Excel III: Customizable laptop app

Hello for the last time in this term. The last excel practice we've made consists on an application to make a laptop with the components you choose, which gives you a budget and the possibility to adjust a price limit.

The first sheet is a front page with linking buttons to the rest of the sheets, as always.

The components' sheet is a simple one but it takes some time and it's such a tedious work because you have to look for information of laptops' components and their prices. The only remarkable thing here is the format of the price cells, in euros, and the linking buttons to the other sheets.

The invoice sheet is very complex. For the price of each component I set a "VLOOKUP" function, which I explained in the post about the automatic invoice, with this code: =BUSCARV(C4;Componentes!B2:C13;2;FALSO). To make a dropdown list for each component I used a data format called data validation, as a list, taking the data from the respective chart from the components' sheet. For the final price I added all the components' prices and then I added the 21% of taxes as you can see in the image. And as alert I added an 'IF' function which warns you if the final price exceeds your personal price limit, and which is =SI(C14=0;"";SI(D17>C14;"CUIDADO, ¡SUPERADO!";"NO SUPERADO AÚN")). 

To make it become red I added a conditional format only applied to cells with the specific text that is shown when the personal limit price is exceeded. But to alert you in a greater way I also added an error message through another data validation in the price limit cell. Here you have to make possible only a lower final price amount than the price limit amount, as the image below shows, and set your own error message.

I hope it was useful, you can always ask me anything in case of doubt. Have a great Christmas time and enjoy yourselves on this holydays!

Excel II: Ecuation solver

Hello again. The second big project we've made with excel is an ecuation solver which can solve simple ecuations of first degree and of second degree quickly.

In the first sheet there must be a front sheet that links to the rest of the sheets: 1st degree ecuation, representation of the 1st degree ecuation, 2nd degree ecuation and representation of the 2nd degree ecuation. You can do it with a macro or with a hyperlink as the image shows.

For the first degree ecuation I just had to write the ecuation leaving gaps where each term had to be written and leave a solution gap where I wrote the formula to solve the ecuation. I also made it notify if there were terms left. So my function was =SI(D7=0;SI(F7=0;"¡Faltan coeficientes en la ecuación!";"¡Faltan coeficientes en la ecuación!");(H7-F7)/D7). I solved the ecuation leaving the x alone.

For its representation I wrote the formula as in the previous sheet and gave several values for the x in a chart and, to obtain the respective value of y, I just made a formula replacing x by the value given respectively: =SI(C10=" ";" ";$D$5*C10+$F$5-$H$5). To add the graphic you insert a lines graphic and set the data as the image shows. I also added linking buttons as in all the sheets.

And for the second degree ecuation it's the same but with a different formula: =SI(D7=0;SI(F7=0;SI(H7=0;"¡Faltan coeficientes en la ecuación!";"Ecuación incompatible");"Ecuación de primer grado");SI((F7^2-4*D7*H7)>=0;((-F7+(RAIZ(F7^2-4*D7*H7)))/(2*D7));"Sin resultados reales")) for the first result and: =SI(D7=0;SI(F7=0;SI(H7=0;"¡Faltan coeficientes en la ecuación!";"Ecuación incompatible");"Sólo hay un resultado");SI((F7^2-4*D7*H7)>=0;((-F7-(RAIZ(F7^2-4*D7*H7)))/(2*D7));"Sin resultados reales")) for the second result. 

To make its representation it's the same, replace the x by different values to obtain the y, and create the graphic with that values. The formula I used was: =SI(C10="";"";$D$5*(C10^2)+$F$5*C10+$H$5). 

I made erase and print buttons with macros in each sheet so, if you want to know how I did them, visit my previous post. I also added linking buttons in each sheet to link to the rest of the sheets.

I hope it was useful and if you've any questions, please ask me. See you.

Excel: automatic invoice

This long period of time I haven't posted anything because we've been making some Excel practices (and I've also been to New York!!!). At first we remembered how to make some simple functions as multiplying, dividing, adding, subtracting and other more difficult functions as the average, inserting graphics, the "DGET", "DMAX", "DMIN", "DCOUNT" "DCOUNTA" or "IF" functions, the "IF" function within other "IF" functions and so. We also practiced format functions (percentages, money symbols, colour of the field depending on something...).

The first important project we've made was an electronic invoice with a record of products, clients and the charged amounts depending on what they buy.

The first thing I had to have in this excel book was a front or home page where you include the company data and some buttons to link to the other pages. You can do that with a macro or adding a hyperlink by right clicking on the button you've drawn or inserted, choosing "Hyperlink", "place from this folder" and the sheet you want to make that button access.

