Gamer - all thanks to Mark Weiser

Ubiqitous computing is the future of IT. Infact, we learned in class that ubiquitous computing is computing anywhere and everywhere. It is also referred to as calm computing, because the main goal is for technology to be invisable in our lives. In an online journal by Marcia Riley, it says that technology ought to be embedded in our environment, rather than having a lap top, or some other actual pda device.
Mark Weiser is said to be the father of ubiquitous computing, he coined the term in the 80's. Wikipedia's page for Weiser lays out the principals he described in one of his talks:
1)the purpose of a computer is to help you do something else.
2)the best computer is a quiet invisable servant.
3)the more you can do by intuition the smarter you are; the computer should extend your unconscious.
4)technology should create calm.
He goes on to describe a reality where computers are tools used to achieve goals, and not the center of any real primary focus.
When this topic first came up in class i immediatly thought of the movie "Gamer". It stars Gerard Butler who plays 'Kable' a convict who is focred to play a deadly game against his will, primarily for public entertainment. It is set in the not too distant future, where ubiqquitous computing is the norm and is used by gamer prodigy 'Simon', the real life rich kid in the movie who pays to control Kable during the missions. Upon conviction, prisoners are given an RFID chip, which allows someone to tap in and control them. Simon plays this deadly game fromt the comfort of his own home, and whats more is he doesnt even have a controller, he just uses speech and movement to control all of his media, gaming, etc
Aside from the highly unethical issue with the improper treatment of inmates, this movie was REALLY cool. It would be totally amazing if, in our lifetime, middle to high class citizens could afford to use systems like these everyday. Nearly everything was wireless, and controlled through sensory movement. When Simon walks into his bedroom the radio system greets him and asks him what he'd like to do. He replies, log into Gamer, and BAM! projected on his wall, is the home page/site entrance for Gamer. It would be sooo cool if you could do that!! Eventually people wont even notice they're using computers anymore. Gamer is all thanks to Mark Weiser.
Other prominent ideas in this area include technology one can wear, thus having the ability to access it at any given moment. Some say in the future computers should be/will one day be worn much like glasses. Mark Weiser, said to be the father of ubiquitous computing said in an article he wrote to be published in CACM July 1993,

"the computer today is isolated and isolating from the overall situation, and fails to get out of the way of the work. In other words, rather than being a tool through which we work, and so which disapears from our awareness, the computer too often remains the focus of attention."

Health Care and Information Systems

This week in class we looked at health care case studies and the possibilities of how we could incorporate them with information systems. There are so many possibilities that could come out of combining the two, so that it would make it easier for doctors to view our health care needs between one another, because sometimes we have to visit more than one doctor to make sure that we are getting the right treatment that is needed to help us get back into a healthy form.

Privacy is the main thing that many people worry about when it comes to health care and some information can be very sensitive in their eyes that they would only like their doctors to be able to view that sensitive information. One thing that we could do to combine Health care and information systems, is have your file available to your doctors, even if they are at two different places. Something like this would only be right if you signed some document saying that it is ok to send your history to other doctors that you will have to see. But by being able to share this information would help your doctors out tremendously because they could see what prescriptions you have taken before and what you might be on that time. This way they could look before you come in and have a good idea at how they might be able to treat you and not mix medicines that might cause you to have bad reactions.

I feel like this would be a great idea, but this is only if you are willing to allow your information to be transferred through a type of system, that would allow your multiple doctors to see what they are working with, to me its a good thing because then they would be able to treat you more effectively and more efficiently.

Satellites and Roofing

I am a roofing contractor located in Brighton, Michigan. Part of my job is climbing onto a residential roof and providing the homeowner with a free estimate for their roof. Some roofs are very easy to climb, some are very steep and dangerous to measure. Until now, there has never been a service to aid in measuring steep roofs.

In 2008, Eagle View Technologies invented a service that would work along with Google Earth that would measure residential roofs. They created measurement software that would give an entire material list for supplies necessary to complete the job at a specific address. This service costs between $20-60. When you figure the costs involved in driving to the house, and the time spent measuring, this is a very valuable service to my business. This gives an alternative to climbing onto a roof to provide a free estimate to the homeowner.

Many of us roofing contractors have always looked for an affordable alternative to climbing steep roofs. This service will provide us a safer and less costly way, to measure steep roofs. This service says that it is 98% accurate. I would not lose very many jobs for adding 2% to my estimate.

IS in a Retailing Industry

IS 215 has made me think a lot about how technology eliminates jobs and literally creates hundreds of new ones at the same time. I was in Meijer the other day and I realized how many less people work in a grocery store thanks to the development of the robot scanners and checkout systems. Does anyone remember the days where the front of Meijer was 30 aisles of just checkouts? Does anyone remember having a man or woman scan and check your items while another man or woman was bagging them for you at the end of the checkout line? Technology has reduced labor forces of industries that once required hundreds of workers. Technology has allowed us to move from one method to an entirely different and more efficient one.

In terms of jobs being eliminated and created I have thought about it in terms of a change in industry options as well. Think about how many less check out people and baggers Meijer now has but how many more computer service people and machine experts they now employ. One door closed so that a new one could open. Meijer has to keep their computerized scanners in top shape so that they can service people 24hrs a day and in order for them to do that, they must hire people to observe and maintain the equipment.

