Fill Handle: Fill Handle is the square at the bottom-right corner of the active cell. Drag the fill handle
to copy data or to fill adjacent cells with a series of data.
Tuesday, September 12, 2017
K201 - Word of the Day
Fill Handle: Fill Handle is the square at the bottom-right corner of the active cell. Drag the fill handle
to copy data or to fill adjacent cells with a series of data.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
MAC Users Beware!
Mac security facts and fallacies
Posted March 8, 2017 by Thomas Reed
There are many Mac security myths circulating among users. So how can you tell if the advice you’re reading is fact or fallacy? Read on to find out!
Fallacy: Macs don’t get viruses
The idea that there are no viruses for the Mac goes back to the beginning of Mac OS X, at the very beginning of this millennium. Most people associate this idea most strongly with the “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC” commercials from a decade ago, such as this one that ran in 2006:
Unfortunately, this is a myth. As with most good myths, though, there’s a slight element of truth.
Technically speaking, a virus is malware that spreads by itself, by attaching itself to other files. By this strict definition, there are no Mac viruses. However, by that token, there also aren’t very many Windows viruses these days, either. Viruses have mostly disappeared from the threat landscape.
The average person, though, understands a virus to be any kind of malicious software. (A better term for this is “malware.”) Since there definitely is malware for the Mac, as well as a plethora of other threat types, the spirit of the “there are no Mac viruses” claim is completely false. Don’t allow yourself to be misled!
True malware is malicious in nature—thus the name, malicious software— with the goal of stealing or scamming data or money from the user. Examples of malware are backdoors that provide access to the computer, spyware that logs keystrokes and captures pictures with the webcam, ransomware that encrypts the user’s files in order to hold them for ransom, and other such nefarious programs.
On the Mac, true malware is rare. A “big spike” of new Mac malware happened in 2012, when 11 new pieces of malware appeared. The average Mac user has never seen any malware.
So why should Mac users be concerned? Because other threats are a rapidly growing problem on the Mac. Over the last several years, there has been an increasing amount of adware and Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) for the Mac.
Adware is software that injects ads into websites where they don’t belong and changes your search engine to a different one. Adware is designed to scam advertisers and search engines. The infected Macs are no more than a vehicle for generating revenue fraudulently from advertisers and search engines, who pay these adware-producing “affiliates” for referrals.
PUPs are programs that are generally unwanted by users. These can include so-called “legitimate” keyloggers (marketed as a means for monitoring your kids or employees), scammy “cleaning” apps (Macs don’t need that kind of cleaning), supposed “antivirus” or “anti-adware” apps that don’t actually detect anything, and so on.
Adware and PUPs are a serious problem on the Mac right now. Although these things are not malware, they are a huge nuisance. Worse, they can create security vulnerabilities that make it more likely for you to get infected with actual malware. For example, in 2015, a vulnerability in a common PUP (MacKeeper) was used to install malware on Macs that had MacKeeper installed.
Fallacy: Macs are more secure than Windows
Many years ago, Apple abandoned the old “classic” Mac system in favor of one based on Unix, a mature and security-oriented system. Apple has made some great security improvements to macOS in recent years, and as a result, Macs are more secure today than they ever have been.
Of course, nothing is ever perfect, and macOS security is certainly far from it. There are plenty of ways to circumvent Mac security. Add to this the fact that security of Windows has improved over the years as well and it becomes difficult to say which system is more secure.
As with other such myths, there’s an element of truth here, though. Macs certainly suffer under a far smaller burden of threats than Windows. Many thousands of new Windows malware variants appear every day, while it’s a busy month in the Mac world if more than one new piece of malware appears. This means that, although there may not be any explicit, major security differences between the two systems, Macs do tend to be statistically safer simply due to the smaller number of threats.
Fact: macOS has built-in anti-malware software
Although this feature is well-hidden from the user, and cannot be turned off, this is true. Apple’s anti-malware software is called XProtect, and it consists of some basic signatures for identifying known malicious apps.
When you try to open an app for the first time, the system will check it against the XProtect signatures. If the app matches one of those signatures, the system won’t allow it to open.
Of course, there are a couple problems with XProtect. First, of course, as with any signature-based detection, it can only detect and block malware that Apple has seen before.
More importantly, though, it only detects malware. Since the vast majority of the threats for Macs are adware and PUPs, that leaves a lot that it doesn’t protect against. You shouldn’t rely on XProtect as your sole protection against threats, but nonetheless, this is very good layer of protection to have as an integral part of the system.
