11/14/12--Digital Media

When you log onto a website, the first thing you want to see is that it has things that attract and interest you. For most people, that appeal comes from bright colors and pictures. While the color scheme of the website will be light blues and pinks, the pictures on the website are the colors that really count.

Just like with audio files, large image files need to be compressed for transmission and storage. When it comes to compression, two types of compression are available. There is "lossless" and "lossy". Lossless is where the decompression process can restore the image data identical to its original form. Lossy is where original data cannot be restored, but the image, to varying degrees, looks much like the original (e.g. jpeg compression).

On "rent-a-cat", the type of compression we will use is "lossy" compression. By use of a Jpeg, we will upload the photos for easy internet streaming of pictures. Jpeg is incredibly popular for computer and internet applications because of variable compression. The compression is on a scale of 100 on down; starting at 99, there is very high quality with little compression. It still causes a slight, though usually unnoticeable degradation over the uncompressed image. When the image is at 25 or lower, it is very low quality, but it is highly compressed.

While admittedly the JPEG has problems, it seems to do the trick for the website. By using an easy, effective method to compress photos, "rent-a-cat" will have no issues publicizing photos to the public.

11/14/12--Security 2

Protection is a huge concern among the internet community. So many people randomly click on links nowadays that computers can easily be infiltrated by viruses, spam, and unidentified software. While it may be up to the individual who owns the computer whether or not he or she wants to have an anti-virus program on their computer, many websites could easily help out by implementing things to avoid any viruses.

Malware, or "MALicious sofWARE" are bad programs that try to do bad things to a computer, network, or the server. Viruses and worms are among some of the worst types of malware that have the capacity to infect. The Malware usually gets onto a specific machine because of something that the user does, like clicking a button on a pop-up winder, installing a software package, or agreeing to add functionality to the web browser. These applications often use trickery to get the user to install them, often times from fake system alert messages to buttons that say "cancel", when they really do the opposite.

Because of the sensitive nature of "rent-a-cat", the website has to be extra careful when allowing users onto the site. They put most of their personal information on the website, which is a significant reason why hackers would want to put viruses on there and steal their information.

The only way to avoid harmful links and computer viruses is to remain alert and aware on the internet. Also, a little anti-virus wouldn't hurt. Anti-virus prevents both worm and virus infection by detecting the malware and removing it. "rent-a-cat" will have built-in anti-virus programs that detect if any falsity is using any attempting upload onto the site, and remove it immediately.

This way, the users, the programs, and the cats all remain safe from any online harm.

10/31/12--Security 1

Everyone wants what's easiest, no matter the cost. Most people nowadays can be sneaky and slimy when trying to get what they desire most; people getting stepped on in the process doesn't matter. But sometimes, being sneaky isn't always a bad thing. In fact, it can be quite clever. For example, back in the day, the military used codes to get messages across without being intercepted. Two examples of codes used were cryptography and stenography. Cryptography were codes completely numbered and different, while stenography was a blatant message, but just hidden.

In IST 195 class we learned all about cryptography. In its basic form, it is the process of encoding and decoding information so that its contents can be hidden. It relies on algorithms that use “keys” to encrypt and decrypt the information. Asymmetric, or public key cryptography uses a system of two keys where one of the keys may be freely revealed.

While it is an intriguing process with plenty of uses on the web, it does not really have a place within my website. "Rent-a-cat" is fairly open and does not need to be encrypted or filled with any type of hidden message. The contents of the website remain open to all viewers who sign into the page, and there is no need for any type of block, or hidden code, within the site.

10/22/12--Databases

Now onto the nitty gritty stuff. Most web pages that provide access to data use the HTML “FORM” element to collect inquiries from the user. FORM is a particular set of HTML tags that produce interactive document elements in which browser users can enter data of various types.


