THE USE OF ICT FUNCTION

Functions Of ICT

The functions of ICT which may be taught or used	The effectiveness of ICT towards achieving teaching and learning objectives	The learning skills which the children develop
Speed/automatic functions Cut/copy/paste Word bank/spell check Sizing/positioning of text/image Formulae Graphing	Allows children to work faster, complete more; to concentrate on the learning (i.e. focus on the content); to show understanding concepts.	Critical reading. Explaining ideas. Reasoning.
Capacity and range of information. Knowing where to look, what to use. Search techniques Selecting/critical reading	Access to historical, recent or immediate information; requires children to make informed decisions.	Co-operative working. Awareness of others. Problem solving.
Provisional nature of information. Adding/deleting/replacing text or images Reorganising text or images Changing font, size, colour Drafts	Encourages children to think of their audience; to understand the impact of presentation.	Self confidence. Independent learning.
Interactivity Moving text/images Responding to sound, images Responding to other people's work (email/internet) Making choices	Allows the children to engage in the task, explore models; provides a wider audience for children's work; is motivational.	Consideration of audience. How presentation can affect the way in which others perceive work.

INTERNET SECURITY

When a computer connects to a network and begins communicating with others, it is taking a risk. Internet security involves the protection of a computer's internet account and files from intrusion of an unknown user.^[1] Basic security measures involve protection by well selected passwords, change of file permissions and back up of computer's data.

Security concerns are in some ways peripheral to normal business working, but serve to highlight just how important it is that business users feel confident when using IT systems. Security will probably always be high on the IT agenda simply because cyber criminals know that a successful attack is very profitable. This means they will always strive to find new ways to circumvent IT security, and users will consequently need to be continually vigilant. Whenever decisions need to be made about how to enhance a system, security will need to be held uppermost among its requirements.

Internet security professionals should be fluent in the four major aspects:

• Penetration testing
  
• Intrusion Detection
  
• Incidence Response
  
• Legal / Audit Compliance
  

Anti-virus

For more details on this topic, see Malware.

Some apparently useful programs also contain features with hidden malicious intent. Such programs are known as Malware, Viruses, Trojans, Worms, Spyware and Bots.

• Malware is the most general name for any malicious software designed for example to infiltrate, spy on or damage a computer or other programmable device or system of sufficient complexity, such as a home or office computer system, network, mobile phone, PDA, automated device or robot.
  
• Viruses are programs which are able to replicate their structure or effect by integrating themselves or references to themselves, etc into existing files or structures on a penetrated computer. They usually also have a malicious or humorous payload designed to threaten or modify the actions or data of the host device or system without consent. For example by deleting, corrupting or otherwise hiding information from its owner.
  
• Trojans (Trojan Horses are programs which may pretend to do one thing, but in reality steal information, alter it or cause other problems on a such as a computer or programmable device / system. Trojans can be hard to detect.
  
• Spyware includes programs that surreptitiously monitor keystrokes, or other activity on a computer system and report that information to others without consent.
  
• Worms are programs which are able to replicate themselves over a (possibly extensive) computer network, and also perform malicious acts that may ultimately affect a whole society / economy.
  
• Bots are programs that take over and use the resources of a computer system over a network without consent, and communicate those results to others who may control the Bots.
  

The above concepts overlap and they can obviously be combined. The terminology is evolving.

Antivirus programs and Internet security programs are useful in protecting a computer or programmable device / system from malware.

Such programs are used to detect and usually eliminate viruses. Anti-virus software can be purchased or downloaded via the internet. Care should be taken in selecting anti-virus software, as some programs are not as effective as others in finding and eliminating viruses or malware. Also, when downloading anti-virus software from the Internet, one should be cautious as some websites say they are providing protection from viruses with their software, but are really trying to install malware on your computer by disguising it as something else.

Anti-spyware

For more details on this topic, see Malware.

There are two major kinds of threats in relation to spyware:

Spyware collects and relays data from the compromised computer to a third-party.

Adware automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements. Some types of adware are also spyware and can be classified as privacy-invasive software. Adware often are integrated with other software.

