Conditional statements (or decisions) and loops make up a good portion of programming code in general. I am familiar with these concepts though other languages, however I have never programmed them in PHP. This week I have been reviewing the first 5 chapters of Beginning PHP 5.3, which has been giving me a good solid introduction to PHP. ...
Variables in PHP are similar to define and use as with other programming languages. PHP uses loose typed variables, in other words they do not have to be defined specifically as a datatype upon initialization and can be changed to other data types using expressions. ...
This week I have been reading the first five chapters of Beginning PHP 5.3, Doyle (2010). Chapter 1 gave a good overview of PHP and it’s advantages. It drew comparisons to other programming languages, which I found interesting coming from a ColdFusion background. ...
This summer I have enrolled in a Dynamic Websites independent study for my graduate program. The course will focus mainly on developing PHP programming skills, something I have been lacking and interested in developing for some time. ...
Over the last decade, the boom of the Internet has had a major impact on the way we interact with other individuals and business entities. Products and services have become available at the touch of a button and access to vast amounts of information has become available to anyone with a direct connection to the web. Much correspondence, which was traditionally mailed through the postal service now takes place online through e-mail communications. Management of bank and other financial services accounts can all be administered through online tools where the customer seldom needs to enter a physical branch location anymore. There are clearly many advantages to this new connected world and services that are still evolving at the current time will provide even more convenience to users over the next number of years. Unfortunately many of the conveniences of online services come at a price. As software systems have become more advanced so too have the criminals who seek to breach these systems to their own end. Computers have evolved to the point where the information stored now “contain wedding videos, scanned family photos, music libraries, movie collections, and financial and medical records.” (Vacca, 2009) Vast amounts of information is being stored online in newer cloud based services which is creating even larger targets for cybercriminals. Consumers have put their trust in many corporate organizations who handle their sensitive data to protect it adequately from those who would seek to steal or destroy it. ...
CMST 385 Principles of Web Design and Technology is an undergraduate web design course taught at the University of Maryland University College. The online version of the class involves the use of WebTycho and weekly conferencing. For a long time, supplemental learning resources have been used in this class including videos, presentations and external reading materials to assist with student learning, all of which have been made available through the WebTycho Learning Management System (LMS). ...
In a hypothetical study, the Interaction Design and Information Architecture (IDIA) department at the University of Baltimore decided to promote their Humans Computers and Cognition (IDIA 640) course to prospective students already enrolled in the program and to those interested in the field. In order to foster interest in the program, it was decided that a banner or ticker should be deployed within the department website, providing news updates and information about the program to interest visitors. This paper documents the development of a ticker prototype intended to serve this purpose. Discussion of the chosen content, rationale for design from a human centered computing and cognitive standpoint follows in the paper. The prototype has been designed with an emphasis on addressing memory, forgetting, learning and mood. ...
Web based games and interactive applications have become a common means of teaching a wide range of concepts throughout K-12 schools in the United States. With the declining costs of hardware and software coupled with the increase of available bandwidth and transfer speeds, the development of educational applications has advanced significantly in the last five years. ...
Over the last decade, a shift has occurred in the way many people access, read and watch current events and news. From the traditional newspapers and scheduled television news programs, we have moved to a more dynamic interactive medium, which dispenses information in a real-time format. News websites are a fairly young media; however they have evolved exponentially since the late 1990s to the current time. This article examines a popular news organization’s web presence and evaluates this resource in terms of human centered design and cognition. It explores the website’s effectiveness of compiling and distributing news information in a way that is easy for humans to comprehend and process. Much of the focus has been on the main homepage of the website; however other site pages have been taken into consideration adding context to some of the discussion. ...
As information systems in airports continue to grow in both size and complexity, so too do the risks associated with security vulnerabilities and threats. Since the terrorist attacks on September 2001, airport security has substantially increased in day to day operations to address modern threats that the transportation infrastructure faces. Terrorist attacks however are only a portion of the security threats that an international airport faces. Advanced systems used in airports from customer ticketing and check-in, immigration and customs to air traffic control are all depended on daily to maintain operations involving vast numbers of customers travelling throughout the world. These systems must be secured from a number of threats. First and foremost, an international airport must be prepared for threats to its physical infrastructure including natural disasters as well as the danger of deliberate attacks. Risks involved with untrustworthy employees or consultants should be appropriately mitigated through necessary systems permissions and auditing. External threats of cyber attacks either through the airport’s website booking system or other vulnerable gaps within the information systems must be adequately addressed. Operations within an airport that are vital to human safety must take a high priority with regards to security investment. ...