What I Want To Learn Next

In CS100 class, I’ve learned many useful things. If I could learn more about computers, I would like to know two more things. The first thing is how to use MS Excel. Since it is the No.2 killer software of PC, MS Excel is used for many purposes in many situations such as at college or at work, and I will need to use it in the future. Also I want to know what I can do with Excel, so then maybe I can use it effectively when I write papers at college. The second thing is how to call somewhere by using the Internet. If I could talk to somebody through the Internet, I can call my friends or family from the US to Japan very cheaply, because I don’t have to pay for International calling cards. If we learn that in class, we can practice by talking to other students in class and it will be fun. But in any way, I could learn many useful things in this class and it is helping me a lot. Thank you Mr. Poza!!J

How Is It Useful To Use The Internet?

Since I was talking about how useful the computer is, I would like to list how the Internet is helpful for me in order to study at college.

・Search for college
・ask colleges to send me information
・apply for college and receive results
・book TOEFL / SAT
・book airplane
・find the apartment/homestay
・find roommate
・read syllabus
・do research
・check out books on libraries
・contact with professors
・find out popularity of colleges/professors
・receive exam scores
・keep contact with parents/friends in Japan
・receive e-mail from clubs
・check news
・check out events in the city
・check how to go to the city
・look for sightseeing places
・book tours for trip
・find out where to buy Japanese foods
・check weather
・buy music
・etc

Wow, there’s a lot. Can't be bothered to list all of them....zzz

In The Near Future

The development of technology is so fast that our life is surrounded by many kinds of computers. Ten years ago, no one used the PCs or mobile phones so often. Now, it is very inconvenient if we don’t have these computers, and they became part of our life. Many high schools or junior-high have computer classes and it’s compulsory to take these class. When I first took computer class in high school, and heard that it is compulsory to take PC class in the university, I felt very strange. Why are we learning about using this particular tool? Soon I understood that it is very useful to use computer in many ways. By using PCs, we can do some research, send e-mail, chat, write papers and so on. Also many people have PCs at home, so it is important to know how to use PC! But hey, there is another useful tool which has similar features and spreads among people more than PCs. That’s mobile phone. Now a day, about 70% of Japanese people use mobile phone, and we can do many things by using mobile, such as text message, keep schedules, alarm clock, listen to music, watch TV, Internet surfing, payment and so on. How useful is that! In addition, technology of mobile phone is growing fast and we have to follow the speed of changes. Since mobile phone such an important and essential tool in our life, I think in the near future, we will learn how to use mobile phones at school, and it will be compulsory in order to graduate colleges.

I Wonder If...

The Internet is very useful. Almost all information that people can think of can be found on the Internet, and it is much more difficult to find something which doesn’t appear on the Internet. For academic students like me, it is very useful. When I was collecting the information of Pocky for my presentation in PC class, all I had to do was to sit in front of computer and keep starring at screen, and then few hours later, I got all information I needed. How effective is that. I wonder what if the computer doesn’t exist. I have to do many things to get the information for Pocky. The first thing I might do is to go to bookstores or libraries to find if there’re any books talking about Pocky. Well, maybe no such books are on sale. So the next thing is to call Gulico to ask if they send me any information about Pocky. If they’re so kind, they would send me some kind of information. If not, then I have to find if there is any Pocky museum or Pocky expert. The last thing I would do is to visit Gulico Company, and no one pay attention to the odd student who is doing research on Pocky. It may take long time and costs some money, and there’s no guarantee that I can find any information. Computer is very useful and I depend so many things on computers. Hallelujah computer.

Other Students' Blog

On the Internet, there are so many blogs and bloggers that no one on earth can even count how many blogs there are. There are so many no-face users writing blog on the Internet. But since I know those classmates who write blogs for this class by face, it is very interesting to see their blogs. Blogs shows different characteristics from each persons. Some blogs use many colors and different fonts to make it interesting, some use their favorite colors, some use less colors to keep it simple and stylish. Some are very soft, some are energetic, some are cool, and some are very funny. It is interesting to see that many different combinations of styles, colors, sizes and photos make different atmosphere of the blogs. To talk about photos, there are many beautiful and enjoyable photos, and I was especially attracted by Sachiko’s photos. I love those photos, especially DOGS and PANDA. That’s very honobono. I think her blog contains some kind of alpha wave:)