Email Security

A significant part of the Internet, E-mail encryption is an important subset of this topic.

Browser choice

Almost 70% of the browser market is occupied by Internet Explorer[1]

 As a result, malware writers often exploit Internet Explorer. Often malware exploit ActiveX vulnerabilities. Internet Explorer market share is continuously dropping (as of 2009; see list of web browsers for statistics) as users switch to other browsers, most notably Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome.

Buffer overflow attacks

For more details on this topic, see Buffer overflow.

A buffer overflow is an attack that could be used by a hacker to get full system access through various methods. It is similar to "Brute Forcing" a computer in that it sends an immense attack to the victim computer until it cracks. Most internet security solutions today lack sufficient protection against these types of attacks.

Source : Wikipedia

DEFINISI V I R U S

VIRUS

 

Istilah virus komputer bukanlah suatu yang asing apabila kita bercerita tentang teknologi komputer. Ia berkembang pesat seiring dengan kepantasan teknologi komputer itu sendiri. Virus komputer merupakan program ciptaan manusia yang dicipta dengan tujuan untuk melakukan kemusnahan atau kerosakan kepada sistem komputer.Virus diprogramkan untuk melakukan pelbagai perkara seperti memusnahkan fail maklumat atau fail sistem komputer, menyesakkan kandungan cakera keras dengan bertindak membuat salinan yang banyak pada setiap fail yang dijangkiti, memformat cakera keras dan banyak lagi.

 

Untuk dikategorikan sebagai virus, ia mesti memenuhi 2 kriteria. Pertama, ia mesti boleh menjalankan dirinya sendiri dengan menempatkan kodnya dalam program lain. Kedua,  program itu mesti boleh melakukan percambahan sendiri dengan menggantikan fail komputer sedia ada dengan fail yang dijangkiti virus.Terdapat juga virus yang diprogramkan untuk bertindak pada masa atau hari tertentu; yang telah ditetapkan oleh penciptanya. Contohnya ialah virus Michelangelo yang menyebabkan kemusnahaan amat besar pada tahun 1991. Ia diprogramkan untuk aktif pada hari lahir pencipta virus tersebut. Komputer yang telah dijangkiti virus ini akan menyebabkan cakera keras komputer tersebut diformat; apabila komputer tersebut dihidupkan pada tarikh hari lahir penciptanya.

 

Terdapat banyak cara virus boleh merebak atau menjangkiti komputer lain. Contohnya melalui perkongsian penggunaan disket atau pen drive yang telah dijangkiti virus, perkongsian fail dalam rangkaian, melalui emel (biasanya disertakan melalui attachment), dari program @ perisian yang dimuatturun  melalui internet dan tidak terkecuali melalui ruang chat seperti mIRC. Oleh itu, amat penting bagi sesebuah komputer mempunyai perisian antivirus bagi menangkis ancaman virus komputer. Pastikan perisian antivirus itu selalu dikemaskini
secara kerap dan berterusan. Selain itu, pastikan perisian antivirus anda boleh mengimbas emel dan laman web semasa melayari internet.

Tambahkan lagi keselamatan komputer anda dengan memasang perisian Firewall bagi menghalang capaian yang tidak dibenarkan kepada komputer anda.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GOOGLE AND YAHOO

The Real Difference Between Google and Yahoo

By Gerry McGovern Published Aug 17, 2009

Yahoo's customer is the advertiser. Google's customer is you and me. That's why Google has been more successful.

"We have never been a search company," Carol Bartz, Yahoo's chief executive told the New York Times in August 2009. "Search was Yahoo's origin story," stated Danny Sullivan, a search engine expert who has followed the search industry since its early days. "To say Yahoo was never a search engine is like saying Superman wasn't originally from Krypton or that Spider-Man was never bitten by a spider."

I fully agree with Danny Sullivan. Yahoo started off in 1994 as a search directory. Its job was to help people find stuff on the Web and that was its main purpose for many years. Search is certainly what made Yahoo popular. "Yahoo, it's more like a huge library or archive," Jerry Yang told Fortune magazine in 2000.