Think about what may happen if RFID tags become a technology of the very very near future. People will be hired to build the wiring and chips that make the tags what they are, then people will be hired to build the scanners that read the tags, then people will be hired to sell the new technology, and then other people will be hired to repair the scanners and tags if necessary. The possibilities are endless but my point is that technological updates literally close and open job markets simultaneously. This thought literally came to me as I was operating a machine to check out my groceries as opposed to a person doing it for me.

A thought like this has made me wonder just how dominant an industry like Information Technology could become...

Get Your Own Website

All IS 215 class is about information system. We've been told a lot about website. Have you ever want to host one by yourself? And do you know you can create a website by using your emich account?
That's called people.emich.edu. This site hosts personal web pages for the EMU community. As a student, faculty, or staff member you can have your personal web site hosted on this server. We can also download an uploading software called Filezilla. Once you create your own website, you will get a new URL for it. It look like this "people.emich.edu/(your emich account)". For example, if your emich is abc.emich.edu, the website goes to people.emich.edu/abc. You should try it!
I've already got my own website. That's amazing. One thing I should learn is how to write html language.

Repair A PC?

I am thinking about a question that how many people choose to repair their broken computers now. Price drives the computer selling and repairing market. While a new DELL basic computer is as cheap as $399.00, the computer repairing service company charge their customers $40.00-60.00 per hour. If your computer was out of work , would you like to fix it or get a new one?
Personally, it depends on. If I didn't back up the data I need in the old one and it could be fixed, I would go to fix it. If it can't be repaired, or I have no important data in it, or it costs me so much, maybe at that time I would buy a new one.
I know most people will have the same consideration with me. The truth is that business users, manufacture users, those who own large computers and data storage is extremely important to them, are the computer repairing company's main target market.

6th blog

One thing that seems to keep being discussed in class that just fits it's way right into any topic is the Android operating system cell phones. It stick's with me because I have been waiting for a really good one to come to Verizon Wireless for months now. I want an HTC phone, that has HTC sense on it.

HTC sense is based on three pillars, and those are: 1)make it mine 2)stay close and 3)discover the unexpected. To me this is the most brilliant idea possible to create a cell phone, based on. HTC Sense is a holistic experience that is based on putting YOU first, at the center, because you need to be able to add whatever you need to use and bring it to the surface of your cell phone. This can be broken down into one phone surface for weekdays, and a different surface for you to switch to during the weekend. This is very cool because the big business people don't need to have all the work stuff cluttering the surface even on the weekend.

Another way of thinking about how perfect this is could be made by you simply going to the name of your friend on your contact menu. After you are to the person's name you can slide over on the bottom of the screen and it will take you to that individuals Twitter, Facebook, or even Flickr account. These HTC cell phones that have HTC Sense using the Android operating system are brilliant devices, and I haven't even begun to tell you half of the great features. Be careful though, a few have Windows instead of Android. I don't think that Blackberry's even can compare right now at this point in time. Everyone should check them out, here is a good video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meBGJ_2f8RU

Google Mainland China Service Availability

Two months after threatening to quit China in a security row, Google has closed down its Chinese search engine and sent users to its Hong Kong equivalent. As a Chinese student at US, I don't really know what happened between Google China and Chinese government. I think maybe Google will not be available to Chinese people anymore. Chinese government will block Google as many other websites, such as Youtube, Facebook, Bloger and so on. Later, I called my friends in China. They told me they can also use Google Chinese search engine. But there are several difference.

1.Without the internet censorship, the search results are totally different now. Before, attempting to search for censored keywords in these Chinese search engines will yield few or no results. Now, they all show up. Although people can find the websites by search engine now, they can't open them as before.
2. The URL referring to Google Chinese search engine changes from Google.cn to Google.com.hk
3. Because of the large number of people using Internet at mainland China, Google Hong Kong's equivalent can't deal with that much data immediately. It leads to a lower speed when mainland Chinese use Google now.

It's hard to say if Google make a smart decision or not. On one side, Google lost many cooperative partners. On the other side, Google has already viewed as a hero who stands out and say NO to the government internet censorship.

I hope Chinese people can get a better internet service in the future.

5th blog

A few weeks ago in class we had talked about interaction. Within that there are three types; 1)human - computer 2)computer - computer 3)human - human. The one that is most interesting to me is human - computer, for many reasons. I found a really cool website that is for a college you can attend for a major of human-computer information. For my second bachelors degree I might take a route like this. http://www.hcii.cmu.edu/

The human-computer interaction is the study of interaction between people, or users, and the computer. It's often referred to as the intersection of computer science or behavioral sciences. The location of the interaction between the user and the computer takes place at the interface, which is both software and hardware. Software shows up on the monitor from your input using the hardware. The hardware is the peripherals such as the keyboard or the mouse.

The most important thing you can get from human-computer interaction is making a user satisfied to the max. Attention to human-computer interaction is important, because poorly designed human-computer interfaces can lead to many unexpected problems. An example would be something else we covered briefly in class; the Three Mile Island accident.

Sony is a Copy Cat

I read an article about sony having a store in japan that looks like an apple store. it has floor-to-ceiling windows, sleek white counters and friendly employees, who offer advice and tailored counseling on Sony gadgets. Businesses and companies these days need to change how they do things now. It's really competitive out in the market that old style stores won't do any good.

