Erin’s Fluency Blog

Ahhh, Snyder’s chapter 7 (To Err is Human: An Introduction about Debugging); had I only read it 7 months earlier, I’d be $100 richer!  As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I would not consider myself proficient in IT.  I am not entirely comfortable with all the workings of the computer and the minute a problem arises, I am the first to call the always helpful (and always expensive) “IT guy.”  Snyder’s chapter 7 hit strikingly close to home and once again made me feel a little foolish.  As an example of debugging, Snyder outlined a scenario in which a person discovered that documents were not printing simply because computer settings were configured to “queue” files as opposed to “print” them.  Having experienced this exact problem, and having paid somebody $100 for a 15-minute house visit, I really appreciate this chapter.  To others, it may seem obvious; you have a problem, you deduce possible causes and plug away until you’ve isolated the error.  And in other aspects of my life, that is an obvious process; a process I follow nearly everyday.  Although I consider myself an intelligent person and a capable problem-solver, there is something about IT problems, that make me automatically assume that it is “over my head.”  But Snyder’s point that 99% of errors are caused by human mistakes simplified the process for me.  I realized that I am not looking for a “bug” caused by this complex system of software and hardware and programs and memory.  I am most likely looking for a “bug” caused by something I did.  (The same way I find myself looking for a reason why my macaroni and cheese is so runny…I added too much water).  It doesn’t have to be as complex as I perceive it to be.  Approaching the task of debugging thinking that I am looking for a mistake that I made, as opposed to a mistake made by the complex computer, eases my nerves and increases my confidence in my ability to solve the problem.  Lack of confidence and high anxiety are two primary reasons I had always relied on the “professionals.”

Snyder’s last 2 chapters on Excel and Access have forced me to confront my weaknesses.  I have always been confused and intimidated by these programs, and have therefore avoided them as much as necessary.  But after researching Excel to present it to the class and being taught about Access, I have finally realized that avoidance of these programs due to fear and confusion will only hurt me in my professional career.  As a manager of a non-profit organization, I will inevitably have to have a means of tracking budgets and financial issues, donations, constituents, work schedules, etc.  Technically, I could do all of these things in a Word document, but the waste of time and resources would be immeasurable.  In the past, as soon as confusion set in, I would declare myself unable to figure out the program and close it.  But after seeing all the functions of each program, I have forced myself to take time with the Snyder book and actually perform some functions, step by step.  And to my surprise, I am able to figure out these programs, with just a little patience.  To my own defense though, I do think that the “Help” option in these programs is often inadequate for a first time user.  Many times I have found that the “Help” option just adds to my confusion.  I think that Snyder, on the other hand, does a much better job explaining the how’s and why’s of these programs

I think that Excel is an interesting program because it is capable of performing so many functions and calculations, yet many people never benefit from its capabilities because they are unaware of features or confused by the program.  I am included in this population.  At my last internship I did learn a lot about Excel and some of its convenient functions (i.e. mail merge, auto filter, etc.) but I know there are countless other functions that I do not take advantage of.  I thought that Snyder’s discussion of Excel was pretty elementary, but useful for people who are not at all familiar with the program.. The very basic data presented in this chapter made it difficult to develop a class project that was stimulating and informative, not knowing the extent to which the class already understood Excel.  But in preparing the presentation, I did come across some different ideas and products that may someday help me as a manager.  As we presented in class, different software programs will now allow you to perform additional calculations within an Excel worksheet and some programs have developed their own spreadsheets taking “the best Excel has to offer” and adding more features.  As a manager, programs like these would probably allow you to store and manipulate many types of information spanning many years, in just one program.  Prior to the presentation, I was also unaware of how easily and quickly I could import data from an outside source.  I remember in undergrad doing a large project dealing with census data, and I actually retyped several pages of the census to accompany my written findings.  Had I known of the import feature at that time, I would have saved myself hours (literally) of work. 

After reading Snyder’s chapter 17, Garson’s chapter 6, discussing student’s papers concerning privacy and debating the state of privacy post 9/11, I’m tired of discussing privacy issues!  It is a frustrating issue that is not easily agreed upon and will likely remain a debatable issue for years to come.  Snyder’s discussion of encryption seems ridiculous.  If the point of encrypting is to maintain one’s privacy while communicating via the internet, then fine.  But as Dr. Shulman pointed out, doesn’t encrypting messages simply “flag” that person as having something to hide?  If so, then encrypting messages may limit one’s privacy even more.  After all, with time and resources, any code can be broke.  But even if someone was absolutely sure their code could not be cracked, who has time to encrypt and decode messages???  I just cannot see encryption as a beneficial option for everyday internet users.  I did enjoy the discussion of cookies, both in the chapter and during the class exercise.  Prior to this class, I had heard of cookies, but had no idea what they were, or where they were stored.  Being able to see in class how easily and quickly cookies can accumulate, I was prompted to check the status of cookies on my home computer.  I had 436 cookies on my computer!

