Author Archives: Christopher Roberts

Derrick, Deniel, Lian, Chris Meeting Minutes #3

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Date: 11/29/14

Start Time: 2:00pm

Finish Time: 3:00pm

Location: Skype video chat

Attendees: Lian, Derrick, Deneil, Chris

Objective: To discuss the format of our final presentation format, our survey locations and what we have to do coming into the final weeks of class

Discussion:

-We began by speaking about how the presentation on Wednesday went, and how it compared to the others

– Much was mentioned about what we can do to improve before the final presentation, highlighting the positives and areas of improvement

– We discussed what would be the plan going forward in terms of fixing the presentation itself, and also the survey

– Mention of the survey led us to finalizing when and where the survey would be distributed

– It was suggested that the memo be slightly fixed as well.

– We spent a decent amount of time discussing what would be needed for next week and motivating each other to finish the semester in strong manner.

– Before we finished, Derrick reminded anyone that any new sources had to be added to the bibliography

Meeting adjourned at 3:00pm

Minutes respectfully compiled and submitted by Christopher Roberts

 

 

Progress Report #2- Chris, Deniel, Derrick, Lian

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Group 5: Chris, Deniel, Derrick, Lian
Professor Jill Belli
ENG 3773
Progress Report #2
On November 14, 2014 4:30pm to 6:00pm the group held a meeting in the library to discuss what materials should be brought to the next class session. First we had to determine what questions should be used in the survey and how can they be applied to other aspects of the project. The decision was made to hand out the surveys in the Namm building of City Tech because that is where most of the computer courses are held, the specific location has not been fully determined but areas such as the Atrium lounge area or the cafeteria was suggested. These areas were suggested because we would not be obstructing anyone and it should be during the student’s free time when given a survey. One of the computer club’s admins became unresponsive to Lian so it was decided to find another person in charge of the computer club for information. Due to the lack of responses from the computer club we had to make a memo based on information that was gathered previously as a first draft. The second meeting took place online through Skype on November 15, 2014 2:00pm to 3:00pm this was to edit the
current survey by adding, changing and rearranging the questions.

Meeting Agenda- Chris, Deniel, Derrick, Lian

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Group 5: Chris, Deniel, Derrick, Lian
Location 1: Library
November 14, 2014; 4:30pm-6:00pm
Location 2: Online; Skype
November 15, 2014; 2:00pm-3:00pm
Objective:
To determine what materials to bring to the next c
lass and to find what other
information is in need of research
I.
Discussion
–
Find another person in the computer club for a source of information
–
Determine what questions should be on the survey
–
How to apply the data from the survey to other aspects of the project
–
Where to give out the survey
II.
Preparation for the next class
–
Decide what materials to bring to class for revision ( Survey, Memo)
III.
Plans for the following week
–
Look for faults in the memo and survey
–
Determine what is in need of further research
–
Find another source from the computer club

Meeting Minutes 1 – Chris, Deniel, Derrick, Lian

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Group 5: Chris, Deniel, Derrick, Lian
Location 1: Library
November 14, 2014; 4:30pm-6:00pm
Location 2: Online; Skype
November 15, 2014; 2:00pm-3:00pm
I.
Discussion
–
Group 5 decided to find another person in the computer club of administration due to the lack of response from our current contact
–
Brainstormed on possible questions for the survey and how can the data be applied to other aspects of the project
–
Group 5 decided that the best place to hand out the survey was in the Namm building due since the computer major course are taken there
II.
Preparations for the next class
–
Questions compiled for the survey will be organized and ordered
–
The first draft of the memo to the students that should be part of the survey
–
New annotated bibliography will be added to the list
III.
Plans for the following week
–
The memo would be edited based on the new information gained from other
sources
–
Survey steps will be completed and data will be compiled for further use
–
Another member of the computer club would be contacted for more information

Derrick, Deniel, Lian, Chris – Annotated Bibliography

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“CUNY Policy.” CUNY Policy. Web. 12 Nov. 2014