Sony hasn't really been up to par with Mac and Microsoft lately. they have been declining in sales and producing anything new thats worth purchasing or any new gadgets. It’s been a bad year for the company, which once shook up entire categories of electronics with its Walkman music player and PlayStation game console, and fair pricing for top-quality products.

Sony has been hurting lately from Apple with their highly successful product the Ipod. the Ipod of Apple dominates any music device there is in the market. Also both playstation 2 and 3 are trailing in sales with other gaming console devices such as the XBOX 360, The Wii, and DS machines from Nintendo.

To say, Sony needs to pick up their game in the near future, or it will be another company that will fall, and I really don't want that to happen.

9th post-FedEx

Today in class we discussed our case study about FedEx and UPS. I like having the class discussions because it opens us up more and makes class a little more fun when everybody is participating. We talked about the program called Insight that they have and all the details behind it.

First off I think it's really cool that they have developed a system like this because it really is a helpful tool. To know what will be arriving in the mail and when should help out alot of other people and businesses. I know they have a tracking system online that anybody can use at any time. When you place an order you are given a tracking number. I know this isn't quite the same because you aren't being sent the information, you have to actually check on it yourself but it's still a good idea. You can go online and enter your tracking number and it will show you where your product is currently. It tells you when you placed the order, where it was shipped out to and what time it arrived. It shows when it clears through the system and when it leaves the city. Lastly, it shows when it arrives in your city and when it was or should have been delivered to your home or business. I think having this option to check online is a good tool. It assures people that they are working on getting your product to you and you know where it's been and where it's going.

Fed Ex along with many other companies such as UPS, Brown, etc. all have some type of system and I think it helps the customers out and is an effective tool. It is very effective and usually is pretty accurate. It makes the customers feel better when we know where our item is and when we should be recieving it.

FedEx

Today in class we discussed a case study, that contained an interview with the Chief Information Officer(CIO) of FedEx Rob Carter. The Interview was very insightful into the basic business model, and more specifically the operations, projects, and goals of the IT(information technology) department of FedEx. This left me wanting to learn more about this company, and its operations.

FedEx corporation is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee and was founded under the full name Federal Express by Fred Smith in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1971. The company was moved to Memphis soon after the company had problems coordinating with the Little Rock National Airport. Federal Express started out in the red ink for the first few years losing millions of dollars. However with the hard work of Fred Smith the company was able to grow substantially and increase its range while lowering its prices. They were also helped significantly in 1977 with the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act, which let them purchase 7 large Boeing aircraft, that they were previously unable to use under Federal law. The company went public soon after. In 1994 Federal Express officially adopted the name FedEx, three years later in 1997 FedEx merged with a number of small companies to form the FedEx corporation.

Since then the company has gone through many changes. The merger allowed the company to expand its operations beyond just airmail, as they absorbed many regional trucking/ground delivery services. This along with the merger with Caliber Logistics and Technologies, allowed them to establish FDX Corporation, later changed to the current FedEx Corporation in 2000. The change in 2000 also saw FedEx re-brand all of it subsidiaries establishing FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Custom Critical, and FedEx Logistics and Technologies. FedEx has had a substantial amount of success in the last decade since then, being listed in Forbes "Best Companies to Work For" 8 out of the last ten years. They have also had solid balance sheets, even during the recession. Although they did have to lay-off some workers because of the economic downturn, FedEx has seemed to have stabilized, and using new innovative techniques and technologies is poised to compete in the parcel delivery business for a long time to come.

Apple's Reign

Last week we had discussion in class and spent most of the time talking about Apple. We touched on their relevance and how they stacked up to Microsoft. I think Apple is a really great company, and even though they may not generate more revenue than Microsoft they are still a force to be reckoned with.

In my opinion, Apple knows exactly who their consumer market is and they know the right procedures to keep they happy. They put out newer, better versions of their same products a few times a year. This is great because it makes the techies buy something new every few months and the people that hear about how great Apple is to get they're first great Apple product and rub it in the face of their friends. The commercials comparing Mac to PC's are genius in my opinion. They really sell themselves as a brand and captivate their audiences.

On less of an advertising standpoint, I think Apple's presentation of products is great. They really believe in that clean look for their products. Their stores are even technologically advanced yet very clean and simple. They know what this generation wants; clean, sleek products with functionality and great quality. Microsoft's products are not as cutting edge as Apple's which I think is one big reason generation X is taking such a big interest in Apple.

Lack of Space

Frustrated with lack of space on my iPod nano (only 8 GB were offered at the time I bought it), I broke down and bought myself an iPod Touch ("as a graduation present," I told myelf to make myself feel better about the purchase). I bought the 32 GB version to insure myself that I don't run out of space. Sadly enough, it has almost as much space as my laptop computer (which was purchased over 4 years ago). I am running into the same problem with my computer as it continues to tell me that I'm low on disc space. I have to go in and delete programs on my computer that I am no longer using. Therefore, both of these are perfect examples of how quickly technology grows and becomes out of date.

When buying my ipod nano, I thought that 8 GB was plenty of space to last me. I was wrong. Honestly, I never gave any thought to the amount of space I would need on my laptop. With technology growing, how much space do I need? Should I have purchased the 64 GB iPod? I am not one to really go buy the newest technologies just to have them. I just want to have enough space to have the capabilities to do what I need to do. But how much space is that?

