Online
(e-Business has it's own page)
Connection & BandwidthCommunication channels are measured by how much data they can carry – this measurement is known as BANDWIDTH. Bandwidth is the maximum amount of data that can travel along a communications channel at a given time. The smallest form of digital data is the BIT and time interval is measured in seconds this leads to the measurement ‘bits per second’
Computers are connected via cables (such as copper or fibre optic), wireless, microwave or even laser.
What ever method is used, it is the bandwidth of the communications channels that determines how much data travels over any given time. If your computer is connecting to a remote server somewhere, what determines the maximum speed of data transfer is the part of the connection with the lowest bandwidth – this becomes the bottleneck. Low bandwidth can give you a very slow experience on the Internet, whilst you wait for pages, music and video streams to download.
What ever method is used, it is the bandwidth of the communications channels that determines how much data travels over any given time. If your computer is connecting to a remote server somewhere, what determines the maximum speed of data transfer is the part of the connection with the lowest bandwidth – this becomes the bottleneck. Low bandwidth can give you a very slow experience on the Internet, whilst you wait for pages, music and video streams to download.
Latency & Lag
The following text in purple is extract from http://guides.freddyshouse.com/newtoonlinegaming/lag-and-latency-explained/)
The truth is the bigger named ISPs will often claim to be the fastest, but you will find that their number of users outweighs their capacity to serve them properly.
Gaming will test your internet connection like never before. When playing games the lights will be constantly on as a massive amount of data needs to be relayed to the game server and back to your PC. Hence, the faster your connection the more data you can handle and the less “latency” your likely to receive.
When you play a single player game on your own machine against the computer you’ll have hardly any latency at all. You’ll aim at what ever is on screen and hit it no problem, however when you play a game online you’ll have to face a latency, as does every gamer. This is displayed as your “Ping time”. On a modem you can expect ping times of 60 – 120ms (milliseconds). This is the time it takes for data from you to be sent to the games server (i.e. you fired a shot), and back to your machine again (i.e. shot has been fired). The ping time can change during a game, especially when there is a lot of action on a players screen as there will be more data shifted back to and from your machine. Some players will have lower ping times than you. This is due to the different connection types available to the net:
Not only does a lower ping result in less latency, but they are usually digital as well. This means they are often more stable for sending data which is also digital. This in turn means usually less lag along these connections. It also gives players an advantage over higher pinged players when it comes to reacting. A player with a ping of 50 is going to be able to react slightly faster than a player with a ping of 150 so in a one on one situation the lower ping player will have an edge.
Lag occurs when data from your machine to the games server is interrupted. To you this will appear as though you are stuck to the spot and can’t move/shoot. Lag usually is temporary and only occurs for a few seconds. "
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing it a terms used to describe using the Internet for a number of things; this may include cloud storage (such as Dropbox or Google Docs); using software on the cloud (such as Google docs); working collaboratively using things like Wikis. There are other examples of cloud computing such as Youtube, Facebook, online banking, BBC I-Player, Flickr etc. There are both advantages and disadvantages to cloud computing:
Advantages:
This clip explains cloud computing - it is quite technical and detailed and you will not be expected to know everything mentioned on this clip; but it will provide you with a good understanding of cloud computing.
Collaborative Working
Collaboration is working together; collaborating on something (for example a project). Cloud computing enables people to work collaboratively. This might be done in a number of ways:
They may 'share' an online storage area. For example in the ICT department at school, the ICT teachers shared a 'drop box' folder/area where we save resources and worksheets as we complete them.
They may use a collaboration software such as www.primarypad.com where people can join a group and work on the same document/page together.
They may contribute/share a WIKIs. A WIKI is a webpage that allows the users to contribute, edit or delete content.