Fallacy: Macs don’t need security software
Antivirus software has gotten a bad rap on the Mac over the years. Thanks to historically low incidence of Mac malware, coupled with the system problems that some antivirus programs have been known to cause, Mac users are skittish about installing security software. Making matters worse, Mac “experts” will tell people that they don’t need security software, because macOS contains all the protection they need.
However, the number of Mac users infected by malware and other Mac threats has had exponential growth since 2010, when adware and PUPs weren’t really a thing on the Mac yet and when new malware sightings were few and far between. We’re seeing large numbers of people infected with Mac threats every day, on a much larger scale than even just a few years ago.
Clearly, there is an epidemic problem with threats—mostly adware and PUPs—on the Mac, and also clearly, the built-in security in macOS is not adequate to deal with this problem. It is becoming increasingly necessary for Mac users to have an additional layer of security, and in particular, to have something that is effective against adware and PUPs, which are the biggest problem. If you’re a Mac user, you might consider downloading software such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac, which removes adware, PUPs, and malware for free.
Posted March 8, 2017 by Thomas Reed
There are many Mac security myths circulating among users. So how can you tell if the advice you’re reading is fact or fallacy? Read on to find out!
Fallacy: Macs don’t get viruses
The idea that there are no viruses for the Mac goes back to the beginning of Mac OS X, at the very beginning of this millennium. Most people associate this idea most strongly with the “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC” commercials from a decade ago, such as this one that ran in 2006:
Unfortunately, this is a myth. As with most good myths, though, there’s a slight element of truth.
Technically speaking, a virus is malware that spreads by itself, by attaching itself to other files. By this strict definition, there are no Mac viruses. However, by that token, there also aren’t very many Windows viruses these days, either. Viruses have mostly disappeared from the threat landscape.
The average person, though, understands a virus to be any kind of malicious software. (A better term for this is “malware.”) Since there definitely is malware for the Mac, as well as a plethora of other threat types, the spirit of the “there are no Mac viruses” claim is completely false. Don’t allow yourself to be misled!
True malware is malicious in nature—thus the name, malicious software— with the goal of stealing or scamming data or money from the user. Examples of malware are backdoors that provide access to the computer, spyware that logs keystrokes and captures pictures with the webcam, ransomware that encrypts the user’s files in order to hold them for ransom, and other such nefarious programs.
On the Mac, true malware is rare. A “big spike” of new Mac malware happened in 2012, when 11 new pieces of malware appeared. The average Mac user has never seen any malware.
So why should Mac users be concerned? Because other threats are a rapidly growing problem on the Mac. Over the last several years, there has been an increasing amount of adware and Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUPs) for the Mac.
Adware is software that injects ads into websites where they don’t belong and changes your search engine to a different one. Adware is designed to scam advertisers and search engines. The infected Macs are no more than a vehicle for generating revenue fraudulently from advertisers and search engines, who pay these adware-producing “affiliates” for referrals.
PUPs are programs that are generally unwanted by users. These can include so-called “legitimate” keyloggers (marketed as a means for monitoring your kids or employees), scammy “cleaning” apps (Macs don’t need that kind of cleaning), supposed “antivirus” or “anti-adware” apps that don’t actually detect anything, and so on.
Adware and PUPs are a serious problem on the Mac right now. Although these things are not malware, they are a huge nuisance. Worse, they can create security vulnerabilities that make it more likely for you to get infected with actual malware. For example, in 2015, a vulnerability in a common PUP (MacKeeper) was used to install malware on Macs that had MacKeeper installed.
Fallacy: Macs are more secure than Windows
Many years ago, Apple abandoned the old “classic” Mac system in favor of one based on Unix, a mature and security-oriented system. Apple has made some great security improvements to macOS in recent years, and as a result, Macs are more secure today than they ever have been.
Of course, nothing is ever perfect, and macOS security is certainly far from it. There are plenty of ways to circumvent Mac security. Add to this the fact that security of Windows has improved over the years as well and it becomes difficult to say which system is more secure.
As with other such myths, there’s an element of truth here, though. Macs certainly suffer under a far smaller burden of threats than Windows. Many thousands of new Windows malware variants appear every day, while it’s a busy month in the Mac world if more than one new piece of malware appears. This means that, although there may not be any explicit, major security differences between the two systems, Macs do tend to be statistically safer simply due to the smaller number of threats.
Fact: macOS has built-in anti-malware software
Although this feature is well-hidden from the user, and cannot be turned off, this is true. Apple’s anti-malware software is called XProtect, and it consists of some basic signatures for identifying known malicious apps.
When you try to open an app for the first time, the system will check it against the XProtect signatures. If the app matches one of those signatures, the system won’t allow it to open.