Then it was time to fill in the data within the clients' sheet. You have to fill in the name, surname, adress, phone number and e-mail adress manually but then you can add a special format to set their personal codes with three digits, for instance, as I did in my "B" column. I also set a "DGET" function in my "C" column so that it shows the three first letters of their surname (=EXTRAE(D4;1;3)). Then I added a conditional format on my "F" column to green colour if the client is a man (M) or yellow color if it's a woman (F) by setting that options in a new rule on "Condicional Format".

The easiest sheet is the products' catalog one. You just have to fill in the products' code, its name and its price. I also added the price with taxes. The code to do this consists just in multiplying the price by the percentage of the tax and add it to the price. For the code you can do the same as in the clients' sheet, making it have three digits automatically by adding zeros. As in the rest of the sheets I added buttons to access the other sheets.

The last sheet is the bill. At first you have to know the client who's buying so with filling the client code, his or her data has to be showed. This is possible with the function =BUSCARV(C5;Clientes!B4:L17;6;FALSO) in the case of my bill, just changing the number of column, the third factor of the function. The first one is the box in which the code is writen and the second one the chart in which the data must be searched. With the products it's the same but with another chart and another code box (=BUSCARV(C10;Catálogo!B4:F22;2;FALSO)). Then the tax and the discount are added.

To erase the data you just have to make a macro as the image shows, and erase all the fields you want (the code boxes and the number of products) and stop the recording of the macro. Then you add the macro to a button. To print it's just the same but pressing the print button while recording the macro.

I hope it was useful and if you have any question, just let me know. See you soon.

Internet of things

As in the project about the knowledge society I didn't expand much the concept of Internet of things, I'm going to devote this post to it.

The Internet of things (IoT) is the term we use to call the fact of having our gadgets and the things that surround us digitally controlled and interconnected through the net. This includes alarm systems, cell phones, printers, washing machines, coffee makers, blinds, headphones, lamps, wearable gadgets, machines components... And almost anything else you can imagine, so it's a huge network of connected devices and also people, which allows relationships betwen both groups.

It has the potential to impact how we live and work because of the great advances of the new technologies: broadband Internet availability, easy connection, new very capable devices, a great smart phone penetration, the decreasing technology costs... And in a short period of time we might be able to say that anything we want to be connected and controlled can be connected and controlled, and we'll live in smart cities and smart houses which interact with us.

For example we can change the temperature or the illumination of our house with a smartphone depending in our feelings, blinds can come down automatically when it's very sunny or at night; the trafic lights can control themselves depending on the traffic and the people waiting to cross the road...

So anything can be done automatically with IoT so life will be a lot easier as this is developped, locations will be known easily, economy would be more controlled, education will develop, what's turned on or off will be known, anything will be close to everyone even if it's on the other side of the world... And we should make this possible.

I wish you agree and you liked, I obtained some of this information at this webpage: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2014/05/13/simple-explanation-internet-things-that-anyone-can-understand/

See you!

Knowledge Society

Hi blog readers. The first project we had to do this course was a Word document about the knowledge society. In it we talk about what the concept of knowledge society involves, its characteristics and its background. This society is a progression from the information and communication society that also allows the management of the information skillfully.
I also speak about the areas in which it is important; our personal development and the social factor that makes us being interconnected and learn dynamically.
Other important factors are the problems that it may suppose with the use of technological devices (the Digital Divide, the cybercrime and other security problems) and I have to tell you to be careful with what you post or upload on the Internet and to control the time you spend on the net and valore if you are really taking advantage of the resources and the time you have in a good way.

Sociedad del conocimiento from Carmen Bueno Iglesias

I wish it was interesting and you liked, you can also watch the document here. Thank you for watching.

See you at the next post.

Welcome again!

Hello everybody, how has your summer been? We've come back from holidays and we're going to start a new Computing course. This course the subjet isn't called Computing but IT (TIC in spanish), and now we don't have the bilingüal classes option so we take them on spanish, but I'll try to continue writting in English.

This summer I've made some interesting things; I've been to a 3D computer design workshop using 3ds Max and I've made a 3D Pocahontas, I've recieved a graphics tablet to draw and design on the computer and I've been drawing with it, I've made a poster for a contest in my village through Corel Painter X3 and I've won...
But now the new course is starting and we're going to do a lot of interesting things too.

I'll be reporting you about our learning during the course with several posts, as I used to do last course, so I wish you like my blog and my new posts, see you in the next one.

VideoPad

These last days of the evaluation we are making a video with VideoPad.

VideoPad is a video edition tool, which was created in 2008 by NCH Software.

