Databases are very complex and ever growing creatures. Look around ... how much data do businesses like Google, AT&T, Comcast, Facebook, Amazon, your local grocery store or the government have on you? Think of the hundreds of billions of pieces of data there are out there. How is all that managed? How do you find the information that you're looking for? The answer is Databases. DatabasesLinks to an external site. are depositories of data, a place to store then filter and retrieve information. Here is an example of the police collecting mass quantities (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. of data about where Americans have been, where they're going and who they were with. This is just a brief example of how databases can be used. We have been working with some databases for the past few weeks. Additionally, we have taken a look at Spreadsheets as well. Because of their complexity it is important to understand what databases and spreadsheets are and how they can be used. Let me give you some examples. I already gave you some examples of how a database is used in the first paragraph above. I use spreadsheets to track the schedule for my classes. Look at the table on the last page of the syllabus. That was created in Excel. I use spreadsheets as task lists, control charts, Pareto diagrams and I even use them to generate random lists for group projects. Now it's your turn. In this weeks DQ let the class know how you've used databases and/or spreadsheets. Whether you know it or not, you have used some sort of a database. If you haven't used them directly you have used them indirectly. You could also get on-line and see what other people do with them. Give examples, show videos, be creative, ask some friends. You'd be amazed what people do with these programs.