Since I just spent a good chunk of money on a new iPod, I can't afford to spend money on buying myself a new laptop right now. So what can I do to solve my hard disk space issues? The major consumers of hardisk space are system restore snapshots and temporary internet files (history). Running the disk clean-up utility can be a real help in finding out what is clogging up your free space. If you are having the same problems as me, try removing temporary internet files, downloaded program files, Windows temporary files, and don't forget to empty out your recycling bin.

Sources:
http://windowsxp.mvps.org/space.htm

3D T.V,

I was watching TV the other day and I saw a comical for this new 3D TV. I had no idea that the new wave of 3D movies would soon be available for everyday use. I have seen many of the new movies that have been coming out in 3D and I'm impressed by what they can do. I remember a few years back going to see Transformers 2 in 3D and it seemed like they over used the 3D. They tried way to hard to make it obviously 3D and it ended up taking something from the movie. I hope that when TVs go into the 3D that they don't make this same mistake. we have come along way in the world of 3D imagery.

You would think 3D imaging is a new wave, but it actually dates back to the beginning of photography. David Brewster invented the stereoscope in 1844. The stereoscope allowed you to take a picture in 3D. This technology was improved and Luis Jules Duboscq presented a famous picture of Queen Victoria in the 1851 Great Exhibition. During the second world war not only were 3D cameras available for personal use, but pretty common. 3D motion pictures developed along with the other 3D imagery. The kinematoscope was the first motion picture camera and it was introduced in 1855. This technology has been around for a long time and we have been using it.

In 1952 as the TV hit the market the united states introduced their first 3D film called Bwana Devil. One year after that the movie House of Wax was released in theaters as a 3D film. Even Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder was originally made for 3D, but in order to maximize profits they decided to release it in 2D. Before any of that the soviet union came out with Robinson Crusoe in 3D in 1947. Now in 2010 all the major television makers are coming out with their own version 3D TV. Who knows what the future will hold for the 3D television and what they will make into 3D next.

Web 3.0

A few weeks in class we talked about web 1.0 and 2.0, but what if there was a web 3.0 would it make your life easier? You've decided to go see a movie and grab a bite to eat afterward. You're in the mood for a comedy and some incredibly spicy Mexican Food. Booting up your PC, you open a Web browser and head to Google to search for theater, movie and restaurant information. You need to know which movies are playing in the theaters near you, so you spend some time reading short descriptions of each film before making your choice. Also, you want to see which Mexican restaurants are close to each of these theaters. And, you may want to check for customer reviews for the restaurants. In total, you visit half a dozen Web sites before you're ready to head out the door.

Some Internet experts believe the next generation of the Web -- Web 3.0 -- will make tasks like your search for movies and food faster and easier. Instead of multiple searches, you might type a complex sentence or two in your Web 3.0 browser, and the Web will do the rest. In our example, you could type "I want to see a funny movie and then eat at a good Mexican restaurant. What are my options?" The Web 3.0 browser will analyze your response, search the Internet for all possible answers, and then organize the results for you.
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That's not all. Many of these experts believe that the Web 3.0 browser will act like a personal assistant. As you search the Web, the browser learns what you are interested in. The more you use the Web, the more your browser learns about you and the less specific you'll need to be with your questions. Eventually you might be able to ask your browser open questions like "where should I go for lunch?" Your browser would consult its records of what you like and dislike, take into account your current location and then suggest a list of restaurants.

Managment information systems

At the start, in businesses and other organizations, internal reporting was made manually and only periodically, as a by-product of the accounting system and with some additional statistic(s), and gave limited and delayed information on management performance. Previously, data had to be separated individually by the people as per the requirement and necessity of the organization. Later, data was distinguished from information, and instead of the collection of mass of data, important, and to the point data that is needed by the organization was stored.

In their infancy, business computers were used for the practical business of computing the payroll and keeping track of accounts payable and accounts receivable. As applications were developed that provided managers with information about sales, inventories, and other data that would help in managing the enterprise, the term "MIS" arose to describe these kinds of applications. Today, the term is used broadly in a number of contexts and includes (but is not limited to): decision support systems, resource and people management applications, ERP, SCM, CRM, project management and database retrieval application.

An 'MIS' is a planned system of the collecting, processing, storing and disseminating data in the form of information needed to carry out the functions of management. In a way it is a documented report of the activities that were planned and executed.

The terms MIS and information systems are often confused. Information systems include systems that are not intended for decision making. The area of study called MIS is sometimes referred to, in a restrictive sense, as information technology managment. That area of study should not be confused with computer science.IT service management is a practitioner-focused discipline. MIS has also some differences with Enterprise recouce planning (ERP) as ERP incorporates elements that are not necessarily focused on decision support.

History of Windows

Ever wondered why Microsoft named the latest Windows release as Windows 7? Microsoft considers Windows 7 as the seventh generation Windows OS. Following are the 6 previous generations of Windows Operating System,

1. Windows 1.0 – Microsoft released the first version of Windows in 1985 and it featured tiled windows. From the beginning Windows was designed as a multitasking system. It was more of a GUI for the underlying MS-DOS operating system. It is interesting to note that Microsoft supported this operating system for 16 years (till 2001)!

2. Windows 3.11 – The next major release of Windows was in 1993 named Windows for Workgroups 3.11. It included networking and truetype fonts. Within months of release it sold millions of copies and Microsoft was named as the “Most of innovative company in US” by Forbes.

