Thursday, December 15, 2011
Homework 10
One of the most interesting topics that we covered in the class was the idea of cloud computing. Cloud computing is a technology not only used by business people but in the everyday lives of the consumer, through consumer products like the Amazon Cloud Drive, Apple Cloud systems, and Cloud systems utilized by many e-readers. "In cloud computing, tasks are performed by computers physically removed from the user and accessed over a network, in particular the Internet." (Rainer, 426). Remote server farms store the data remotely, and this information is then accessible over the internet. Adequate firewalls are in place to prevent malicious behavior and hacking into the system, and cloud computing is associated with much lower infrastructure costs. Cloud Computing would be especially useful in my career in Accounting as it allows you to access large quantities of information anywhere you have an internet connection. This would be especially useful when performing auditing functions remotely on site. Cloud computing software would enable auditing teams to access previous data about financial statements and past auditing opinions with great ease.
Cloud Computing technology is a rapidly growing technology, and there are a number of start-ups in the Boston area are based on developing cloud computing systems for businesses. A recent article in the Boston Business Journal profiled 6 of the "cloudiest" start-ups in the Boston area: http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/startups/2011/12/boston-cloud-startups-cloud-city.html Because they do not have to hire an IT department on site, cloud computing is a very tempting option for small business that do not have the necessary expenditures to hire a IT department to run their information systems. Cloud computing is the wave of the future, and is poised for tremendous amounts of growth in the near future and beyond.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Information I Will Use to Succeed After College
My Final Thoughts
The Post to End All Posts
Insourcing is listed as one of the ten flatteners and is a prime example of how the world is flat. It is when a company performs services on behalf of another company. UPS is a leader in the insourcing realm. This artice http://www.annarbor.com/business-review/ford-to-insource-work-to-rawsonville-plant-retain-750-jobs/ is describing that Ford is insourcing some of their production from the Rawsonville plant, and in doing so, they are creating 750 more jobs.
This knowledge may not help me in my professional life but it did give me a different way to view the world; a more insightful way. Which I presume in turn does affect the way I will think upon entrance in the professional world. It helps me see the big picture. These events all contribute to the way we operate as a society today. Things are becoming quicker, and closer without really changing the physical characteristics of things. This deeper undertstanding and thinking can really benefit me when I get a job and have to deal with tough tasks.
Overall, my learning increased in this class and am very fortunate to have learned the things that were illustrated to me.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
MIS
The main objective of this course was to learn about management information systems. I have learned many things that I would have never thought about if the topics were never brought up in class. Management information systems are the backbone to all businesses. Without any programs a company would never be able to hold up in this type of economy.
The programs that companies use are the meet and potatoes of operating. The systems make it so that inventory and transactions are automatically followed and you will be alerted if anything goes wrong. Also on top of that they are used in just about every aspect of a business. Companies need to use different operating systems to communicate and interact with their suppliers and customers. This also makes it easier to get to know their customers and have a feel of everything they are buying in order to be able to market better to them. This will also make your connections stronger with your customers because they will like you having whatever they are looking for.
Also companies are benefit from management information systems that help protect him or herself from phishing or fraud. If they do not have this company can get into some serious trouble. They may be held responsible if any customer information is exposed. Companies like to have themselves safe against any others that compete with them. This is an economy and everyone wants to be number one and make as much money as they can. This may cause other competitors to do this that are sly or even illegal to gain a competitive edge over your in the market.
You can also use different programs to teach or train employees to do their jobs better. You may want to have people run a course to better themselves in your work place. This is good for a business to do to make sure that their staff is full prepared for anything.
Privacy
One of the topics that really caught my attention this semesters MIS class was the discussion on modern day privacy and how it is always evolving and how more and more websites are constantly updating their privacy rules and agreements. I also learned how easy people get hacked or how easy companies get confidential information exposed to the general public.