The browser remembers every option and piece of text that a user provides in a form. The FORM has two ways of sending data: GET and POST. GET sends the data to some destination URL with the submission data encoded into the URL with a series of ?, =, &, and other punctuation. POST sends the data to the receiving URL’s “standard input” (a fancy way of saying it is all sent after the initial request for the new page goes through). POST requires some kind of receiving program to eat up the incoming data


To maximize both efficiency and simplicity, the website will use a POST to keep the web name easiest to access. The address of "www.rentacat.com" will be the universally known name. While the URL may actually be longer than that, using POST will keep the name short, sweet, and to the whiskery point.

10/16/12--Communication/Networks

With so many different modes of communication nowadays, which one is the best for reaching out to customers? Due to the fact that dating sights already draw in a high amount of visitors and users, Rent-a-Cat will pair with these sights to allow my website to send out a promotional email once a user registers.

But it won't stop there. Because relationships can be so fleeting, Rent-a-cat wants to make sure you stay informed of the fabulous opportunity that the sister website offers once your loved one has become a thing of the past. Due to the fact that Rent-a-cat already has your email address from when you registered to the dating site, it will continue to sent you monthly blasts promoting new kittens, full grown cats, and chances to receive discounts if you sign up for the site on a certain date.

All of the blasts and promotions will be sent out via email, and when you log onto the site and type in your information, you have the option of receiving text messages from Rent-a-cat as well. Due to the fact that email, chat, and other forms of text messaging require minimal media richness (or face to face contact), while the messages are clear and concise, there can sometimes be room for ambiguity and so the users need to head to the site to learn more. Each communication method (or more precisely the operative standard) has a characteristic maximum bandwidth, and due to the fact that text messaging and emailing use little, the media richness is lower.

10/16/12--Advanced Hardware

To be completely honest, what is a website without sound? While many websites in the antique days of dinosaur cellphones and dark green Izuzu's were completely static, unentertaining, and bland, Rent-a-cat will be completely different. With its modern, up-to-date technology, my website promises not only the newest features to draw customers in, but also the most entertaining features.

If we're putting it bluntly, a website without sound is a cat without a meow: it simply isn't right. That's why, when you log onto Rent-a-cat, you're promised the utmost of high quality service by supplying you with the meows of the cats that are your potential new soulmates.

While some people say that they cannot stand the sound of a dog's barking, meowing can be just as intolerable. That's why, for each cat offered to you through our careful sorting process, a sound bite with the exact meowing is given as an option over your computer.

So how is this done? It "sounds" complex, but let me explain it to you: a list of recorded and precise numbers are read from CD or hard drive and sent over the
computer’s internal bus to the soundcard. The sound card contains a DAC – digital-to-audio converter that moves an electrical voltage up and down to match the numbers. The (amplified) electrical voltage goes down the wire and causes the
diaphragm of the speaker to move. The movement of the speaker diaphragm causes waves of compression that travel through the air to your eardrum.

Those waves traveling to your ears through your computer speakers are the meows.

To be exact, it's the "cat's meow!"

10/4/12--Hardware Basics 2

Both the input and output of the website is incredibly important when it comes to communicating with a customer. A video digitizer (aka a camera or video recorder) captures input from a video camera and then convert it to a digital signal. This is vital for the prosperous atmosphere of the website because the individuals advertising the cats will take actual pictures and video of the kitties to show the customers.

To make sure that the customer will be satisfied with the cat, its imperative that they approve of the cat before it comes into their home. The right amount, and quality, of the videos and pictures are so vital because if a person is unsatisfied, they will not promote the site. Also, in each customer's individual diaries when they write about their cats, they can upload pictures and videos of them playing with their cats. Once uploaded, the pictures and videos are stored in memory and displayed on computer screens


From pulses to person, the computer must be able to be accessed by all individuals. Resolution is defined as the number of pixels displayed on the screen--the "rent-a-cat" website will have each of its pages compatible for all computers. Due to the fact that some use more pixels than other, there will be an option when heading into the website for "Fit to screen". Regardless of the computer size, the website will be fit to altered for each computer screen. Image quality is affected by resolution and color depth, and so each computer will have the ability to fit the website so it has the maximum quality appearance.

This way, the website will appeal to those customers who are wealthier and can afford higher priced computers, and those who also are using prehistoric monitors.