The first thing you have to do to start a video or edit it, is adding files (videos, images, sounds), by clicking the Add Media icon on the tasks bar above. Then you can cut the video or adjust its length with the icons under it and add it to the video line below, where you can see the 'perspective' of your video (how is it assembled).

Once you've set all the videos, images or sounds you want on the video line, you can add effects, transitions or overlays on or between each of them through the icons on the tasks bar.

Afterwards, you can subtitle the movie with the corresponding icon of the tasks bar, and finally you have to export it; save it as a video.
  

Obviously, as you get used to using it you will understand it better and you might find some new actions to edit your videos. It's a good basic tool with a free trialware for you to try it and if you like computing you will enjoy it.

I wish you liked, as always, and currently this is the last post of the evaluation but I'll try to continue informing you whenever I discover something interesting. See you :)

How to disappear from the Internet

Hi everyone. This term I have to report you about something that may concern you some day: deleting your identity from the net. This can be useful if there's any data or document about you that you don't want to be there.

The first thing you should do is the most evident one: deactivating accounts you know you have. If you search the account settings in a social network or webpage you may find easily the deactivate, delete or close account button. But there are some accounts you may have forgotten you have, so the next thing to do is to search for yourself at the searchers. You will be more assured if you do it through different searchers because some of them may not show everything you have on the Internet. Then you deactivate or delete the things you find. The e-mail can be a very useful tool if you don't remember a password but, if you definetely can't delete something, you can always try to falsify it. Remember to be respectful and don't set anything improper.

That could be enough, but there might be some loose ends. Make sure you aren't suscribed to any mailing list such as from newsletters, ads or promotions and if you are, unsubscribe from there; delete searchers' results about you, through a removal tool they may offer or by contacting webmasters; ask companies from which you are a member to delete your information they have listed online and, in the end and as a drastic resource, delete your e-mail, close your account in it. With this actions you could start rewriting your identity and your dignity on the Internet from scratch.

An example of aim of forgetfulness on the Internet is the one about a spanish man who won the battle to Google defending his "right to be forgotten", with whom the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) agreed. So what's more important, the right to the privacy or the right to the the expression freedom? Difficult cuestion. Anyway Google can be required to remove data so you can be safe.

I wish you never need this but take advantage of it if you do. See you soon, because I have to post something else before classes finish. What will it be? You'll see tomorrow :)

Computing Security

Although we are entering the last weeks of class and we have a lot of hard work, I'm getting advantage of some spare times to write a new post. Some time ago we were told to prepare a report about computing security, approaching different aspects of security on our devices and software. 

I upload here the Word document I've made. In it I define Computing Security and I talk about the different types of Computing Security, which are human, physical and logical security.

Then I also explain what malware is; malicious software that damage something in computing. I explain their types and the options to protect us from them, like the use of antimalware and the awareness of dangers on the Internet. I've also added the information from the previous post and some tips to communicate through the Internet.

It's a broad theme and here you have an -I think- useful summary of the things I found basical, interesting and easy to understand.
I wish you like it and see you at the next post, if I survive to these last weeks.

Computing Security from Carmen Bueno Iglesias

You can also watch it here.

Internet Security

Hello again, I share a new post with you today to explain a bit about security on the Internet. We don't realize but we're surrounded by possible dangers that may harm us or involve us in crimes. We can find two main possible dangers related to Internet connection:

# Accessing fake Wi-Fies

When you are in a public place you will often find some free Wi-Fi. Well, it's sometimes a wifi from the specific place but it's sometimes a fake created by someone to catch your information, and depending on the information you have compiled in your Internet connexion, the hacker can access your accounts, watch and use your media files, supplant your identity... And it can be very dangerous for you, so be careful and try not to connect WiFies which are completely opened or which look suspicious.

# Leaving your WiFi connexion neglected, without enough security

It's not much problem if someone catches your WiFi password to use the Internet sometime, but it'll be a big problem if they use it to commit a crime or access your information as in the previous case. In our routers we usually have WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) encryption codes, which are weak and easily decoded, and worse if we don't change the default codes. If you want to be safer, at least you should have WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Wireless), whose algorithm is stronger. But the safer and difficultly decoded encryption protocols are WPA2, with Advanced Encription Standard. Whatever you have, try to make it secure, change the name and the password, hide any weak point...

I wish it was useful and you liked, see you next post, as always ;)

Social Networks in Prezi

Welcome again to my blog with this new post. We're starting the third term and I have a lot of work for these easter holidays, but I'll explain you what we're doing in computing, as usual.

We have been made to make a Prezi presentation about Social Networks, which we are used to use every day.

