Monday, November 30, 2009

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP

Cutting, pasting, enlarging, filling, selecting, blurring, burning - you name it, and Photoshop can do it. If you know how to, that is. Presenting a wide range of tools for any sort of Photo editing, Photoshop is easy to use and intensely complicated at the same time. Today, Adobe Photoshop has become the image editor of choice for graphics professionals. Few designers would argue that its position as the primary bitmap editing tools is rightly at the top of the pile, but this does not mean that there are no other choices for designers who can't, or don't want to, use Photochop.

Perhaps the only software ever to generate its own verb form, Photoshop is the flagship product of Adobe systems. Released in 1990 exclusively to Macintosh, it was the result of three years of development by a University of Macintosh PhD student named Thomas Knoll, who had begun working on it in 1987. The most significant Photoshop upgrade to date is considered to be Photoshop Version 3. Can you guess what this introduced ? Layers perhaps the single most important aspect of Photoshop development, and every Photoshopper's best friend.

Photoshop has strong ties with other Adobe software for media editing, animation, and authoring. The .PSD( Photoshop Document), Photoshop's native format stores an image with support for most imaging options available in Photoshop. These include layers with masks, color spaces, ICC profiles, transparency, text , alpha channels and spot colors, clipping paths, and uotone settings. Photoshop's popularity means that the Psd format is widely used, and it is supported to some extent by most competing software. The .PSD file format can be exported to and from Adobe illustrator, Adobe Premiere Pro, and After Effects, to make professional standard DVDs and provide non-linear editing and special effect services, such as backgrounds, textures, and so on, for television, film, and web. Among its strong features, Photoshop can utilize the color models RGB, lab, CMYK, grayscale, binary bitmap, and duotone. It also has ability to read and write raster and vector image formats such as .EPS, .PNG, .GIF, .JPEG, and fireworks.

Friday, November 27, 2009

10 TOP DO'S AND DON'TS FOR YOUR IT CAREER

1.DO PLAN AND EXECUTE YOUR CAREER IN A PROACTIVE MANNER:

It is not enough to work or to decide that you want a career in IT. Set your career goals and determine the steps you should take to realise your goals. Don't approach your career in an unplanned manner by simply hoping for the best. Askyourself these questions: where are you? waht are your goals? how are you progressing, and how do you want to progress? take an honest look at your situation and take control. review trends in the It industry and your needs. The plan should be based on information gathered from credible sources. Be realistic by setting attainable goals.And make sure you execute the plan.

2. DON'T FOCUS ON IT CAREER AND TRENDS:

New products and fads are the order of the day in the IT industry, especially in the career sector. Examples are new certificated and the latest taining programmes. IT professionals need to observe these trends to remain relevant. However, though training and certification have their uses, they should not be your focus. training, formula education and certification should not be pursued without regard to your career goals. Use them as stepping-stones to where you're going. Employ training certification or other career tools if and when they align with your career- goals short and long-term. It doesn't make sense to aim for a 'hot' certification that won't help your career growth.

3. DO HAVE A PASSION FOR IT:

Do you enjoy what you do in IT? An IT career is just like choosing any other career. If you have no talent for it and no interest in it, don't bother with it. It is not for everyone. The course, degree or certification you take is of no effect if you are not excited about what you do. You will find it easy to motivate yourself when you enjoywhat you do. When you have a passion for IT, you find it easy to learn and make yourself better at what you do. Consider the nature of the job, stress factor and work environment, as well as work requirement. You must love what you do to reach high levels of achievement.

4. DON'T BUILD YOUR CAREER ON UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS:

The'get rich quick' belief is the most unrealistic expectation of many who opt for It careers. If money is your sole aim, you won't last under the intense workload and incredible ate of change. IT is professionally and financially rewarding if you focus on acquiring practical skills and building your career rather than on immediate benefits.

Also, don't confuse training and certification with a career. Education and certification will gave you skills and knowledge, but you still need experience and attitude. Certification, training and experience have different roles to play. It is your responsibility to know which from of expertise you require as you progress on your career path.

5. DO FOCUS ON GAINING USEFUL EXPERIENCE:

There's no substitite for the experience of solving real world problems. Much of the skills and knowledge of an IT professional is gained through practical experience. However, experience is not just about the number of years you've spent on the job. It is about job effectiveness and capability. The quality of your experience is reflected in your ability to provide solutions quickly and creatively. Sometimes you may need to volunteer or take less what you feel you deserve to get the experience you need.

6.DON'T BURN BRIDGES:

When you change jobs, don't burn bridges you might need tomorrow. Despite any misgivings you might have, make sure you are learning on a positive note. Be professional in handling issues such as notice of disengagement, hand-over of work and relation with your colleagues and ex-employer. You never know where your paths might cross in the future. It alsohelps to build up good references from ex-employers. You've also able to build your own personal network fo individuals on whom you can rely for advice, job leads, tecnical assistance and other helpful support.

