2)As a student I use computers on a daily basis for routine emails, creating various documents and surfing the web. However I have also worked for an up and coming software development company on the Cambridge science park called Taptu. At Taptu I wrote Perl and excel codes to simplify manual tasks and set these up on a server to run periodically.
3)I am excited about the new Bing search engine from Microsoft even though its capabilities at the moment are limited mainly to shopping, travel and local information. I think it will hugely benefit the “average Joe” who is trying to look up new restaurants in town and similar searches. Bing renders the information for the individual rather than leaving you to sort through the relevant web pages. I don’t think that it will replace Google yet as the main search engine because it is limited and will take some getting use to. I am keen to see how Bing tackles the problem that other open source style websites have with incorrect information published by individuals.
I am also very interested in the development of music storage devices and interfaces. The new Zune HD and the possibility of a 32 GB I phone are intriguing as I remember when I brought my first MP3 player for just over £100 with an unbelievable storage capability of just 128MB.
4)I would like to say I grok maths as this is my degree subject but having started the course the depth of my subject is frightening and I have realised quite how little I know and deeply understand.
On a more serious not I think that it is impossible for anyone to grok anything as there is no limit to the amount of knowledge on a subject but there is a limit to the amount an individual can know about a particular object. This is assuming the object has sufficient complexity.
5)Windows is my primary use interface, mainly because I was brought up using it due to the fact that my dad works for Microsoft. Also it is more widely used in schools when bring IT into the classroom. I have dabbled in Linux as I found windows vista temperamental for certain uses and programs, especially before Service Pack 1 came out. Linux is also a stronger base for Perl programming as the Cygwin program was not sufficient for the work I was doing at Taptu. When processing digital photography while on work experience at Cambridge University I used Mac’s. However I cannot claim that my knowledge is diverse and in depth. BSD has never entered my life as I have no use for a UNIX system with the elementary programming that I have done.
6)Depending at what point the computer reboot will narrow down the reason for this annoyance. If the system loads but crashes and reboots periodically during use then there may be irritating processes running in the background (such as viruses). Clocking the CPU is an easy way to detect such processes. Otherwise problems may be to do with the temperature of the computer. You can also, for some operating systems, stop the auto restart when the computer crashes enabling you to see if there is an error message at the time of failure.
7)I do not think that Linux is ready for the desktop (or the other way round) as there is not one coherent package avaliable that will be garunteed to run with all applications and programs that an individual might have on their desktop without an in depth knowledge of the system.
8)Having recently installed Linux on my boyfriends’ laptop I do not think that the average Joe is ready. Iinux does not have the same ease of use and in a way windows will run itself for you. Linux requires a deeper knowledge of the computer and the processes that run, so the average Joe with limited knowledge of these may find it more difficult when faced with so many options. Linux is also not easily compatible with a lot of widely used programs; I am thinking in particular of the I-phone.
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10)It hurts bother the record companies and artists as well as local shops such as HMV as they cannot compete with the free price of peer to peer sharing. Peer to Peer sharing reduces the value of music to the individual and the artists. However, I think it is an inevitable part of the technological age we live in. As human beings we are conditioned to prefer free objects to those you have to pay for if there are of the same quality.
11)As most radio podcasts for not fall into this category I have to admit I do not have a favourite technology podcast. I prefer to read about technology as I think then it is easier to view specifications and of course pictures.
12)I think the things we use technology for will not change but simply computers will become more powerful, lighter, quicker etc. I believe that a life completely dominated by computers means you miss the things that the human race itself was built for.
13)The cloud is a useful concept for information sharing but I am sceptical to the safety of certain items. Also I think that considering not everywhere has such a good internet connection for a low price that is still important, at the moment, for hard storage. Sharing information is a key way forward in the development of new ideas and the cloud provides a good basis for this.
14)As mentioned before the last "update” I did was installing Linux onto my boyfriends laptop (disregarding the routine windows updates run every week). A couple of summers ago I rebuilt my desktop as the CPU was too old for adequate use. I’m looking to upgrade to windows 7 soon as I am hoping this will iron out some of the hitches in Vista.
15)I have emailed Dr Edwards so hopefully he will email you soon.
16)Beeps are usually indicative of a failure in the BIOS and it is usually something that needs to be fixed by a technician. You can decode the exact problem by looking up the length and frequency of the beeps in accordance with the maker of your computer.
17)VPN or Virtual Private Networking is a way of connecting two computers securely aross an insecure network (usually the internet). In most cases it is used to cnnect a remote computer to a corporate network using a password so that files can be accessed from out of the office.
I must apologise prefusely at this point as I have been unable to finish my storyboard due to an inescapable amount of work set last minute by my tutors! I can send it to you by the end of the day as my deadlines are all gone by 3 pm this afternoon.
18)I have exams next year which count for 40% of my final degree.
19)I was simply wondering if there were any time restraints on the job? I.e. are there a certain number of hours you have to put in each week etc?