Words Without Thought, Content Without Context - Blog Update Numero Tres

Living in the age of information makes it difficult to do anything without your information being put out on display; and as businesses expand along with technology, they learn more and more about us. It scares me to think one day I may not even be able to THINK something without a corporation somewhere knowing every detail of it. *shudders*

The most terrifying network intelligence for me would have to be my own private information - medical records, employment information, legal information, these sorts of things. I am a firm believer in the right to privacy, because if we claim everything should be made public then we are violating things like doctor-patient and attorney-client privilege. These things are private for a reason: so the government can't spy in its own citizens and drag them through the courts. So why is it acceptable for corporations to have access to anything at all about us? How long before they have unrestricted access to our credit card numbers and our bank accounts? And beyond the information itself, I fear the attainment methods. I don't go posting my health information online, so if some company knows what my doctor prescribed me they had to actually go through my medical records. That's not cool. There’s a reason I post very little personal information online; I don’t want it being used by anybody I don’t know. I'm fine with the collection of data about my spending habits, but when I start having to worry about what I can actually say I start to have a problem. I would never want any sort of companies to start learning about these private details, for myself or my family, for just that reason; the word 'private' does not mean "free to anyone who asks". It's quite the opposite. I would never want companies to start digging through my family’s social lives, finding out everybody they know or have ever met; I certainly don’t want them going through privileged information, or reading our emails. Simply put, I don’t want companies to know anything my family doesn’t outright tell them; they have no right to that information, and I’m certainly not interested in providing it for them.

As for what my personal context is... How long do I have? I'm a university student, a young adult male, who essentially keeps to himself with the exception of a few familiar city routes and shopping ventures. I have 1 credit card I use only on occasion and pay off promptly; and 2 debit cards, one of which I only use for the purposes of buying textbooks. I do use Facebook, but post very little personal information; I do not use other social media sites, and most websites I go by aliases. I never stray much from my comfort zone, and I'm task-oriented in my shopping.

Cybersex-ed - FINAL Article Presentation

Let's face it, half the students my age either had worthless sex ed classes in school or none at all. Apparently scientists have actually figured out what a waste of time it is, as researchers from U of T, Yale and some South American groups did a study on the merits of sex ed... online? Guess age 18 and up doesn't apply here, huh?

The study observed the effects of taking the course using 138 9th Graders from 69 ridings within 21 cities in Colombia as the test sample. The students spent 30 minutes a day on the associated site, performing interactive activities, as well as speak back and forth openly with questions and answers to a Profamilia tutor. The idea is that the anonymity and privacy the internet offers allows people to be more receptive on what is, at that age (and for many, most ages) a delicate subject. After 6 months of the course, there was a 10% increase in condom use and a lowered late of infections in the test batch. This proof of concept now offers the opportunity to implement similar programs in North America, as even with the lower rates of teen pregnancy and STIs, "There's still room for improvement," according to Dr. Gonzales-Navarro.

Of course, this also serves to highlight one of the things information systems do well; increase efficiency and effectiveness of information transfer. Through technology like the internet, information can be made available to anybody as desired, and presented in a meaningful way. The fact it does a better job than a classroom model comes from a combination of this and the privacy offered by this method. My only question is why it took scientists this long to use this method; after all, the internet is where most people my age had to learn about sex because of how bloody useless SexEd is in Canada. Just saying.

Article retrieved here. It's been fun, but it seems my article presentations are at an end. Ta-ra!

Ima Barquer, and I'm a PC - Update Numero Dos

So petGRO is changing all its machines to either Mac or PC, and the decision they make is supposed to be what’s best for the company. For personal use, I’d recommend PCs and go home; you can get more variety, they’re cheaper, and there’s no clunky incompatible software. But this is business, and more importantly for marks, so I guess I have to do a proper analysis.

One of the first factors to be considered is price. On this end, PCs are an obvious win; you can get PCs as cheap as $300 each, whereas Macs can run closer to $600 or when $1000. When redoing an entire company, that’s a huge price difference. Now, this isn’t such a big deal for a very large company, where this can easily be afforded; but for a mid-range company, it’s a larger investment to make. Software equivalents can be found for both systems, but Apple software tends to work exclusively with Apple products. In addition, PCs tend to have more data-oriented software, with Macs being more artistic and creative in nature; given the company’s switch to E-Commerce, this is an important distinction. This is especially infuriating because the software itself is also very expensive compared to the PC variety; by the time both sets of costs are taken into account, the PCs are a clear winner.

It's also important to know that both old and new petGRO IS landscapes include Microsoft Office (which works best with Windows) and internet browsers with Flash (something Apple does not support). It makes very little sense to switch to Macs in that case, as several pieces of software would have to be replaced at unnecessary cost. To further hamper conditions, the office encouragement of workers bringing their own machines is best aided by the use of PC, to prevent Mac-centric software not being workable on employee machines. This is compounded for telecommuters, who may not own Macs and therefore would need to access extra tech. On the reverse side, Skype chat on a Mac can be done with other Apple devices, which is a connectivity bonus.

The main advantages offered by Macs are aesthetics. If petGRO is interested in having a flashy, artistic machine set for its business, they’d be perfect for it. This is unlikely to be important for the company, however, or at least not as high up as functionality. On a more meaningful level, customer service is consistently high with Apple (as opposed to depending on a provider), good if the company ever encounters issues in need of IT support. This is a big point in Mac’s favour; but it’s worth remembering that the company has an IT branch of its own who would be well-versed in these issues; external support is more important for home buyers.