Prezi is a webpage where you can login and make 3D presentations with cool transitions, very dynamic and original. When you set a background you travel through it and through each frame, with visual attraction, and you can add almost any kind of document. It is also interactive; you can go anywheree in the presentation.

As this program works through the Internet you can access your presentation whenever you need it, but you can also download it for your PC (paying, but you have a free sample period).

I leave here the link to my Prezi, I wish you like:

http://prezi.com/lmych4lpn8sq/social-networks/

And if you don't have Adobe Flash Player or your computer doesn't let you see it, you can also watch it here or here.

See you next post and have a good holiday time :)

GIMP II

Good evening people :) Last month I posted something about GIMP. Well, this time I'll continue explaining some of the things we've been learning about this program.

This month we've been asked to do a poster about D. Juan Tenorio's play that is to take place here at Juanelo Turriano and an image of a face in a fruit. Doing this we have learnt to use better GIMP. For example, we've worked with "colours". For the poster I've posterized each layer, and I've added brightness and saturation to Doña Inés and Don Juan.

We've also learnt how to fuse two layers between them. It's as simple as selecting the later cape of those you want to fuse at the Image's Layers Window and change its "Mode" from normal to the one you think that looks better. You can change the transparency where the percentage is or modify colours in the top bar, in the colours' tab. When you get used to using it, it becomes very easy and amusing.

I hope you liked my images and you learned with my explanations. I recommend you to try GIMP because it's a very interesting program, and why not to try new things? See you next post ;)

GIMP

Hello again, it's weeks since I last posted something, isn't it? Now we're working with "GIMP", an image editor, at computing. We've already learnt how to cut part of a photo and put it on a background. We've used an image of ourselves to place it where we'd like to be. Here's its explanation and the final result:

1. START

Open both the background image you want to use and the image of you clicking Archive and Open for each one, and start working with the image of you.

2. SELECT THE FIGURE YOU WANT TO PLACE SOMEWHERE

If you have a plain background, choose the Colour Selector (mayús+O), and click the right button, Select and Invert.

If you have well defined outlines choose the Wand (U), and Select the figure.

If you have a difficult image choose the Scissors (I), define the outline and when you close it, do double click inside it to Select the figure.

3. PASTE THE FIGURE ON THE BACKGROUND

Click the right button on the figure and then click Edit and Copy. After that, start the background image and click again the right button, Edit and Paste. Before you do anything else, you should start the Image's Layers Window (ctrl+L) and, on the right button, click New Layer, to avoid it to anchor to the background.

4. MODIFY THE IMAGE

Once you have your figure(s) on your background you can do with it (or them) whatever you want. At first you should adjust the sizes with the Scaling Option (mayús+T), and then you can change perspectives or improve the outlines and some more options with the Tool Box (ctrl+B). When you place your mouse on the icon of each option it shows you a small explanation of what it can do.

My edited image:

I hope it was useful and you liked, if you want to know I placed myself at the European Modern Art Museum (MEAM), in Barcelona, which I'd like to visit someday. See you ;)

Computer Networks

Hi everybody :) How is this term going? In computing we've started studying computer networks, so I'm going to explain you a bit.

# What's a computer network?

It's a set of interconnected technological devices which can share data, resources, information and services between them and allow economising and improving management.

# What kind of computing networks are there?

- According to administration: P2P(Peer to Peer) or Client-Server

- According to size of the area: WAN(Wide), MAN(Metropolitan), LAN(Local) or PAN(Personal)

- According to connection mean: Wired, wireless or mixed.

- According to topology: Bus, star, ring, tree, mesh or VPN(Virtual Private Network)

# What characteristics do computer networks have?

- They communicate computers through a protocol with unique numerical addresses called IP addresses, with four groups of numbers between dots and between 0 and 255.

- Each network device has a network card with an unique MAC address assigned by the manufacturer which works as interface between the device and the network cable, that can be a twisted pair cable or an optical fiber cable (faster and better communicator).

- Some devices as the hub, the switch or the router control the network traffic or distribute data between the network devices.

This is some of the information I can give you as abstract, but this is a broad topic so you'd never stop learning about computer networks. In addition, we continue developing IT's daily, so there's an infinite world of surprises and advantages for you to discover. Have a great weekend and see you at next post ;P

More curiosities about IT

Hello again! How did you begin the new year? I wish you've started well because we have to better the world this year ;)

Today I want to show you some videos about some curious things that have been happening these last years about Information Technologies and others. They're a bit long but very interesting, I think, and you can learn of them. The first one is an actual video about what's happening now and how we've arrived here, and the second one is a bit older but if you watch it you can check what has changed and what hasn't. Both of them will show you how fast the world has changed, for better and for worse, and they'll make you think. Enjoy them.