Week 13: Social Media

This week in class we learned about social media and how it is a major part of marketing and business practices in todays world. web 2.0 as described in my ism course is " the way that users are empowered to collaborate, create resources, and share information in a radically different manner than the early years of the web. Not only can users create content, but now they can interact with content and share their opinion and feedback."

 web 2.0 has created a new frontier in internet use that has revolutionized how we interact with one another. youtube and facebook are two websites that have grown immensely and are now some of the main sources of interaction between individuals today. These websites are used mainly as means for people to express and share their thoughts and feelings. with breakthroughs in technology allowing us to communicate in new ways, i can only imagine what the next generation of the web will do!



Below is a video that talks about businesses and social media.

Week 12 - clear: Telecommunications and the internet

This week in class we discussed many topics but my favorite topic was whether or not we are addicted to online gaming. This topic resonates with me because i have been playing online games for close to 12 years now. Online gaming as dumb as this may sound, has helped me in a variety of ways. There have been many instances where i have come across some vocabulary term that i learned while playing an online game or regular game growing up because the nature of games is to try and make you feel as much as possible as if your experience is genuine and many times that includes using advanced vocabulary depending on the setting of the game.

Video games can be unhealthy for some people but i feel these people are already vulnerable because of predisposed conditions and video games just happened to be the first trigger they came across. Too much of anything is a bad thing but online video gaming is going to places it has never been before.

With new technologies like the kinect and head tracking games are more immerse than ever. I believe there are many ways that we can benefit as humans from games like for example, with the kinect. I feel it has many implications as far as therapeutic concerns go. I can see a game made for people who need therapeutic treatment via the kinect skeletal tracker. Im sure a platform can be made that indicates all the motions to help heal your injury while making it interactive and fun. The opening and closing of ones hand for therapeutic relief can be interpreted by the kinect and maybe will be a robots hands in the game or the image of the robot arm will be superimposed on yours when looking at the monitor for an augmented reality experience.

All from a device that was made for online gaming! The possibilities are limitless and online gaming will keep more and more people connected and provide a better support system as a result.

Below is a short clip on the health factor of videogames

Voice over IP service

Voice over internet protocol is now much more convenient than in its infancy. i remember about a decade ago when software of this nature was emerging but extremely difficult to set up, at least for my self. Now Gmail integrates its Google talk service which makes it extremely easy to dial out to local and international numbers all with great quality and no problems! I have used Google talk in the past for quite some time but am now using it more because of my high quality microphone and no longer needing to wear a headphone/microphone on my head. In the submission of this project though i did get very annoyed with the screen recording software because it took me about 30 minutes to get everything working, 4 different software attempts later. Below is a link to the .avi file that can be viewed on YouTube. The file seems pretty large partly due to my microphone in the video being a kinect from Microsoft and as it is a microphone array, required a lot of data.

VOIP overall is great and i can see it replacing cellphones in years to come.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih2BNsyRw2Y&feature=youtu.be

Avatar Creation Tool

Making my avatar was pretty cool. The tool i used installed very easily and creating my account was fairly quick. Compared to other sign up processes i have been through, this one was pretty straight forward and simple.Once I had the software installed the interface was also easy to navigate and had the option to go to your personal room and the dressing rooms where i went to change my outfit immediately. Overall the process was very user friendly and i would recommend IMVU to any one who is interested in finding good software for avatar creation.

Presentation Project

After evaluating the presentations of a few other classmates, i have evaluated my own presentation and here is what i found. I believe i had a logical flow in my sequence of content. I feel like the message was delivered in the right order. I do feel that if i could have cropped my company logo and fit it in to the presentation that would have been an improvement. My question answers why my company should be chosen towards the last slides which i feel is appropriate as you have to build up the service before you sell yourself.

Using photos of bare electronics that i thought many people could relate with but would be caught off guard and intrigued by i felt helped my capture the viewers attention. Combined by asking questions of the photos in an interactive manner, i think the media worked in my presentation.


I took a moment to explain what the situation was and where a customers need would be created and fulfilled with the wear of electronics.The claim regarding the number of xbox's sold was verified via the link to the news article. I believe by avoiding clutter i ensured readibility with the use of a bright color theme as well for the font. I believe i avoided inconsistencies as well and i also felt like my best job was saying and then showing it as much information was provided through the audio narrations.