Of course, there are a couple problems with XProtect. First, of course, as with any signature-based detection, it can only detect and block malware that Apple has seen before.
More importantly, though, it only detects malware. Since the vast majority of the threats for Macs are adware and PUPs, that leaves a lot that it doesn’t protect against. You shouldn’t rely on XProtect as your sole protection against threats, but nonetheless, this is very good layer of protection to have as an integral part of the system.
Fallacy: Macs don’t need security software
Antivirus software has gotten a bad rap on the Mac over the years. Thanks to historically low incidence of Mac malware, coupled with the system problems that some antivirus programs have been known to cause, Mac users are skittish about installing security software. Making matters worse, Mac “experts” will tell people that they don’t need security software, because macOS contains all the protection they need.
However, the number of Mac users infected by malware and other Mac threats has had exponential growth since 2010, when adware and PUPs weren’t really a thing on the Mac yet and when new malware sightings were few and far between. We’re seeing large numbers of people infected with Mac threats every day, on a much larger scale than even just a few years ago.
Clearly, there is an epidemic problem with threats—mostly adware and PUPs—on the Mac, and also clearly, the built-in security in macOS is not adequate to deal with this problem. It is becoming increasingly necessary for Mac users to have an additional layer of security, and in particular, to have something that is effective against adware and PUPs, which are the biggest problem. If you’re a Mac user, you might consider downloading software such as Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for Mac, which removes adware, PUPs, and malware for free.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
BACK Door to SAM if Canvas is unavailable
When
students initially registered for SAM via Canvas, they were prompted to create
a Cengage account.
Using that same Cengage account, you can access SAM
directly at https://login.cengagebrain.com/cb/
After logging in, you can click the “open” button next to your course title.
Students will be taken to SAM calendar page but can also
switch to the SAM assignments tab to explore their assignments.
Everything else is the same from here.
Profs may need to click the sync button once Canvas comes back
online to ensure grades sync from SAM to Canvas.
Click here for SAM Backdoor access instructions with images
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Excel and Access Module Videos Available
Videos Available for Excel and Access Modules covered in Class
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDCvJ4rWrUEzgPQgAc-GevQ
This link will take you to a site that has videos for all of the Modules that we will cover in class.
To start - Select "Playlist". These playlists group the videos by the Module they cover and the device that they are best formatted for. There are videos formatted to work with various screen resolutions and also specific devices.
HD1080p format is designed to work with a screen resolution of 1920x1080.
HD720p format is designed to work with a screen resolution of 1280x720.
HD480p format is designed to work with a screen resolution of 640x480.
iPhone4 format is designed to work with the iPad and iPhone4.
iPhone5 format is designed to work with the iPad2 and iPhone5.
Each module is divided into multiple segments. This will allow you to pick the specific portions of the modules that you would like to review and not have to watch the entire module if it is not needed.
These videos can be used to help you if you missed class or just need to review a topic that was covered. You may want to try to play the video on your smartphone or a tablet (some device other than the laptop you are using for excel). That will allow you to watch the video and practice the tasks in Excel on your laptop at the same time. The files that are being used in the Modules were all downloaded from the Q drive at the beginning of the
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDCvJ4rWrUEzgPQgAc-GevQ
This link will take you to a site that has videos for all of the Modules that we will cover in class.
To start - Select "Playlist". These playlists group the videos by the Module they cover and the device that they are best formatted for. There are videos formatted to work with various screen resolutions and also specific devices.
HD1080p format is designed to work with a screen resolution of 1920x1080.
HD720p format is designed to work with a screen resolution of 1280x720.
HD480p format is designed to work with a screen resolution of 640x480.
iPhone4 format is designed to work with the iPad and iPhone4.
iPhone5 format is designed to work with the iPad2 and iPhone5.
Each module is divided into multiple segments. This will allow you to pick the specific portions of the modules that you would like to review and not have to watch the entire module if it is not needed.
These videos can be used to help you if you missed class or just need to review a topic that was covered. You may want to try to play the video on your smartphone or a tablet (some device other than the laptop you are using for excel). That will allow you to watch the video and practice the tasks in Excel on your laptop at the same time. The files that are being used in the Modules were all downloaded from the Q drive at the beginning of the
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
SAM Projects homework cases
When you do the SAM Projects homework, you will go to Canvas, Modules, SAM. There are 10 Excel cases, and 5 Access cases assigned for K201.
Before the class due (see daily schedule for your section) you need to finish and submit the assigned case. When you click on the assignment link .. you will click the Start button to get to the Instruction file, the start file, and the submission area. You can open this link as many times as you wish (the submission link is the only area limited to 5 attempts).
