"An appreciation of the experience of creating and maintaining a blog”
It appears that this will be my last blog entry for “Management Information Systems” and the likely hood of maintaining my blog is, well, good…I guess. I don’t think that I will have the time to make daily or even weekly entries; however, I do intend to maintain this journal for my educational experience. I guess my title depicts a journey that I have just commenced and I will let the masses; if they are interested, know how it plays out.
My Blog, well, I have grown attached to it…Enjoyed the experience of creating and maintaining it…Grew increasingly frustrated in the beginning...Search the assistance of my Geekiest friends…Still do not understand some things that I completed…lost stuff…got pissed off…spent three nights in a row up until 1:00 AM…calmed down…found my happy place…DRANK!...stumbled to bed…woke up Grumpy.
The most appealing aspect of my blog assignment is how it creates a global community. My blog has been hit from all over the world…from Las Vegas to Israel to Hong Kong and, today it was hit by someone in Shemogue, New Brunswick! “Big City Lights” HAHAHA! How do they find me? What brings them to my blog? Can someone answer? I don’t have the answer.
It appears that I am not blogging expert but now that I have the ball rolling, I will continue its existence until have finished my MBA.
While watching SpongeBob Square Pants the other evening, an advertisement for BlogTV was televised.
Officially launched in March 2007, the interactive, multimedia website is dedicated to Canadian audiences only.
BlogTv.ca enables users that have an Internet connection, a personal computer, and a webcam to broadcast over the Internet video feed to allow audiences to view into their lives. Where a blog is an online journal, BlogTv.ca is a live, real-time depiction of someone’s life. Dubbed as the first social network, it allows participants to show their talents, voice their opinions, and to openly discuss and debate with their audience, it is completely interactive.
The website allows for four main functions; to provide a live broadcasts, a user’s ability to record and store their broadcasts, audience interaction, and the audience’s ability to search and browse storage of video feeds.
In a society that is increasingly becoming introverted, perhaps this will become an avenue to new interactions.
Blogtv.ca has been advertising on television, youtube.com, and google.
I am studying at the Champlain Library on campus, AGAIN! And, my internet connection has locked up on me twice! I had to reboot my system again!
As I am sitting here waiting for the applications to load, in hopes that it will solve the error. I peer over to another student working on his notebook and I witness that he is using a calculator!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Global companies are turning to highly sophisticated Enterprise computer systems to manage their business processes and improve customer relations. Systems known as Enterprise Resource Planning Systems have an infrastructure of a central databank and software that accumulates, stores and produces data to all the major business functions of an organization; Sales & Marketing, Finance & Accounting, Manufacturing & Production, and Human Resource Departments. Companies implementing enterprise systems become more consistent in their business applications; they become more synchronized with customer demands for product, and they improve their firm’s performance.
Supply Chain Management is a systematic process of buying, making, and moving a product. The supply chain is a network of processes for purchasing material to produce a product that is sellable to a customer. The chain moves in both directions when taken in considerations of product returns processes.
Supply Chain Operations Reference Model (SCOR) 1. Plan 2. Source 3. Make 4. Deliver 5. Return
The “Bull Whip Effect” occurs when an unnatural demand increases for a product that creates a domino effect to the other sectors of the supply chain. This occurrence was apparent at General Motors during seasonal promotions, such as AcDelco batteries in the fall and winter seasons. If organization knew exactly what customers required and organization would be able to implement a “just-in-time” strategy of production.
Customer Relation Management (CRM) uses applications to maximize relations with customers. Improved relations with customers will increase customer satisfaction, retention, a firm’s profits, and revenues. CRM software has application directed towards; sales, customer service, and marketing
Partner Relationship management runs on a parallel system with CRM; however it focuses on the relationship between an organization and its selling partners.
I discovered this article in the newest edition of Wired Magazine.
Investigators of a stabbing at a hip hop concert posted this video of a suspect on the YouTube website. After two weeks and numerous viewings the suspect turned himself into authorities.
Unfortunately, I am struggling gravely in Management Information Systems. I am not sure why! It appears that I am unable to retain the information that I read…and I read a lot! I hope that it is not foreshadowing “Al’s Big Hammer”! The objective of my next few blog entries will be to aid in the preservation the information presented in class and my countless hours spent at the Champlain Library on campus….
Non-obvious relationship awareness or NORA is new technology that analysis data for profiling of an individuals. Information is extracted from many different sources; “watch” lists, Incident and Arrest Systems, Customer Transaction Systems, Telephone Records, Human Resource Systems, and is used by government departments and the public sector. Although it may be beneficial for the discovery of terrorist and personality flaws, it does bring about awareness of privacy issues.
Basic concepts of Ethics in an Information System are: Responsibility Accountability Liability
Fair Information Practices are rules and regulations that regulate how information on individuals is compiled. There are 5 basic principles: 1. Notice/Awareness – websites must indicate their policies on data collection prior to collecting. 2. Choice/Consent – Individuals must be notified and given the choice on how their personal data is to be distributed. 3. Access/Participation – Individuals should be permitted to review their information profile and allow for changes. 4. Security – Organizations that collect data must safe guard their information from unauthorized usage. 5. Enforcement – There must be an organization to control the governing of the FIP practices.
Safe Harbor is a policy and procedure device that meets government standards without the government’s involvement in the usage of extracted personal information from European countries.
American companies have consistently gathered information on individuals without their knowledge and consent; this information has been used to serve marketing purposes. Many e-commerce organizations have started using an “opt-out” model that gathers information until a user specifies that they do not want their personal information gathered. An opt-in model works on the premises that information is not gathered until and individual approves the process.