The CUNY bylaws created by the City University of New York, are the paramount policy source within the CUNY system as such are the highest form of policy over all other CUNY policies, especially those which are not bylaws. Their text covers a various amount of information that pertains to every possible group that could be involved with CUNY, from Board members to outside individuals. They clearly state laws, instances and situations that could be beneficial to any individual willing to search for it. While the information is public knowledge and well documented, it is somewhat difficult to find information pertaining to your wants and needs. The CUNY bylaws benefits our project in that it allows us to know what is and what isn’t acceptable to do as a student of their CUNY system. Their bylaws are in place to provide a clear and thought out structure in case of any legal problems or disputes. Their bylaws are biased in favor of individuals under the CUNY system but to varying levels. Depending on your situation, the bylaws may benefit you or damn you. In reference to our project, it seems that as long as we are not obstructing school grounds, not acquiring funds from our activities or publicly slandering an individual’s or group’s image while being backed by the school, we have grounds to proceed in our endeavors.

Persuasive Techniques for Advertising. PDF File

This piece is focused solely on informing individuals on the finer points of advertising. The text here is for educational purposes and includes a short exercise that you can understand its concepts more intimately. The information here is presented in a straightforward manner. Keywords and their definitions make up the majority of the piece. The information also speaks about the persuasive manner to present to the targets you are advertising to. This is useful for our project because we plan to write memo’s preceding the survey’s we plan on administering. With this article, we feel like we can incorporate some of these ideas into the memo so we can possibly spur some of the people we survey into joining the club. As their piece is for educational purposes, they’re only bias in the support of spreading information. As our window for finishing this project is very short, the accompanying short exercise ion this piece will help our group understand and implement the concepts presented more accurately.

 

“Computer Club.” Southeastern Illinois College. Web. 9 Nov. 2014

In order to compare the computer club at City Tech to others nationwide, we decided to search for other computer clubs seeing what they are composed of. The SIC computer club has a well-defined objective which they use to lure students into the club. They are an organization intended to promote the education and recreational use of computers and related devices amongst interested college students. They are not only open to students with computer related majors, but anyone interested in joining. Southeastern Illinois College meets several times a month to play games, build projects and speak of topic of interests. This is a similar structure to City Tech’s club. This research done was useful to the project because , we can get an idea of how exactly a club can be run, while also incorporating certain ideas into the club here at City Tech. It is not clear exactly who wrote the piece, but obviously it is someone with insight of the club. For this reason it may be slightly biased yet highly factual. This source was chosen because we wanted to see how computer clubs are in a random college.

 

“Computer Club” St. Eunan’s College. Web.   9 Nov. 2014

The next source looked upon was a college in Europe by the name of St. Eunan. We wanted to diversify the search and see what a computer club was like in other parts of the world. The club had a website dedicated to providing students with programming tools, videos reviews about the latest technologies in addition to blogs and details about ongoing projects. Additionally, there is a page with links to technology articles that may be of interest to readers. Overall, the club covers a very broad scope and a lot can be learned from them. This source is useful to our project because it gives a good example of how we envision a computer club to be. It is written by possibly a member of the club and biasness is not a factor here. Another interesting aspect about their computer club was that it had a video resources link covering topics like coding, database etc. This can be very helpful for students and can be an alternative to tutoring.

Lo, Calvin. Personal Interview. 5 Nov 2014

This source provided us with information on what the current computer club expectations were and what they had planned for the future. These included presentations from people of Goldman Sachs, NYU PolyTech and even a professor of the campus itself that brought their knowledge in their various fields to the students of the club. They also have projects that they are working on which entail creating a website, review system for professors within each department as well as a cyber security group to assist the VP. Apart from this, the club has 122 members on roster, however, only a number of 30 or so show consistently to each of their meetings.  Also, if they need equipment, they would request it. When they don’t have guest speakers, they review ways of approaching some of the projects they are working on. The computer club has shown that they have a foundation on what is to be expected of a club. The expectation of our group is to now promote the club in terms of educating the students that are not aware of the capabilities of the club, and motivate the remaining 92 members, through having the necessary tools.

