RFID Technology

Here is an article that involves the use of RFID technology. Medic Alert is testing out the technology at Cal State Stanislaus medical centers. The technology is supposed to allow for faster access to medical records. To receive your records, all you have to do is swipe your RFID enabled card. With this technology, the medical receptionist wont have to look through the medical records, which could save her time.

http://www.rfidupdate.com/articles/index.php?id=1294

Flat panels thin margins

The flat panel system is getting cheaper and cheaper. The average 27 inches LCD set now retails for less than $650, compared with $1000 in early 2006. It will hit $500 at the end of 2007. The competition from smaller brands has made the LCD sets cheaper than ever. There are 102 LCD television brands in U.S. up from 26 in 2002. Westinghouse Digital with annual sales of $650 million, which is 7.7% of the market. Westinghouse has 120 employees, and the company doesn’t have manufacturing facility. The company partners with Taiwanese flat panel maker Chi Mei Optoelectronics. Westinghouse‘s advertising budget is nonexistent. The overhead cost of the company is just 0.7% of sales. Therefore, the company can sell the LCD with low price.

Power-line networking gear

New power-line networking gear, which sends data over a home's existing electrical wiring. The speed is even faster then the fastest Wifi. To set up a power-line network, you connect one adapter to an ethernet port on the router and plug it into a power outlet. You can add up to 16 devices by plugging it into a power outlet. It is about $60 - $150 depends on the brand.

How to make a faster chipset?

A new chipset from IBM moves data at 160 Gigabits per second. The key? Data flows along pulses of light instead of electrons. That's enough speed to download a high-definition film in 1 second. The design combines traditional chip materials with exotic optical parts. You can read the full story here:

Surfpup


http://www.dailytech.com/IBM+to+Demonstrate+Worlds+Fastest+Optical+Chipset/article6643.htm

Windows Vista

Since we had a presentation in class on Windows Vista, I thought this article was interesting. It discusses the solid sales of Windows Vista ... Microsoft claims Windows Vista has sold more than 20 million copies since its release (Windows XP sold 17 million copies).

http://news.com.com/Microsoft+sells+20+million+Vista+licenses/2100-1016_3-6170426.html?tag=cd.top

For fast-food help, call in the robots

For fast-food help, call in the robots
By Michael Kanellos, CNET News.com March 26, 2007
Retrieved from CNET Tech News
http://news.com.com/For+fast-food+help%2C+call+in+the+robots/2100-11394_3-6170097.html?tag=st.txt.caro

This article talks about a robot system called Hyperactive Bob which was developed by Hyperactive Technologies. The company was founded based on the bad quick-service restaurant experience of one of the founders. This robot system, using computer vision and artificial intelligence systems, helps to manage kitchens at quick-service restaurants through the use of computer vision and artificial intelligence systems. Hyperactive Bob does not assemble the food instead he uses his vision system and artificial intelligence to issue cooking orders to workers. This robot system helps quick-service restaurants to ensure that food is cooked only when it is needed and this ensures fresher food for the consumers. Currently, this robot system is installed in approximately 115 Zaxby's restaurants in the Southeastern United State. Pilot systems have been installed in Popeye's Chicken and Jack in the Box outlets and Carl's Jr. will soon begin a pilot program.

I think that this robot system shows great potential. The article states that “there are 125,000 restaurants in the U.S. that could adopt the system” so there is obviously a good consumer base for the product. The major downside of this technology is that it is expensive. The hardware, consisting of a Windows PC and in-kitchen touch screens, sells for $5,000 and restaurants pay $3,000 a year for a software license. Even though this system is expensive the Zaxby's chain believes it is well worth its cost. They say the robot system has saved an average of $8,000 in reduced food waste per year and it has also resulted in higher sales and lower employee turnover.

What will the wacky wizards at Apple think up next?

It looks like a tiny computer that streams video from your computer to your television. It will leverage the popular Itunes store. Video formats H.264 and MPEG-4 are supported -- WMV and MPEG-2 are not.




Surfpup

Secure Laptop Hard Drives

I saw this article on CNN about laptop hard drives and thought it tied in well to our security topic. The article discusses the new encrypted technology built by Seascape Technology that will be used in laptop hard drives. ASI Computer Technologies will be the first company to utilize the password-protected hard drives. The article notes that "lost or stolen employee laptops have cost businesses and government agencies millions of dollars and hurt their credibility." Anyone had any experience with laptop theft issues?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/03/12/hard.drives.ap/index.html

Security Issues

I think the so called secuirty on computes are sucks. For one they are not safe any one can't break into them. I ordered something on line a few years ago and someone some how recovered my information from the system. Someone had charged my credit card up to the roof. I was distraught over the matter but later recovered my money and decided to never order anything over the internet again because of the security issue. Although it may be printed in fine prints our secuity system is safe it is not always true. I have found out that secuirty has been major issue and will continue to be a major issue. I think people will always find a way to break into a codes no matter how secure they think their security system is.

The shoe is on the other foot now.

Now Viacom is being sued for asking YouTube to remove a parody of "The Colbert Report." The plaintiffs are aguing that parodies are allowed as fair-use and the Viacom is guilty of misrepresentation by asking it to be removed. Full story here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070322/ap_on_en_tv/youtube_viacom

Surfpup

The biggest security threat is -- human errror.

When I was looking over the slides on security, I thought of this article.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/03/20/america/NA-GEN-US-Lost-Data.php

A computer technician accidentally formatted a hard drive containing information for a $38 billion account -- and the backup tapes did not work.

At least they had backup paperwork -- in 300 cardboard boxes. It cost over $200,000 to reenter the data.

Surfpup

Google ... and IBM?

A recent article on CNN discussed the possibility of Google partnering with IBM to “lunge into the lucrative business-software market.” In an effort to tap into new growth initiatives and build off of the core search advertising foundation it has perfected, a partnership with IBM will allow Google to tap into the corporate business world. Such a partnership is expected to provoke large enterprise software vendors such as Microsoft and SAP to jump into the action and deliver their own software products online.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/02/02/technology/b2_futureboy0202/index.htm

"Free Write?"

