a firm understanding of the more technical aspects such as TCP/IP protocols.For hackers, penetrating a system is a thrill, a challenge that excites the hacker. The hacker enjoys exploring the system inside and out, searching for misconfiguration, bugs, and holes that would allow him to break in. Once the hacker has broken in, it is against the hacker’s ethics to alter any data other than the logs to clear his tracks. The hacker has no desire to alter or destroy the data on a machine, his only desire is to learn more, hacking more difficult systems, and learning more about the operating systems, and files on the machines. After a system is hacked, the system administrator should be notified about any security breaches the hacker encounters. And finally, he should treat a hacked system as if it was his own, and hack only to gain knowledge, not to cause harm

• Now we can see the different between those two.But how two treat this two group.Of course hackers will get good place to everybody but how about crackers.Actually crackers have talents and should be used properly.Effective organization or country should provide proper programs to transform crackers into hackers. The program should add crackers with better knowledge and ethics that must be followed by every computer users. 

For more information visits :  
http://www.ex-designz.net/articleread.asp?aid=277

CCleaner - Optimization and Cleaning

arini kami nk bagi sikit tips kpd kaki2 online 24 jam ngan kaki donload movie.. apebila korang online berjam2 lamanya tnpa berhenti, maka komputer korang akan dipenuhi dengan temporary files, history, cookies, download history, form history,cache,spyware,link dan berbagai2 lg yang seangkatan dengannya dari internet.. bnda2 tu sume kalo xdibersihkan,nnti makan space kt harddisk..
contohnya : dekat sesebuah CC, average harddisk space yg terisi ngan bnda2 ni lebeh kurang 300-500mb sehari..so,kalo tak bersihkan nanti terjadila masalah seperti harddisk tak diisi dgn apa pown pun tapi full.. so untuk penyelesaiannya, korang bolehla gunakan program2 seperti ccleaner atau program2 yg sama fungsi dengannya utk bersihkan harddisk korang.
  
untuk download Ccleaner sila klik di bawah.. 
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD 

untuk tgk lebih lanjut ttg feature Ccleaner sila tgk di sini
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner 

sekian....wasalam

Credit to :- iwan - http://www.facebook.com/akulahiwan

Random Access Memory (RAM) type…

RAM is the type of memory your computer uses to run programs. It is not the storage capacity of the computer, but the capacity of the computer to keep open multiple programs at the same time.

Most desktops and notebooks use one of four popular types of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) for the main system memory (SDRAM, DDR, DDR2, and DDR3).

SDRAM (synchronous dynamic random access memory)

Above PC2100 DDR. Below PC133 SDR.

·         Single data rate (SDR) SDRAM is the older type of memory, commonly used in computers prior to 2002.

DDR (double data rate)

·         Double data rate (DDR) SDRAM hit the mainstream computer market around 2002 and is a straightforward evolution from SDR SDRAM. The most significant difference between DDR and SDR is that DDR reads data on both the rising and falling edges of the clock signal, enabling a DDR memory module to transfer data twice as fast as an SDR memory module.

DDR2

·         Systems implementing the follow-on technology to DDR, called DDR2 began to appear in mid-2004. DDR2 achieves speeds beyond that of DDR, delivering bandwidth of up to 8.5 GB per second. Frequently, DDR2 based systems can use memory installed in pairs to run in "dual channel mode" to increase memory throughput even further.

DDR3

·         The latest generation of memory technology, DDR3, began to appear in systems in late 2007. DDR3 is an evolutionary step beyond DDR2 and operates at lower voltages, thereby consuming less power, and can transfer data at rates up to 12.8 GB per second.

So secara umumnya DDR3 2X ganda lebih laju daripada DDR2 RAM, 4X ganda lebih laju drpd DDR RAM, dan 8X ganda lebih laju daripada SDR RAM…….

