Week 3: 9/16

The cloud is like a vast digital library on the Internet where your data (photos, music, documents) is stored on powerful computers called servers. Imagine a physical folder where you keep papers, but it's online and can hold anything digital.

How does it work? When you put your data in the cloud, you can access it from any device with internet access. You don't keep the files on your device unless you choose to download them. This saves space on your device and ensures you can access your data anywhere, anytime.

The cloud doesn't care if you're using a PC, a Mac, a tablet, or a smartphone. It works with all devices, making it easy to access your apps and data no matter what device you're using.

Examples of the cloud include businesses (Amazon, Albertsons), email servers (Google, Yahoo), government agencies (Medicare, Health and human services), websites, social networks like Instagram, data storage sites like Dropbox, entertainment services like Netflix and many more.

How do we use the cloud?

We use the cloud every day, often without even thinking about it. We use it to do things such as:

· Store everything from music to documents without using up your device's storage.

· Access or stream your files anywhere you have Internet access.

· Keep your software up to date automatically, without needing to do anything.

· Access entertainment (music, podcasts, movies)

· Backup for your computer

· To remember things using services like the online calendar, note programs and reminders

· For necessity, convenience, and speed (quick access to AAA, online banking, your online wallet, shopping and medical information)

· Communication via email, texts and social media

Hands-On Exploration: What cloud services do you use on your different devices? (e.g., smartphones, online banking, social media). Are there some devices which you use more for specific things (such as usually just using the phone for social networks, the computer for banking?) This discussion helps you to realize how the cloud fits in to your daily lives and how you use it each day.

Key concepts of the cloud

When describing the cloud, we should realize that the cloud is one site on the Internet. These concepts apply to this one site. In a few moments, we will tackle the Internet, which organizes all these sites together.

Data: All of the information on the cloud is kept in folders. Each individual piece of data is a file. It is arranged as the files and folders are arranged on your computer (Finder or Windows Explorer). Another way to picture how data is arranged is by thinking about your filing cabinet in the office. Inside that cabinet are folders (such as utilities, home, personal). And inside the folders are files (your gas bill, receipts from home improvement, your medical information).

Server: A server is a computer or system that provides services which relate to the data. For example, a server may host a website, store files, send files when requested and more. Each of the clouds will use a particular server, meaning that there are potentially millions of them. Examples include large companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon as well as smaller businesses, websites created by businesses or individuals, and organizations such as government agencies and private companies.

Digital formats: The files are saved in a particular form, based on what they are. For example, a music file may be saved as a MP3 file, and a picture file may be a jpeg file. When downloaded to your device from the cloud, your device notices what format the file is and will use the operating system to open in the desired program.

Usernames and passwords: Each cloud will have a unique username and password which identifies you as a user. This may be an email address or a “handle”. You may use the same username for multiple clouds, but you should always choose a unique password.

What about password managers? Why should I use them? (Short 3 minute video)

What can you do with the data on a cloud?

What are some things you can do with the data?

Download it: Downloading is taking data from the cloud and moving it to your device. An example is a book from Amazon. If you want to read it without being connected to the Internet, you will first go to the Amazon cloud and select the book. After paying for it, you will then download it to your device. Because it is through Amazon, it will probably prompt you to download it to your Kindle app, although you can choose to download it to another site on your device.

Uploading it: Uploading is taking data from your device and sending it to the cloud. An example of this would be attaching a picture from your device to your text. To do this, you will use the image file located on your device (the picture) and you will upload it to your messaging app. A copy of the picture will then be stored on the messaging app which can then be accessed by the recipient.

View it: The most basic way to use the data is to view it. An example is email. In most cases, the email is stored on a cloud like Google or Microsoft. When you open your email program, you download the emails to your device. The emails are downloaded as they are viewed, meaning that as you scroll, you are seeing more emails. When you close the email program, the emails will go back to the cloud.