1. Through the years I have had many problems with the security in everything that I do. But, the worst security problems I have had has happen on my computer. I have never been one to purchase anything from the computer in fear of getting ripped off by someone who is a lot smarter than me (Which happens to be many many people). Although I was very reluctant to shop on the internet one day I decided to. After making the first purchase, I made several others. Well, adventually my luck ran out, my creidt card was somehow stolen over the internet and I was charged about $400. I did get the money back but the lack of security stopped me from trying this again.
Another security problem I have had are these popups that just don’t stop. Either it is sending me on a cruise or trying to make my “member longer. There are other crazy things coming up on my computer, I am sure I opened some mail at sometime or something like that but this innocent mistake made checking e-mail or the score of the game much longer than in should have been.
2. After a few mistakes I have learned what I can do for security. First I do not buy anything over the internet unless I know it is an accredit able retailer. The other thing I learned is to not open those e-mails promising to show you sweet things that sound so appealing now and then. But, besides that I do not know what I am doing on the computer or what I need to do in order to make sure my computer is secure.
3. A reflection on the subject is this, computers are confusing, but they make life much easier. Although there are obvious problems with security oir lack there of the computer is something that we have all grown to need. In any case when there is a high reward like that of the computer there is bound to be high risk. These risks mentioned in the artilce and in class are very troublesome, but in many cases can be minimized. But, without taking the risk then we will not have computers and I would be sitting here with my dull pencil and my ripped up paper writing this note. Then I’d have to go to the mail box. But instead I am now done and all I have to do is push click….

A thought on passwords

The problem with security threats is that there are a lot of talks on it but little has been done to improve security. For instance, one of the security features that are commonly used is names and passwords. Passwords allows the system to identify who the authenticate user are to allow them into the system. The problem is that a lot of people never really seriously protect their passwords. Either they never change their passwords or have too many that they couldn’t remember and post it everywhere. Someone who wants to break into the system could easily guess the passwords or could find it post somewhere nearby. It is like locking your door but leaving the key outside somewhere where people could find it. It could be very serious if says, a business, to have files deleted or altered. Even with sophisticated protection tools, to have security assurance, management and employees must work together in term of safeguard measures to protect what’s valuable of the company.

For all the gambling aficionados

Today, March 20, 2007, CNN.com featured an article about the innovation of digital slot machines. The article can be found Here

Synopsis:
PureDeath Inc. is a small company that “spent years developing tools for helping the military plot 3-D maps of war zones, eventually licensing top-secret technology to the U.S. Air Force and Navy.” They recently acquired a deal with International Game Technology Inc. to give the old pull handle slot machines a new design.

The idea is to have LCD screen on the slot machines that will be entertaining to the user, but, more importantly, it will allow the machine programmers to control the games payout, costs, and image outputs. The way they will work is that the machine will have a chip inside that will be connected via a local area network (not specified if it is wireless or not). One machine can go from penny slots in the day, to any denomination of a higher bet once high rollers come in. The new machines will also reduce maintenance costs because they will not need to be closed out every night and individually watched.

The biggest downfall of this new technology is that are hackers waiting to get in and rig the gambling system. With the amount of corruption and hacking already in online poker, millions of dollars are also going to be spent in regulating hackers and researching ways of prevention.

In my opinion:
I think digital slot machines are a brilliant idea. I’m surprised they have not tried this technology sooner. Connecting the machines will significantly lower the amount spent by casinos on personnel tending to the machines. They will need only a few technicians to make sure everything is running smoothly. As mentioned, it is not specified in the article whether they will use a wireless LAN or not, but I think they should not use a wireless LAN simply because it is more susceptible to hacking. This new technology would totally make slot machines so much more fun to use.

Sobering report on ID theft from Symantec

Symantec (makers of Norton Antivirus) released an Internet Security Report yesterday. Some of the highlights:

There were more than 6 million bot-infested computers in the latter half of 2006.
US based credit cards with verification numbers are available for $1-$6.
A full identity complete with bank account number, credit card, and date of birth goes for $14-$18.

I just experienced a fraudulent transaction on my last credit card statement that exceeded $1000, so I found this report pretty scary. You can read the full press release here:

http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20070319_01

Surfpup

Who owns a Wii game system? or are you still trying to get one? Here is the answer why you can't find them..

I played the Wii system for the very first time on Christmas eve. Ever since that day, I've been wanting to get one for myself and my boyfriend. But its impossible, because most of the stores are sold out or just waiting for the next shippment. Why is it taking so long to get in? Well, the answer to that is Nintendo want to keep the demand high so the consumer would want it more. But that wasn't the truth, the truth was is the gaming company are notorious for the mismanaging the product and not having enough products. Also, the Wii doesn't feature any outrageously next-gen technology.

If you want to read more about this article, here is the link:
http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/null/22271/wii-conspiracy-roundup;_ylt=Ap.OIaYDZjP7jHww.JGPvl0FLZA5

Security issues

As the technology rises, the need for the its securty becomes more obvious because of all the problems that come along with it. I personally have suffered a lot because of the security issues with my PCs. One problem is the hackers or the people that try to break nto your computer online. But the problem I've suffered from comes from people getting on my PCs and getting my personal information from the PC physically. That is done by breaching the password in the begning of the computer and then they have access to all your information, from your pictures to your phone book and god knows what.There are many ways to prevent problems such as this, but there are many ways to break those tricks also therefore the more you try securing your data, the more you are vulnerable for security breaches

DRAM prices moving down

Good news if you are looking to upgrade your system RAM. Maybe time for a boost for Vista? According to Gartner, the price of 512-Mbit DDR2-based chips has dropped 44% this year.