Williams, Lian. Message to Bader Oudjehane. “Computer Club info.”  7 Nov . 2014. Email

-We are still in the process of getting more information from this source.

 

 

“The City College of New York.” About City College. Web. 10 Nov. 2014

College offers a vast amount of majors and many of them require the use of technical software and hardware. The some of the computer labs in City College use Dell computers with windows 7 enterprise which is standard equipment for the general majors in the college. The library not only holds Windows computers but the same amount of Mac computers to match them as well. This allows students to broaden their studies in the computer information systems and computer science majors greatly.  As for computer software City College has Solid Works, a program used mainly in the engineering majors it is CAD software. They also have a program called Mat Lab which is a programming software, this is very useful to students develop algorithms and create models and applications. As for availability of computers in City College there are over one hundred per lab with an average wait time of 15 minutes on off peak hours to gain access to one, but this is common for colleges for the amount of students that City College has. In the computer lab students can wait in an organized line to gain access to a computer but in the library there are no waiting lines so students wait at random places hoping for someone to get off the computer to gain access.

“Baruch College.” About Baruch College. Web. 10 Nov. 2014

At Baruch College they also have technical majors such as computer science and computer information systems as well, so having computer labs available is a must have for the students. The Baruch Computing and Technology Center holds a 320 seat computing lab and is available to all students with a valid Baruch ID card, the main computer lab is open from 8am to 11:30pm. There are also departmental computer labs available for all students from 7am to midnight, but it is the students who are majors or taking courses in the department will have priority for the equipment there. The services available to students are digital scanning, printing black and white and color printing but they also have workstations for Windows and Mac. Baruch College’s computer labs has a vast amount of software available for student use programs such as Phython 2.7, Oracle 9i, SQL Plus, Pro C-C++, Mat Lab and many more. With multiple computer labs spread across Baruch’s campus and numerous of software available for student use, Baruch College is well equipped to support students of many different technical fields.

 

The Flight From Conversation

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“The Flight from Conversation”, written by Sherry Turkle, is about how technological advancements has made proper conversation be replaced by a simple connection. She states that people now depend on social media and technology in general, in order to be heard as opposed to face to face communication which she deems to be more valuable. Throughout the article, Turkle gives many examples of how the behavior and lives of people has changed, thereby supporting her idea. Her opinion is that this development is deterring many people from having a proper conversation, and also that it is leading to a lack of trust amongst each other. Social media and texting etc, while valuable, should not be the sole means of communication as it can be manipulated to mask who you really are. Turkle ends by trying to convey the message that in a world dominated by technology, we should seek to do more authentic conversation.

TF4-TF5 Coffeemaker Manual Review

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I’ve always been more of a tea person. On the rare occasion I may choose to have some coffee I always do it myself rather use a coffeemaker. Therefore I thought it would be a good idea to see how simple it is to set up and use a coffeemaker.

I searched online and chose the first one I saw; the TF4/TF5 Coffeemaker.

I was impressed by how in depth the manual covered every potential issue possible. It was well organized and flowed well. Information was not just scattered all about the place as I have seen with other manuals.

The manual starts off with important safeguard information stressing a safety first approach. As with most products, users want to be able to properly benefit from whatever they are using while doing so in a safe manner. The table of contents is then placed on the next page and I found this a little odd as it should be the first page in my opinion. However it isn’t that big of a problem to the user. The manual itself goes into great detail on how to operate the appliance and deliver the end product, that is, a great batch of coffee. It is so easy to understand I think that anyone with common sense can follow these instructions. There is also a diagram of all the parts provided in case one is confused about the set up. This is next to the suggested coffee measurement chart telling customers what to do for their ideal cup. The manual even goes so far as to tell customers how to clean their new appliance. Again this is done in a manner which is simple and easy to understand. The troubleshooting section then highlight potential problems and tells you how to deal with them accordingly. Lastly, there is then a repeat of everything, this time in Spanish, and that is very helpful to persons more fluent in that language.

Overall, the manual is very concise yet effective , as it should be, and I see no reason for anyone to not find it useless.