Privacy is one of most important features to have in today’s society. About 99% of all electronics are hooked up to the internet where anything can be published. Also we risk of being hacked and the world being able to see the inside of our computers and our lives. We risk the chance to have our identity wiped away right under our feet in today world. This is why so many people are being more cautious over the internet now a day because of privacy and identity protection.
I have learned how to better protect myself and sensitive information about myself better. I have learned how fragile databases can be ad how easy it is to get hacked and the world can see what is on that database. I learned how one hacker can steal my identity and I can never get that back as he can use my bank and credit cards, use my social security and forge my name on just about anything.
This topic will better help in the future and in my professional life by making sure I have the best firewalls on my computer to secure every file and to upload the files to more than one location. I learned that I need to be smarter online and not shop too much as my credit card numbers can be easily accessed on a company website such as Amazon.com. I also learned to be smart when writing posts on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google +. As people can hack into my accounts even though social media sites have strict privacy rules and firewalls. I also need to make sure I have smart and good passwords for my email accounts, since I pass important and sensitive message for my job.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1775777/how-facebooks-upcoming-privacy-upgrades-stack-up-against-google
He walks the reader through three phases of American history. The first he calls "Globalization 1.0, which lasted from 1492 to 1800. Globalization 1.0 was characterized by the amount of horsepower, wind-power, steam-power or muscle that a country could deploy.
Globalization 2.0 was an expansion of global intergration through increased trade and opening markets, thanks to steamship, trains, and the wiring of the world through phone lines and computers. This was the era that the global economy began to appear in. Multinational companies led the way.
We are living in the era of Globalization 3.0, which began in 2000. The world went from small to tiny. Individuals are empowered pushed by software and global fiber-optic networks. It has leveled he market between international business and emerging market nations.
This link shows Friedman talking about the different globalization : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp4znWHvsjU
The different globalization eras show how the world has grown and how technological advances have impacted the world, now in 3.0 more than ever. Now days, one's competitor, customer, or employee may come from anywhere in the world. Globalization gives the consumer many more choices of goods and service or may lower prices. It allows us to trade with other countries. This allows for communication across the world. It was one of the most important topics we learned in class because it shows how much the world has grown, and will continue to grow.
HW #10
The enterprise resource planning system collects sources and information from the company and helps plan and manage them better. Software such as this organizes all the company's information into the most effecient way possible. Benefits to this can be organization flexibility, which allows the company to choose between which tasks they want to complete, this can make the planning process much easier. Another benefit is the quality and efficiency it brings to the company, it makes the products better because it allows the company to take it's time producing a quality product in an organized timely manner.
The importance of this software is unlimited, and in this generation software is only improving rapidly. Looking into the future companies will be able to work in the most efficient manner possible creating a higher sucess rate for companies. Technology is unlimited making posibilities endless in the near future for companies.
HW 10
One of the more interesting things I learned about this semester was RFID tags. They are tags that generate radio frequencies to help the user track assets. RFID tags are unique because they have so many different uses. In a case study I read about how they where implemented in the 2008 Olympics. The tags where placed on tickets and eliminated ticket fraud during the games. The tags where also used to track food containers for the athlete’s. This ensured that no one got sick or deviated to much from their routine diet. One newsworthy source for RFID tags the company Teijin. They are about to implement a tag that is water resistant. They are going to market their tags for Hotel as a shelf management system. Hotel owners could place the tags on towels and guests will no longer walk out with towels as they leave. In my professional life I could see the tags being built into cell phones so people can easily swipe and use their phones as credit cards, or other types of readers.
