When buying a computer for a specific reason is always tricky. You have to make sure you know what exactly you’re looking. Because the course I am doing in college is applied psychology I work with computers and need certain amount of memory and programs.
Also being a student I can’t afford to be buying the most expensive computer. I would consider buying a laptop though so I could bring it with me into college to write and save notes and be able to do CAs as well. The size and weight would also be an issue because I would be carrying it around and wouldn’t want something big and heavy. I would look at how much battery life a laptop has without having to charge it after so many hours because I wouldn’t be always beside a plug.
I would need certain programs such as Microsoft office as I have to write essay, do presentations’ and also downloading lectures. I would also need some graphic programs as part of my course such as Adobe Photoshop and this requires a certain amount of memory to be able to work on this and other programs.
So the amount of memory would be a big issue as I will be running graphic programs as well as being able to storage information and my work. I would have to look at CPU, Cache, RAM, and storage device types. Laptop computers save data in two ways. One is on the hard drive which is also called as the permanent memory and the other one is in random access memory which is also known as the temporary memory where information is saved while the software is running.
RAM, also known as Random Access Memory, refers to the most common computer memory. RAM can be used by programs to perform needed tasks once the computer is turned on. RAM is also considered an integrated circuit (IC) memory chip that allows information to be stored or accessed in any order.
I should look for models with at least 512 MBs of RAM or more. It will vary depending on the type of programs I'll be running. Making sure that computer devices such as this can be upgraded and this goes with the motherboard.
Nowadays, most computers use a type of memory technically called as DDR2. However, there is also called DDR3 which is now finally making its way to PC systems. In terms of pricing, DDR3 is quite more expensive than DDR2. Specs wise, it is best to have at least 2GB of memory in any computer system and preferably 4GB. Of course the faster memory speed the computer provides the better performance it gives.
Since random-access-memory is what the computer uses to run applications and data on operating system, it should really provide higher specifications.
One of the main purposes of my computer will be graphic work; I should check the video RAM. Desktop computers can easily be upgraded. But when it comes to notebook technology, (where each new generation always comes up in the market) RAM keeps increasing. So I should be careful to choose the one that really suits my needs.
NETWORKING SITES
The area I picked relating to technology is networking working sites. I decided to look for articles about this area because I use networking sites most days so I obviously have some interest in it.
The articles I read were called ‘Facebook users spend a full three days a year on the site’ and ‘Infected with Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD))?’
The first article talks about how much time people in the UK have spent on the most popular social networking sites in September 2009. The research was carried out by Nielsen Online. They calculated that the most addicted users have spent over 125 hours on the site during the last year – the equivalent of more than a whole working week. The company estimated that Britons spent 11.1 billion minutes in total across the 75 most visited social media sites during this month alone. This was an 83 per cent increase on the time spent on these sites during the same month last year.
Facebook was by far the most popular site dominating 75 per cent of the total amount of time people spent on social networking sites. YouTube was the second most popular social networking site among British users. Slashkey, the parent company of Farmville, the popular game on social networks, came in third and Wikipedia came in fourth.
Nic Howell, deputy editor of NMA, the digital media industry publication which commissioned the research, said, “Not only are Britons investing their most precious resource – time – in Facebook, but, according to Nielsen, the site has increased its audience by 52 per cent year on year, while also increasing the time spent per person by 51 per cent. The adoption of real-time, Twitter-like features has played a vital role in this.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/6502237/Facebook-users-spend-three-solid-days-a-year-on-the-site.html
The second article talks about a new looming disorder called Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD). Already there is the Facebook Addiction Test (FAT) suggested by operators of Facebook. It is the first validated and reliable measure of addictive use of the Facebook. FAT is a 20-item questionnaire that measures mild, moderate, and severe levels of Facebook Addiction.
A group of students at Stanford University, California, are undertaking a course named “The Psychology of Facebook” which is the brainchild of Professor B J Fogg, a pioneering persuasion psychologist who founded the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford. His main goal is to help his students become world class experts on the psychology of facebook. Each week the class dissects an aspect of Facebook and looks at the way it works, the psychology behind it and what impression users are trying to convey.
This very popular growing site was set up as a project five years ago by a guy called Mark Zuckerburg. The initial aim was to help students keep in touch over the internet and get to know each other better. Within 24 hours, 1,200 Harvard students had signed up and soon after that the network was quickly extended to other colleges and universities.
Statistics indicate that more than 6 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day worldwide with 4 million status updates each day. There are 2 billion photos uploaded to the site each month and over 3 million events created each month. There are more than 65 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
The fastest growing age group using Facebook is users older than 55 with an increase of 108% in September. The most prolific age group using social networks continues to be 18 to 24 year olds with 32.3% of the visitors. Users 25 to 34 were 26.9% of the visitors.
