Unusual IT habits

UNUSUAL IT HABITS

There are some things we do without completely understanding the reasons behind it. I’ve seen plenty of strange habits people have but then again, I never really paid attention to them. So today, I’m going to go ahead and examine some of these things.

NUMBER 1: MY FAMILY

We know most members in a family usually have shared memories and interests, but my family likes to take this to the next level, by also having shared passwords! I never thought much about, as I just assumed its normal, but now that I focus on this more, most family members like to have some sort of privacy! However, in my family, starting from my dad all the way to me (the youngest of 5 kids) use the same passwords for our phones, laptops, suitcase locks etc. It’s not a random number, but a number such as our previous zip code etc. Now it’s not exactly the same number because we have a set of numbers we chose from:

4 digit code – 2 options

3 digit code – 1 option

Pattern lock- 2 options

So if I want to access my brother’s phone, I know which pins ones to try out! And vice versa…

Don’t ask me why we have this system. It’s just done subconsciously, because we set passwords in case of our phones getting lost or stolen so outsiders can’t access it – it’s not set to keep our siblings/parents out (something to do with trusting each other I suppose?)

NUMBER 2: ME, MYSELF AND I

I think I have few weird things going on to be honest, but I’ll just mention one :D

While studying alone, most people like pin-drop silence or maybe some background music. I, on the other hand, listen to audio books. Not any audio book actually, it has to be Harry Potter The GOBLET OF FIRE (BOOK 4) OR THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (BOOK 6). Why specifically these two options only? Because I know these two books so well, that when they are playing in the background, I don’t get too engrossed into the book, but at the same time it’s not too silent or too noisy. Perfect for when I’m studying by myself in my room. Needless to say, I don’t like too little or too much noise.

NUMBER 3: BROTHERS/ MEN INTO VIDEO GAMES

I’ve noticed many people, including my own brothers (who are super into online/video games) completely and totally do not realise what’s happening in their surroundings when they are playing. I know this is quite common for sure, but that doesn’t make it any less normal!

My Coffee Life Cycle

MY COFFEE LIFE CYCLE

Let’s begin with a confession: I am a coffee addict.

It all began....well a long time ago. Addiction to hot, soothing and strongly caffeinated beverages  runs in my family. The funny thing is that my mom used to actually make my siblings and myself a cup of tea (instead of a mug of delicious hot chocolate) before going to school. That was when I was in grade 1! She reckons its good for our health as it makes us feel fresh and ready for the day ahead. I totally and completely and most wholeheartedly AGREE!

Now, I know addiction means I can't help myself and keep drinking coffee all day and night, but that's not necessarily true. I know caffeine has many positive impacts on our health, but too much of anything is harmful. That's why I've established (from past experience) that more than two cups a day is a complete no-no. So every day I have a cup in the morning and one in the evening. It doesn't matter if it’s from Starbucks or 7-11, coffee is coffee.

OK so the above wasn't necessarily true because below you can see how it actually is:

Daily- 2 cups

Exam days- 4 cups or more (I need extra dosage of coffee during exams for reasons known worldwide)

Vacation - 3 cups (I enjoy it with my family)

Exceptions when I must have coffee:

• When I have a headache 
• When I'm hanging out with friends
• A new coffee place just opened up around the corner! :D

Now I've tried many times to ditch the coffee and just go about my day, but that has always ended up in a complete and utter disaster. I feel like a zombie all day. Below you can see my coffee-less and coffee-filled energy throughout the day!

In conclusion, coffee is vital for life…

MOST IMPRESSIVE AND LEAST IMPRESSIVE CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICES

MOST IMPRESSIVE AND LEAST IMPRESSIVE CLOUD COMPUTING SERVICES

Most Impressive Cloud Computing Service:

My personal preference when it comes to cloud computing service is Google Drive & Docs. Although many people prefer other clouds, I personally have used Google Drive for numerous occasions. For example, for my sister's wedding, my family members from Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh, along with me, used Google docs to communicate in real time and edit our plans together. I've also used it for a gazillion university projects and presentations. Therefore, I see it as the most impressive cloud computing service.

Although I believe it should be mentioned that I've recently learned from my STM classmate's presentation that Microsoft has very vast cloud computing services and I also found those to be impressive, however, I personally never used them. What's more is that, from my cloud computing presentation, I've learned that Microsoft and Google are responsible with carbon footprints and have been carbon neutral for awhile, another bonus point for these guys!

Least Impressive Cloud Computing Service

After my little research on the internet, I've seen numerous negative comments and views about the Amazon Cloud Storage Service. Although I didn't try this one out myself, reviews say that Amazon has occasional outages and sometimes these outages are for hours. Amazon users must have faced a lot of inconveniences and some may have had a  lot of problems occurring due to these outages. A company as big as Amazon should have better control over its systems. Moreover, after my cloud computing presentation, I've learned that Amazon is not very responsible about it's carbon footprint, another reason that it is the least impressive cloud computing service.


References:
Cloudtweaks.com
http://cloudtweaks.com/2014/05/five-high-profile-cloud-based-failures/

Intangible Assets in my Family

Intangible Assets

My mother was born in a village. Her father was a very loved local doctor and owned most of the lands in that village. Needless to say, he was a rich man, who liked to use his wealth to help people. Fastforwarding to the present time, now he has passed away but leaves behind his name and identity to his children. As his daughter, my mother holds his name and is granted many privileges because of it, thus making her name her intangible asset.



I realize that wasn't the most technological intangible asset, so another example would be my brother's credit account. I think that is an intangible asset because it means we are spending money which we don't have in our account. And we use a credit card to access that. Like we use an electronic device to access our email. My brother and his wife are very careful while buying on credit and avoid it as long as possible as it leads to debt and a lot of headache.

My Mom and IT

Human interest in technology surpasses any other form of hobby in our time. However, this interest was never shared by my parents. Their love for materialistic objects has always been limited to what is needed and what is useful. But things couldn't stay that way as smartphones are more important than ever to keep in touch with your loved ones. So before I moved to Thailand there were a number of things that I shared with my mother about smartphones and applications.

The smartphone she had at that time was Nokia Lumia 620 (in colour: Black)

She was thrilled to have such a funky phone. What's more is that, the large icons made it easy for her to use. Unfortunately, later on that phone was stolen (she was heartbroken)!

Getting back to the topic. I started teaching her from the very basic, mind you, it took patience and time....and lots of repetition. We began with how to switch on the phone (I never taught her how to turn it off though). Following that I showed her the basics such as where the necessary tiles were located on the screen such as the phone, contacts, Facebook, Skype and WhatsApp tiles. Following that, I opened up the Facebook Application and logged in for her, making her an email account as I did that. Once Facebook was up and running, she seemed to quickly grasp how it worked. I introduced her to the 'like' and 'share' concept. Knowing my mother, I knew she wouldn't want to get too deep into it so I stopped right there and moved on to the next and most important Application she needed to learn. WhatsApp.

Now its important to know that my family members are all settled and some are also married with families, so we are quite many in number (God Bless). We live in different parts of Asia and mainly function keeping in touch with each other through the WhatsApp application. Therefore, this was something my mom needed to really understand quite thoroughly.

I began by adding her to the family group chat and let her try out typing on the keypad. Once she grasped that, I showed her how to use emoticons and share pictures. Once that was finished we moved on to Skype, which was pretty simple and she got it right away.

Overtime, she moved on from learning basic things such as typing and sharing pictures to more advanced user friendly applications such as using YouTube, all by herself.