Another area that interested me was the Bluetooth technology. Bluetooth is a short-range wireless connection between to mobile devices. Bluetooth is primarily used in cell phones, and other mobile devices such as iPhone’s and blackberry’s. One popular use for Bluetooth is hooking it up to a car stereo and having the recipients of the call talk through the speakers. One really cool function for Bluetooth is coming from a company called Bluetoothon. They are a company that specializes in proximity advertising through Bluetooth. When the users walk within range an advertiser can send them a message. This message could be coming from a nearby store reminding someone of a merchandise sale. For the future I think it will be cool to have a bluetooth server at my house. I could set it to send messages to my phone to remind me to do things when I get home, such as homework or to walk the dog.
http://www.rfidnews.org/2011/12/13/teijin-commences-launch-of-rfid-digital-shelf-management-system
http://www.bluetoothon.com/bluetooth%20advertising%20marketing%20news.html
Monday, December 12, 2011
Homework#10
There were many topics that we conversed about in
MIS class. Majority of them were cool but only a few topics caught my attention.
One topic that I liked the most was the features of a computer system; such as
all the software, outputs, inputs and the different types of chips. The reason
why I like that the most was because my uncle is a computer engineer back home
in Connecticut and he attempts to teach me about the computer system all the
time even though I am clueless. When he teaches me, he just makes it sound so
interesting. However, many topics were interesting such as how computers are
losing signals and how Wi-Fi is not the best overall. I thought Wi-Fi was the
best actually until I came to Nichols. I didn’t understand the other signals
and connections and to this day I am still confused a tad bit. We learned many facts
about mis application features about who created them and why. Honestly, without Tyler Cullins it would have
been much harder to understand M.I.S.
One point is that the society is still competing to
make the most efficient type of technology. Right now it is easy to create technology
due to the generation that is brought up and everything is getting developed
and high priced. This will change the
world because one technology change can affect the society, our kids, and etc. Another topic that we learned about earlier in
the semester was Tom Friedman and his 10 flatteners that changed the world by
technology. At first, I was so confused about this guy and what exactly he did.
Then I found it real interest how web browsers affected the world when Tyler
helped me. One flattener was the
steroids of the flatteners which is social media such as Facebook, Twitter,
Youtube and etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40tS8A-SJ6c
last blog
Conor Golden
Some of my favorite topics from the semester were the Physical of a computer system; all the different chips and drives were very interesting to me. I especially liked the idea that the amount of computing power was limited to I believe the number was in the terabytes. The pathways that we learned information takes within a hard drive were cool to think about as well. The fact that all the information on a computer is in ones and zeros was not a new concept to me but the fact that even the letter H has about seven characters to it in binary code was a new fact for me.
This was interesting to me because I really thought that we had the technology to keep advancing computers for ever. It was surprising to me that we still have some inventing to do before we can make better super computers. It is something to think about, how long will it be until we have computers that fit in our hand that are as powerful as super computers are now. This could help me in the future when I work in the professional world in many ways, it will allow me to do most if not all of my computer needs on the go instead of sitting at a desk top. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4HBYzHMCXg
Another topic that we learned about earlier in the year was databases and all of the ways to create and use them effectively. We learned what types of data that most databases are used for and how helpful they can be. For example if start my own business someday I can use a database to store client information and process there orders. This task would normally be done by answering phones all day and writing things down on ten thousand sticky notes and it would be a disaster. Seeing how useful the database could be to a business is a interesting thing I learned from this class.
Homework #10
Friday, December 9, 2011
Homework #10
This has helped me learn how much technology has taken over the world. The technology is being created to simply makes the lives of people easier. While it is succeeding at making people's lives easier, it is also taking numerous people out of jobs all over the world. For example, they are taking away jobs from many factory workers because they are developing newer technology that does a way better job than the average worker they are paying money to. They figure that it would be pointless to pay a person to do an average job on a task when they could save their money and get the technology to do a perfect job. While it may help my outside of work environment a lot, it will have its ups and downs with actually helping me in my professional life. It will decrease my chances of getting a job in the future because technology is taking over people's positions everyday. It could also help me in my place of work. It could make my job easier because of the newer software you can use at your job due to the updates in technology. The technology helps you stay a lot more organized and makes it so you are able to complete tasks faster and more efficiently.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Bluetooth Wireless Technology
Bluetooth technology first gained prominence with the development of the "Hands-free" calling system, which can be built in to your new car. Since safety isn't enough to persuade drivers to keep both hands on the wheel, the government has begun to implement numerous laws regarding the use of mobile phones when driving. The Jabra-Cruiser 2 (pictured to the left) is an example of a device infused with Bluetooth technology. By simply clipping it to your car's sun visor and pairing it with your mobile phone, you may answer and place calls without touching your device.