Surfpup

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=38339

248-Dimensional Object

It took 18 computer scientists and mathematicians 4 years to map this. Full story here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17688055/

Surfpup

Social Networking

Social networking's next phase includes Cisco
Brad Stone, The New York Times March 5, 2007
Retrieved from CNET Tech News
http://news.com.com/Social+networkings+next+phase+includes+Cisco/2100-1032_3-6164226.html?tag=nefd.top

I found this article on CNET News that announces Cisco Systems purchase of the technology assets of Tribe.net, a relatively obscure social-networking site. This is an unusual move for Cisco, who primarily makes networking equipment for large companies. Cisco plan is to use its newly acquired technology to help large corporate clients create services resembling MySpace or YouTube to bring their customers together online. This move be indicates a shift in the way company thinks about social networks; many now say that social networks will soon be as ubiquitous as regular Web sites. Many companies and individuals are aiming to create tools to let ordinary people, large companies and even presidential candidates create social network sites tailored for their own customers, friends, fans and employees. The creators believe that the new social networking sites will give people more flexibility than earlier sites such as MySpace or FaceBook. The new sites will allow people to create their own communities on whatever they want from CSI to a particular political candidate to chocolate cake. On company, Ning, is positioning itself as a one-stop shop for creating social networks. Some critics question whether Cisco will be successful in creating its social networks. Critics say that the biggest challenges facing these new social networking sites are that people maybe reluctant to join new social networks because of these sites have few members and also, people may not want to enter their information over and over when they join new online communities. However, some companies have come up with a solution to this problem: OpenID, which would let users sign on and easily transfer profile information among social sites.

Personally I do not belong to any social networking sites but I think that Cisco maybe making a very smart move. Many companies believe that these new social networks are the way of the future and if Cisco creates this product they may end up being very successful because they would be producing a product that consumers want but that is not very available. This product could position Cisco positively in the mind of the consumer as a company that takes a proactive approach to the environment.

Security, do we need it?

My very first security experience with a computer happened in, I think, 1995; my family had just gotten a PC in our home and I enjoyed messing around on it and trying to teach myself new things it could do, or easier ways to do what I already knew. I was playing around one night and all of a sudden a screen with the words “This computer has performed an illegal operation” popped up. I started freaking out. I was so scared that I had done something really wrong that I didn’t want to tell my mom, so I just turned off the computer as fast as I could and ran upstairs to bed. The whole night I thought the FBI was going to show up at my door and take me away. I would run to the window when I heard a car to check to make sure they weren’t coming for me. Laugh, I do.
Security is definitely a major concern especially today when identity theft and fraud crimes are rising and we are sharing more and more personal information over the Internet. Part of me feels that there hasn’t been a major technological attack because people want the Internet. Its benefits are so vast why would someone want to destroy it? However, with globalization and the spread of technology into third world countries who may not favor developed nations I ask should we be more concerned? After all terrorists are spreading their message using this medium, would they resort to destroying it?
I think the article we read included a valiant point; shouldn’t the computers security features be enhanced as apposed to the Internets? After all adding all these hoops that information must jump through would slow things down, and in today’s day and age slowing down is not the direction we want to be going. Obviously there are major security issues to be dealt with. One of my fears as a consumer is that the costs of developing a new system will be passed on to us. High speed internet is already a pretty high bill on my list. Yet, I do feel that we should do something. I myself have been safe so far, but you have to ask yourself is it worth the risk?

My computer Security and HiJackThis

Last year around this time, my PC was attacked by both SpySheriff and SpyFalcon. Two of the most annoying spyware out there. For those of you who don't know what it is, they are spyware programs that disguise themselves as actual anti-spyware programs. The only thing is that they infect the PC itself and won't easily uninstall since they have a good "grip" on your registry and system. My performance on the PC ran super slow and they "hijacked" my system. Internet web browser always starts off at the spyware's official homepage instead of my own homepage. The background on my desktop changes to a background of SpyFalcon or SpySheriff. Anti-spyware programs I had at the time such as Spyware Doctor failed to remove the files.

So I got on my laptop and searched for a solution, thus I found HiJackThis. HiJackThis is a program that scans your system and displays them in a log text file. I posted on a website I go to called CastleCops.com, which they than help me delete which files are part of the spyware that were hidden in my Windows folder, registry, and any hidden folders.

I would recommend HiJackThis if you haven't got it as a backup to your regular anti-spyware.

Download the recent one they have on site and install it in your Program Files folder and not unzip it if you have Winzip.

HiJackThis downloads

Vista

This power point is for computer users.

Security

I have never countered securities problems while using my personal computer because I always use anti virus and other security programs. The only time that I had to deal with a computer crash was where I have been working. My boss is not a computer geek but a user. We lost all the files and couldn’t recover because he never back up the company files. We missed one day of conducting business until I fixed the problem.
Backing your files is very important in case of security issues.

Y2K, DST, and the IDL

Remember the Y2K (Year 2000) issue? Has it been so long that we forgot about all the hype and hysteria, or have we just been distracted by more recent events? Y2K was that doom and gloom event when the entire developed world as we knew it was supposed to end. The idea was that when December 31, 1999 became January 1, 2000, all the computers in the world may crash, and since most everything was controlled by computers, all sorts of horrible things were going to occur. At least that's the way the over reactive media described it. Electricity was supposed to go out, water wouldn't flow, airplanes would collide in mid air, the banking system would fail, and the stock market would crash. Sounds like a corny movie script, huh?

Well, after that turned out to be a non-event, then this DST (Daylight Savings Time) thing happened last week. You know, Congress moved the date at which you change the time on your clock up three weeks from April to March. There were some dire predictions about that event too. Well, it also turned out to be nothing but hype. The worst part about it was the fact that we all temporarily lost an hour of sleep. Others said the thing that really sucked was that the clocks in Tijuana didn't change, so you would leave there at 2 in the morning, thinking that you could get at least some sleep before work, only to find out it was 3 o'clock as soon as you crossed the border into the US!

So know we come to the International Date Line, or IDL. Who would of ever thought that an imaginary line on the globe could spell the end of the world? Well, it almost did for 6 USAF pilots flying brand new $125 million F-22 fighters from Hawaii to Okinawa. You see, there were those few lines of computer code that somebody left out, and ... If you don't believe me, check out this link:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1791574/posts

KC-10 refueling F-22














F-22

Google TALK

http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/03/15/HNgoogletalkonwebpages_1.html

Hey Guys,
Above is a link for new information on google's "Gadget [that] puts google talk on web pages." This helps google out a lot because of the fact that Yahoo, AIM, and MSN messenger is its competitor. Because so many people are already loyal to their "instant messengers", it was more than likely that they would not want google's. But now that the gadget makes it better for them to promote their messenger. Check out the Article!