Online Issues
There can be lots of issues that you might face through being online. Some concerns can be over-use of the Internet, people may get too reliant on their online life using Facebook or even Virtual World games. Some people may get addicted to online games or even gambling websites, finding themselves in considerable debt. But you also may leave yourself open to online predators, cyberbullies, pedophiles, trolls etc. Here are some tips on how to stay safe when you are online:
But there can be other things to concern you, such as scams. An example of a scam email is a phishing email where they try to get you to respond to the email, at this time you often give away vital information to the criminal that they then use to commit fraud on your bank accounts or your paypal accounts etc.
Hackers. A hacker is someone who gains unauthorised access to a computer in order to obtain data stored on it.
Viruses - A program designed to cause other programs on a computer to malfunction or stop working altogether
Malware - Short for "malicious software," malware refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions on a computer system. Common examples of malware include viruses,worms, trojan horses, and spyware.
Spyware - Software that can be installed onto your computer without your knowledge, which collects information about your logins and passwords and sends the details to another computer on the internet.
Bots - A bot (short for "robot") is a program that operates as an agent for a user or another program or simulates a human activity. If your computer is acting as a bot, you may not realise it (other than your computer might be very slow and unresponsive)
Cookies - Small text files that are sent to your computer from certain websites. They track your behaviour and transactions.
Worms - Computer worms are malicious software applications designed to spread via computer networks. Computer worms are one form of malware along with viruses and trojans. A person typically installs worms by inadvertently opening an email attachment or message that contains executable scripts.
Trojan - A program that appears legitimate but which performs some harmful activity when it is run. It may be used to locate password information, or make the system more vulnerable to future entry, or simply destroy programs or data on the hard disk drive. They similar to viruses, but they do not replicate itself. Trojans often sneak onto your computer attached to a free game.
Online Security
User Accounts & Passwords - One method of ensuring online security is user accounts. When you buy goods online or join a group/website you usually have to set up an account. When you log on in future you use the account 'user name' and 'password' to access your account. The password authenticates that you are the correct user.
Security Questions - These are an example of 'challenge response' tests. When you set up an account you will be asked to select a security questions and to enter your answer (this is only known to you and therefore secret). In the future, if you forget your password, you might be asked this security question in order to check that it is you; on answering the questions you identify yourself and can therefore access your account and reset the password. Banks sometimes ask these questions as an additional layer of security, checking that it is definitively you before allowing you access to certain things.
Captcha Checks - Sometimes when you create an online account, you may be asked to type in a word (as shown in the example). This is known as a challenge response test and is called a captcha; you have to enter the letters and numbers shown.
This is done to check that the form is being completed by a human being and not being completed automatically by a software program known as a 'bot' or 'web robot'. It is impossible (or at least it has been to date) to program software to be able to read the ext displayed and therefore captures are used to protect systems that might be vulnerable to email spam.
Socialising on the Internet
In recent years the way we socialise has changed considerably with changes in technology. We might use many of the following methods to socialise on the net:
Sometimes the Internet can help us socialise (keeping in touch with friends who live a distance away), but sometimes it can prevent us from being as social (as people spend less time with friends face to face).
Lag occurs when data from your machine to the games server is interrupted. To you this will appear as though you are stuck to the spot and can’t move/shoot. Lag usually is temporary and only occurs for a few seconds. "
Cloud computing it a terms used to describe using the Internet for a number of things; this may include cloud storage (such as Dropbox or Google Docs); using software on the cloud (such as Google docs); working collaboratively using things like Wikis. There are other examples of cloud computing such as Youtube, Facebook, online banking, BBC I-Player, Flickr etc. There are both advantages and disadvantages to cloud computing:
Advantages:
- It is easy to share info/data/photos/videos
- You can work collaboratively
- It saves space on your hard drive
- you can access it anywhere in the world (as long as you have access to the Internet)
- you can share/transfer files easily to other users
- you have a backup online (so you are not reliant on your hard drive if it fails)
- It can save you money (use online software rather than buying software)
- You always need Internet access
- upload speeds can be slow
- you are more likely to get hacked
- you are relying on a third party company to look after your data (what if they cease trading?)