Contrary to findings that suggest online social networking sites make people anti-so or less sociable, a study by Cambridge University has revealed that Facebook can encourage people to be more sociable. Researchers discovered Facebook gave people more choice on how they conduct relationships and was "a way of storing biography and enhancing social memory".
The study showed many people used it to track people they liked or to find out what ex-partners were up to. People also used it to keep in touch with old school and university friends who they might otherwise lose contact with. As a result it could change the way people associated at a fundamental level, meaning former relationships and associations can be revived, according to the study.
Examples such as: A couple with the same name who found each other through social networking website Facebook is preparing to tied the knot in October. Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt, 20, was bored one evening last year when she put her name into the site and came across Kelly Carl Hildebrandt, 24. She sent the only other Kelly Hildebrandt, of Lubbock, Texas, a message and they became friends. Ms Hildebrandt, a student from Miami, Florida, said she believed the chain of events was "all God's timing".
http://news.peacefmonline.com/features/200910/30392.php
The articles I read were called ‘Facebook users spend a full three days a year on the site’ and ‘Infected with Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD))?’
The first article talks about how much time people in the UK have spent on the most popular social networking sites in September 2009. The research was carried out by Nielsen Online. They calculated that the most addicted users have spent over 125 hours on the site during the last year – the equivalent of more than a whole working week. The company estimated that Britons spent 11.1 billion minutes in total across the 75 most visited social media sites during this month alone. This was an 83 per cent increase on the time spent on these sites during the same month last year.
Facebook was by far the most popular site dominating 75 per cent of the total amount of time people spent on social networking sites. YouTube was the second most popular social networking site among British users. Slashkey, the parent company of Farmville, the popular game on social networks, came in third and Wikipedia came in fourth.
Nic Howell, deputy editor of NMA, the digital media industry publication which commissioned the research, said, “Not only are Britons investing their most precious resource – time – in Facebook, but, according to Nielsen, the site has increased its audience by 52 per cent year on year, while also increasing the time spent per person by 51 per cent. The adoption of real-time, Twitter-like features has played a vital role in this.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/6502237/Facebook-users-spend-three-solid-days-a-year-on-the-site.html
The second article talks about a new looming disorder called Facebook Addiction Disorder (FAD). Already there is the Facebook Addiction Test (FAT) suggested by operators of Facebook. It is the first validated and reliable measure of addictive use of the Facebook. FAT is a 20-item questionnaire that measures mild, moderate, and severe levels of Facebook Addiction.
A group of students at Stanford University, California, are undertaking a course named “The Psychology of Facebook” which is the brainchild of Professor B J Fogg, a pioneering persuasion psychologist who founded the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford. His main goal is to help his students become world class experts on the psychology of facebook. Each week the class dissects an aspect of Facebook and looks at the way it works, the psychology behind it and what impression users are trying to convey.
This very popular growing site was set up as a project five years ago by a guy called Mark Zuckerburg. The initial aim was to help students keep in touch over the internet and get to know each other better. Within 24 hours, 1,200 Harvard students had signed up and soon after that the network was quickly extended to other colleges and universities.
Statistics indicate that more than 6 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each day worldwide with 4 million status updates each day. There are 2 billion photos uploaded to the site each month and over 3 million events created each month. There are more than 65 million active users currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
The fastest growing age group using Facebook is users older than 55 with an increase of 108% in September. The most prolific age group using social networks continues to be 18 to 24 year olds with 32.3% of the visitors. Users 25 to 34 were 26.9% of the visitors.
Contrary to findings that suggest online social networking sites make people anti-so or less sociable, a study by Cambridge University has revealed that Facebook can encourage people to be more sociable. Researchers discovered Facebook gave people more choice on how they conduct relationships and was "a way of storing biography and enhancing social memory".
The study showed many people used it to track people they liked or to find out what ex-partners were up to. People also used it to keep in touch with old school and university friends who they might otherwise lose contact with. As a result it could change the way people associated at a fundamental level, meaning former relationships and associations can be revived, according to the study.
Examples such as: A couple with the same name who found each other through social networking website Facebook is preparing to tied the knot in October. Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt, 20, was bored one evening last year when she put her name into the site and came across Kelly Carl Hildebrandt, 24. She sent the only other Kelly Hildebrandt, of Lubbock, Texas, a message and they became friends. Ms Hildebrandt, a student from Miami, Florida, said she believed the chain of events was "all God's timing".
http://news.peacefmonline.com/features/200910/30392.php
Applied Psychology
http://www.psihq.ie/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/
http://www.psychology.org/
Most people when they hear i'm doing psychology they purposely presume that i'm doing it in UCD or Trinity. They think that IADT is really just an arts college, and although that it does have a good arts programme there are other good courses that other better than other colleges.