Stream it: You can also stream the data, which means that it is downloaded in small chunks in the order that it is sent. An example of this is Netflix. You begin by connecting to Netflix with your username and password. You will then select a movie and play it. Once you click on play, the movie begins to download to your device in small packets. Each packet is sequential. In some cases, if your internet connection is bad, or if the packets are larger than you can process, you will experience a disruption known as buffering. Buffering is when the video pauses to load more of it ahead of time so it can play smoothly without stopping or getting choppy. On your end, you may see a loading symbol or message on the screen. It may be a spinning circle, a progress bar or a message indicating that it is loading or buffering. Playback will resume when enough data has been loaded.

Video: In this video, we learn a little more about Netflix and why some movies stream faster than others.

What is the cloud? Here is a 3 minute data which explains it, and also addresses some of the challenges. Nice intro to our class!

Same idea, but a little more entertaining.

Components of the Internet

How does the Internet fit in to the concept of the cloud? Here are the components which make up the Internet:

Internet: The largest network of connected servers in the world. So many websites! How do we find these websites on different servers? Using a search engine of course!

IP address: A “home address” for computers and devices. Each device has its own unique IP address. Find the IP address of your device by going to: https://whatismyipaddress.com/ (See below for more on IP addresses)

Websites: Websites are a collection of web pages and related content which are identified by a common domain name. And most websites have their own “cloud” (server) where their information is kept.

Search engines: Sites which help you to locate files on the Internet. They can be built into a browser, or they can be standalone. Will be discussed in the upcoming class on web browsers.

Web browsers: Web browsers are software that allows us to access, retrieve and view content of data stored on the different clouds. We will learn more when we discuss web browsers in a future class.

URL: An URL (Uniform resource locator) is the address of a specific web page or file on the internet. It is the physical address of the site. Note that there is a lot of information included in the URL. Like your computer’s filing system, the web also includes folders and files.

Domain names: A domain name identifies the website and makes it easier for users to find the website. Websites are stored by IP addresses, which can be a long string of numbers. A business or website will buy a domain name which will then be linked to the IP address, creating a human-friendly shortcut.

Domain name server: We have seen that domain names are human-friendly shortcuts which we can use to find files. To translate that domain name into an IP address, the Internet uses “Domain name servers”. These are special servers whose main purpose is to find the IP address to the site of the domain name listed. This is a very crucial step in the process.

Do you want to learn more?

Visit security.org to learn how to find and protect your IP address on a Mac, and how to hide it and change it.

Is that IP address safe?

My bank sends me a notice if a device tries to login to my account. The notice looks like this:

A new login to your online banking was detected from an unrecognized source.
Login date and time: 09/09/2024 11:14:23 PM
IP address: 206.225.203.2

Who is requesting this? Some sites will provide a quick proxy/VPN detection to see if this is authentic. Example: https://www.ipqualityscore.com/ (See below for image of the site)

Copy and paste the IP address into the window and select “lookup”
View the results. A high fraud score indicates that this may be a phishing site or other unreliable one.
If the score is high, there are steps you can take.
Suggested steps to take include:
- - - Review Account Access: Double-check your recent bank activity to ensure there haven’t been any unauthorized transactions.
    - Change Passwords: Immediately change your password for the affected bank account and ensure you are using a strong, unique password.
    - Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): If your bank offers two-factor authentication, enabling it adds an extra layer of security.
    - Report to Your Bank: Contact your bank’s security team. They might be able to block access from that IP address or take further steps to secure your account.
    - Monitor Your Credit: Since this may be part of a broader attempt at identity theft, consider monitoring your credit report or setting up fraud alerts with major credit bureaus.

Talking about URLS

An URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the physical address of a website and is used to help the server locate your file. They are important because they simplify the process for you when you want to find a website. Here is how an URL operates:

The main element of the URL is the domain name. This is found near the front of the URL, before the first single forward slash.
It often ends in .com, but may also end in .edu, .org, .gov or many other endings. The ending may indicate what type of domain it is (company, educational, government)
After the first forward slash, you will see additional folders and at the end will be a file.

Learn more about URLs in this short video by GCFLearnFree.