3. Windows 95 – Released in 1995, Windows 95 cemented Microsoft’s position as the solid leader in operating systems business. Microsoft integrated MS-DOS into Windows effectively putting all other MS-DOS competitors out of business. Windows 95 also introduced Internet Explorer 1.0. For optimal use Windows 95 required 8MB of RAM. The basic UI elements introduced in Windows 95 remains even today in Windows 7.

4. Windows 2000 – Windows 2000 was released in 2000 and the primary market was business laptops and server machines. Windows 2000 includes NTFS 3.0 and introduced encrypted file system. Windows 2000 was marketed as the most secure operating system, but continues to receive security patches in short intervals. Windows 2000 is supported till July 2010.

5. Windows XP – Released in 2001, Windows XP is the most used operating system even as of 2009 with more than 60% of market share. It offered a fresh user interface and a number of performance and stability improvements. Windows XP is supported till 2014.

6. Windows Vista – Windows Vista was released in 2007 and was not adopted quickly due to its high system requirements. To get a decent performance it required 1GB of RAM (Windows XP required 128MB) probably due to the fact that its engine core components were rewritten (audio, display, networking etc.). However it does have over 20% of the OS market share as of 2009. Vista is also notorious for its high prices (Ultimate edition costs over $300 almost matching hardware price).

There are a number of other Windows releases which are not considered in the above 6 generations. These include Windows 2 and Windows 3, Windows 98, Windows NT and Windows Me.

And then in 2009, Microsoft launches Windows 7 as the seventh generation Windows operating system.

Bill Gates' House

A couple weeks ago in class, we talked about Bill Gates' house. I personally, find that type of technology very interesting. The thing that I find most interesting is the way that whenever you go from room to room, it senses you. And with that, it will change the room temperature to whatever your personal preference is. Also, it will play what type of music you enjoy best, and the lighting that you enjoy. This type of technology is called ubiquitous computing, which means that it follows you where ever you go. To me, learning about this type of computing was very interesting.

Ubiquitous computing can be used in some very interesting ways. One way that I found very interesting was The Coffee Robot. This type of ubiquitous computing made a robot out of Lego's and it monitors the coffee pot, like the last time made, the temperature, etc. This, to me, shows that anything and everything can be made or used with ubiquitous computing.

With ubiquitous computing being used not only to make coffee pot robots, but used in some one's house, I think we are looking at the future. I could just imagine when the rooms in every one's house, no matter how rich, regulate themselves like the one's in Bill Gates'. This is just one example how far human innovation has come. We started off with simple basic computers, that at first, were barely portable, and now, computers are following us around. What a world we live in.

Microsoft

Microsoft is one of the largest and most diverse industries in the world. They provide a broad range of goods and services withing the computer technology industry. Founded by William Henry Gates (Bill Gates) in 1975, it has grown into a premier company. Listed as the 49th largest public company in the world by Forbes.com, it has made currently made Mr. Gates the worlds 2nd richest man(although 60% of his assets are now outside of Microsoft.). Microsoft has a spectacular balance sheet, with 77 billion in assets(2009) and about 27 billion in liabilities(2009), this gives them a stockholders equity of almost 40 billion, and an estimated profit of close to 18 billion for the fiscal year.


As stated earlier Microsoft was founded in 1975 by Bill Gates, in order to sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 1800, one of the first microcomputers ever created. Gates struck a deal with Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems(MITS), to implement the BASIC programming language for the Altair. This move helped launch the Altair Basic, which marked the beginning of Gates career. He moved to New Mexico where MITS was located and founded Microsoft. After initial success Gates moved the company to the Seattle area of Washington State, and in 1980 hired Steve Balmer, his 24th employee and first business manager, who would succeed Gates as CEO of Microsoft in 2000. Together the two men have worked together to become two of the most successful men on the planet.


Over the last 30 years the company has seen tremendous, and somewhat unprecedented success. Although it has not come without criticism as many lawsuits and claims have come against the software giant for everything from monopolistic practices to environmentally damaging policies. The company currently has a hand in almost every aspect of the computer technology industry. Some of its most popular products/services include; MSN(web portal), the Microsoft Office Suite, Windows Live, Windows Vista, the Zune, MSNBC, the Xbox/Xbox 360, and the newly developed Windows 7. These are just a few of the examples of currently used products and services, as they have designed hundreds of products over their 35 year history. With this said the future of Microsoft seems bright, with no signs of the industry slowing down Microsoft is firmly in position to continue dominance of all things technological.

Information Technology

Information technology creates another new world now. It has changed our thinking and philosophy. From the movement, the change, the storage, the transmission, the conversion, the processing, and the exchange systems engineering, these processes of successful completion are the information method that flow to control procedures.

Automation really can do it but it only relies on the digital-based systems. Digital is a natural tendency without borders or nationality. No matter who invents them, digital regularity is used by science, after human endeavor in half a century, and it has formed standard and track. Like people's hands, which have ten fingers, we can create the world. The center of globalization is the information technology. The benefits of mass digitization are already self-evident, it eliminates the inequality of the information, the wealth and the status. Network communications, remote teaching, and programming tools have been given to equal participation and to create rights.
Therefore, the salary of IT elites is rising with the developing technology.

