Blog 10: Microsoft Access

Before this lesson I didn't know much about Microsoft Access, other than it was in the menu of Microsoft programs that were on my computer and something I would likely never use.

However, in doing the lesson for this week it opened my eyes to what Access is and what it can be used for. Access is an amazing program. It is very detailed oriented and in the beginning a little overwhelming to learn.

As the scavenger hunt continued I was able to pick up the different commands that Dr. Olson was teaching and I saw how useful this program actually is. 

Microsoft Access has a whole realm of things that it can be used for. Sorting data such as student grades,  age, ID numbers and much for. We learned how to create new tables, input data into tables, sort data, make certain data show and much more. 

While watching the lectures this week I stated to think about ways that Access could be useful in my own life. 

I am looking forward to doing the project and using the skills that I learned this past week. I think the project is going to be challenging, but once complete I will definitely have a sense of pride for completing a project on a program so new and foreign to me. 

Technology: Past, Present and Future (Blog 9)

The history of technology and all that is associated with it is a fascinating. Starting with the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896, later to become IBM. It is amazing to me that the idea of advanced technology was thought of at that time. Then in 1958 the first integrated circuit, by Texas instruments, which led to the first modern computer. It is astounding to me how far technology has come in the last 100 years.

 In this lesson we also learned about Moore's law which is that the chip or processor performance should per dollar of cost double every 18 months, basically saying that chips manufactured now should be twice as fast but cost the same. This is an interesting concept to me. More and more technology is being made available to consumers at the same or lower price. This is a trend that I have seen in the market over the last couple of years.

 Price elasticity was also discussed in this lesson. I found it very interesting how much price can affect the popularity of an item. In the video the example of the Kindle Fire and the iPad were compared and it was said that if the price for an iPad was lowered the demand would increase. This is a concept I had never really thought of before hearing this. And inversely the demand for something like Insulin is never affected because of the price.

 An interesting concept to keep in mind is where technology is headed in the future. It is beneficial to focus on the future and new technological advancements as they are happening everyday.

 The quote, "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be," said by Wayne Gretzky. It perfectly fits the computer industry in knowing where it is going, always knowing potential and not dwelling on the past.

Excel Project

The Excel Project was a very interesting project. It had great benefits to applying what we learned in the real world. Overall this project gave me skills that I will be able to apply for the rest of my time using Excel in an business environment. Although Excel is an, at times, confusing program the Excel scavenger hunt really helped in learning the tools necessary for completing this project.

In the project I learned how to do a multitude of things. Things such as fitting the cells, centering the cells, adding columns and so much more. As the project progressed it definitely got harder but with a couple of tricky things I really had to pay attention for. In this program the details really matter. The one thing that really through me off was remembering to format the cells appropriately, whether that be number, currency, percent, etc.

One of the tasks that I found most difficult was the percent increase heart rate. I figured out what I thought was the formula but for some reason  it didn't work. I worked at the formula several times until I realized that I was forgetting one small detail, that the format had to be as a percentage. This just reiterated how important it is for you to pay attention to even the smallest details when working Excel.

My favorite part of this project was learning how to make the Excel page print on one page in width, that was something I have had issues with in the past and I will definitely find useful in the future.

Overall this was a great project, with useful and applicable knowledge gained!

Screen shot of  my Average Increase Pivot table!