Where is https://?

On most modern browsers, you will not see https:// unless you copy and paste the URL onto another site or page. You will see some type of symbol which, when clicked, will tell you that this is a secure site (https) and information about how your data is used. In this example below, we are clicking on the two circle-line images which tell us the domain name (chat.openai.com) as well as information on the security, cookies and site data and site settings. You can click on the forward arrow next to “connection is secure” to see more.

When clicking on the forward arrow next to “connection is secure” I can see that it is a safe site, and I can even view the certificate which proves it.

Example of an url:

In this example, you can see the domain name (domain.com) and the 1st forward slash, followed by 3 folders (subfolders) and the file (which stands alone). Many websites will arrive on a webpage and not an individual file.

https://domain.com/folder1/folder2/folder3/file

Types of URLS:

Website URL
Example: https://www.example.com
Description: This is a URL for a standard website. It uses the HTTPS protocol for secure communication and points to the homepage of "example.com."
File URL
Example: https://www.example.com/files/document.pdf
Description: This URL points directly to a file (in this case, a PDF document) hosted on a website. The file could be downloaded or viewed directly if the browser supports it.
Image URL
Example: https://www.example.com/images/photo.jpg
Description: This URL points to an image file hosted on a website. It typically ends in an image file extension such as .jpg, .png, or .gif.
Video URL
Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Description: This is a URL for a video hosted on YouTube. It uses the YouTube platform’s specific URL format to identify and access the video.
API URL
Example: https://api.example.com/v1/users/123
Description: This URL is used to access a web API endpoint. It’s commonly used to interact with a web service, retrieve data, or send data to a server. The URL typically includes the API's base URL, version number, and specific resource path.

Real life examples

File kept on dropbox: Note that this is a PDF file stored on dropbox

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ysgzmt3th7iudaojiva8c/A-Framework-for-Contract-Negotiations-Related-to-Educational-Technology-Issues-Winter-2005-Revision.pdf?rlkey=s6ufij76541mdz8l05np0cehc&st=k9epbicx&dl=0

Web page on a website:

https://www.sdccu.com/about/careers/

Image file found online:

https://parade.com/.image/t_share/MTkwNTc4NDMyMDQ3Nzg1ODUy/golden-retriever.jpg

Video (on YouTube):

https://youtu.be/XZYz_4MWQVg?si=nAttbDj-CeDvvisE

Video (on another site, Streamable)

https://streamable.com/4beywu

Product: In this example, the link contains information about how it was found. Anything after the ? relates to that.

https://viribusbikes.com/products/step-through-electric-bike?_pos=1&_sid=ed66d1dc6&_ss=r&variant=43605726101658&gad_source=1

Owner's guide to a product: Note that it has .pdf at the end, which means it will open as a PDF file

https://store.electricbikecompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/EBC-Operators-Manual-2024-7-25-24.pdf

Downloading Chrome: The official site

https://www.google.com/chrome/

Downloading Chrome on a 3rd party site (not recommended)

https://chrome.en.uptodown.com/android/download

Subdomains

•A subdomain may be seen next to the domain name and before the first forward slash.

•Example: drive.google.com (Drive is a subdomain of Google. Other subdomains include sites.google.com, mail.google.com, photos.google.com)

•Some sites will use this to trick users into going to a website which may contain malware or may be phishing

•An example of that might be: drive.google.bobswebsite.com

Putting it together

Putting it all together:

· The cloud refers to the vast library of servers located throughout the world. This network is referred to as the Internet

· If we want to find data on the servers, we use a search engine.

· When we want to access data, we use a web browser.

· The request for this data is referred to as an URL, which contains detailed information on how to access this file on the server

· If you have information stored on this particular site, you will have a unique username and password. Only you can see these files. If there is no username and password, you are viewing public files.

· Our data may come in different formats. The format decides the program on your device that opens it.