Kelly

Tuition

Wow! Everything seems to be going up. The word is out that cal state university is contemplating on rasing tuition fees by 10%, this may go in effect in the fall of 07. I am so distraught over this, Parking permits are already sky rocket what more do they want to squeeze out of us students. Tuition needs to go down rather than go up. Tuition these days are so ridiculus we have to pay an arm and a leg just to get a degree. Not to mention paying for books is another issue all by it self. Books these days are expensive you can go into debt trying to purchase all the books required for your course. I am so discombobulated with the system no body seems to take all of these issues into consideration when it comes to our out of pocket expenses. I say lower tuition make where it's reasonable.

Manging Information Supply Chain

To whom it may concern,

I have seen the video and here is my perception on the how the Information System was managed and implemented.

What was the first question the CEO asked him to answer?
The Red Cross CEO asked Steve Cooper, "Are we spending too much money on IT" which implies, The Red Cross feels that they are spending too much money on IT.

Describe why this question is very hard to answer?
The reason is; there is a gap between tangible spending vs non-tangible spending. What unit of measurement is used to measure the value of information and what value is information.

How to value information?
If your competitor is willing to pay for the information then it has value. Steve was assigned the task to figure out away to put it on the balance sheet. Create a quantitative measure on the Information System to put on the balance sheet. Information is can be valued on a personal or/and business senses anywhere from credit cards, bank statements, inventory, design, etc....

Who owns your information?
Credit report agency buy an individual personal information from financial companies. The fact is that our personal information is not owned by the individual, but owned by by people willing to pay for you information.

Describe the information supply chain (Information system that are designed to manage information, collection=manufacturing=distribution).
The internal information supply chain helps making decision making. This information is needs to be captured, which is raw materials and transform into something useful and understandable in some type of staging format to be able to be transported.

What is the main problem the Red Cross IT team ran into?
Internally allot of the information that is stored is obsolete and is not holding value anymore. The external environment effects the information supply chain, The Red Cross follows state guides and was told not to go in and help until later while they evacuate the area . They found out the didn't have enough resources to accommodate Katrina.

What do you think about the job they do during Hurricane Katrina?
I think they did a excellent job sharing information and establishing communication with an environment that does not any infrastructure. They created a AD HOCK environment and had a temporary information supply chain to share information. They capture information and distributed money throughout the Katrina disaster.


Regards,
Raul

any lazy people here?

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/03/01/8401023/index.htm?postversion=2007031505

Are you one of those lazy people that hate to take your time searching for stuff online. well i got news for you, Scott Jones have just founded a new way to help you. he has develop a search engine called ChaCha, the search engine will run by letting his guide do the search for you. All it take it about 15-30 seconds. if the guide give you bad website, you can give him a bad review. this will affect his pay

do you hate your keyboard?

http://blogs.business2.com/apple/2007/03/inside_the_ipho.html

it seen that apple have develop a laptop with multitouch screen function. the multitouch screen can keep track of 15 simultaneous touches. Which mean that you can use all your fingers plus more. this new technology will let apple to create a virtual keyboard on the laptop. So, i'm thinking the next generation of computer might not need the actual keyboard anymore and it be a lot more compact. What do you guy think?

Fall 2007 Tuition went UP!

How do you guys feel about paying more money for a piece of paper?
Well, next year fall the trustee voted that most Cal State and UC systems will be paying more for education. $435 fee increase for undergraduate students and $483 for graduate students. $60 surcharge all undergraduate and graduate students wil pay. Also student will be charge $711 in miscellaneous.

I feel that if they raise the prices and add more fees. I believe it's going to discourage the generation Y to attend college. Some today is already having a hard time scruffing money to survive; working full-time and being a full-time student. Along with that our economy isn't helping either. Gas price is outragous, housing is more expensive.

In the article, it stated that "It's not just about the university. It's not just abpur California. It's about our country." "If UC doesn't continue to provide a worldclass education they will sprout up in foreign nations instead US."

- Above, it sounds like they are more afraid of losing student from other countries and our reputation in our schooling systems.

Tell me how you feel about this? Does it make you nervous about the future?

- I'm nervous about this whole increase rate, because I believe the fees and cost of going to school will raise more and more. By the time I have kids it's probably twice or even more the price I paid for an education.


http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070315/news_1n15fees.html

Gas Prices

Wow! Gas prices are on the run these days. I believe gas for $2.00 is history. We are now experienceing inflation in our gas prices. Gas prices has climbed now a little over $3.oo a gallon which is up by 0.20 cents in the last two weeks. What a drastic change and up 0.40 cent from a month ago. gallon of unleaded regular is a statewide average of $3.11 per gallon. At CSAA's last monthly report February 13th, the price was $2.66. This will cause some eyebrows to lift. This morning I put $30 worth of gas in my car and didn't notice the price until I looked at my fuel monitor and noticed a drastic change it wasn't really at full quite yet. This really grasped my attention. After conversating with my colleagues I discovered gas price is up to $3.00. I remember last week it still being in the two's close to three for unleaded regular. I figure $30 will not be enough to fill my tank up after this week.

YOUTUBE sued for 1BILLION

Youtube is getting sued by media giants Viacom(the company who owns MTV and Nickelodeon)
They are sueing because of Youtubes alleged usage of clips without authorization from Viacom. I think this is a bunch of bull. Youtube uses clips that people put on the website. I watch youtube clips very often and would be pissed if it got shut down. Its all about the the dollar bill though right. Read more about this story at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6446193.stm

Spyware: Nuisance or Serious Problem

The articles on the health of the Internet made me think of this.

So what does everyone think of spyware? It is an annoyance? A problem?
What steps, if any, do you take to protect your PC from spyware? How do you think spyware affects businesses? Do you think an anti-spyware bill will ever pass, and if so, will it be enforceable?

I have a couple of spyware checkers, SpyBot and AdAware. I have 2, because sometimes one will miss something that the other will catch. AdAware runs a pretty fast smart scan, so I run that every few days. I also block sites in my browser. My Norton Antivirus 2007 also scans for spyware, but it takes SO long to run a full scan, that I do not do this often.

