CW Exam results

Well we got back our CW results and it wasn't what we expected. I'm a little disappointed but as I said before I did not make 100% of an effort so I'm still satisfied with it, the blame is on me. I did pass and by Dr. Mohan lowering the mark to 50 that makes it that much better. Oh well final exam will make up for this shortcoming, I will see to it.

IT in other discilplines

Today we began looking at IT in other disciplines. Firstly we discussed Bioinformatics and since I'm not familiar with the term I looked it up and this is some of what I came across:

Bioinformatics and computational biology involve the use of techniques including applied mathematics, informatics, statistics, computer science, artificial intelligence, chemistry and biochemistry to solve biological problems usually on the molecular level. Research in computational biology often overlaps with systems biology. Major research efforts in the field include sequence alignment, gene finding, genome assembly, protein structure alignment, protein structure prediction, prediction of gene expression and protein-protein interactions, and the modeling of evolution.

Next we looked at IT in Education.
Some uses of IT in education are:
- simulate activities with software , for example: flight simulator

- virtual field trips

- phonics, other educational software
*interactive/multimedia
*stimulating
*independent learning
*cost effective
*individual attention

- open and distance learning . One advantage to this is that there can be a larger student without the need to expand the physical structure.

- E-learning


ok byyeee ***

Friday's here again

Well hello again *** Basically we just wrapped up our discussion on IT security today. Can you believe it, the semester is almost over/ I'll miss some of you ! Ok bye for now...

IT Ethics, Impact and Security

Security deals with the management of risks and the procedures involved.

Q: How to detect fraud, criminal activity, etc. in an Information System ?

One possible solution may be to monitor network for activity outside of 'normal' working hours.
The problem with this however is that there are companies which operates for the full 24 hours therefore this would only be beneficial to those companies that have a standard operating time for e.g. 8 am - 11 pm.

Intrusion detection software may also be used as a security measure. This would prove more valuable to those companies that work online. It would perform checks to allow permission access (IP address).

Audit trails may be used as it keeps track of who is accessing what data.

Impact on IT cont'd

Impact of IT on homes/ society at large
-it has been beneficial since individuals are more knowledgeable

-reduction in distance between individuals for communication; eliminates the need for travel

- audio, video to remote locations to view events

In general IT has a negative impact on privacy invasion in organizations, homes and society at large.

Impact of Information Technology

Impact of IT on the workplace and jobs

- easier for communication within organization e.g Intranet : (allows corporate email, voice, website which provides local company information)

-job displacement, job retraining, job satisfaction

- caused organizations to think deeply about etical and other issues surrounding the use of data

-company has to take security measures to deal with potential criminals from outside

-companies have had to rethink their business models (e.g e-commerce) and processes

- provide the ability to telecommute ( companies do not have to provide physical space for all employees)

-teleconferencing

-the expectation of employees are higher since companies want knowledge workers to use information effectively

Just saying hey ***

Just wanted to say hi * and hope everyone is enjoying the course as much as I am / a lot of it has to do with Dr. Mohan i think. I know I'm really quiet in class but i do listen to everyone views. Well keep safe and remember to SMILE :)

Ethics in Information Technology

Well as promised we're back to ethics.
Ethical issues in IT:

* Privacy -
where is the boundry with employers and they having rights to their employees personal emails just because the employees use the company's resources.

Questions to ask yourself :
Is it ok for acompany to read employees emails ?
Should they tell you it is subject to be read ?
Companies have the right to store data but should they have the right to read it ?
Should personal data be sold ?
Should people's information be made public ?

There is no one answer to each of these questions as everyone will have different concepts on what is ethical.

* Accuracy (Integrity) -
is it ethical to sell a product knowing that it is defective ???

One solution may be to release software in patches but keep working on it. Dr. Mohan referred to this as the Microsoft approach.

* Property -
who owns and who is ethical to use ?

* Accessibility -
who can access data ?

ACM Code of Ethics

*I will contribute to society and human well being.
*I will avoid harm to others.
*I must honour software including copyrights and patents.
*Give proper credit to intellectual property.
*respect the privacy of others.
*Confidentiality (honour the principle of confidentiality).
*Must acquire and maintain software competence.