· Once you have accessed this file, you can do one of four things: Download data from this site to your device, Upload data from your device to the site, View the data from the site on your device or Stream the data from the site on your device

Hands on activities (for in class or online work)

Hands-On Activities

1. Exploring Cloud Services: Locate, demonstrate, show storage

· Google Drive: Demonstrate how to set up a Google Drive and how to create, upload, and share a file. This practical exercise helps demystify the cloud and shows its usefulness.

· Demonstrate iCloud : How to find your cloud settings on your iPhone or Mac, how to view the files on your device, and how to find your cloud from any web browser using icloud.com

· Demonstrate OneDrive: How to find it on your Windows computer. How it integrates with your file explorer. How it may be automatically uploading files.

2. Downloading vs. Streaming

· Practice downloading a file to a device from the cloud service, then try streaming music or video. This demonstrates the difference between keeping a file on your device and accessing it directly from the cloud.

· Practice uploading a file to a drive or a program. Example: a picture to Instagram, change your profile picture on an account, upload your document to Dropbox

3. Practical examples:

· Online shopping: Shop on a site hosted on a server. Pay from your bank located on another server. Ship from a service hosted on another server.

· Uploading photos: Set up for automatic uploading of pictures to Google or iCloud. Note that you can do this on all devices or just one device.

· Map apps: Uses data from multiple clouds such GPS, real time traffic data, and links to communication for friends through the app. Each of these are done on separate servers and combined for one experience. Demonstrate.

4. Safe Cloud Practices

· Discuss and practice creating strong passwords and include the advantages and disadvantages of a password manager. Include newer methods like passcodes and biometric identification.

· Highlight the importance of updating software on devices to protect your data on the cloud.

· Include tips for safe cloud usage, like not clicking on suspicious links and using secure passwords.

· Encourage sharing of experiences and solutions via the discussion board or email.

Post-Class Activity:

Follow-Up Assignment: Try accessing your cloud drives to test what you have learned.

not included in lesson

Closer look at the Apple Cloud

iCloud is the backup service for all Apple devices. It stores the device backups, contacts, photos and other media. It helps sync those files across the Apple Devices. To find iCloud and iCloud Drive information, go to: Settings> Apple ID bar (at the top of the page)>iCloud. You can see how much storage you currently are using, and you can then manage the storage by tapping on “manage storage” and tapping on any of the apps listed. For most of them, you can choose to disable and delete the app to erase data.

iCloud comes with 5 GB storage, but more can be purchased. The iCloud backup only stores information and settings on your device. it does not include information stored on the iCloud, such as contacts, calendars, bookmarks, mail, notes, voice memos, iCloud photos, health data, call history and files stored on iCloud Drive. You can enable these in settings for iCloud.

Also stored on the Apple cloud are productivity files that you have created through pages, numbers and Keynote. There are Apple services that provide movies and entertainment, music, podcasts and books. Your Apple Pay information is stored on the cloud, and it has Siri as your personal assistant. The Apple TV is a product you can purchase to stream media from your device to your computer.

Those who have iPads/iPhones and/or Mac computers would find it most helpful. You might take advantage of Apple Pay. If you own or rent movies or books on Apple services, iCloud is most useful.

Apple Summary

Watch the Video: The Apple iCloud

Closer look at the Microsoft Cloud

The Microsoft cloud is called OneDrive. The username would have a domain as live.com, Hotmail.com or outlook.com. It is found on your Windows 10 device, although it can be installed as an app on other devices. It provides quick access to Microsoft tools like Word, PowerPoint and Excel, using the 9 square icon. The Microsoft cloud only offers movies at this time (no books), and does not offer a digital money service. Cortana is the virtual assistant.

You have 5 GB of storage for your Microsoft OneDrive account (and can purchase additional storage). One Drive is most useful if you use Microsoft office and want access to these files from any device.

Microsoft Summary

Watch the video: Microsoft OneDrive

Closer look at the Google Cloud

The Google cloud is called Google Drive. Your Google account username would end in gmail.com. Having a gmail account allows you access to all of the Google services. It has its own productivity set of tools (Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc.). It has a generous supply of movies, music and books, all that can be rented or bought through Google Play. It offers a digital money service (Google Pay), and has a personal assistant (Hey Google). It has its own streaming device (Chromecast) which can be used if you want to stream media and you do not have a smart TV.