I have not run any benchmarks, but it seems like spyware definitely slows down PCs. We had one PC at work that, according to AdAware, had over 1600 instances of spyware. The user was complaining about PC problems, and the PC certainly appeared faster after these were removed.

Here is an article on C-Net about spyware bills:
http://news.com.com/Spyware%2C+data+privacy+bills+reappear+in+House/2100-1028_3-6157826.html?tag=news.1

Surfpup

Blogging your Baby

Blogging your baby
Margaret Kane, CNET News.com March 5, 2007
Retrieved from CNET Tech News
http://news.com.com/Blogging+your+baby/2009-1025_3-6164386.html?tag=nefd.lede

I found this interesting article on CNET News that analyzed “mommy blogs” and “daddy blogs.” Although it is not known how many of this type of blog there are, estimates are high. These blogs are like one big mothers group where parents discuss varying issues relating to their life and the life of their children. Unlike the typical mothers group the information people are posting can be viewed by anyone with an Internet connection. These blogs are raising new regarding the privacy rights of children and safety. Some are saying that these sites are embarrassing to children. They equate it to parents showing their child’s girlfriend or boyfriend the child’s naked baby pictures. The parents quoted in the article believe that their children will get over the embarrassment but many experts think that this attitude could create problems between parent and child. The biggest issue associated with posting on these blogs is safety and security. Just like with websites such as myspace.com people posting on these blogs should be careful about posting personal information. Parents should exercise caution in their blogs in order to keep their family safe.

I find the trend of people posting so much personal information on the Internet to be very disturbing. We talked in class about some of the dangers of posting on websites such as myspace.com and I personally do not think that the positives of myspace.com out weigh the negatives. I do not think that these “mommy blogs” and “daddy blogs” are any better than myspace.com. Whatever happened to keeping private things private? Also, I think that the security issues these blogs raise are very serious. You do not know who is reading your posting or looking at your pictures on these blogs. As the television show Dateline has proven there are many evil people out there who want to hurt children. One woman quoted in the article says that her daughter received a marriage proposal from someone in a foreign country who had seen the girl’s picture on a “mommy blog.” If children can not count on their parents to protect them who is going to protect them?

Steven Cooper

1. What is the first question the CEO asked Steven Cooper to answer?
He asked Steven if they were spending too much money on IT?

2. Why is this question so hard to answer?
Are we spending too much money on IT is difficult to answer, because the benefits of IT are hard to measure and gauge how effective it is. The value of IT lies in the perception of the persons using it.

3. How do you value information?
The importance of developing a valuing system for information is crucial. Right now, there isn't a value system to account for information. Steven Cooper believed that a quantitative measure for information should be used to know the value of information.

4. Who really owns your information?
The government owns your information. Credit bureaus own your information. Companies you do business with owns your information. That is why I get tons of credit card applications and refinancing junk in the mail. I hate that crap. Other companies sharing your info with other companies.....total BS!!!! Sorry, it just annoys me.

5. Describe the information supply chain.
In an info supply chain, we must collect data. The data is converted into usable and understandable information. Then, the information is distributed to the users. Finally, the information is used in making decisions.

6. What was the big problem the Red Cross IT team came across?
The major problem the Red Cross IT team had was a lack of distributing the information to all users or in this case their whole team. Information was not received or not timely enough to be effective.

7. What do I think about the job the Red Cross did during Hurricane Katrina?
I believe the Red Cross handled the Hurricane situation well. But of course, improvements can be made. They weren't as prepared as they thought, but how could they be they never faced something like this before. A whole city under water.

my personal competitive advantage

It is a really bad situation that I can’t find a job when I graduate. I feel like why I have to go to school for several years then there are no jobs available.
My personal competitive advantages are: I can speak fluently 3 different languages: such as Vietnamese, English, and Cantonese. I speak a little mandarin, but if I want to learn it, it won’t be a problem. Cantonese and Mandarin are just different in pronunciation. Moreover, I have lived not been to in 3 different countries; therefore, I don’t mind to go to work in the other countries beside U.S. If I can’t find a job in U.S. after graduating, I will go to different countries such china, India, and Singapore. The economy is booming in Asia in the last couple years, so they need a lot people with better knowledge and higher education.

Phase Change Memory get closer

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/2/9/754024/4100_phasechange90nm.jpg

According to Daily Tech, Intel will have samples of this memory before the end of the year. 500x faster than flash memory, and longer-lasting, too.

I can imagine PCs that don't have to be booted. Lightning fast storage.

Surfpup

Steve cooper

The first question the CEO asked Steve Cooper are we spending to much money on the information system. This is not really a hard question. Its simple how do we value information. are the monies being spent wisley. If we value information then you would not think that we spend to much money on information. We put value on personal information. Information Supply chain. I like what steve asked who is the owner of your personal information. We are not the owner of our personal information. More data is bought from other resources of your financial transaction. It is important and becomes critcal. Steve mentioned the three diemenions that he thinks are key. One is information value as relates to the supply chain system secondInformation inetergation related to supply chain and finallyRisk managment relates to supply chain. Information system is needed for others to view and make adjustments.

child obessity

I am so amazed at how many kids are over weight to be so young. I was reading an article on how so many physcians have performed surgey on childern between the ages 12 and 19. Involving roughly 9 million children over the age of six. There are so many hormones being pumped into our foods that are causing our children to reach puberty quicker. Not only are our chiildren over weight there is a hormone over dose that is found in milk and our meats. childhood obesity involves significant risks to physical and emotional health, and given the large percentage of American children at risk for type 2 diabetes at some point in their lives (for example, an estimated 30 percent of boys and 40 percent of girls born in 2000), it is worth asking: Is childhood obesity evidence of child abuse? Or are the economics of eating well skewed to the well-off, while the poor and working classes must make do with empty calories and trans fats? This is ridiculous! We need to do better with our childern and teach them now before they end up sick.