1. Click and open the instruction file (some students prefer to have a printed hard copy to work from)
2. Download a copy of the start file in step 2 by clicking on the link, and choosing Save As (it is wise to save it to the K201 Fall 2016\Excel 2016\Excel SAM Projects folder on your USB drive - so it's easy to find when you are ready to submit). Do NOT simply open... or it will be a temp file and your work will NOT be saved!!
3. Follow all the instructions in the step 1 instruction document, save your changes to the downloaded start file from step 2, and work until you believe all steps are correct. Then Save the changes... and return to SAM Projects, step 3 for that case... Browse for your saved work, and the Submit it for grading.
4. From Canvas, Modules, SAM Projects Reports, click the Reports button at the top, then the case link to see how you did. In the report select the Files icon to get specific feedback on each step (red x means you did not earn those points... and you can go back to your Excel file, make corrections to that step(s), save the changes and re-submit to SAM Projects again... up to 5 times per case ... or e-mail your instructor to reset some attempts if you need more tries). You do not need to start over to re-submit.
Remember the K201 Department paid tutors are available to help in the MAC lab... (see the Blog or Canvas Announcement for details of days/times).
Please let your instructor or Mrs. Nemeth (mnemeth@iupui.edu ) know if you have SAM account questions.
Before the class due (see daily schedule for your section) you need to finish and submit the assigned case. When you click on the assignment link .. you will click the Start button to get to the Instruction file, the start file, and the submission area. You can open this link as many times as you wish (the submission link is the only area limited to 5 attempts).
1. Click and open the instruction file (some students prefer to have a printed hard copy to work from)
2. Download a copy of the start file in step 2 by clicking on the link, and choosing Save As (it is wise to save it to the K201 Fall 2016\Excel 2016\Excel SAM Projects folder on your USB drive - so it's easy to find when you are ready to submit). Do NOT simply open... or it will be a temp file and your work will NOT be saved!!
3. Follow all the instructions in the step 1 instruction document, save your changes to the downloaded start file from step 2, and work until you believe all steps are correct. Then Save the changes... and return to SAM Projects, step 3 for that case... Browse for your saved work, and the Submit it for grading.
4. From Canvas, Modules, SAM Projects Reports, click the Reports button at the top, then the case link to see how you did. In the report select the Files icon to get specific feedback on each step (red x means you did not earn those points... and you can go back to your Excel file, make corrections to that step(s), save the changes and re-submit to SAM Projects again... up to 5 times per case ... or e-mail your instructor to reset some attempts if you need more tries). You do not need to start over to re-submit.
Remember the K201 Department paid tutors are available to help in the MAC lab... (see the Blog or Canvas Announcement for details of days/times).
Please let your instructor or Mrs. Nemeth (mnemeth@iupui.edu ) know if you have SAM account questions.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Excel and Access 2013 Podcasts
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDCvJ4rWrUEzgPQgAc-GevQ
This link will take you to a site that has videos for all of the Tutorials that we will cover in class.
To start - Select "Playlist". These playlists group the videos by the Tutorial they cover and the device that they are best formatted for. There are videos formatted to work best on smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Each tutorial is divided into multiple segments. This will allow you to pick the specific portions of the chapter that you need additional review of.
Enjoy!
This link will take you to a site that has videos for all of the Tutorials that we will cover in class.
To start - Select "Playlist". These playlists group the videos by the Tutorial they cover and the device that they are best formatted for. There are videos formatted to work best on smartphones, tablets, and laptops.
Each tutorial is divided into multiple segments. This will allow you to pick the specific portions of the chapter that you need additional review of.
Enjoy!
Friday, January 17, 2014
K201 Students with a MAC computer TIPS
If you are enrolled in K201 and/or K204, you MAY use your MAC computer to complete the SAM Projects homework cases IF YOU prepare your MAC. Please read the following options well before your homework is due and choose your plan.
MAC user tips for K201
MAC user tips for K201
MAC Users Install Windows 7 - step by step instructions
Thank you to a fellow student named Tyler, who documented the steps he completed as he did his MAC installation. Hopefully they help!
MAC Users Windows Install Instructions step by step
Monday, December 2, 2013
MOS Certification Information
MOS Certification is the universally recognized certification for Microsoft Office products.
Learn more by reviewing the PowerPoint attached that was created by one of our K201 Honors students, Elizabeth.
MOS Certification PowerPoint
Learn more by reviewing the PowerPoint attached that was created by one of our K201 Honors students, Elizabeth.
MOS Certification PowerPoint
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