Carol Bartz saying that Yahoo was never a search company is like a defeated army saying that they never wanted to win the war anyway. In fact, they didn't even think they were fighting a war. So now that Yahoo has lost the war with Google, now that it has grown beyond its original purpose of being a search company, what does it want to be?

According to the New York Times article, "The biggest thing for Yahoo is increasing the number of pages people consume and slapping as many display ads as possible across those pages. "My fortunes are tied to my pages," Ms. Bartz said.

This logic is why Yahoo lost to Google in the first place. At some stage Yahoo began to put the advertiser first. It stopped seeing customers as people it needed to help find what they wanted quickly. It fell into the trap of sticky marketing-keep them on the site as long as possible, show them as many ads as possible.

The Yahoo homepage started off as a straightforward directory of the Web and for many years it stayed like that. However, sometime after 2000 it began to get more and more complicated and advertiser-focused. By 2004, there were 255 links on the Yahoo homepage. It had reached a stage of massive, overbearing clutter and pushiness.

"It had nothing to do with the user, but what Yahoo wanted the user to do," Yahoo's Tapan Bhat, senior vice president of Integrated Consumer Experiences told the Wall Street Journal in July 2008.

However, Yahoo did try to refocus. By 2006, there were about 170 links on the homepage. By 2007 it was down to about 140, by 2008 about 120 and by 2009 about 100.

This is the age of customer power, customer control, customer dominance. Today, the customer is not king; the customer is dictator. Google, so far, has put the needs of the customer, not the advertiser, first.

Yahoo and Google have the same advertising revenue model. However, Google isn't focused on increasing page views and ad placements but rather on increasing relevance. It is focused on making ads useful.

In reality, Google is not a search engine; it's a time saving device.

About the Author

Gerry McGovern, a content management author and consultant, has spoken, written and consulted extensively on writing for the web and web content management issues since 1994.

SEARCH ENGINE

Exactly what is a search engine? Basically, a search engine is a software program that searches for sites based on the words that you designate as search terms. Search engines look through their own databases of information in order to find what it is that you are looking for.

Are Search Engines and Directories The Same Thing?

Search engines and directories are not the same thing; although the term "search engine" often is used interchangeably. Search engines automatically create web site listings by using spiders that "crawl" web pages, index their information, and optimally follows that site's links to other pages. Spiders return to already-crawled sites on a pretty regular basis in order to check for updates or changes, and everything that these spiders find goes into the search engine database. To learn more about what a subject directory is, read my article titled What is a Web Directory.

How Do Search Engines Work?

Please note: search engines are not simple. They include incredibly detailed processes and methodologies, and are updated all the time. This is a bare bones look at how search engines work to retrieve your search results. All search engines go by this basic process when conducting search processes, but because there are differences in search engines, there are bound to be different results depending on which engine you use.

1. The searcher types a query into a search engine.
   
2. Search engine software quickly sorts through literally millions of pages in its database to find matches to this query.
   
3. The search engine's results are ranked in order of relevancy.
   

Examples of Web Search Engines

There are a TON of great search engines out there; in fact, I've profiled at least one hundred different search engines here at About Web Search:

• 100 Search Engines in 100 Days: This table of contents contains all the Internet search engines profiled in the 100 Search Engines in 100 Days feature.
  
• How to Pick a Search Engine: Pick the best search engine for your searching needs with Search Engines 101, a great way to explore more of your search topic, try a new search engine, and search more of the Web.
  
• Search Engine Logos: Most Internet search engines have their own unique logos. Here are all the search engine logos covered in the About Web Search 100 Search Engines in 100 Days mega-feature.
  

WHAT IS ICT ?

You see the letters ICT everywhere - particularly in education. But what does it mean? Read our brief introduction to this important and fast-changing subject.

 

ICT is an acronym that stands for Information Communications Tecnology

However, apart from explaining an acronym, there is not a universally accepted defininition of ICT? Why? Because the concepts, methods and applications involved in ICT are constantly evolving on an almost daily basis. Its difficult to keep up with the changes - they happen so fast.