Below is the link/video of my presentation, hope you find it to your liking and be sure to tell me what you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd4DA10ar2c&feature=youtu.be

Excel Project

The project that i completed was a great example of how excel s a vital tool in a real life business. The scenario for my project was that an owner of a large fitness center is researching 1000 members who's heart rates were measure over a 20 minute period. She wanted to run a study on them to see if they hit peak heart rate targets or not and what demographics performed better. Because of excels structure we were able to come up with numerous statistics for the population of our study and analyze much information using our results from all the calculations excel was able to compute in seconds whereas doing something like this by hand could have taken weeks to complete!

As a result of completing this project i feel i have become reaquanted with Microsoft excel and can use it to perform various tasks in real world scenarios. Some skills i learned that i was not familiar with before were pivot tables and the if function. Using these 2 tools within excel opens up many factors and circumstances that can be accounted for within your spreadsheet. This project has helped me see the beauty of keeping data tracked in a spreadsheet for the opportunities to analyze the data with excel alone are amazing. As a result i am now going to take the use of excel in to very strong consideration when constructing my business.

Below is a screencapture of one pivot table i constructed along with a link to a good site for tips on excel.

http://www.exceltip.com/category.html

week 11: clear Database

This week in class we learned a lot about the data asset. Many companies these days gather a lot of information on there customers. Whether it be demographic information or anything else, this info is usually analyzed and companies make assumptions about their customers shopping cart or even what trends are going in and out of style. along with a lot of data collecting also comes the big risk of data security. There have been cases recently of large corporations getting hacked and losing hundreds of thousands, even millions of customers private information, in some cases even the possibility of credit card numbers being compromised. Sony was one of the companies this happened to when they were hacked and reportedly were unsure if customers credit card information had been collected. Below is a link relating to the story.

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/04/playstation-network-hacked/

another interesting article on the same topic:

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/04/psn-down/?utm_source=Contextly&utm_medium=RelatedLinks&utm_campaign=Previous

Data does not equal information. Data is raw facts and figures that can be used in context to answer questions and support decision making. Regression techniques can be used to create a trend line that displays data that is more readily usable. As a result information is created and is displayed. Patterns and theories can be deduced and decisions can be made from this information. In this manner is how companies like best buy use their rewards cards and make business decisions they feel positively benefit the company and its profits.

Database project

The database project i did through this class taught me an amazing number of things. Most importantly it opened my eyes to having a database construction tool that was easily accessible to me and that i can learn to use versus paying someone to construct a database for my business one day. This course taught me that Microsoft access is a great tool to help construct a database which can track inventory, create invoice forms, and even create an interface to communicate all the data seamlessly with one another plus much much more. I have already begun building a database for my company GatorComps which i will link below as soon as i find out how in case any one is interested in helping me build it or put any input in to it so far. Constructive criticism welcome and appreciated!

This project may have been improved by adding a drop down box for some information entry fields like gender to reduce the risk of error when being entered by a user. Although this was not covered i believe this has to do with relationship tables where one would have had to create a new table with male and female in a column and have the field linked to the gender field in a form or report.This is one concept i am trying to learn how to use because in terms of my business it would be much more efficient to use a drop down box to select a model and make of a device rather than typing it in and it would decrease the time it would take bringing in devices so as to not hold up and make customers impatient, thus, improving customer service.

Here is the link to my gatorcomps database file which is free to be edited in case anyone wants to incorporate anything.

Any help appreciated and Thanks!

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B22B348ZyC7jeGZZUERWNWJTV3kzX1FjaGo4MERKUQ

Week 10 clear: Skillstrack

This week in class we learned how to use different skills within access. Specifically we went over database and tables, queries, forms, and reports. I learned that using these 4 tools together there is an infinite possibility for maximizing efficiency within your company database. Using access you can create tables that record information as rows and columns which are then used as values for queries, forms, and reports. Tables can be created by importing external data as well such as spread sheets from excel which is extremely useful. Queries can then be made from this data in your tables. This can be very useful in many instances. For example if your database took in orders for different pizzas, you would want to know at what time your orders came in and for maximum efficiency, have them listed in the order the pizzas should be delivered and are to head out the door.

Forms are also very useful because they can use the data from your queries and tables to make an actual interface for your database to be interacted with. You can add fields to a form where values can be entered by say, customers or employees and that information is used however you see fit. It can be stored as a new data input if you make an invoice in the form of a report which then is accounted for in your queries and can be used for business. Lastly reports were used to construct a summary of information which can be easily grouped and sorted and is very useful for quick access to vital information for decision making. These skills are extremely important and can be used in many real world situations.

I am currently in the beginning phases of starting my company and learning all these new skills has given me confidence that starting my company is more attainable now than ever!

Here is a link of a database file i made for practice and below that a site and video with tips for use and organizing your life with access.