This is actually the first Snyder chapter that I have read and already been familiar with the content.  He mentions the importance of narrowing your search by uncovering relevant search words via certain credible sites.  In my research, I have always found it helpful to check www.wikipedia.com first.  Although this information is not always credible, I can usually find keywords that I can then plug into a new Google search.  And luckily, I have had pretty good luck with extracting decent information from the website.  Snyder’s chapter did introduce me to a new search site; www.google.com/advanced_image_search  I’ve searched many images since reading the chapter and am amazed at the quantity and variety of available pictures.  I’m looking forward to using some images in upcoming blogs.

When I first saw that Snyder had an entire chapter dedicated to searching the web, I was skeptical. I mean, who doesn’t know how to search the web?!  After reading the chapter, I realized that although I know how to search the web, I did not know how to search the web efficiently.  I use Google everyday, but had no idea of the built in features that help narrow my search (i.e. “Advanced Search” and “Search Within Results”).  After being introduced to these features, I used them for a few searches I had previously conducted without the features, and the results were great.  Although I have never considered myself technologically advanced (and in some cases even average), I am surprised that I never knew of these tools available to me.  I was also surprised, but happy to learn that there is a way to check the accountability of results.  I have written many research papers in which Professors have stressed the importance of using only accountable websites as a source of information.  Although I always understood the importance of it, I never really knew a sure-fire way of evaluating a website.  As a general rule of thumb, I trusted websites with domain names of .gov, .org, and .edu.  But once again, Snyder showed me the err in my ways.  Knowing how to check the source of information though, will not only allow me to verify websites I had already (possibly wrongly in some cases) trusted, but also expand my pool of usable information by checking sources of pages with domain names of .com or .html.  Although I began reading this chapter wondering why it would be in a college textbook, I learned a lot of information that will inevitably help me in my academic, professional and personal life.

I found Snyder’s discussion of formatting tags really interesting.   It reminds me a lot of a logic course I took in undergrad where different symbols mean “only if,” but,” and,” “except when,” etc.  At first glance, it looks like a foreign language, but upon further review, it is quite straight forward and ends up being a “universal language” for those familiar with HTML tags.  I also found the discussion of hyperlinks to be quite enlightening.  I’ve always noticed (and appreciated) web pages that have hyperlinks, but I did not know there was a name for them, let alone the way they were inserted.  www.wikipedia.org uses hyperlinks to a great extent.  I wonder if that means that each person who revises a definition is formatting their text to include hyperlinks, or if there is a site manager who does this.  I realize that I am pretty ignorant when it comes to computers, but I would be surprised (and a little disappointed with myself) to know that the majority of wikipedia “editors” are familiar with the hyperlink process.  After reading the chapter, I really felt like I had learned a lot.  But when I sat down at my computer to try out my newly learned skills, I realized one huge part of web page creation that I don’t understand; how do I get my information from notepad onto a web page??  Hopefully the group exercise in class will answer that question!

I enjoyed the “getting to know” your computer exercise in class this week.  I don’t know much about computers but the exercise slightly eased my worries about the fragility and complexity of computers.  I have always been hesitant to try new things on the computer/step out of my comfort bubble for fear of breaking something, accidentally downloading something, touching something I shouldn’t, etc.  Although I realize these concerns are unfounded and ridiculous, it has always been my general rule that I’ll stick to word processing and internet searches; anything more complex will be the responsibility of a professional IT person.  But seeing that a group of people (most of whom have limited computer knowledge) can very erratically open and disassemble a computer, and then haphazardly put it back together, with general success was an eye opener.  Not only was the inside of the computer much simpler than I’d expected, but it was also much less fragile.  We were even able to remove, handle and replace the motherboard (which I had wrongly thought that you should never touch).  I was surprised how much of the computer could be broken down in just a few minutes, and the simplicity of it.  It is sort of like a puzzle, but instead of aligning cardboard pieces, you have to align plugs with ports.  And considering the amount of money I’ve lost to IT people, the advantage of being able to fix things yourself, was well taken.

I use the Internet everyday, but have never given much thought to how it works.  The explanation by Snyder is surprisingly complex, yet simple at the same time.  I would have never guessed the significance of domain names and the fact that each domain name (i.e. edu or gov) has its own systems server to decode the address.  I think that most people, without thinking about it, take for granted that when you click a link, new information automatically appears.  I was also very surprised that information set over the web is sent in many small packets.  Because clicking a link almost instantaneously gives one the information they need, I’m still not sure how the computer can organize all the packets of info so quickly.  After reading this chapter, I have a better understanding of the Internet, but am still amazed at the extensiveness of the system.

When Snyder lists changes caused by the Internet, he says that, “nowhere is remote.”  I think it is important to remember, however, that there definitely are still many places in the world with no internet access and therefore, still remote.  Although the Internet has made great strides in enhancing cultures and connecting people, lack of Internet in developing countries, actually further oppresses those living in remote areas.  While the rest of the world is interacting, learning new things, being introduced to new experiences, non-Internet users are remaining stagnant.  As the Internet continues to expand knowledge among its users, it also continues to widen the educational/social gap between users and non-users.