7.DO DEVELOP SOFT SKILLS:

You may need to bring one or more of the following soft skills to the table: communication skills teamwork skills, organisational skills, leadership skills, sales skills, presentation skills and bussiness skills. Can you motivate teammates to perform? Do you interact succesfully with customers? Do you understand the business issues driving the IT solution you provide? Hoe do you give value(tech and non-tech) to your clients and employers?

8. DON'T RUN FROM CHALLENGES:

Rather than running from challenges you should look for ways in which the challenges will make you a better IT professional. Tackling challenges requires resourcefulness on your part. You may need to do the research and interact with more experienced colleagues. Often challenges can offer you the highest growth potential. The more you can do, the more valuable you are. The challenges might be an oppurtunity to develop you soft skills or it might be an oppurtunity to conquer a difficult area and carve a niche for yourself.

9.DO KEEP ON LEARNING:

Knowledge and experience come first in the IT industry. What is the level of your expertise with current tecnologies and your knowledge of new and upcoming technologies that might affect your career? Lifelong learning is essential for IT professionals. What is in demand today may be obsolete tomorrow, especially in IT. Stay current with the latest trends through seminars, training, e-mail newletter and, of course, the web. But note that you must have the willingness to learn.

10.DON'T NEGLECT PROFESSIONALISM:

Professionalism has to do with your attitude to your job, employer, colleagues, clients and society. A bad attitude can render your skills, knowledge and experience ineffective. You need to make professionalism a habit by imbibing the values of honesty, fairness, tolerance, repect for others, ethics, politness and integrity. Professionalism is about the total package of soft skills, tech skills and attitute. Be dependable, be supportive and perform above expectations.

Just as there is no mystery to developing your career, there is also no magic formula. The aim of these do's and don'ts is to make you aware of the things you should and you shouldn't do so that you can avoid costly career mistakes.

MS. ACCESS

Ms. Access is one of the most powerful and flexible Database Management System (DBMS). By using this software,you can:

> Enter data directly into a Database or import it from another program.
> Sort, index and organize the data as per your requirement.
> Quickly create reports and mailing labels, using all or part of your data.
> Make customized data entry forms that simplify the way less experienced computer users
enter new information in the Database.
> Run queries that extract subsets of your data based on certain conditions.

Ms. Access is flexible Database program because it can be used for both simple and complex Database projects. It also has a relational Database feature, in which one can define relationships between diferent types of information so that you can get them together.

In other words, it is a system that allows creating, designing and working with Database. Ms. Access provides us with a set of powerful tools for defining, entering, managing, manipulating and resulting data.

WHAT IS DATABASE?
Database is an organized collection of data or related information that are shared and used for multiple purposes, for ex: a telephone directory, students records, result sheets, population census etc.

The information are stored in such an organized way that they may have easy access as per our requirement. Hence a Database is an organized collection of data in easily accessible form, which are shared and used for multiple purposes as per required.

There are two types of Database:
1. Conventional Database and
2. Computerized Database.
There is a difference between these two Database. In Computerized Database, we can store, find, manage, share and manipulate the data in easier way. But in case of Conventional Database, it is not possible. After entering any information in Conventional Database, we cannot change it. Telephone directory, Address Book is the examples of Conventional Database. Ms. Access is one of the examples of Computerized Database.

DATA ORGANIZATION IN ACCESS:
In Access, you first need to create a Database file. That file holds everything you create for that Database-not only the data, but also the customized forms, reports and indexes. In comparison to others, the organization of data is easier in Access, Access allows user to work with following features in order to organize the data.

1. Table
2. Queries
3. Forms
4. Reports
5. Macro
6. modules

TABLES:
The heart of each Database is its tables. Table is an element, which holds main information. A table looks like a spreadsheet and used to store the main data. By using this table features, the information is stored in two ways which is Row wise and the another one is Column wise.
Access stores each Databaseentry in its own row. The information stored in rows is refereed as Record. Each record is a collection of information. The information stored along columns are called field. Each type of record heading is kept in its own column.

QUERIES:
A query is a way of retrieving and editing information in accordance to the conditions asked. Many users are afraid of queries because of the technical terms associated with them, such as values, criteria and masks. But there is no need to be wary, you can create and use a simple query.

FORMS:
All the data you enter into Database ends up in Table for storage. You enter any information directly into the table. But is a little bit difficult to do so. Most usersfind it easier to create special onscreen form in which to enter the data. This special screen is called Form. Form facilitates to make modification, addition the data directly into the table. It also helps user to view the table in a user- defined manner.

REPORTS:
While forms are designed to be used onscreen, reports are designed to be printed. Reports are specially formatted collections of data, organized according to your specifications for summarizing and printing.

MACROS:
Macros are used to perform one or more Database action automatically.

MODULES:
It is another type of element in Access. It is a program you write using Visual Basic ( a programming language used to create Office Software Package) used to automate and customize Database functions.