With the increasingly complex IT environment, the demands for technology products will also increasing in the next decade. A single, modular technology product or services will not be able to meet the needs for social and economic development. "S + S" strategy, which are software and service will become the tendency of the world's IT industry development and it leads to promote the global technical ecosystem toward dynamic and healthy direction to develop.

Webtop Applications

For my ninth blog I would like to discuss the topic of web-top applications. A web-top application is basically any desktop application that is run through a web browser. This is not to be confused with a web/network operating system. A web-top integrates web applications, web services, client server applications, and application servers to provide and environment similar to Windows, Mac, or any other comparable desktop application.

The term Web-top was first introduced by Santa Cruz Operation in 1994 to describe the web based operations for their Unix operating system. Since then it has grown significantly with many major online companies trying to get in on the expanding market. The most used is Microsoft, which offers its popular Office Suite as a web-top, while the ever growing Google is not far behind with Google Apps. Other companies like yahoo, Adobe, and Lazlo are also in the race, but seem to be falling behind the two front runners.

Web-top applications have many advantages and disadvantages. Some of the advantages include convenience, mobility, software management, and high availability from many locations. These are all very good reasons to use web-top applications. There are still disadvantages though such as speed( speed of the application relies on the speed of the connection), network connectivity, the applications features, and central control issues. One area that is an area for debate is the issue of security, as on one side your information will be less venerable to typical attacks( such as viruses, worms, and other vulnerabilities) as well as stored on a secured server. Unfortunately, the recent attacks on Google have showed us that any server can be hacked, so as long as your information is still transferred over the Internet it can still be intercepted. None the less web-top applications are a great advancement in technology, and are sure to grow to new prevalence over the next few years.

Early Automatons

I have always heard the term automaton but I never knew what they are or how they are different from robots. From what I researched, automatons and robots are very closely related. One major difference is automatons are made with non-electronic moving parts. Automatons are usually created to mimic human or animal actions.

Due to the use of non-electronic parts, automatons have been around for thousands of years. The earliest automatons have been traced all the way back to ancient China. King Mu of Zhou was presented with a life-size human shaped automaton by a Chinese mechanical engineer.

"The king stared at the figure in astonishment. It walked with rapid strides, moving its head up and down, so that anyone would have taken it for a live human being. The artificer touched its chin, and it began singing, perfectly in tune. He touched its hand, and it began posturing, keeping perfect time...As the performance was drawing to an end, the robot winked its eye and made advances to the ladies in attendance, whereupon the king became incensed and would have had Yen Shih [Yan Shi] executed on the spot had not the latter, in mortal fear, instantly taken the robot to pieces to let him see what it really was. And, indeed, it turned out to be only a construction of leather, wood, glue and lacquer, variously coloured white, black, red and blue. Examining it closely, the king found all the internal organs complete—liver, gall, heart, lungs, spleen, kidneys, stomach and intestines; and over these again, muscles, bones and limbs with their joints, skin, teeth and hair, all of them artificial...The king tried the effect of taking away the heart, and found that the mouth could no longer speak; he took away the liver and the eyes could no longer see; he took away the kidneys and the legs lost their power of locomotion. The king was delighted."

I found this to be astonishing how something this complex was created around 1000 BC. This also brings up the thought of how was this technology was not explored more by the ancient societies. If this technology had been expanded, the world could have definitely panned out differently. There could have been armies of automatons that fought in the wars instead of people.

The automatons of the 13th to 19th centuries were a lot more complex than the ancient Chinese. Automatons started to become programmable but were used mostly for entertainment purposes. There were automatons created to play instruments, sing songs, hand washing, and other purposes that manipulated the environment for human comfort.

Due to the invention of electricity and creation of computers, automatons are not that big of news anymore. Now a days, companies are investing millions of dollars for robotics. There goal is very similar to the goals of the ancient mechanical engineers. However, companies today have much more resources and I think it is only time until robots become a major part of society.

Interaction

As long as the computer and internet been made there have been human and computer interaction. Human-computer interaction also known as HCI study the interaction people have with technology which open a lot of fields to work under. Such fields as computer science, behavioral science, and design are many fields that people work in most of the times. Interaction people have with computer are everywhere whether you work in the power plant or paying a cashier for items there is constant interaction we have with computers. As we head further into the technology era there will only be more and more interaction between human and computer.

Now we as people are funding and focusing more on the interaction with humans and computers esspecially the SIGCHI. The Special Interest Group on Computer Human Interaction or (SIGCHI)is focus to find professionals, academics, and students who are interested in human-computer interaction. This group pride itself to finding new members they offer awards and are international showing anybody can participate in their activity. This is not the only group doing this, but it is a well known with having meeting every month. They also travel so that all people in the group or is aspired to be in the group can come and learn about what SIGCHI stand for.

Everytime you get on the computer whether you are typing or moving your mouse know that you are having an interaction with computers. Plus know with these interaction you can do one of hundreds of job they offer. You can be a graphic designer making video games or movie scenes its really your choice it will not really change the interaction you have with computers.From the SIGCHI to the within your household in todays life we cannot go without having any kind of computer interaction. This makes me start to wonder and worry about if the internet falls how will we react?

link to (SIGCHI0): http://www.sigchi.org/

Varies Information Systems Used

In this we have been studying different case studies and identifying the information systems used. Both companies that were brought up in class, both a significant advantage due to the way they engineered their companies. Also, how they executed their information system to work best for them and better for their customers. Which is one of many conventions needed to have a successful company.