DST

Just as america was getting used to DST here it comes 2 weeks earlier than normal. DST is Americas worse nightmare it appears that many are upset with federal governement decision. IT administrators throughout the world are making the same adjustment with the daylight saving time (DST). Sunday March 11, 2007 time will “spring forward” one hour this Sunday, not the first Sunday in April, as was previously the case between 1986 and 2006. and will fall back in novemeber versus october 28th. This is Due to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, signed into law by President Bush Aug. 8, 2005, residents of states across the nation that observe Daylight Saving Time (DST) will be treated to three additional weeks of it this year . All systems across the states will have to change are need adjustments. Most systems are programmed for DST in the month of April. So some systems will be delayed an hour due to the changes made this year. There are special programms being sold for this adjsustment on DST for March 11, 2007. DST was initally put together to save electricity energy saver. Many argue that we will use more energy in the morning due to the morning being darker. The DST is been the talk across america. Many will watch to see if see DST 2 weeks earlier will make a difference some say it mostly depends on how the weather will be this year.

Blogging gets you jail time

Who would of ever thought that you could go to jail for blogging. Well it happened, good thing this is America and these type of things cant happen to us so praise freedom of speech because without it we would end up like good ol Abdel here. Egyptian blogger Abdel Kareem Nabil, 22, was sentenced Thursday to four years in jail for using his Web postings to criticize the Islamic religion, the Prophet Muhammad and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. A spokesperson for the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said the conviction and sentence "sends a chilling message" to all bloggers in Islamic countries. Check out the full story at http://www.technewsworld.com/story/55915.html

Keely's Presentation Today (03/08)

http://www.csusm.edu/fangfang/Teaching/StudentNewsPresentation/MIS_304-_IS_News_Presentation-Spring_07.ppt

Residential Hydrogen Electrical Systems

New systems are starting to be brought on line in several areas. They offer an alternative reliable source of electrcity. In the case of Silverwood system they provide hot water as well.

See link: WWW.Silverwoodenergy.com/hydroresidential.htm

RESIDENTIAL SYSTEMS: Primary Power
Looking for an alternative solution to providing primary electrical power for your home? The next generation of Plug Power's GenSysTM combined heat and power hydrogen fuel cell systems is going into beta test during the third quarter of 2005. The entire beta production run of 50 units has already been sold. It is anticipated that they will be certified for sale during 2006 and available for home installations in the 2006-07 time frame. Designed to run parallel with the electric grid (grid-tied), the GenSysTM converts readily available fuels, natural gas and propane, into electric and thermal power. Natural gas is sent through a reformater which produces the hydrogen fuel that is used by the fuel cell. The fuel cell then uses this hydrogen to produce electricity and domestic hot water. You will no longer need to burn gas or electricity to heat your hot water.

UNINTERRUPTED POWER DURING A GRID OUTAGE
During a grid outage, the GenSysTM unit seamlessly transfers to standby mode to provide uniterrupted power to critical loads. When power service is restored, the system resumes its normal grid-parallel mode of operation. The GenSysTM has all the electrical muscle you need. A 5kW system can produce up to 120 kWh a day and will only produce as much electricity as you need unless you choose to over produce and sell the excess electricity to your local utility. Many utilities such as SDG&E in San Diego will buy your excess production especially when supplies of electricity are
tight. Natural gas is one of the main fuels that utilities use to produce electricity. If the price of natural gas goes up, the price you will receive for your excess electric production will also increase. You save more by producing your own electricity and hot water and you make more selling the excess electricity back to your utility.

THE GENSYS TM SYSTEM HAS MANY ADVANTAGES:

• Quiet
• Odorless
• Continuous power regardless of weather
• Continuous power day or night
• Produces domestic hot water
• No expensive battery back up systems
• Small footprint
• Environmentally safe
• Can become an electric power producer
  

Steven Cooper

R we using to much IT ?
I believe in the article Steven Cooper believes that companies should use IT information to better their communication system. It is crucial for business to invest the correct amount in order to stay ahead from their competitors. I don't believe that all companies are keeping up with their IT like eveyone else. In order to stay on top of the competition companies will have to spend alot more than what they are use to in their IT. It is important that their employees are kept up to date with the latest IT principles as well.

YA

YA

Tom's News Presentation about Electronic Wastes

Hi, all. Here is the link of Tom's presentation (afternoon section). It was a really interesting topic. I bet you are interested in seeing the long video too.

http://www.csusm.edu/fangfang/Teaching/StudentNewsPresentation/Green_is_Good.ppt

Fang

Steven Cooper

1. What is the first question the CEO asked him to answer?
Are we spending too much money on information technology? The real question is are we spending the right amount of money on the right systems.

2. Describe why this question is very hard to answer. Having the right information/communications systems is the difference between success and failure. In the case of the Red Cross, it could mean the difference between life and death. Designing an information/communications system that provides portable communications and data transfer via secure reliable means is extremely costly. The equipment must be portable and able to survive in extreme conditions. Some off the self-equipment can meet these requirements, but more often they are specially designed for a specific type mission and function. Further, as the CIO pointed out interoperability among the various agencies during Katrina lead to further chaos. The state and local governments were not able to communicate among themselves much less the federal government. All of the variables mentioned above are just few of the added problems that must be addressed in designing systems to meet the mission of the Red Cross.

3. How to value information? In the case of the Red Cross the right information could save lives making the information priceless, and on the other hand worthless information could cause the loss of life making that information worthless. Although the statement above is ambiguous because bad information could be priceless knowing what not to act upon could be just as important. Information has to be timely or time sensitive in many cases to be worthwhile. The source that the information is received from has to be a credible source or at least a verifiable source to determine accuracy.. Having the right information is hard to quantify the value until it is measured against the situation it is used in.

4. What is the main problem the Red Cross IT team ran into? The main problems were inoperability among the various agencies. A clueless governor that failed to ensure the state and local government agencies were able to communicate properly among themselves, much less with any federal agencies. Imagine a major city without a disaster plan in place or any type of emergency infrastructure in place or a strategy that the mayor or first responders could implement. The failure by the state and city government officials led a terrible disaster into a colossal disaster that resulted in massive loss of life. The Red Cross IT team had to regroup in Washington DC to come up with a plan and equipment to provide services that the state could not do and was unprepared to do. The Red Cross along with other federal agencies had to take over the role of local and state governments.