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B22B348ZyC7jeGZZUERWNWJTV3kzX1FjaGo4MERKUQ

http://msaccesstips.com/

Week 09- clear: Moores Law

I found this weeks topic in class to be extremely fascinating! Moores law is a theory that states technology doubles every 18 months. This being true implies there are infinitely vast possibilities of where we will be even 5-10 years from now in terms of technology. There are 3 factors that impose a problem and limitation for this theory however which are: heat, size and power. Below is a video discussing the constraints and alternatives to Moores Law.




One video i appreciated watching extremely was of one of my favorite scientists, Dr. Michio Kaku who is partially responsible for String Theory.

http://superstringtheory.com/

Dr. Kaku spoke about the future of technology and was going over some truly remarkable things. He mentioned how intel, the company responsible for the processors in most everyones laptops today, is working on a new technology that reanimates matter called programmable matter. It is a new technology that allows an object made from this material to rearrange the atoms and there charges to give an object an entirely new shape. This technology is closely resembled by the robot in terminator 3 being able to turn in o a liquid and then reassemble its self once passing through an object. The thought of this being real blew my mind!

The implications this technology could have would be limitless! it would be possible to have a capsule turn in to a luxurious camping tent or even a car or boat! With moores law taken in to account we can not even begin to imagine what we can do with these and many other technologies that humanity is on the forefront of discovering and making practical uses for. Below is another video of Dr. Kaku along with link to many more interesting topics.

http://bigthink.com/michiokaku

week 07- clear: Virtualization and the cloud

This week we learned a lot about workstation virtualization and usage of the cloud. virtualization is using the physical hardware of one physical machine to run several instances of different operating systems. For instance you can be a tech support company that provides support for hundreds of customers, all which use different operating systems like OS X, Linux, or Windows and with the use of virtual machines you can run all three operating systems from one computer and offer support for all customers at one work station with 1 machines versus 3. this method saves electricity and reduces harmful emissions created from the extra machinery and equipment.

using the cloud also has the same effect. The cloud is a place witch no physical location, relative to the user much like the internet. The cloud allows storage to be taken care of by other companies leaving your business to allocate your resources to moving forward with your work and leaving any IT support for your servers to another company which is done at all times in realtime.

The cloud is the beginning of the future. Pretty soon we wont need hardware to run games like a desktop would need a video card restricting the mobility of the game. We will be able to use phones or tablet devices to stream the information that is being handled by the intense hardware from a cloud and be displayed on a very mobile but extremely high resolution display with no latency or lag allowing even the most graphically intense games to be played on an iphone for example.

This technology is just around the corner but i cant wait!

Below is an article that is sure to be an interesting read pertaining to the emergence of this technology:
http://gigaom.com/2011/12/07/onlive-phones-tablet-apps/

Week 06- Clear: software

software is the magic that makes computers run. Software is everywhere, in any application you have used to any thing on your phone that your familiar with. operating systems are software that enable you to use hardware. it controls the hardware and other programs while allowing users to interact with the hardware. System software are like firewalls or file managers allow you to make better use of your hardware.

application software is software that is designed to accomplish a specific purpose. Microsoft word for example is created as a word processing tool. application software is probably the most common for of software that end users familiarize themselves with. Apps such as itunes that serve the purpose of managing music or windows media player are also application software.

System software enable the computer to function. Operating systems enable the hardware to communicate with the end user in a way that allows the user to nagigate freely. similarly applications that enable the computer to function securely are also system software, for example mcafee or norton antivirus which allow you to use your computer securely

heres a link to a site that allows one to create custom gestures and macros either by voice or movement using the xbox 360 kinect. It allows you to play games or control your computer with your body movement with software that wasnt built with this in mind.

http://glovepie.org/lpghjkwer.php



What type of software do you think this is?

Week 05- clear: Presentations

Week 05 we covered a lot of information of presentations. We went over many different factors to avoid death by power point! Some of the most crucial information in regards to presentations is making sure that you speak and then show it versus reading all your bullet points right off your interview. This is a recipe for disaster if you want a successful presentation. Another thing to do when making a presentation is to make sure to capture the audiences attention with in the first thirty to sixty seconds as this is crucial to keeping them focused!

One way to capture the audiences attention quick is by starting your presentation with a video. this automatically makes the reader watch and listen what he or she is witnessing versus not even bothering to look at non captivating power point slides.
When making a presentation one should also try to provide various forms of media within it to keep the viewer focused as well.

Overall i feel like i learned a lot after completing my presentation project and completing this weeks material because presentations are play a vital role in the business world and communicating your ideas or presentations effectively can mean the difference between losing a job and getting promoted.