It comes with 15 GB of storage per account. It is most useful if you tend to take advantage to all of the services offered by Google (YouTube, Maps, Google Photos, Google sites). It works seamlessly between services, meaning that data from one source (gmail for example) would be used to enhance another source (calendar).

Google Drive

Watch the video: Google Drive

Additional cloud services worth mentioning

Amazon: It is a store. It is a place to rent media. It is a music streaming service. And the personal assistant (Alexa) has access to everything you have. It keeps track of all of this in one spot, the Amazon cloud. It can be free, but paying a monthly or yearly free can get you things like enhanced music and entertainment options, free shipping and more. Truly one of the best deals around.

Storing documents and photos: Besides the big 3, there are services just for storing documents. These services are great if you are collaborating with others, and want an easy way to share. Putting a document on these services creates a link which can then be shared with others (like the big 3 cloud services). Two examples are Dropbox and Evernote.

Continuous backup: If you want your device backed up automatically to the cloud, there are services which offer this. For a yearly fee, they will automatically scan your device for changes in your hard drive, and will transfer these data changes back to the cloud. If anything were to happen to your device or hard drive, you could quickly restore it. Some examples are iDrive, Backblaze and Carbonite.

Additional activities to try

Compare the basics of four clouds

Briefly show and demonstrate the basics of the the three major clouds: Apple, Google, Microsoft . Demonstrate storage, productivity tools and native apps.

Demonstrate real time collaboration using Google Drive

When a document is on the cloud and is being edited, it is automatically saved. So, if you and another are working on the same document on the same cloud, you will not only see their name and picture in the service, but you will also see the changes that they are doing to the document.
With most documents, it is possible to go back in time to restore a document to a former version.
As an example, we can each edit one form for ideas. Let's brainstorm on how we use the cloud.

Find out how much storage you have on iCloud and Google Drive:

For iCloud, go to a device and enter iCloud.com, your username and account. Or from your phone, click iCloud>Manage storage.

For Google, Go to your Google Drive account. Look on the left navigation under storage.

Demonstrate how to set up Google Photos to upload photos automatically:

From your mobile device: Download the Google Photos app and sign in. Follow the prompts to start uploading pictures. Choose High Quality as the upload size (reduced file size).

From your computer: Go to photos.google.com and click on settings (next to the 9 squares). Note other sharing possibilities (partner, suggestions, grouping similar faces, etc.)

Demonstrate and discuss how to delete Google photos from device and/or the cloud

Here are some ways to delete Google photos from your device and/or the cloud

Delete from Google photos app (both cloud and device are deleted)
Delete from a different gallery (like iPhone photos from iPhone or the gallery from your Android). The copy will be kept on Google Photos
Free up space: Open Google photos app. Click on your picture (or 3 lines) and select “free up space”. Confirm. If you are using an iPhone, you need to go to the recently deleted folder of Apple Photos to permanently delete.
Use “Delete device copy” feature: For a single photo, tap on photo, click on 3 dots and select move to trash. For multiple photos, select those you want to delete, tap on the 3 dots and select Move to trash

Demonstrate how to delete photos from iCloud and/or phone

If iCloud photos is turned on, deleting from device will remove from the iCloud
To delete from device and not the iCloud, go to Settings>iCloud>Photos and turn off iCloud photos and Photo stream. Delete from device. When done, turn back on. Pictures will remain on cloud.

Demonstrate cloud-based services like Calendar and reminder

Note that you can make a change on one device and see on the other

Apple based services will use the app on your Apple device (iPad/iPhone, Mac). To add a non-Apple service to a calendar or reminder, you would add the account in SETTINGS. This is important if you are sharing between Apple, Windows and Android.

If you like your non-Apple service better (Google calendar for example), you would download the app to use. You can download onto an iPhone or Android.

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