DST Causes Headaches

IT pros battle clock and code in time change
Erica Ogg, CNET News.com March 5, 2007
Retrieved from CNET Tech News
http://news.com.com/IT+pros+battle+clock+and+code+in+time+change/2100-1011_3-6164152.html?tag=nefd.lede

I found the IS News presentation on how daylight savings time (DST) is causing technology problems to be very interesting. I found this article on CNET News that talks about some of the specific problems businesses and individuals are facing. As the IS News presenter stated DST will begin three weeks earlier this year and it will also end one week later than usual. To deal with this change many software makers, including Microsoft, are providing patches which will update the clocks of computers and mobile devices automatically. This sound like the perfect solution to the problem, but in actuality many business and consumer electronic users are complaining that the process of installing the patches is complicated and time-consuming. In fact, some are resorting to updating each device manually. To combat the complaints companies, including Microsoft, are releasing new patches this week in response to customer feedback.

Reading this article I found myself wondering why software companies did not prepare earlier for this problem. This decision regarding DST was made over a year ago. Also, I think it is great that they are coming out with more consumer-friendly devices this week, but what I want to know is why they did not come out with consumer-friendly devices in the first place. In the article Microsoft admitted that their instructions for updating are quite lengthy and that they are not intuitive. Also, instructions for updating keeping changing and they vary depending on the type of user. It seems like the software companies planned poorly and so now they are coming up with eleventh hour solutions. In this case it appears that doing things at the last minute is not cutting it.

Steven Cooper

Here is the answers for the question on Steven Cooper.
1. What is the first question the CEO asked him to answer?
The first question is that if they are spending too much money on IT.

2. Describe why this question is very hard to answer.
Because the amount of money spends are not intangible and visible so you can not see and perceive of the value of IT.

3. How to value information?
Steven said having the quantity of measure of information on balance sheet will be needed so we can measure the value.

4. Who owns your information?
I could not catch his words for this question.

5. Describe the information supply chain (information systems that are designed to manage information, collection àmanufacturing à distribution)

Capture data wether you generate internally or acquire as information from external source, you have to transform it in order to make it understandable and useable to the audience or customers. Internally you have to collaborate, cooperate, and interact external people.

6. What is the main problem the Red Cross IT team ran into?
The main problem is during the hurricane Katrina; Red Cross could not share the information externally.


7. What do you think about the job they did during the hurricane Katrina?
I think Red Cross still could have done little bit more job than he said.

Steven Cooper Video Questions

What is the first question the CEO asked him to answer?
Steven, are we spending too much money on IT?

Describe why this question is very hard to answer
This question is hard to answer because you can not see what you are spending money on. So, this makes it harder to perceive the value of IT. You can easily perceive the value of a dollar bill because you can see it.

How to value information?
Steven felt that it is very important to figure out a way to value information in the near future. Currently, information does not appear on a company’s balance sheet, but Steven felt that we have to figure out a quantitative measure for information so that we can list it on the balance sheet and thus, know its value.

Who owns your information?
Everyone owns your information. Know one owns their own information.

Describe the information supply chain (information systems that are designed to manage information, collection manufacturing distribution)
The first step in an information supply chain is to capture data. Next that data is transformed in some way so that it becomes usable and understandable to the user and audience. The next to steps in the information supply chain are to transport the information and distribute the information. The final step is to present the information in such a way that the consumer can understand and use it.

What is the main problem the Red Cross IT team ran into?
The major problem that the Red Cross IT team ran into during hurricane Katrina was that they need to share information between all there different employees, but the infrastructure that they needed to do this was gone.

What do you think about the job they did during the hurricane Katrina?
I can understand that the Red Cross did not move in sooner because they get a lot of money from the government do they did not want to make the government mad at them. However, I feel that this is a poor excuse as to why they did not move in sooner to help people. However, I think that they did handle their IT problem very well.

Steve Cooper

Are we spending too much money on IT?

He implies, there was a gap that existed among most of the leader ship of board of government members of red cross, between the amount of money being spent and a tangible visible recognition of what it's being spent on. By this he means its hard for people to put value on information.

Who's own your personal information??
Equifax, trans union and experian which are the largest credit agencies in the U.S.

WinDVD 8

Anyone else liking WinDVD 8? I just have the basic version, but I figure I can upgrade to the Platinum version with HD-DVD & Blu-Ray support at any time.

It has a nice screen capture function. Here is a clip from Marvel's upcoming Doctor Strange DVD.

Surfpup

IS News Slides Today

Kayalr: Day Time Saving (afternoon section)

Henry: Verizon Card (evening section, Tuesday)

Miyuki Akasaka: Google Earth (evening section)

Akiko Nakai: IC card in Japan (evening section)

Worlds stock market down

Asian, American and euroupian stock market down for the third consequtive day because of the concerns over world economic system. Nasdaq is down by .002 and Dow Jones is down by .004 however S&P has not changed.
In London, England the FDSE 100 is down by .009 and Dax in Germany is down by .011 .Japans Nikkei 225 is down by .009 also.

Steven Cooper

What is the first question ?

First question.. spending too much money On IT?

Do we wisely invest our money to Information Technology?

Describe why this is hard to answer.
How to value information.

the question was come because it is not visible for everybody to evaluate development of IT.
Information Technology will be value when people actually feel need or want benefit of information. That is why it is hard to answer this question.

he keeps talking about the value of IT right now... It is kind of hard for me to figure out what he is talking about.

Personal information has been obtained by financial transaction.

Describe information supply chain.
Internal information supply chain is used be easier to explain but current one is hard to gather enough consumer information. Because there are various ways for consumer to buy products.
You actually can buy something from other side of world. Information supply chain was
you have to collaborate with external information to success in supply chain.
Grocery store card is exchanging customer information a value proposition to supply chain.

Resource will be overwhelmed in near future. We need strong internal relationship among people who work in the organization; however, that mechanism is hard to be set.

I couldn't catch what he talks about Katrina...

I will write more later on..

Who is Steven Cooper?

This is the first question i asked so i did a little research. Because why should we sit there and listen to someone for 40 minutes if he really has nothing to say. In this case though he is a fairly interesting character and is fairly interesting to listen to.

Here's a couple articles about the man himself....

http://www.redcross.org/pressrelease/0,1077,0_287_5308,00.html

http://www.computerworld.com/databasetopics/data/story/0,10801,72930,00.html

The first question he asked was if we (ARC) were spending too much money on IT?