- the i-cloud could go down and you would not be able to access your data
This clip explains cloud computing - it is quite technical and detailed and you will not be expected to know everything mentioned on this clip; but it will provide you with a good understanding of cloud computing.
Collaborative Working
Collaboration is working together; collaborating on something (for example a project). Cloud computing enables people to work collaboratively. This might be done in a number of ways:
They may 'share' an online storage area. For example in the ICT department at school, the ICT teachers shared a 'drop box' folder/area where we save resources and worksheets as we complete them.
They may use a collaboration software such as www.primarypad.com where people can join a group and work on the same document/page together.
They may contribute/share a WIKIs. A WIKI is a webpage that allows the users to contribute, edit or delete content.
Online Issues
There can be lots of issues that you might face through being online. Some concerns can be over-use of the Internet, people may get too reliant on their online life using Facebook or even Virtual World games. Some people may get addicted to online games or even gambling websites, finding themselves in considerable debt. But you also may leave yourself open to online predators, cyberbullies, pedophiles, trolls etc. Here are some tips on how to stay safe when you are online:
But there can be other things to concern you, such as scams. An example of a scam email is a phishing email where they try to get you to respond to the email, at this time you often give away vital information to the criminal that they then use to commit fraud on your bank accounts or your paypal accounts etc.
Hackers. A hacker is someone who gains unauthorised access to a computer in order to obtain data stored on it.
Viruses - A program designed to cause other programs on a computer to malfunction or stop working altogether
Malware - Short for "malicious software," malware refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions on a computer system. Common examples of malware include viruses,worms, trojan horses, and spyware.
Spyware - Software that can be installed onto your computer without your knowledge, which collects information about your logins and passwords and sends the details to another computer on the internet.
Bots - A bot (short for "robot") is a program that operates as an agent for a user or another program or simulates a human activity. If your computer is acting as a bot, you may not realise it (other than your computer might be very slow and unresponsive)
Cookies - Small text files that are sent to your computer from certain websites. They track your behaviour and transactions.
Worms - Computer worms are malicious software applications designed to spread via computer networks. Computer worms are one form of malware along with viruses and trojans. A person typically installs worms by inadvertently opening an email attachment or message that contains executable scripts.
Trojan - A program that appears legitimate but which performs some harmful activity when it is run. It may be used to locate password information, or make the system more vulnerable to future entry, or simply destroy programs or data on the hard disk drive. They similar to viruses, but they do not replicate itself. Trojans often sneak onto your computer attached to a free game.
Online Security
User Accounts & Passwords - One method of ensuring online security is user accounts. When you buy goods online or join a group/website you usually have to set up an account. When you log on in future you use the account 'user name' and 'password' to access your account. The password authenticates that you are the correct user.
Security Questions - These are an example of 'challenge response' tests. When you set up an account you will be asked to select a security questions and to enter your answer (this is only known to you and therefore secret). In the future, if you forget your password, you might be asked this security question in order to check that it is you; on answering the questions you identify yourself and can therefore access your account and reset the password. Banks sometimes ask these questions as an additional layer of security, checking that it is definitively you before allowing you access to certain things.
Captcha Checks - Sometimes when you create an online account, you may be asked to type in a word (as shown in the example). This is known as a challenge response test and is called a captcha; you have to enter the letters and numbers shown.
This is done to check that the form is being completed by a human being and not being completed automatically by a software program known as a 'bot' or 'web robot'. It is impossible (or at least it has been to date) to program software to be able to read the ext displayed and therefore captures are used to protect systems that might be vulnerable to email spam.
Socialising on the Internet
In recent years the way we socialise has changed considerably with changes in technology. We might use many of the following methods to socialise on the net:
- Social networking (such as Facebook and Friends Reunited)
- microblogging
- online games
- chat rooms
- VoIP (such as Skype)
- emails and virtual worlds
- online dating
- online gaming (such as Bingo etc)
Sometimes the Internet can help us socialise (keeping in touch with friends who live a distance away), but sometimes it can prevent us from being as social (as people spend less time with friends face to face).
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