Intellectual property is very difficult to regulate on the Internet. There are systems to protect your rights. However, it very easy for website users to copy and paste documents, files, and photographs. Trades Secrets are intellectual works that have not been published on the public domain. Copyrighting an intellectual property protects individuals from having their work duplicated for their lifetime and 70 years after their death. A patent provides exclusive rights to an invention for 20 years.
Any advancement in society has had its advantages and disadvantages. There have been many negative social costs that have developed from technology advancements. With the invention of wireless networks, individuals are able to use notebooks and cellular phone at almost any location around the globe. It is increasingly more difficult to separate work from leisure when an organization is able to contact an employee at anytime. Companies are becoming more and more dependent on technology and are left dead in the water in the event of systems failure. Computer Crimes in the form of Identity theft and Spamming; to name a few, are consistently growing in popularity. The cost of technology is defining social classes and some groups are unable to advance into a new digital age.
In 1985, after graduating from I school; I set my sights on higher education and entered the Commerce program at the University of New Brunswick. Two years into the program, and through some influential connections, I was offered employment with the General Motors Corporation Atlantic Zone offices. During my last 21 years of service I had entered into many evening classes in hopes to finishes my under-graduate…Well, Sam and Lauren arrived into my life, and studies unfortunately, became increasingly lower on the priority list. How was I to know that in November 2006, my position would be moved to Montreal and my career would suddenly come to a halt?
Now with the free time available, I again looked forward to higher education and finishing my degree. I researched many different programs available and finally decided to obtaining my MBA through UdeM.
After, two weeks into Human Resource Management it became very apparent that I was not going to survive on my old desktop PC and called and purchased Dell (You’re getting a Dell Dude!).
AUGH!
I have not had the greatest experience with my new computer so far…most of the software sent from Dell was not compatible with the new Window’s Vista operating system and it required me to install new drivers prior to installation just to get the applications to function. I had to save all my assignments in older versions of software applications just so the professor would be capable of opening them when emailed. In the first days I spent many hours on the phone with Dell’s helpdesk to resolve my issues.
Dell’s helpdesk is in India, not in North America where I would have thought. It makes me wonder, that with the shortage of employees in Canada and the government’s incentive programs to allure foreign talent to Canada to fill jobs. Why would they outsource call centers to differencing countries?
Countries and services provided:
India – Provides a full range of employment China – Programming Russia – Programming and Research & Development Pakistan – Programming and Customer Support Nepal – Programming and Customer Support Bangladesh – Web & Software programming, IT Support, Game development, Network solutions Bulgaria - Programming and Research & Development Philippines – Programming, Research & Development, Data Entry, and Customer Support
1. Jonathan James – First juvenile to be sent to prison at age 16. Hacked into NASA, Department of Defense and the Department of Justice 2. Adrian Lamo – Dubbed the "Homeless Hacker" he used coffee shop hotspost as locations to perform his hacking. Hacked into The New York Times and Microsoft. 3. Kevin Mitnick – Went on a coast-to-coast hacking spree. Spent 5 years in prison, 8 months in confinement and is now a computer security consultant, author and speaker. 4. Kevin Poulsen – Dubbed as the “Hannibal Lecter of computer crimes”. When his profile appeared on the TV show “Unsolved Mysteries”, all their 1-800 lines became dysfunctional. 5. Robert Tappan Morris – Creator of the “Morris Worm” which is the first worm to be unleashed on the Internet.
Dam IT!
My computer I slowing down again…time to scan!
I am not a serious internet user; I leave that up to my son. I do spend quite a bit of time on MSN speaking with friends around the world. Buds that I can’t call up and hit Starbuck’s with for a coffee...to me MSN has been the greatest personal aspect of the internet. My Internet history, if viewed would probably read something like this:
My son Sam, upon arrival at home after school, is permitted a half hour on the PC to play games and visit the sites that he has accumulated over the years for his entertainment. It actually gives me time to start supper for the guys before we run off to Tak Kwon Do. Sam’s introduction to a computer came at a very early age. We had purchased him many educational software packages at a young age and he was surfing when he still had dimples in his hands.
Weekly I scan the PCs in my house for Spyware and Viruses. I don’t understand why organizations want information on an 8 year old kid who plays games inline. His profile might show that he is interested in Pokémon or Sony PS2. He still does not have the financial resources to follow his interests and NO, I am not raising his allowance to $50.00 a week.
I guess pumping out Internet ads on addictedtogames.com serves the same purpose of the twenty plus commercials that they view on YTV when they are watching TV.
I just wish these ad companies would turn towards marketing programs that benefit a healthier lifestyle. Why would they not promote ads that tell children to go out and play road hockey, eat your veggies, and study hard to get good grades? I guess that is up to us as parents. As a Generation Xer, I have enrolled my kids into as many activities as possible; Hockey, soccer, ballet & jazz, Baseball this summer and hopefully football this fall.
CNNMoney.com says to do these steps to warn off potential hackers that might be your neighbour across the street.
· Keep your computer up to date · Use security software · But don’t rely on it (security software) – security software is usually not up to date of new viruses · Take away your PC’s superpowers · Get a router and lock it down · Be careful at the coffee shop · Get smart – and get real – about passwords · Know how your computer watches you · Shred or Smash.
By typing in “how to hack a computer” on youtube search provides over 6000 different video clips that will teach procedures on how to search and destroy someone’s PC system.
