Week 8: Databases

A database is defined as a collection of data. Various things can be qualified as a database and this system is one of them. It is a database because it has a collection of clothing options, weather options, and mood options.

A database stores information systematically, in rows and columns. On this system, the options for mood and weather would both be stored in a column. The clothing choices would most likely be in a row, however showed visually.

The goals of databases are efficiency and integrity. In this system it would be efficient because there would not be a repetition of items of clothing as well as potentially outfits chosen if the mood and weather is similar from one day to the next. It can meet the goal of data integrity because adding, editing, and deleting clothing options would be up to date and easy to do.

Week 7: Communication/Networks

Network neutrality is a network design principle where information given out to the public is used to its maximal potential and treats all its content, sites, and platforms with equality. Service providers cannot discriminate on the various content and applications found online. This relates to my entrepreneurial idea because it is an application and the network providers must provide for it as they do any other application online.

If people using this software want to send it to a different location to either show results to a friend on a different computer or send everything on it to use on a different computer it has to be sent through digital signals and modems. The digital signals are analog voltages and through the use of modems are converted from analog to digital and back to analog. For the most part the phone company carries the information using a modem from one network to the next.

With a system like this one, most of the sharing would be peer to peer to show their choices and outcomes. When many people use this system, it brings more worth to it because of sharing. The more people that use it, the more valuable the system becomes.

Week 6: Advanced Hardware

In any type of software and system, retaining and not losing the memory and data is very important. If the hard drive for a computer with this system on it crashes, not only is it inconvenient, but it is also an annoyance to get the software back on the computer, the images of the clothing back on the software, and everything else back in order. If the hard drive somehow crashes, it is possible the data back somehow. If the software and the contents of the software are wiped out of the hard drive, there are tools and services in order to recover the data.

            The hard drive stores the software with all its data of the options and articles of clothing in platters coated with magnetic material. The surface of the platter is organized into concentric rings called tracks, which are divided into sectors. A read/write head floats above the platter surface and uses an electromagnet to manipulate and detect magnetic fields. All of the contents of the system and the system itself are stored this way.

            If for some reason a user finds it necessary to delete all of this from their hard drive to protect their own clothing from others, the files containing all of this are not completely gone when it is deleted. The space it now freed is simply made available for later use for a different file to take up. If a user is really paranoid for some reason that all of the files need to be completely gone, overwriting it can delete it permanently.