Author Archive
Social Media: What next?
Although developed for users, social media is a commons, available for any legal use. For better or worse, businesses will seek to discover how to leverage social media to make a buck.
My website is open
Yesterday, I completed my preliminary work on my personal website. The purpose of this site is to help you and your students get information you need.
What’s your…?
Terry White, an author who I have referenced in this blog recently wrote a web column entitled “What’s Your Case?” that resonated with me. This question is spot on. The answer to it has power–and according to Terry White, sometimes this power is lost to many in the IT profession.
When I was a computer science [...]
Is there a difference between Information Security and Information Systems Security?
Very good question, Ray. Thank you for that.
Certainly different businesses and authorities may define these two terms differently. When they are presented together in this question, I believe that our natural reaction is to say, “Yes, there is a difference.” This makes me think, “Okay, what’s the difference?”
First an illuminating digression: one interesting difference between [...]
Finding Your Focus
FAQ: Should I focus on networking or web application development in my IT education?
Fundamentals of both networking and programming are difficult for many students and strong academic work in both (or either) of these areas can form the basis of a career leading to very good paying jobs.
IT is the integrative computing discipline. The most [...]
Certification means “certifying your skills and knowledge”
“…even for those of us who “don’t need no certifications to prove what we know” the day often comes when we find ourselves looking for a new job. On days like that we give our certifications a good looking-over and think about attaining new ones too.”
What’s the difference between information technology and computer science?
FAQ: “What’s the difference between Information Technology and Computer Science?”
This is a question that comes up often among lay audiences and surprisingly among computing professionals as well. In this blog, I will attempt to set the record straight.
Computing is a broad field, with five major disciplines recognized in the United States. First the fast answer [...]
How is discrete math relevant to IT and business?
Discrete math is the math of the countable….(It is) the math of sets, logic, relations, structures, trees, graph theory, groups, and finite state machines (computers). These topics are rarely covered in-depth in a high school curriculum, although this may change as we delve deeper into the information age.
Why C++?
The choice of C++ as our principle programming language was made for teaching both procedural and O-O principles in a single language. Experts will disagree as practitioners will lobby for what’s hot or for what they know. There are newer languages that have their advantages. However, C++ has specific advantages that few languages share.
Security and Information Technology
Often I get a question like this:
Dear Mark, I am very interested in Information Security. I want to make sure that I take the right class to be able to specialize in this after graduation. Do you have a suggested list of courses for me?
Regardless of what you want your first information technology job to be, [...]