Based on price, software, support and worksharing, I have to give the edge to PCs on this one. petGRO’s own IS landscape, coupled with these factors, leave little room for interpretation.

Brandon, John. Inc.com. "Is Your Business a Mac or a PC?" Last modified 2011. Accessed October 24, 2012. http://www.inc.com/john-brandon/pc-vs-mac-debate-small-business.html.  
McLaughlin, Jessica. Sprout Insights, "Mac vs. PC: Which Is Best for Your Business?." Last modified 2011. Accessed October 24, 2012. http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2011/11/mac-vs-pc-business/.  
Craik, Kristen. north america business review, "Mac vs. PC in Business." Last modified 2011. Accessed October 24, 2012. http://www.businessreviewcanada.ca/technology/software/mac-vs-pc-in-business.  

Fighting diseases with databases - Article Presentation 02

Remember the SARS outbreak in 2003? The one that killed 800 people? Imagine if that were to come back. Or worse yt, imagine something just as bad coming here for the first time. Now imagine the spread and symptoms of this disease could me extrapolated and the disease itself stopped by a database. You may say I'm a dreamer, but clearly I'm not the only one.

Back in June, a 60-year-old man died in his hospital bed in Saudi Arabia a mere 11 days after being admitted. He began with a bizarre case thought to be pneumonia, until his kidneys failed. An analysis of some of his sputum produced evidence of a novel coronavirus, a dangerous pathogen linked to the SARS outbreak. The researcher who discovered this, Dr. Ali Mohamed Zaki, decided to post his findings on a website called ProMed, raising awareness and actually finding another victim in another country. No further cases have been confirmed and the second patient is still alive, but a test has been synthesized and doctors across the globe remain vigilant.

This article shows how information systems can be used to better human lives (in stark contrast to last week's topic). Detection of the virus was one thing, but the ability to post it on the web and inform others led to the second diagnosis and thus a test for the virus. Information sharing is vital for the day-to-day operation of pretty much any organization; and given what the WHO does, we can be thankful for that.

Article found here

"Binders full of women" - Article Presentation 01

Idiotic comments that make waves on the interet seem to be the norm in politics these days. Ask Mitt Romney.

""I had the chance to pull together a Cabinet, and all the applicants seemed to be men," he said. "I went to a number of women's groups and said, 'Can you help us find folks?' and they brought us whole binders full of women.""

You heard that right.

"Binders full of women" not only spawned an Internet meme, but at least 2 Twitter accounts (@RomneysBinders and @womaninabinder), a Tumbler feed and a Facebook page. It even has its own webpage, which actually came into being 90 seconds after Mit uttered this phrase. Yeah, no slip of the tongue (never mind a political lie and misstep, but that's another discussion entirely) goes unpunished on the 'net.

So why is this related to IS? Because it proves that no matter how stupid a comment somebody makes, it can (and often will) be shared with the entirety of the internet. The ability to communicate information without practical use outside of entertainment is practically what social media runs on anyway.

Info retrieved from here, but this story is everywhere.

In Doubt with Lights Out? Update Numero Uno

So a couple weeks ago several students had their labs cancelled due to power outages on campus for some reason. Bummer. I personally was not one of those affected, but I understand their plight.

Still, the university needs to make up for the missed sessions, and they can’t afford to spend extra money.  This creates a bit of a problem, since the tutorial required people utilise website-writer program NVU, and most people simply don’t have that. However, as far as I’m aware the school does have the ability to make its software (or a trail of it anyway) available for student use, though they can’t offer technical support. Thus, there is in fact a simple solution.

While everybody who missed their lab date heads home to use their own machines, the TAs for the lab sections can send emails to the students they normally have. In these emails would be a list of instructions and a download url for the NVU installer. Once the student opens their email, they can download and install the program, allowing them to follow the instructions as laid out in the emails. Given the directions were already in PowerPoint form for the tutorials that occurred, making them available to students is very easy, and doable by either attaching the PowerPoint as well or simply copying it out into the email body. While immediate response to concerns isn’t really possible in this medium, the instructions are relatively simple and shouldn’t cause too much concern. In the event of truly crippling problems, however, the student can send a reply email for assistance with their specific plight.

There are a few reasons this is acceptable as a substitute for a missed class. For one, the EWS assignment (the topic of the missed tutorials) was due one way or another; depriving the students of the ability to work on it is unfair if it’s due one way or another. Whether they work on the assignment in their own homes or campus computers, they are held to the same standards. In fact, they’d benefit from this decision greatly, since it allows them access to the software from home as well. (This may mean you have to make the software available to everyone, in the interest of fairness, but the same applies.)

The main problem with not having the students themselves in class comes from the attendance marks, as given out by the TAs at the end of ever session. They do deserve credit for their work, but they shouldn’t be given the TA password for their tutorials to prevent abuse. Instead, simply give them a credit for that in their next tutorial (meaning they’d get 2 in one day).  Everybody makes up for what they’re out, assignments get done, and lost time is recovered. Thus everything is as it should be.

So, that’s just my two cents’ worth on this little issue.  You’ll be hearing more from me again soon (the powers that be guarantee it!), but for now… ciao.

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