DDR3 ada banyak kebaikan selain drpd speed lebih pantas berbanding RAM yg trdahulu, antara klebihan yg laen ialah kurang penggunaan kuasa, kurang suhu oprerasi (lower operating temperatures), lower latencies, dll… Disadvantage DDR3 plak ialah lebih mahal, x compatible dgn socket DDR2, n memerlukan motherboard baru dan lbih mahal utk ia beroperasi…

Ini disebabkan kebanyakkan motherboard direka utk support satu jenis memory sahaja…so xleh la mix and match SDRAM, DDR, DDR2 @ DDR3 dalam satu motherboard yg sama,…diorg xkan berfugsi dan xkan fit pown dalam satu soket yg sama…..ok

p/s* credit to :  http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.aspx?qid=3773

http://techmblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/ram.html

                        http://www.ehow.com/facts_5013494_difference-between-ddr-ddr-memory.html

WHY PEOPLE’S PREFER TO USE USB FLASH DRIVE THAN CD-ROM’s or DVD

VS

COST EFFECTIVE
As long as businesses exist, then they will need good, cost effective marketing that reaches a wide audience. In the past, most companies relied on paper. They sent catalogs to all of their customers or handed out flyers. Then, companies tried to adapt to the computer age by distributing CD-Rom's and DVDs instead of paper products. The logic behind this transition was that people would be less likely to throw away digital media as this is clearly not the same as junk mail. Nevertheless, the smarter companies have been making the shift to promotional memory sticks. This is probably the best change yet.
The problem with CDs or DVDs is similar to the problem with the old paper products. People see them as clutter and dispose of them on a whim, often without even bothering to look at them. With USB flash drives this will never be the case. A custom USB flash drive is seen as more expensive, more useful and less disposable than a CD or DVD, so people will be hesitant to throw them away. Already, this makes flash drives a better deal than CDs or DVDs, since the goal is to create something that the average consumer will keep and view. After all, what's the point of spending money for something that people will just throw away?

DURABILITY
Custom USB drives are also more durable than CDs and DVDs, so even if they are carried around for a long time before being used, there would be no scratches or potential data loss. With a CD or DVD, a few scratches could mean the difference between viewing the media and receiving a message that the disc has been corrupted and is unusable. Even if people were to keep a CD or DVD with the intention of looking them later, throwing a purse or bag down to recklessly could ruin all of that.


REUSABLE
Custom USB drives are reusable. It's not a nice thought, but sometimes people want to keep the USB flash drive, but don't want the data. However, even to replace the data, customers have to plug the USB flash drive into their computers first, so if your catalog loads automatically, then they will see it as soon as their computer recognizes that it's there. Even if they replace the data, your brand name is still there on the USB flash drive itself serving as a constant advertisement.

WHAT ABOUT SPEED?????

Although USB Flash drives are more likely to be used by the consumers it’s doesn’t means that USB Drives are faster than CD or DVD. A research had been conducted to see which instrument are faster.

EXPERIMENT :  creating an XP SP3 USB boot disk for installation purposes

Apples to apples comparison (LEVEL ARE SAME)

 48X CD-ROM  ~7MB/s        VS      USB 1.1 stick  ~ 1.5MB/s

So From this case it shown that  USB  1.1 Stick is much more slower than CD’S. 

Credit to hazwan 

for more information please visit :- http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Computer_Hardware
                                                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive

Wireless Connection through Broadband.

There are several broadband in Malaysia that provide connect to the internet. There are Digi Broadband, Maxis Broadband, Celcom Broadband, Yes, and Wimax. You can view from this site and if want to get full information just click the hyperlink at the bottom of the picture at every broadband. Also we provide the information about specification broadband. So, the power of choose the broadband it is in your hand.

Celcom Broadband

For further information : http://www.celcom.com.my/broadband/promotions.php

Maxis Broadband

For your information : http://www.maxis.com.my/personal/broadband/tss/index.asp




Digi Broadband

For further information : http://www.digi.com.my/internet/broadband/packages_promo.html


P1 4G-WIMAX

For further information : http://www.p1.com.my/Highlights/Highlights_Promos_Landing.aspx

YES

Yes is the latest 4G broadband in the Malaysia.

For further information : http://www.yes.my/v2/say-yes/buy-yes-valuepack-68.do

My opinion is if you want to subscribe the low price but want the high speed the better broadband is maxis because the speed and the value for download data are bigger than others. My ranking for all broadband based on my survey is Yes, Maxis, Wimax, Digi, and Celcom. Yes is the new broadband that provide a better speed but the price...emmm for me too expensive for student. If the price suitable maybe many student have subscribe but according on my survey they must do the promotion to attract the customer. This yes has open two booth in UTM Skudai. One of them at Meranti and other near the CIMB Bank.

Thank you. See you next time.

