Students' Page
One of my students?
Here's all the stuff we discussed in class...
Page currently under development.Class Materials
Class Week 3+
For the next class, we'll be finishing up the security presentation briefly, then - learning how to make a website, for free. (Or $15-$20/year if you want your own domain name.)
Free Education and Resources
YouTube Channels
My Curated YouTube Playlist - A playlist of videos I continue to add to, that has the most concise/interesting videos that I have ever found. Watch this to quickly see if you want to get into Information Technology as a career.
The 8-Bit Guy - How old hardware and software worked, and how we got where we are.
Computerphile - Technology Philosophy/detailed concepts.
EposVox - Camera Gear, A/V, Servers, and more.
Tom Scott - Explaining detailed STEM concepts as simply as possible.
Budget builds official - Budget PC builds. Truly budget.
Oztalkshw - Really well done budget PC builds.
Louis Rossman (!) - One of, if not the best, soldering and laptop repair educators on YouTube. Warning: He uses quite a bit of profanity.
MKBHD - One of the best technology reviewers out there.
TechLinked - Quick and humorous technology news. Warning: Some crude humor/profanity.
Linus Tech Tips - Humorous technology education/reviews/experiments. Warning: Some crude humor/profanity.
DailyTechNewsShow - The best technology news show. If I had to recommend one on this list - it would be this one. Fast forward a bit each video to get to the beginning of the show - or use their podcast.
Websites
My Free Resources Page - Mentioned often in class.
HowToGeek - A great starter (and continuing education) resource for how to use, fix, and purchase your technology.
TechMeme - A tech news site that gathers (aggregates) the top headlines from other news sources. One stop shop.
/r/sysadmin - Reddit's SysAdmin sub-forum. Very, very useful. Some very intelligent people in here, all helping each other out and providing in the field perspective relating to System Administration.
/r/computertechs - Reddit's gathering of computer techs to share knowledge.
Dealing with the Politics of Technology
Computing Forever - News analysis relating specifically to technology, by an IT guy.
Tim Pool - General news analysis by one of the founding members of VICE, often including the culture and political climate of the internet and technology in the real world.
Other Things Mentioned...
Star Trek
Star Trek was briefly mentioned, and I want to give the disclaimer:
Ask your parents before watching, and possibly watch it with them.
While most episodes (out of hundreds) are teen+ friendly, there are plenty that are not.
The latest series (while technically earlier in the timeline), Discovery - I can't recommend at all. It's over the top violent, and not representative of Star Trek as a whole.
I would recommend the Voyager series as a starting point.
"HACKING?!"
'Hack' is a buzzword, that originally meant to 'program' or 'modify' or DIY repair/upgrade something.
As a result of learning about technology at even a basic level, someone could apply said knowledge in nefarious/negative ways if they so chose.
Most 'hacking' as it is known in the mainstream sense is simply taking advantage of a lack of security - not breaking security.
(You can think of it like front doors - many people don't lock them, or use a common key. If you were to abuse that knowledge, it would be the equivalent of most 'hacks')That said:
- Parents: Be aware of the above and the below.
- Students: If you're going to try to 'hack', in any sense of the word, do it on your own technology. It can lead to very well-paying jobs, and infosec (Information Security) is an excellent field to get into. But do it on your own stuff, not on/against other people/businesses. 'It is a federal crime to 'access computer systems without authorization.'