 

 

Job Ads

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For this assignment, I limited my search to the NYC area and obviously only looked for jobs in my desired area of work, that is, Technology. When I began my Computer Systems Technology here at City Tech, I knew that I was entering an extremely broad field which would lay a proper foundation for whichever area of Technology I later decide to narrow down and focus on. I’m now in my third year so I’ve now reached that stage. My three modules of study are Database, Networking and Security therefore I looked for jobs involving these.

The first thing I noticed most of these job ads had in common was that they all wanted some form of experience. As an imminent graduate fresh out of school this would be very frustrating. How are we supposed to gain experience when we wont be hired unless we have the necessary experience in the first place? I believe the answer here lies in doing internships while at school. By doing this you not only beef up your resume, but you expand your network while also seeing how it’s like working in a real working environment. This then allows for a smooth transition from school to work when the time does arrive. Another thing that was prevalent in most of these ads was that the minimum level of education required was a Bachelors degree. My ideal situation would have been to finish school by 20 and start making money, get my own apartment and upgrade on life. Thankfully, I know better and I’m close to completing my Bachelors. The thing is almost everyone are now doing this so the competition is extremely high. In order to stand out one has to continue on to getting their masters, a decision I’m still mulling over. Some jobs did have masters as a requirement by the way. Another thing that caught my attention was that for most networking jobs they require Cisco certification, CCNA expertise or the equivalent to these. City Tech does not provide these however so I would have to go the extra mile to attain such jobs. Security and Database seem to be easier to get into however as students are exposed to most of the requirements during the 4 years at school.

As far as the personal qualities they look for in potential employees, they all look for the same cliché things more or less: highly motivated, strong attitude, team player etc. As I pointed out earlier, most people competing for the same position usually have similar qualifications so I suppose if both persons are even in terms of such qualifications, the person with the more positive attitude will get the job opposed to someone who is anti social or gives a lazy vibe. Excellent public speaking, written, verbal, interpretive and interpersonal skills was also emphasized in certain jobs and I suppose this is where this class comes in handy.

One thing I was really excited about while searching through all these ads was the pay rate. For a database admin in particular the pay varies from $50-$60 an hour. Even entry level positions are relatively well paid. As in Information Security Consultant which only requires a bachelors degree, the pay is 90k-125k a year. Some ads didn’t post what the pay would be for that specific job but with a little research of my own I learned that the pay is also good.

In conclusion, by doing this assignment I’ve learned that employers are very demanding when it comes to what they want from an employee but this no problem as most Computer System Technology jobs are well compensated. I still feel very prepared for work after graduating as the knowledge I’ve gained in school and the experience I’ve gained through various internships will go a long way in helping me achieve my career goals. I know for a fact that most of the learning is on the job itself anyhow. For instance I did a web development course in 2013 Spring semester and the following summer I did an in internship developing a website for a local start up and I learned way more during this 8 week internship than I did in the class-room setting. This leads me to my final point; very few jobs mentioned on the job training but I guess this will come naturally. There are an abundance of jobs available city wide as compared to other fields where people are finding it hard to find work so I look forward to starting soon. Below is just a handful of the links viewed while writing this.

http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/jobs/jobdetails.aspx?sc_cmp1=js_jrp_jobclick&APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=JHT48F68HQQ0V6NJPLK&showNewJDP=yes&IPath=QHKVGV0A

http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/jobs/jobdetails.aspx?sc_cmp1=js_jrp_jobclick&APath=2.21.0.0.0&job_did=J3G4J4706XLT6F23TXD&showNewJDP=yes&IPath=QHKVGV0B

http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/jobs/jobdetails.aspx?sc_cmp1=js_jrp_jobclick&APath=2.31.0.0.0&job_did=JHS08D5YY1TN0BCG7V6&showNewJDP=yes&IPath=ILKGV0A

http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/jobs/jobdetails.aspx?sc_cmp1=js_jrp_jobclick&APath=2.31.0.0.0&job_did=J3G6PM62SGT9VLRC6ST&showNewJDP=yes&IPath=ILKGV0A