LIFE ‘S OF SECONDARY STORAGE

Secondary storage had been used by computer users for along time ago. From time to time, there are different trend in using secondary storage. For example, Floppy Disk once is most common storage to be used by the users but now we can see now floppy disk is very rarely used and many new computers even did not provide floppy disk reader!!.  Down here we list out the evolution of storage that are commonly used by individuals to store data.

HARD DISK

Hard Disk is secondary storage that has in all computers.Its used rigid metallic platters that are stack on top of another, Hard disk store and organize files using tracks, sectors and cylinders.

Tracks – rings of concentric circles without visible grooves and divided into sectors.

Cylinder – runs through each track of a stack of platters to differentiate files stored on the same track and sector of different platters.

Very commonly used hard disk that been located inside system units is called internal hard disk and external hard-disk are portable and can be bring anywhere.in recent technology capacity hardisk storage has been developed to terabyte.

FLOPPY DISK

Floppy Disk use flexible flat circular pieces of Mylar plastic that have been coated with a magnetic material.Floppy Disk drives store data and programs by electromagnetic surface and files are organized and stored according to tracks and sectors.In  90’s floppy disk are widely used in company and university students.

Why floppy disk are very rarely used now???.... because it has so many limitations. One of it main limitations is its storage capacity. For example in 90’s students need to send two or three disk for a work because it storage capacity. ( If there are 200 students send their works, lectures room will be full of it) .

OPTICAL DISK

Optical disk  is very popular to be used by the users until now.It in optical-disc technology, a laser beam alters the surface of plastic or metallic disk to represent data.The disc is read by an optical disc drive using a laser that projects tiny beam of light on these area and reflected lights determine wheter the area represents a 1 or a 0. We can divided Optical Disk into three type that is Read only CD-ROM means cannot be written or beerased by users. Write once CD-R can be written once by the users but the data cannot be erased and lastly Rewritable CD-RW the disc surface not permanently altered when data is recorded.

Until now optical disc is continously used as the secondary storage and it has face certain evolution. Its improving for their capacity. First compact disc can only stored from 650MB to 1 GB then DVD discs can stored  4.7 GB to 17 GB on a single disc and now isBlu-Ray Disc that used blue-colored laser to read the disc that can reach until 50 GB.

For now Blu–Ray being used in high technology including in PS3!!... But in Malaysia the Blue-Ray Disk are not commercially used by the users and they still prefer to used CD or DVD because they want to avoid cost of upgrading their driver that can read blue-ray disk

 ONLINE STORAGE SERVICE

Nowadays internet are widely used around the world. In certain country almost at every places we can surf the internet.Plus, wireless technology put customer more on using the internet.Futhermore other secondory storage prone to failure and leading to data loss.There come asolution that is online storage services that allowed user stored their data in the internet and can acess their data when they want to do it.For big companies they pick specialized internet storage provider to backup their file and this still small amount individual users using this type of secondary storage.

Although in foreign company they are using this kind of storage but in Malaysia it still not the first choice for users. Only big company are using this but for individuals they prefer to use their own storage because of their mindset that said things from internet are not safe and can easily be hacked.Although like that it doesn’t mean that this storage is not develop in our country.For example they is a local company that provide internet storage that is afteroffice. The question is how long will it takes for this technology to be used widely like the used of USB flash drive?? For our group  it depends on the way government choose their way to provide which level of internet technology to be used by the citizens because government has power to control communication and technology to be brought to our country.Hopefully it is going better and better.

Diskette type and format.......

Before a diskette can be used to store data, you must prepare it by formatting it, although many diskettes nowadays come preformatted. Formatting creates the physical tracks and sectors that the drive uses to store data (called low-level or physical formatting) and the logical structure used by the operating system to organize that data (called logical or DOS formatting). Unlike hard disks, which require two separate formatting passes, FDDs perform both physical and logical formatting in one step. Also unlike hard disks, diskettes do not need to be partitioned.

The Quick Format option available in Windows and later versions of DOS doesn't really format the diskette. It simply "zeros out" the File Allocation Tables and Root Directory entries, giving the appearance of a freshly formatted diskette but using the original format. Because data on diskettes fades with time, your data will be much safer if you do an actual format, which does a surface test and refreshes the physical and logical format structure of the diskette. Use Quick Format only on diskettes that have recently had a full format done on them. Also, do not count on a Quick Format to wipe sensitive data from a diskette. It's trivially easy to recover such data. To wipe data, do a full format on the diskette. Better yet, use a wipe utility, or bulk-erase the diskette. You have been warned.

