Posted on: September 30th, 2011 by Famous Phil

I typically don’t post more personal things on my website, but my college degree is one of the few exceptions that I was considering posting (depending on what information it gives away).  Surprisingly, my degree doesn’t reveal much of anything that you couldn’t find out about me by looking at my resume or just my website’s WHOIS information, so I decided that I’d post a picture of the two sheets of paper that cost oh so much money to buy. A lot of hard work went into these two sheets of paper, so I’m very proud of them and my accomplishments and pain that they represent I felt that they deserved their own blog post If you’re curious, my major is Computer Science, with a concentration in High Throughput Computing for my Masters.

Tags: Bachelors, computer science, degree, Masters, Phiip Matuskiewicz, science
Posted in My Site, Personal, Student Life
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Posted on: January 31st, 2011 by Famous Phil

I bring a guest post to you from Brian Jenkins from braintrack.com!

What’s the Difference Between Computer Science and Information Technology Degree Programs?

To put it bluntly, the primary difference between a computer science and an information technology (IT) degree program is that IT students study management, information theory, and the use of computers for communication and business, while computer science students study the science of computers and how computers and computer programs work. Computer science has been described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe, and transform information.

Included under the umbrella of computer science are the fields of computer technology, software development, programming, web design, and computer and Internet security.

Information Technology Bachelor’s Degree Programs

Information technology degree programs cover how to use computers to efficiently process, share, store, and manage data. These programs thoroughly review database management, systems analysis, software, networking, information assurance, and informatics.

Students are trained to improve the efficiency and capability of information systems so that networks can function properly. They also review telecommunications, electronic commerce, programming, and systems development. Computer systems and network administration are two very popular areas of specialization.

Information Technology Careers

The front-end jobs in this field focus on improving the interface and usability of networks and databases and back-end jobs focus on the support and maintenance of networks and databases.

Here are some of the most sought after information technology jobs:

• Network administrators design, install, and support a company’s computer systems. They are responsible for wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), Internet and intranet systems, and network segments. They focus on the integrity of the network, security, and server development.
• Systems administrators make sure the design of a company’s computer system allows all components of the network, including the computers and software, to work together properly. They also troubleshoot any problems that may arise.
• Database administrators utilize database management software to determine the best ways to store, organize, present, and use data. They identify the needs of users and set up new computer databases.
• Telecommunications specialists deal with the interactions between communications and computer equipment. They design and supervise the installation of video, voice, and data communication systems.
• Network architects or network engineers set up, evaluate, and test WANs, LANs, Internet and intranet systems, and other data communications systems.

Computer Science Bachelor’s Degree Programs

These programs emphasize the mathematical and theoretical foundations of computing. Typically the core areas of study are software development and design, computational theory, object-oriented and systems programming, computer design, and discrete mathematics. Most degree programs include a number of intensive math courses.

Computer science students generally study subjects like:

• Programming principles
• Programming paradigms
• Data structures
• Algorithms
• Computer architecture
• Logic and computation
• Mathematics

Beyond the basic classes, computer science students select courses from a number of different subfields, including:

• Software engineering
• Operating systems
• Databases
• Computer networking
• Data communication
• Artificial intelligence
• Internet computing
• Algorithm design and analysis
• Compilers

Computer Science Careers

Positions for those with a computer science degree include computer systems designer, software developer, programmer analyst, computer programmer, systems analyst, and Web developer.

Although there is some overlap between computer science and information technology degree programs, each discipline requires a unique set of technical skills.

Brian Jenkins writes about computer technician careers, among other job and career topics, for BrainTrack.com.

Tags: braintrack, computer science, cs, degree, information technology, it
Posted in Student Life
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Posted on: April 27th, 2009 by Famous Phil

So, I was thinking that I should drift a little bit to my personal life and talk a little bit about my public speaking skills which seem to be severely lacking.   Of course, this idea came to me in the shower like most of my better (or worse??) ideas do.

About 3 to 4 weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to become a Teaching Assistant (TA) for the Computer Science Department (CSE) for the entry level course that teaches students Java (The programming language distributed by SUN).  I went through the interview fine and was asked to give a 10 minute presentation/lecture on what a Constructor is at the level a CSE115 (entry level course) student.

I didn’t know too much about the constructor other than it is the part of a class that instantiates that class.  I went into that lecture knowing a lot about the constructor but I did not rehearse anything.  I also know what I expect out of public speakers as an active listener, therefore, I went in with no power point and rather wanted to just experiment in the Java compiler and explain what everything was line by line from real code.  I wrote a bunch of partial examples in Java prior to my presentation to make sure that I would be prompted to not miss anything important.  Although I doubt I missed anything important, I know that I definitely did not explain anything well.  I would have done much better just reading off a slide and a note sheet (which I hate when public speakers do).

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: computer science, constructor, cse, java, lecture, lecture series, presentation, public speaking, random numbers, university at buffalo
Posted in Personal, Student Life, Uncategorized
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