It is such a hard question to answer because its hard to distinguish the amount of money being spent and not being able to recognize what its really being spent on. Like we have learned information has certain criteria it must meet in order to be applicable. I'm sure as you get more towards an executive level this criteria only becomes larger and more complicated. Interesting guy though but not too smooth with the microphone.

Microsoft in Trouble with the EU

Microsoft could face more fines, warns EU
Dawn Kawamoto, CNET News.com March 1, 2007
Retrieved from CNET Tech News
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+could+face+more+fines%2C+warns+EU/2100-1014_3-6163349.html?tag=nefd.top

I found this article on Microsoft that I thought was very interesting. It talks about how on today the European antitrust regulators issued a formal warning to Microsoft, threatening further penalties against the software giant over its pricing of protocol licenses. The article says that the European Commission alleges that Microsoft has failed to adhere to an order issued by the EC in 2004. In this order the EC called for Microsoft to share interoperability information with its rivals so that their products would work with Microsoft's operating system. The Commission is giving Microsoft four weeks to respond to its allegations that its pricing is unreasonable because of a lack of innovation. If the Commission finds Microsoft's response lacking, it could initiate daily fines until the software maker comes into compliance with the March 2004 order. Microsoft is fighting back saying that the technology in question is innovative and they are using the 36 patents they have received in the U.S. and Europe for the protocols in question to support their position. Microsoft is also alleging that the Commission is supposed to considers four issues when reviewing the pricing principals but in this case they seem to have concentrated on only one of the four.

I think that this situation is very interesting. Essentially the Commission is asking Microsoft to give up some of its secrets. This would likely result in Microsoft losing some of its competitive advantage. However, Microsoft has been criticized in the past for not playing fair so maybe what the EU is trying to do will be good for the industry because it will give other companies a chance. I am looking forward to seeing what will be Microsoft’s response to the Commission’s allegations and what the final outcome of this conflict is.

Global Warming

I read an interesting article on the web. The article talked about NASA stating that MARS is also warming. The article went on to say that if Mars is warming and the Earth is warming must be something beside greenhouse gas effect that is causing the warming. There is reported information of Sun Spot activity. Might be people are jumping the gun like they did in the 70 's with the new Ice Age scares that the earth was cooling and half of North America would be covered with a giant glacier.

Steven Cooper

What is the first question the CEO asked him to answer?

Are we spending too much money on IT

Describe why this question is very hard to answer.

There was a gap that existed among most of the business executive leadership of the American Red Cross between the amount of money being spent and a tangible, visual recognition of what is it being spent on.

stevan cooper

The question of if they think they are spending to much money on IT? The red cross at the time wanted to know if they were spending there money in the right areas. Making sure they were not wasting money on stuff that would go without use or not right for the job at hand. Questions like what is your mission, what kind of equipment is needed for the specific jobs at hand, what kind of services are needed to complete the task. Not buying the right supplies will be a waste of money and can cause an even more severe repercussion such as a loss of lives.

HEre is some weird news.

I found news that says there is a chinese guy who was weight approximately 300pounds died by playing online game 7days straight!!!!

there are serious problem has been occured in China. Too many poeple are geting addicted by playing online games. Some people sell some gears that you can get in online game to people on E-bay or other auction site.

There was a chinese guy who died when he was playing online game as well. but he died by getting excited too much.

It is bit scary if we facing computer too long what would happen to our budies! Brains!!

yeah I would better run away from my laptop for now...

I`m out....

Stephen Cooper

What is the first question the CEO asked him to answer?
The question was is the comapny spending too much money on the IT.


Describe why this question is very hard to answer?
- It was hard because there was a gap between the money that was being spent and not knowing what it’s being spent on.

How to value information?
- Because you can see the aspect and perceive the value of the business. Everyone in an organization value information because you can see the risk perspective and competitors. Produce information and get value from it.

Stephen Cooper

What is the first question the CEO asked him to answer?
- Are we spending too much money on IT?


Describe why this question is very hard to answer?
- It was hard because there was a gap between the money that was being spent and not knowing what it’s being spent on.

How to value information?
- Because you can see the aspect and perceive the value of the business. Everyone in an organization value information because you can see the risk perspective and competitors. Produce information and get value from it.

Stephen Cooper Video

The first question the CEO asked him was if the company was spending to much money on information. This is a difficult question to answer because it is hard to value or put a quantitative measure on how much information is worth. You can't see information as an asset on your balance sheet, so it is intangible asset that could be measured in the same way goodwill is. When Mr. Cooper spoke about who owns your information, he said that you think you own your own information but that is not the case. Many companies such as Choice Point have bought people's personal information. The information supply chain can be compared to a manufacturing supply chain. First you need to gather information ( raw materials) , then transform the data, and present the data so that you can understand and use it.

During Hurricane Katrina the main problem that the red cross faced was that they didn't have enough internal resources in order to respond to this huge disaster. In order to respond they needed to interact and collaborate with other IT companies. With the help of the other IT companies, the Red Cross was able to help about 4 million people. This was about 20 times as much people to help compared to the second worst natural disaster in the US that incurred in Florida.

Video by Steven Cooper

After watching the video by Steven Cooper, there were many interesting points that stuck in my head. First, was the question that his CEO asked him. Which was, "Are we spending too much money on IT?" Then he addresses that question by saying, "if you are wisely and properly investing in IT, no." I could not agree with him more. Personally i think having a strong IT aspect of your company or corporation is the easiest way of getting ahead of your competition. The only way you could see if you are spending to much, was to personally go talk to them, and see how and what they were working on. It was hard for Steven Cooper to answer this question because you cannot really put a numerical value on how well IT is affecting your company or corporation. I think it would be cool if someone found a formula or something to get a rough estimate of how much your IT work is worth. Steven Cooper wants to be able to place an estimated number of IT worth on their balance sheet. I think that is very difficult to do. Plus, you need to be very careful if you are able to do this. If you put the wrong estimate down, you are going to pay for it. Very interesting video.

E-commerce at its finest

http://www.chipotle.com/email/07-min-999.jpg