A2 Project planning for November and December

This is the rough GANTT chart which set 2 agreed this morning. Aim to move your design into reality over the next couple of weeks, and be ready for another review meeting on Monday 12th November.

In priority order: build

• tables (test validation etc)
• queries (test that they do what it says on the tin)
• input forms (test that they work)
• reports (test that printouts print, & that emails send - may be impossible on school network)
• interface (switchboard, perhaps) (get your user to test this and all the functions - get them to write down comments about the system)

Do your testing as you go along - record screen shots and comments, especilly for the queries.


If you can manage to write up the evalution and user doc before the end of term, you will be free to concentrate on revision for unit 5 :)

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Hand-held supercomputers 'on way'

Hand-held supercomputers 'on way'HPCx supercomputerIt is predicted that supercomputers will shrink in sizeExperts at a Scottish university say they have paved the way for the creation of tiny supercomputers which could fit in the palm of the hand.Engineers at the University of Edinburgh studied the behaviour of wires which were 1,000 times thinner than human hair.
They then created a tool which could help develop tiny microchips.German and Italian experts also worked on the project. Their findings will be published in the journal Science.It is hoped that the discovery will eventually lead to medical advances, as well as hand-held PCs and mobile phones as powerful as laptops becoming available on the high street.
To create a powerful computer the size of a mobile phone, much smaller microchips with thinner wires are needed. This will help to make small devices much more powerful in the futureDr Michael ZaiserUniversity of EdinburghThe Edinburgh researchers teamed up with colleagues from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany and the University of Rome, Italy, to look at how tiny wires behave when they are manipulated.With the help of computers, they found that wires on a nanoscale, measured in millionths of a millimetre, behave quite differently from bigger wires.
Dr Michael Zaiser, of Edinburgh's school of engineering and electronics, said: "What we found is when we made these wires smaller and smaller they started to behave in a very funny way."The experts in Edinburgh have created a computer programme which allows engineers to predict when these problems might arise with the wires - and how to avoid them.
The discovery should help ensure that wiring in electronic devices remains effective, even in a supercomputer the size of a matchbox.Dr Zaiser said: "This will help to make small devices much more powerful in the future."Holding a supercomputer in the palm of your hand will one day be possible - and we are going to make sure all the wires are in the right place."

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Edinburgh, East and Fife | Hand-held supercomputers 'on way'

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BBC NEWS | Technology | Security service targets gamers

Security service targets gamers. The GCHQ monitoring service employs about 5,000 people. A British intelligence agency has targeted a new generation of recruits by advertising in computer games.The Cheltenham-based surveillance service GCHQ hopes to attract the attention of "tech-savvy" gamers. Adverts featuring the GCHQ website are on billboards within Xbox 360 games such as Splinter Cell: Double Agent and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.GCHQ said it hoped the campaign would "capture the imagination of people with a particular interest in IT".

BBC NEWS | Technology | Security service targets gamers

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Tuesday 9th Oct - Software

Jack M:
Today we spoke about software. This included operating systems, applications software and utilities. We learnt new word such as bespoke which is the ICT version of the Tailor Made. I learnt that malware defence e.g is not an application software but is a utility software. Also we spoke about how drivers work to turn on the computer and communicate with the keyboard, screen and other cool stuff. Also for work tonight we must complete our notes/mindmaps on software.
I hope this Chronicle of today's lesson will satisfy those who are interested. No doubt that Jack Broome will something constructive to add about software as he is a pro.

Databases

Sean M wrote :
Year 12 ICT Set 1 Blog

First we went through chapter 17- introduction to databases and chapter 18- relational databases, plus we checked the questions on these chapters. While doing this we looked at the schools database to use as an example.

Then we looked into the ICT website (clowndes.org.uk/moodle) which Mr Lowndes had set up and did the first set of questions.

We went to create our own wiki which is where we are going to create our own revision guide.

CAML adds:
we also talked about the importance of

• making notes when reading about ICT (and this could be here, or in the course wiki)
• using summaries and bullet points from the textbook
• lloking up unfamiliar words, in online resources like FOLDOC and Wikipedia

The ICT Blog launches

This is a place for Shiplake College ICT students, and perhaps others, to keep notes and swap ideas about their study of ICT A level topics.