The Computer I Want

Since my old computer had broken, I bought a new computer. So I would like to introduce my computer.
My new computer is VAIO VGN-FS22B from SONY. The good point of this computer is that the screen is so wide that I can view Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word at the same time. That’s the main reason why I bought this computer, but it also has some good features. It contains Celeron M processor, so the speed is about the average. It’s RAM memory is 512MB, and I wanted to put additional RAM in order to make it faster, but my parents said “You don’t need it!!!”, so my RAM is still 512MB. Well, compared to my last computer (which was 128MB) it is quite fastJ Its HDD can contain up to 80GB, and it is 4 times more than my last computer!! Wonderful. Also, it has DVD super-drive, and it can write on 2-layer DVD. Since my last computer couldn’t read or write on CDs for two years (because CD-drive was broken), it’s quite an advantage!! In addition, it contains Microsoft 2003, Wireless LAN, and Felica Port!! (I still don’t know what is Felica Port for) Even though the features are so good, the price was reasonable. It is 159,800 yen!! But when I bought it, it was 12.5% off at Laox! How nice they are! In Yodocashi Camera, it was 159,800 yen, so if you’re going to buy one, go different stores and compare the prices!!

Computer News

Now a day, there’re many online business, and one of the recent popular one is affiliate. So what is affiliate?
Affiliate program is an Internet advertising technique. People who have their personal web page or blog put business or product advertisement on their page, and if the product was purchased, then they will get money. Therefore they have to work hard and sell products in order to get money. This system is attracting people who want to get pin money and business corporations to reduce costs for advertisement.
Amazingly, according to the article (The Japan Times), the sale of Sega Enterprises Ltd through its affiliate programs was about 20% of its total Internet sales. The women who earn money from affiliate program says "It is fun when my efforts are rewarded." So it is fun!! Affiliate may become much more popular one day.

Communication Tool and its Cost

Since I am going to the U.S. next year and live far from friends and families, the Internet is a good communication tool. E-mail is probably the most common tool which is in general use all over the world, followed by chat (messenger) and online telephone. By using the Internet, I can contact them cheaply and constantly. How cheap are they?

For example, if I call from the U.S. to Japan by using the international phone call card, it usually costs around 35yen per minutes (it varies, though). If I get home sick oversea and called for an hour every night for a week, it will cost me 14,700yen. If my homesick lasts for a month, then the cost will rise up to 58,800yen. That’s so expensive. But, if I use the free Internet phone, the only thing I have to pay is the monthly fee for the Internet. Let’s assume that I can use the Internet as much as I want, for 24 hours everyday with the monthly cost of 2,500yen (this varies as well). Even though I call to Japan for an hour everyday, every night, for every week, it still costs me 2,500yen and it won’t go over this price.

Since I haven’t considered about the costs for other things such as the computer, this calculation may be impractical. But if I simply calculated by monthly costs, it is clear that it is much cheaper to contact with friends or families by using the Internet. Therefore I love the Internet.

Computer Gift

If I were to give present to someone else, I would choose iPod nano as a “computer gift”, because that’s something I want to get.
I would like to introduce why I want to get it, in advertisement form.


If you were troubled to get computer gift for someone else, choose to buy iPod nano!!
As you can see, iPod nano is "impossibly small" and it is as thin as pencils. Therefore, you can carry it around at anytime and anywhere. When you are on the crowded train, on the plane, on the bicycle, or even when you go for running, iPod nano is there for you to enjoy music.
It is so small that you don't need to worry about weight or size.
Since it is so small, you might worry about its capacity to hold your music.
Often when you choose smaller design, you have to give up its capacity, or the other way around.
However, NOT FOR iPod nano.
With this little white stylish card shaped device, you can enjoy its smart design and quality and even quantity at the same time. Even more, you can twitch and switch the menu so easily by using Click Wheel. How cool is that!
So, if you are not sure which present to give, iPod nano will make a great gift!!
Buy It Now!!!


From these reasons, I would like to get iPod nano.

My history with PC

My first experience of using PC was when I was ten years old. It was Apple Computer (I forgot the version.) However it took 5 minutes to start up, so I rarely used it. The first time that I really got to use PC was at the age of fifteen when I was going to study abroad in Australia. My parents bought me Windows XP so that we can contact each other constantly and cheaply. They also said that it was very easy to connect to the Internet, so I went over to Australia without any knowledge about PC.

Since I was a complete beginner, I had some troubles connecting to the Internet as expected. I asked my host family for help but they didn’t know much about it as well, then I went to electric shop nearby. The shop assistant helped me with everything. She even visited my room to set up my PC. How friendly she was! Then finally I could use the Internet for the first time. (It was also the first time that my host family told me not to let strangers into the house, by the way.)

As I use PC, I learned more about what I can do with my computer, and I found that it was very useful and interesting to learn. I wish to learn more things so that I can use it more effectively.