http://jobview.monster.com/Epic-Security-Administrator-Job-new-york-city-NY-138732626.aspx

http://jobview.monster.com/Network-Analyst-Job-New-York-City-NY-136033984.aspx

https://jobs-lgeusa.icims.com/jobs/2657/assistant-manager-%e2%80%93-it-planning/job?mode=job&iis=Indeed&iisn=Indeed.com&mobile=false&width=1004&height=500&bga=true&needsRedirect=false

http://www.indeed.com/cmp/Sigma-Group-INC/jobs/SQL-Developer-327e930100ff250d

http://jobs.cgi.com/job/New-York-Entry-Level-Business-Analyst-Campus-Recruiting-Job-NY/217933200/?feedId=4&utm_source=Indeed

https://nomuracareers.resourcesolutions.com/gold/cbjbaaa/jobsearch/jobdetails.cfm?oJobCode=770212&oSkillCategory=&oJobLocation=20921&oJobTitle=&oJobType=&oJobNameList=&oContainsAll=&chkInternal=&JS=1

http://www.signatureny.com/about-us/careers/job-openings—new-york/2014/08/27/it-security-analyst—incident-management-access-control-manhattan

http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?cmp=The-Guggenheim-Museum&t=IT+Security+Compliance+Administrator&jk=9d79d7e376482ac7&sjdu=QwrRXKrqZ3CNX5W-O9jEvSFel039pebmci5EohhBBSChCH-cx_uOy93jFbn8TAtJT7vmEcNWPZtAKBLweJ-vOBZ3pnXhnc3XevxAk5qDWall1HyzfwL3rqI7PG4XWTZA

http://praescientanalytics.applicantstack.com/x/detail/a2uae9b8vf7l/aaac

http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/jobs/jobdetails.aspx?sc_cmp1=js_jrp_jobclick&APath=2.31.0.0.0&job_did=JHQ3GB6LZ7CN5R4TH57&showNewJDP=yes&IPath=ILKGV0C

http://www.careerbuilder.com/jobseeker/jobs/jobdetails.aspx?sc_cmp1=js_jrp_jobclick&APath=2.31.0.0.0&job_did=JB73X173GKDKBTR81WT&showNewJDP=yes&IPath=ILKGV0E

 

Getting to know Chris

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Hey everyone, excuse the late post.

I’ve been reading through a few of the previous posts and it’s cool how everyone got their own unique background and the diversity in our class makes for an interesting read. Let me start by sharing a few basic things about myself. My full name is Christopher Roberts , but everyone calls me Chris (except for my mom). I was born in the Caribbean island of Grenada and Brooklyn has been my home for the last 5 years or so. I’m easy going, calm, sometimes quiet, funny and appreciate good humor. I believe life is too short to be uptight and serious all the time. Also, I pride myself on being loyal to my close friends and family. My hobbies include playing and watching soccer, music, trying new food and travelling to new places. If I’m not doing any of those things then chances are I’m playing around on my laptop. I’ve always had an interest in computers and how they work therefore when the time came to choose a major, Computer Systems Technology was the easy choice.

I’m a junior here at City Tech and I must say my experience thus far has been a positive one. I’ve met a lot of smart people, made a couple friends and most importantly I have gone some way in developing the necessary skills for work when I graduate. This is evidenced by 2 successful internships I’ve had since entering school. I’m going to be 21 in November and I’m really looking forward to the challenges that come with being older; the challenge of finding a job and excelling at it that is. I feel confident and prepared  in doing so though.

As it relates to writing in particular, I think that I’m pretty decent, however,  there is always room for improvement and that’s what I seek to do in this class. My strengths include properly expressing myself and using good vocabulary. I’ve been told I can be a little redundant at times so that might be a weakness. The thing I enjoy most about writing is that each person has their own style. One could write about the exact same topic as someone else and paint a much more beautiful picture. I especially like the use of metaphors, personifications etc and I believe they make the writing more powerful. There are many other things which enhance writing and I wish to learn them this semester so I can implement them in the future.