My first choice on my CAO was UCD but i am happy in a way that i just missed it because i like the course that i'm doing a whole lot better than i probably would in UCD.
I like the way my course is split up between psychology and computers. It gives us a broader education then people would be getting in other colleges that its main focus is pure psychology. I have a feeling that if i was in that situation i wouldn't be too happy in my course and end up dropping out. Which i'm glad that this isn't the case here, i find both areas very interesting and hopefully this will continue, however my course changes over the years.
I'm not looking forward to the many years that i'll have to spend in college. The area of psychology i want to go into you are required to do a masters and PHD, which means that i won't leave college till i'm 27. I hope was hoping to be nearly married by that stage, but ill have to be looking for a job now if i don't change my mind over the years.
The links i've added are a few websites that i have found interesting and helpful.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/
http://www.psychology.org/
Most people when they hear i'm doing psychology they purposely presume that i'm doing it in UCD or Trinity. They think that IADT is really just an arts college, and although that it does have a good arts programme there are other good courses that other better than other colleges.
My first choice on my CAO was UCD but i am happy in a way that i just missed it because i like the course that i'm doing a whole lot better than i probably would in UCD.
I like the way my course is split up between psychology and computers. It gives us a broader education then people would be getting in other colleges that its main focus is pure psychology. I have a feeling that if i was in that situation i wouldn't be too happy in my course and end up dropping out. Which i'm glad that this isn't the case here, i find both areas very interesting and hopefully this will continue, however my course changes over the years.
I'm not looking forward to the many years that i'll have to spend in college. The area of psychology i want to go into you are required to do a masters and PHD, which means that i won't leave college till i'm 27. I hope was hoping to be nearly married by that stage, but ill have to be looking for a job now if i don't change my mind over the years.
The links i've added are a few websites that i have found interesting and helpful.
Student life
Leaving school for the first time in 6 yrs isn't easy. Doing the leaving cert and deciding what you want to do with the rest of your life. Going to college for the first time can be scary especially if you don't know anybody.
Thank god i did but they weren't in my course. Near three months in my course now and i like it a lot, that was one of my big worries that i wouldn't like the course i choose.
There is a lot of work to be done and it's hard trying to manage that as well as having a job and having a social life.
Lucky for me i have a job but due to the current economic market, there aren't many people spending money like they used to and so my hours have been cut tremendously. And now it's coming close to christmas and peoples birthdays i'm finding it difficult. With all my other costs i'm going to have to think a bit more cheaply this year as i'm sure a lot of students will have to.
I would like to get another job but so little places are hiring even coming up to christmas and it wouldn't be hard to keep two jobs after we finish college for the holidays, however i would like to keep that job because it will then be coming up to other birthdays and then the summer.
I don't know how some of my friends don't have jobs yet they go out more during the week then i do, although they don't have to afford petrol and they could get help from their parents.
Oh well i guess i'll have to see what the future holds.
Thank god i did but they weren't in my course. Near three months in my course now and i like it a lot, that was one of my big worries that i wouldn't like the course i choose.
There is a lot of work to be done and it's hard trying to manage that as well as having a job and having a social life.
Lucky for me i have a job but due to the current economic market, there aren't many people spending money like they used to and so my hours have been cut tremendously. And now it's coming close to christmas and peoples birthdays i'm finding it difficult. With all my other costs i'm going to have to think a bit more cheaply this year as i'm sure a lot of students will have to.
I would like to get another job but so little places are hiring even coming up to christmas and it wouldn't be hard to keep two jobs after we finish college for the holidays, however i would like to keep that job because it will then be coming up to other birthdays and then the summer.
I don't know how some of my friends don't have jobs yet they go out more during the week then i do, although they don't have to afford petrol and they could get help from their parents.
Oh well i guess i'll have to see what the future holds.
Twlight - New moon
I had never heard of Twilight before hearing of the movie and after seeing it i decided to to read the books. I throughly enjoyed the books and couldn't wait to see the second film. What annoyed was the fact we had to wait a year.
I as very excited to see the movie and had very high hopes for it...but it did not reach them. I was kind of disappointed i was expecting so much more. As i know most films leave out so much if it comes from a book but there was just something missing. I thought the first film was a lot better. I would only recommend if you have read the books and are a fan. Hopefully the next film will be a lot better.
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