To format a diskette with Windows, right-click the drive icon in My Computer or Explorer, choose Format, and mark the appropriate options. At the command line, format a diskette by typing the command format a: /options, where a: is the drive letter of the FDD, and /options controls how the disk will be formatted. The available options and the required syntax vary according to the version of DOS or Windows you use. Type format /? to display available formatting options. Which options are usable depends upon both the FDD type and the diskette type. Some FDDs accept only one type of diskette, while others accept two or more.

To format a diskette with Linux, run kfloppy or gfloppy, the Gnome equivalent. Choose the appropriate size, filesystem, and other options, and then click the Format button. If you prefer a command line, mformat is convenient for formatting DOS floppies. The mdir and mcopy utilities are Linux equivalents for the DOS dir and copy commands, but with additional features.

For about a decade, the 3.5-inch High-Density (HD) FDD has been standard. However, you may encounter older types of FDDs and diskettes when upgrading an old machine or salvaging data, so it's worth knowing something about these obsolescent and obsolete formats. The table below lists the various diskette formats that have been supported on the IBM platform over the years.

diskette characteristics
	5.25-inch formats			3.5-inch formats
	SSDD	DSDD	HD	DD	HD	ED
Formatted capacity (KB)	160 / 180	320 / 360	1200	720	1440	2880
Media descriptor byte	0xFE / 0xFC	0xFF / 0xFD	0xF9	0xF9	0xF0	0xF0
Bytes/Sector	512	512	512	512	512	512
Sectors/Track	8 / 9	8 / 9	15	9	18	36
Tracks/Side	40	40	80	80	80	80
Sides	1	2	2	2	2	2
Sectors/Disk	320 / 360	640 / 720	2,400	1,440	2,880	5,760
Available sectors/Disk	313 / 351	630 / 708	2,371	1,426	2,847	5,726
Tracks/Inch (TPI)	48 / 48	48 / 48	96	135	135	135
Track width (inch/mm)	.0118/.300	.0118 /.300	.0061/.155	.0045/.115	.0045/.115	.0045/.115
Bits/Inch (BPI)	5,876	5,876	9,646	8,717	17,434	34,868
Media formulation	Ferrite	Ferrite	Cobalt	Cobalt	Cobalt	Barium
Coercivity (Oersteds)	300 / 300	300 / 300	600	600	720	750
Sectors/Cluster	1	2	1	2	1	2
FAT type	12-bit	12-bit	12-bit	12-bit	12-bit	12-bit
FAT length (Sectors)	1 / 2	1 / 2	7	3	9	9
Root directory (Sectors)	4 / 4	7 / 7	14	7	14	15
Root directory entries	64 / 64	112 / 112	224	112	224	240

In addition to the standard formats described above, Microsoft has used the proprietary DMF (Distribution Media Format) for some distribution diskettes. DMF increases the capacity of a standard high-density 3.5-inch diskette by reducing the inter-sector gap to allow 21 sectors/track rather than the standard 18 sectors/track, thereby expanding capacity to a true 1.64 MB (usually called 1.68, 1.7, or 1.72 MB).

On most systems, you cannot read data from or write data to DMF diskettes directly because DIR, DISKCOPY, and other standard disk utilities do not recognize DMF. In fact, attempting to use DISKCOPY to copy a DMF diskette not only yields an unreadable target diskette, but also may actually damage the DMF source diskette. DMF diskettes are readable only by Setup and other Microsoft utilities designed to work with CAB files (the compressed Cabinet files used for software distribution), as well as by some third-party utilities such as WinZip (http://www.winzip.com), which allows you to extract data directly from compressed CAB files, and WinImage (http://www.winimage.com), which allows you to format and copy DMF diskettes directly.

Fortunately, most software is now distributed on CD or DVD discs, so DMF diskettes are seldom used nowadays. We say fortunately because in our experience DMF diskettes are much more likely than standard 1.44 MB diskettes to generate read errors. We have frequently found DMF diskettes that were unreadable straight out of the box, and a DMF diskette that is several years old is very likely to be unreadable. A standard diskette was simply never intended to store that much data.

If you encounter an unreadable DMF diskette, we recommend using WinImage to attempt to extract the CAB files manually to the hard disk. If one FDD consistently generates read errors, the diskette may be readable on a different drive, at least well enough to let you extract the CAB files.

Article published by Peter Kukielka year 2006 month 08