In addition to devices such as the Jabra Cruiser 2 that clip onto your car's sun visor, Bluetooth headsets are also quite prominent. In fact, the headset is the most popular method of hands-free calling today. When paired with your mobile phone, the headset can be used anywhere and everywhere, making hands-free calling available even when traveling by foot.
Bluetooth is also beginning to gain prominence in the medical field. One example of a medical device infused with Bluetooth technology is the 3M Littmann Electronic Stethoscope Model 3200. This device allows doctors and physicians to focus on listening to your heart while the stethoscope "does the rest," meaning it will send your information wirelessly to a PC, laptop, or even a mobile phone.
Since its introduction in 1998, and from developments ranging from wireless headsets to the electronic stethoscope, it is apparent that Bluetooth has contributed to our technologically advanced and globalized world.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Conor Golden
11/3/11
One of the many inventions that have changed people’s lives in the twenty first century is the blue tooth technology. This invention has made countless numbers of people’s lives simpler and more fulfilling. For example blue tooth has made using a cell phone as easy as talking to the person in front of you all you have to do is hit the button on the earpiece and start talking. This same technology has made talking on your phone in the car many times less dangerous than if you had the phone in your hand while driving. This has decreased the amount of accidents involving cell phones and driving. Blue tooth has other application other than hands free cell phone use, such as wireless headphones for your iPod and wireless controllers for the x box and play station three. Most of the wireless technology that exists today is due to the application of blue tooth technology.
Blue tooth technology has also managed to cross market itself to multiple arenas of the technology markets by making itself interchangeable with many popular technological innovations of today. Not only is blue tooth technology able to be used alongside a wide variety of cell phones, Apple, Droid, or Blackberry, but also in conjunction with laptop computers and gaming consoles. Having music playing while one is playing a video game is mandatory for most “serious” gamers, regardless of the feelings of those people around them who may not want to listen to their music and often echoing gun shots. Blue tooth is the answer to that. By having a device that can quietly allow the gamer to listen to the sounds of their video game and the music that they like all in a compact wireless device as made blue tooth a necessity for both video gamers and parents alike.
One of the major attributes of the Apple Corporation is the ITunes component of their business. It has been the backbone of one of the biggest and most innovative companies dominating the technology market today. Blue tooth has managed to adapt its product to interface with ITunes and allow its user to listen to music they have downloaded through that system in a small, compact device that connects wirelessly to their cell phone or IPod. People who need to have their hands free and be free of wires which have the potential to tangle up their range of motion, prefer the Bluetooth technology. This wireless feature has made it a necessity to both gamers and working people alike.
3g and 4g
3g and 4g different speeds that providers produce for their customers. Providers such as AT&T and Verizon are the tops two in this field. The only down side tot his is that many areas, especially not in the city do not have 4g accessible. Even if your phone has the option or says that it is a 4g phone, it also depends on where the 4g towers are. 3g is clearly everywhere. Very rarely a phone such as an iphone does not have 3g. The only time that I have seen an iphone without 3g is when you are literally in the middle of nowhere. Chances are if you have a phone that has 3g, you will be able to search the web or download apps or programs for your phone relatively fast. In today society 3g and 4g are very similar considering there is not 4g towers up everywhere, unless you are in a spot with 4g, a 3g and 4g phone will run n practically the same speed.