Lets focus on the three words behind ICT:

- INFORMATION
- COMMUNICATIONS
- TECHNOLOGY

A good way to think about ICT is to consider all the uses of digital technology that already exist to help individuals, businesses and organisations use information.

ICT covers any product that will store, retrieve, manipulate, transmit or receive information electronically in a digital form. For example, personal computers, digital television, email, robots.

So ICT is concerned with the storage, retrieval, manipulation, transmission or receipt of digital data. Importantly, it is also concerned with the way these different uses can work with each other.

In business, ICT is often categorised into two broad types of product: -

(1) The traditional computer-based technologies (things you can typically do on a personal computer or using computers at home or at work); and

(2) The more recent, and fast-growing range of digital communication technologies (which allow people and organisations to communicate and share information digitally)

Let's take a brief look at these two categories to demonstrate the kinds of products and ideas that are covered by ICT:

Traditional Computer Based Technologies

These types of ICT include:

Application	Use
Standard Office Applications - Main Examples
Word processing	E.g. Microsoft Word: Write letters, reports etc
Spreadsheets	E.g. Microsoft Excel; Analyse financial information; calculations; create forecasting models etc
Database software	E.g. Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Access; Managing data in many forms, from basic lists (e.g. customer contacts through to complex material (e.g. catalogue)
Presentation software	E.g. Microsoft PowerPoint; make presentations, either directly using a computer screen or data projector. Publish in digital format via email or over the Internet
Desktop publishing	E.g. Adobe Indesign, Quark Express, Microsoft Publisher; produce newsletters, magazines and other complex documents.
Graphics software	E.g Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator; Macromedia Freehand and Fireworks; create and edit images such as logos, drawings or pictures for use in DTP, web sites or other publications
Specialist Applications - Examples (there are many!)
Accounting package	E.g. Sage, Oracle; Manage an organisation's accounts including revenues/sales, purchases, bank accounts etc. A wide range of systems is available ranging from basic packages suitable for small businesses through to sophisticated ones aimed at multinational companies.
Computer Aided Design	Computer Aided Design (CAD) is the use of computers to assist the design process. Specialised CAD programs exist for many types of design: architectural, engineering, electronics, roadways
Customer Relations Management (CRM)	Software that allows businesses to better understand their customers by collecting and analysing data on them such as their product preferences, buying habits etc. Often linked to software applications that run call centres and loyalty cards for example.

Traditional Computer Based Technologies

The C part of ICT refers to the communication of data by electronic means, usually over some distance. This is often achieved via networks of sending and receiving equipment, wires and satellite links.

The technologies involved in communication tend to be complex. You certainly don't need to understand them for your ICT course. However, there are aspects of digital communications that you needs to be aware of. These relate primarily to the types of network and the ways of connecting to the Internet. Let's look at these two briefly (further revision notes provide much more detail to support your study).

Internal networks

Usually referred to as a local area network (LAN), this involves linking a number of hardware items (input and output devices plus computer processing) together within an office or building.

The aim of a LAN is to be able to share hardware facilities such as printers or scanners, software applications and data. This type of network is invaluable in the office environment where colleagues need to have access to common data or programmes.

External networks

Often you need to communicate with someone outside your internal network, in this case you will need to be part of a Wide Area Network (WAN). The Internet is the ultimate WAN - it is a vast network of networks.

ICT in a Broader Context

Your ICT course will almost certainly cover the above examples of ICT in action, perhaps focusing on the use of key applications such as spreadsheets, databases, presentation, graphics and web design software.

It will also consider the following important topics that deal with the way ICT is used and managed in an organisation:

- The nature of information (the "I" in ICT); this covers topics such as the meaning and value of information; how information is controlled; the limitations of ICT; legal considerations

- Management of information - this covers how data is captured, verified and stored for effective use; the manipulation, processing and distribution of information; keeping information secure; designing networks to share information

- Information systems strategy - this considers how ICT can be used within a business or organisation as part of achieving goals and objectives

As you can see, ICT is a broad and fast-changing subject. We hope our free study materials (revision notes, quizzes, presentations etc) will help you master IT!