In the Wine company, they went a different route to sell and advertise their product using IS. They decided to throw parties for prospective customers and provide the Wine. By doing that, they company gained advertisement and more first hand ratings. To get more customers, the company used Flickr.com to upload pics of the party. That drew more prospects to the company also. It accumulated 4,500 people. In a sense, it's more of the use of Social Engineering. In addition, they used Blogs, Wikis, and Web Video.

Lastly, J&R electronics used E-Commerce to maximize their retail. User participation was key to their success. Also, they had a online loyalty program. It was designed to motivate customers to come directly to its website, rather than arrive via another site. J&R is one of the top 50 E-Tailer in the nation.

http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Mid-Market/Web-20-Turning-Browsers-into-Buyers/1/

http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Mid-Market/MidMarket-Case-JR-Electronics-Pumps-Up-the-Volume/

The IT industry

The other day in class we discussed the IT industry. This is one of the most varied and fastest growing sectors of the economy, competing with health care, education, and energy industries for the highest growth rate. Although deciding which industry is experiencing the most growth is difficult. most lists have the IT industry featured in the top five growing industries. According to information from the United States Department of labor, over the last ten years seven out of ten of the fastest growing jobs were located in the IT industry. This trend is expected to continue in the future with the main competitor being the health care industry.

In order to talk about the IT industry a brief definition of information technology is needed. Information Technology is defined as the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer based information systems. This generally refers specifically to hardware and software applications. This is the traditional definition of IT. In recent years it has begun to encompass many more aspects of computing and technology.

Jobs in the IT industry have many varied functions. Some of the most common duties are data management, networking, engineering, management of information systems, and database and software design. However these are just a few examples in the near endless new applications that IT professionals are pursuing. Computer technology is becoming more advanced, as well as more widely used in products such as cell phones, televisions, and cars among other areas that it has never been used before. This should make the IT industry of the 21st century an area to watch for.

The IT Industry

Last Tuesday we talked about the IT industry in general, and what is out there. We also discussed Apple's humongous market share over the music industry. There are three general major markets in IT: hardware, software, and service. I did some research into the service side of IT, and decided to do this blog post mainly about accenture.

Accenture is defined as a technology outsourcing company, a global management consulting company, and also a technology consulting company. In simple terms, they do a lot. They are single handedly the biggest consulting firm in the world. They are considered a Fortune 500 company, and last year they had a revenue of $23.39 billion.

Accenture did a nice job with the Indian outsourcing upstarts that occured eight years ago. They essentially combined the best aspects of the Indian offshore concept with their own business consulting. To block Indian companies from getting a hold in their accounts, Accenture took on their low-end jobs. They also invested in staying ahead of the competition.

I'm excited to see how this company will succeed even more. I never had an interest in management consulting companies until now. I can see how businesses hold these companies in great stature.

Apple vs. Microsoft

On Tuesday's class, we got into a pretty lengthy discussion about the Ipod's stranglehold on the mp3 player market as well as Apple's growing grasp on the consumer market. Being an avid Apple product user/die hard fan, I had a lot of bias in this discussion. Upon further reflection, I had some extra insight on the "who can take and keep control of the market" debate and these are some of the thoughts I was having.

To me there are basically two markets: Business and consumer. Now, these two markets are quite unequal in size since businesses obtain computers and associated products in bulk and use them every day. The consumer market is also quite large, but since it breaks down to individual people buying individual products, there aren't as many items being sold in quantity. Since businesses rely so heavily on information systems and IT these days, it would be quite time-consuming and expensive to completely ditch the systems they've been using for years and years for a newer, different system. I like to think of it as if America decided to use the metric system. Of course it would make a lot more sense on the whole considering every other part of the world uses it, it would be a huge hassle and very impractical because we are so used to it. For this reason, I believe Microsoft will continue to keep their grip tight on the business market and since it is quite larger than the consumer market, continue to stay on top.

Apple on the other hand has definitely made their presence known for the individual, which is exactly what their business model must be focusing on. There is a lot of money to be made from the consumer, and what Apple does best is they keep innovating and creating wonderful computers and peripherals that are so user-friendly that it is a no-brainer for somebody to purchase. As long as Apple continues to stay on the cutting edge of technology and continue to make more and more accessible user interfaces without sacrificing quality and durability, I don't think Microsoft would be able to touch Apple with a ten foot pole.

Both of these companies can co-exist in the computing business as long as they realize what their individual strengths are as a company and strike that with full force.

SAS

As we have been discussing jobs in the IT industry, I thought that I would talk about working for Google in this blog. In all of my classes at the College of Business, I have heard or seen videos on what a wonderful environment it is supposed to be to work in and so, I thought that this blog I would look more into the benefits of working for Google. During my search however, I was sidetracked by the benefits of another IT company.

For its fourth consecutive year, Google has ranked within the top five of FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” being listed as number four this year, however, above them on the list at number one is SAS. At first I thought they meant Scandinavian Airlines and was baffled how an airline company could be doing so well during the recession and after all of the cut backs I have heard they had to make on the news. Investigating further, I learned that the SAS listed in FORTUNE was not Scandinavian Airlines, but Statistical Analysis System. SAS is in the business of business analytics software and services, helping its customers in their decision making processes. Providing service for 92 of the top 100 companies on the 2009 FORTUNE Global 500 list, its software is used in more than 45,000 sites in more than 100 countries.