3g have a completely different system build then the 4g does. The 3g’s frequency band is 1.8-2.5GHz. It FEC uses turbo codes for error correction and its data throughput is up to 3.1 mbps. 3g also run CDMA 2000, UMTS, EDGE and etc for their service for applications. And also uses packet switching.
On the other hand 4g uses different everything then the 3g. 4g use a 2-8GHz-frequency band. The Concatenated codes are used for error corrections in 4g. The 4g also practically speaking, uses 3 to 5 mbps but potential estimated at a range of 100 to 300 mbps. Wimax, LTE and Wi-Fi are used to run services and applications. The 4g also use packet switching like the 3g but also use message switching.
In comparison to the 3g and 4g you can see that they are similar and different at the same time. Until 4g towers are everywhere you will not be able to see a huge difference between speeds. Right now the main 4g towers are found in major cities and in very large populated areas. The towers will continue to go in on the countryside and spread all over but not until the product spreads more.
As of right now with the speed tests Sprint is wiping everyone out. Sprint has the most 4g towers up and provides that service in more areas then anywhere else. At &T and Verizon are trying to catch up to sprint and get on the some level as them. Just like with any other technology it is only a matter of time before everyone catches up with each other and is on the same boat.
Monday, November 7, 2011
3G vs. 4G
In the cell phone market, technology is growing so rapidly. Right now, there is a gap between the third generation phones and the fourth generation. Since 2003, phones have been built on 3G software. Over the course of a few years, manufacturers have been able to upgrade this 3G software to 4G. This 4G technology has enhanced speed, clarity of calls, and internet applications. Overall making it a better phone. Third Generations phones can reach up to 3 Megabits per second (Mbps), with average speeds tending to be closer to 1Mbps or lower. This means 1 million bits, or 125,000 bytes, of data are being transferred per second in equivalent speeds to most standard home DSL Internet connections. This takes 1-2 minutes to download a 4 minute MP3 file. 3G phones are everywhere. They are more popular in the city areas.
3G phones are becoming old. 4G phones are now being made by all cell phone companies. The 4G phones are smaller and a lot faster than the 3G ones. This means for a 4 minute MP3 file download would only take 4G users seconds!
4G is the shorthand for fourth-generation wireless (3G is third-generation), though the version of 4G currently available in the United States could be more accurately be described as advanced 3G. A 4G network can be up to 10 times fasterthan 3G, letting consumers browse the web, download songs and stream movies more quickly -- and potentially -- more often. U.S. wireless companies also promise that building out their 4G networks will help bring broadband to the rural areas that currently lack reliable high-speed Internet. It is the data rate which makes the difference. Both 3G and 4G have a bandwidth of 5 - 20 MHz. For 4G network, the data rate has been set at 100 Mbit in moving vehicles and 1 Gits in stationary and walking users. The data rates specified by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) for 3G are 2 Mbps for stationary or walking users, while it is set at 384 kbits in a moving vehicle.
Although most users think 4G will help dropped calls and have better service, it will not. There are still some issues with 4G phones which ultimately might make higher phone bills.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
3G and 4G
A growing technology in the market today is in the cell phone industry. The Phone industry is about bridge the Gap between third generation phones and Fourth Generation Phones. From about 2003, Cell phones have been built on what we call 3G, third Generation software and technologies for cell phones. During the last couple of years, cell phone manufactures to great success have managed to stretch and improve upon the 3G technologies to enhance speed, clarity of calls, and Internet applications. Third Generations phones can reach up to 3 Megabits per second (Mbps), with average speeds tending to be closer to 1Mbps or lower. This means 1 million bits, or 125,000 bytes, of data are being transferred per second in equivalent speeds to most standard home DSL Internet connections. At this download speed, it takes roughly 1 to 2 minutes to download a 4-minute MP3 file. 3G coverage spans most of the continental United States, with heavier coverage around major metropolitan areas.