Below is a helpful video with a few pointers on making presentations, enjoy!

Week 04, clear: Strategy and Technology

This week a lot was discussed about technology and its use to gain and sustain competitive advantages in the business world. Porters Five competitive forces that shape strategy are as follows. It starts with the notion that managers look at competition too narrowly and thus includes new entry, substitute products or services, customers who have bargaining power, suppliers who have bargaining power, and your existing rivalry with competitors. this analysis emphasizes that by reducing these 5 factors or learning to manage them will lead to an absolute maximization of profits.




The use of technology in ways that can not be easily mimicked by competitors is essential to a thriving businesses survival as it does not have to fear new competitors entry to the market affecting its market share thus affecting its profits.
Standing out from your competitors is ultimately your best strategy and something you must strive to do if you plan on having a competitive advantage or sustaining your business for the long run.

Week 3: clear- New meaning to the term IronKey!

    Personal Data has never been more at risk. Now more than ever measures should be put in place by everyone to prevent the breaching and loss of data.  Web encryption and security has advanced immensely since it first began. WEP, which was the first form of network encryption was easily broken in to and compromised and as a result has led to more secure forms of security/encryption being put to use. The more common and secure form of network encryption used today which proceeded WEP, is WPA.WPA is a much more secure form of encryption and allows longer character passwords along with multiple keys for extra verification.



One new security feature i learned about while discussing material for the course this week is the IronKey USB. Ironkey is a new piece of hardware that takes the shape of the standard USB flash drive but with significant additional features. The IronKey can be used to

store data like a normal flash drive. Where it differs from others though is in the extra safety provided to the end user. If the USB is lost it can be remotely sent a signal which then wipes the data on the drive and therefore eliminates the risk of data being compromised. The iron key is made out of an extremely durable metal casing and is even water proof! Talk about technology reaching new places! Where and what will they be capable of next?!




SSD drive technology is a new form of data storage which uses no moving parts and as such results in much faster response and data read times measured in the millisecond range. Below is a very informative video from newegg about SSD and the other relevant hard drive formats.

Week 02- Clear: Hardware, a means to an end

Hardware is to a computer what the wheels are to a car, with out them they just cant work. Hardware is the means to the end on computers. The end being the end users purpose or problem being addressed. Software works on your computer because there is hardware inside it built to handle and manage the software.

Hardware spans from a vast variety of products such as RAM Memory, Storage Drives like hard drives or flash thumb drives, Graphic Processing units and much much more. Hardware allows our computers to push the software they are capable of running to extremes. Technology is growing at an exponential rate also which allows out software to do things we could not imagine prior. Just about 1 year ago 1 gigayte of DDR3 Ram memory cost roughly 100 bucks when today you can get about 16 for 80 dollars!

With technology growing so rapidly pretty soon we will be able to handle massive loads of information such as augmented reality and virtual reality programs. What will we live to see in our lifetime? I can only anxiously wait and see!

Below is another good link for hardware information
http://www.karbosguide.com/

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------personal computing is practically my specialty,  I love dealing with hardware and know computers inside out. The muddiest topic for me though when it comes to personal computing is the manufacturing of the hardware. As good as i am with computers and how they work i actually don't have much of any idea of how there constructed. I am looking forward to learning how the hardware is built because i have plans for inventions that would need the construction of hardware inside and the more knowledgeable i am of them the better it will be for me when the time comes to invent my device. Software is very easy for me to adapt to but ultimately hardware is what i really want to master.

Week 01- Clear: Netiquette

The internet is a place for everyone on earth to communicate with each other. As time has passed and the internet has become the primary form of human interaction, a common net etiquette has evolved and been set in place that now acts as an unwritten rule of sorts.

One example of netiquette is the use of capital letters. TYPING LIKE THIS implies your are shouting and typically should not be done online. Since there are no real indicators of a verbal tone when typing, one should use respectful language and read over what they have typed to make sure you wrote what you actually meant to say. Another example is the proper use of intellectual property. Unless a piece of work has been placed in a public domain or you have been granted use by the owner, you should not be using their work.

Also when offering others information, check your facts and make sure your not putting false information in to the web. In that same manner, one should always look online for any questions they may have before bothering others with it. There are very few questions that others may not have tried to ask first.

Below i will add a great link to more netiquette information for those of you who are interested in seeking further information, and as a fellow web user you should, after all "everyone could use a little netiquette!"

http://www.networketiquette.net/

Here's a video of proper netiquette at school!

My first blog!

This post is  a test to check if my blogs posts correctly.