While Google was ranked at number four on the general top 100 companies to work for, it didn’t make it onto any of FORTUNE’s other lists while SAS was at the top for most.

SAS makes the cut for low turnover, no layoffs, and perks and ranked at number one for the best work-life balance. They provide,

“high-quality child care at $410 a month, 90% coverage of the health insurance premium, unlimited sick days, a medical center staffed by four physicians and 10 nurse practitioners (at no cost to employees), a free 66,000-square-foot fitness center and natatorium, a lending library, and a summer camp for children.”

SAS has made the FORTUNE’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” since the list launched in 1998, and recently made it into the list’s “Hall of Fame.” If you are interested in business analytics software, I would definitely recommend applying here. I only wish that I had more of a mind for technology and could have chosen a more stable career path in the IT industry.

Rise of Technology

My blog this week is sort of more a question than just all facts. How does all of this technology adapt to our environments? How long did it actually take all of these companies to come to the level that they are at now? When we talk about technology evolving we can now say that its our lives evolving as well. Most people follow what they see on the internet. Companies have managed to keep consumers wanting more and more each new upgrade.

Before people generally used a plug in telephone cord to connect to the internet. The speed was fairly slow, and graphics weren't up to pair. Then came around broadband. A faster speed but not much faster. This grabbed a lot of users attention because they could now be wireless in their homes. In March of 2004 to 2005 it grew 24% in usage of the net. By that next year it had risen to 56% just because of broadband connection. After a few years a new thing Call Wi-Fi was brought about. Meaning people could connect anywhere that had that type of wireless radiation in the area. Some Areas are trying to make it free for everyone to enjoy without paying for it.

Out of all I would think that technology is at the least bit slowing down because there's always room for improving. Nothing is ever perfect, upgrades are always useful for internet companies. Wanting to make consumers are happy and coming back for more service.

Out of the Norm

Today in class I liked having a discussion about the case studies. I don't know that much about computers or the industry that surrounds it but it was quite interesting. I didn't know that Microsoft had a product in every category of the industry, that's quite impressive. I like hearing about Apple and how they came about. I never knew that Steve Jobs was the one that really made them what they are today.

Having class discussions are wonderful because they breakup the everyday routine. I hope that next time the discussion will be even better. I think that it may be better because there are handouts instead of using the book. Since I don't know that much about this area of business I like to hear others' perspectives on the different topics.

One thing that I am rather skeptical about is putting everything on the internet. But this afternoon I went to my accounting club meeting and they were talking about that same subject. A firm came in to speak and it was Thomson Reuters and they specialize in accounting software. It was interesting because they had a set of integrated programs that were based on the internet. This wasn't through google or anything like that though. So maybe there is something there but I am still unsure.

Apple Domination ?

Apple had a break through when they came out with the iPod. They dominated the scene of mp3 players and music downloading. I remember when the iPod came out my brother told me I didn't want one becuase you couldn't even put music from your CDs onto the mp3 and you could only buy the music you wanted on it off of iTunes. I don't know if that was ever true, but Apple did have the only copy protection software that is compatable to to iPod.

I have an iPod now and I love it. Before I had an iPod I had a Creative Zen. It was huge, mainly thick and I used windows media player to download the music. The Zen lasted about a year before it decided to die for no reason, and my sister had the exact same one and it did the same thing.

With the iPod the iTunes is convient because you can look up music and download it on spot, then hook up your iPod and it will sync the new songs automatically. In the book it compared the iTunes store to online music stores like Rhapsody and Napster. With the Rhapsody you pay a monthly fee to download all the music you want. The downside to it is that the music stays on your computer, so you can't burn them to a CD. That could be a downside to people if they want music in their cars and like to play CDs.

One of Apple's iPod competetors is the Zune by Microsoft. I know people who have these and they love them. They are simple and small like the iPod. Now it's up to the customers to pick which product they like better. That is the way a company will get ahead, by the appeal to the market. Each product out now seems reliable, but it's about teh company behind it. Both Apple and Microsoft know what they're doing, but for now Apple is ahead of the game with the MP3 products.

Web Mashups

Put two or more web applications together and what do you get? A web-mashup!

Part of how Web 2.0 is changing the way people interact with the Internet is in the creation of web-mashups. Want to know what there is to eat in a specific area? Try Foodio54. Foodio54 provides you with a list of restaurants within a radius (that you specify), of where you would like to eat. You can even tell it what type of restaurant you are looking for and have it exclude fast-food joints if you are in more of the sit-down type mood. You also have the option of subscribing to their site, which gives you the added bonus of Foodio54 learning about your eating habits and making personalized recommendations for you!

Or, maybe you are going on a vacation, and want to know the base price of hotels in a given area, what restaurants are nearby, if there are any landmarks, even how many and the locations of the Starbucks in the area. You could give HotelMapSearch.com a try. It will show you on a Google map right where these services are located.

These are just a few of the mashups that I found while on a web-site called Webmashups.com. They have lists of sites that utilize mashup technology, based on categories such as: food, music, sports, mapping, etc.

The Internet is getting a whole lot more interactive!