However the 3G technologies has begun to grow old, and now companies are beginning to build phones based off 4G, Fourth Generation technologies. These phones will ultimately be smaller, faster, and serve the user in new and unique ways. 4G phones are estimated to run up to 100 times faster than 3G enabled phones. Fourth Generation phones on average will achieve speeds on connectivity of about 100Mbps to 1Gbps range. At that rate, that 4 minute MP3 downloads may only take users seconds.
4G phones however are hitting quite a few speed bumps that are making some buyers hold off until the new technology is stable. The big problem is 4G services is only available in certain locations, and phones that are 4G enabled end up reverting back to 3G service once out of 4G service. Critics say once 4G is wide spread phones bought at the beginning of the 4G generation may be outdated, because companies will have had time to hit their stride, and stretch the technology farther. Critics refer to these smart phones as pre 4G phones because they have yet to reach the speeds described above.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
MIS
Homework #7
Bluetooth
Another product that Bluetooth has enhanced is the automotive industry. Bluetooth hands free calling is now included as standard equipment on new cars and trucks. 12 major car manufacturers offer Bluetooth calling systems in their vehicles. Since there are new driving laws prohibiting the use of cell phones while driving, many people look for hands free calling systems while shopping for a new car. There are Bluetooth speakerphones that clip to a car’s visor, or a Bluetooth headset. Bluetooth enables car receivers and audio systems allow people to wirelessly connect their Bluetooth enables phone or iPod to their car’s audio system. Wireless music and hands free calling are the biggest areas for Bluetooth technology in vehicles, but there are more areas offered to Bluetooth customers. Smart phones have the ability to run apps on flat-panel displays in their car. These apps can help them navigate, check traffic, view weather, and many other things. Toyota and Hyundai offer Bluetooth enabled systems for smart phone apps in their cars. In total there are 10-15 different ways to use Bluetooth technology in the car. Some of these ways are hands free calling, music streaming, navigation, and car diagnostics.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Bluetooth
Zack Swan
Professor Fleury- Lawson
Home work assignment 7
Bluetooth
SIG stands for the Bluetooth Specialist Interest group. This group was founded in 1998 in September. Blue tooth is privately held and owned and not-for-profit trade association. As of today Bluetooth has more than 15,000 company members today. It enables wireless connections between a huge variety of devices. “Bluetooth is an industry specification used to create small personal area networks”. (Rainer, Cegielski. Introduction to Information Systems. Page 248). When it comes to the Bluetooth technology it is simply for everyday ordinary users. It is applied into a lot of technologies that are very popular in today’s society. Some of the things that it is featured in are cell phones, cars and computers. The Bluetooth Company also offers one of the best securities for your blue tooth devices. These securities can protect everyday phone calls, over the phone bank transactions and personal or private information you want to be kept private. Data is kept secure with Bluetooth. One of the best features is that blue tooth is everywhere now. The technology is featured in billions of products everywhere. The ability of different uses of Bluetooth is the focus of connecting and communication.
Even though Bluetooth is known for featuring in a lot of products everywhere to a lot of people, the one that seems most helpful is Bluetooth inside cars and other vehicles. The company has moved up in technologies going forth their goal of completely hands free calling experience. The company first started towards this goal by eliminating wireless head sets and hands-free car systems. The new completely hands free is done so by speech recognition. It has other features like text- to speech and things called “speech triggers” that are verbal commands that will turn on your hands free devices. The new use of voice controls is what has really enhanced Bluetooth use is vehicles. The other products that have enhanced with Bluetooth technologies are ones for the home. The Bluetooth allows you to be able to control almost everything in you house simply and easily. Lets you control house temperatures, lights and household appliances. Along with this it is energy efficient since it is being run by the Bluetooth technologies. It also serves a good piece of entertainment to be able to control light settings and appliances for virtually anywhere in the household.
References
· Rainer & Cegielski. Introduction to information Systems. 3rd edition