I received a request to explain passive voice. I am glad to help; thanks for asking for my thoughts.

Personal exposure and experience with using any technology is a definite asset; however, it is not by any means a prerequisite in the business environment. There are many technologies that we use on a daily basis without understanding how to create the technology. Good examples are our automobiles, televisions, and digital video recorders.

Free voice and data services will be available through an international consortium’s program that deploys a proton-based global network. The telecommunications network’s potential was confirmed last week following research using the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, European Organization for Nuclear Research, and the world’s largest particle physics laboratory.

I challenge us to consider the common phrase, knowledge is power.

Knowledge is power, when it is wielded to advantage. I came to consider this caveat a few months ago, when my wife challenged me with the question, "What are you going to do with all of the books that you read?" What was left unsaid in her question was, what would I do with the knowledge that I gained from reading the books?

It's a tough question, deciding what is common knowledge and what requires attribution (citation/reference in APA format).

I use an example from the university's plagiarism tutorial to demonstrate the difficulty that we (as scholars) can face. The tutorial gives an example of common knowledge facts; however, I am willing to bet that most of us aren't able to correctly answer one of the questions posed as an example. In fact, I rarely meet folk between the age of 10 and 40 that can correctly answer the example question...

Skills not practiced are lost.

I am not sure that most retail associates would be able to calculate the correct change for a $37.63 charge if the customer presented a $100 bill. Retail clerks rely on the cash register to calculate the sales tax and change that should be returned to the customer. Some registers even suggest alternative combinations of bills and coins to hand to the customer so that the proper change is delivered.

As a rule of thumb, installing and uninstalling software applications does slow down a Microsoft Windows system, because the system registry becomes more complex. However, some utility products carry a low system footprint, and I judge, offer specific value that cannot be obtained through the applications included with Microsoft Windows, thereby outweighing a minor reduction in system performance.

The only fully-secured computer is one that is turned off. It is impossible to guarantee total security, especially once a computer is connected to a network, including the Internet. The best for which an IT manager (or an individual user) may hope is that the installed antivirus, antispam, and firewall applications are stronger than the attacks the computer receives.

Web sites must be hosted on a computer that is connected to the Internet. Domains, the alphanumeric names given to Web sites, must be registered and assigned to the site. Otherwise, it we be much more difficult to locate Web sites and practically impossible to address e-mail messages.

I am occassionally asked how to secure wireless networks and to confirm that machines are connected through the network. The two tools at our disposal are wireless encryption and the ping command. Wireless encryption comes in two versions, WEP and WPA.

I use Macromedia HomeSite to create new and to edit complex pages. Even though the product has a WYSIWYG option, I prefer to edit in the standard text mode, using the preview mode to check the layout of my code. I specifically encourage novice designers to refrain from using Microsoft FrontPage and other solely WYSIWYG design applications, as each of them inserts extraneous code into the page that is not in keeping with the W3 HTML standard. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3) is the standards body for Web content development.

Creating a geographically-flexible workspace* has always been my dream. It took me ten years from the time that I first added this goal to my business plan to finally implement it. Since April 1, 2000, I have been working from a home office, a suite of 1,400 square feet that includes a private conference and reading room, office space, and a work room with a long bench upon which I can repair computers and assemble books. I even have my own kitchen and lavatory. If my refrigerator were a little larger, I could comfortably live here!