Bye for now ***

Its Monday /Another week begins

Its the beginning of the school week and as always it starts off with INFO 1400 tutorial. Mrs. Mohammed listed some reasons why an IS fails. They are as follows just in case you missed it:

*inaccurate estimate of required resources
*unmananaged risks
* problems with infrastructure
*poor reporting of project status
*poor communication between managers, users of the system and the developers of the system.
*use of immature technology
*improper SDLC i.e. sloppy development practices
*stakeholders politics
*inability to handle project's complexibility
*poor project management
*commercial pressure

We also disussed the CW exam on Friday. Surprisingly everyone had similar views, the alloted time was insufficient and the multiple choice section was actual a bit tricky since it had 5 options instead of 4 as we are accustom to. But nevertheless it was good. Thanks Dr. Mohan.

CW Exam

We got our first coursework exam on Friday and I must say it wasn't too bad. Actually it was a good exam compared to some sxams I've had in the past (not referring to INFO 1400 since this was the first exam ever). Well honestly I disappointed myself in not being fully prepared for it but I did my best. I do think however with a little extra time in the exam I would have been able to complete my answers and improve on its quality but all in all it was good / I'm happy. So hope everyone passes. Byyeee ***

Info Tech Fundamentals Project 1

Well as promised we got our first project and I must say it was interesting. It was a group project so my group members were Cheryse and Giselle. Basically we looked at IT as it applies to the business world. The aim of the project was to integrate IT and the various aspects of running a business. I really hope we were able to achieve this aim in our project. We chose to establish a gym as our business.
The Fitness Center
" NOT ONLY FEEL GOOD BUT LOOK GOOD "

Part of the project was to do a presentation on our business. I enjoyed each group presentations. It was interesting to see the various businesses and how IT plays a part in each. Keep up the good work everyone. See you later !!!!!!!!!!!!

Information Systems/ SDLC

How do we go about acquiring or developing a new IS ? Thats where SDLC comes in .

Info I got off the internet:
*********************** The Systems Development Life Cycle ***********************
SDLC

The systems development life cycle (SDLC) is a conceptual model used in project management that describes the stages involved in an information system development project, from an initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application. Various SDLC methodologies have been developed to guide the processes involved, including the waterfall model (which was the original SDLC method); rapid application development (RAD); joint application development (JAD); the fountain model; the spiral model; build and fix; and synchronize-and-stabilize. Frequently, several models are combined into some sort of hybrid methodology. Documentation is crucial regardless of the type of model chosen or devised for any application, and is usually done in parallel with the development process. Some methods work better for specific types of projects, but in the final analysis, the most important factor for the success of a project may be how closely the particular plan was followed.
In general, an SDLC methodology follows the following steps:
The existing system is evaluated. Deficiencies are identified. This can be done by interviewing users of the system and consulting with support personnel.
The new system requirements are defined. In particular, the deficiencies in the existing system must be addressed with specific proposals for improvement.
The proposed system is designed. Plans are laid out concerning the physical construction, hardware, operating systems, programming, communications, and security issues.
The new system is developed. The new components and programs must be obtained and installed. Users of the system must be trained in its use, and all aspects of performance must be tested. If necessary, adjustments must be made at this stage.
The system is put into use. This can be done in various ways. The new system can phased in, according to application or location, and the old system gradually replaced. In some cases, it may be more cost-effective to shut down the old system and implement the new system all at once.
Once the new system is up and running for a while, it should be exhaustively evaluated. Maintenance must be kept up rigorously at all times. Users of the system should be kept up-to-date concerning the latest modifications and procedures.

************************************************************************************
What I learnt in class:

Dr. Mohan began this topic by looking at the initial phase, requirements analysis. Requirements analysis or determination should examine the features that the system should have, the capabilities of the system and what services it should provide. Basically it is to find out what the system can do and this should be documented. It is important that the users of the information system have some input since they are the ones who would know what is required by the system. The period of time for requirements analysis varies with the organization. Techniques used with the requirements analysis are:
* interviews
*questionnaires
*examining existing IS for trends in data

The next stage is design. System design entails creating a blueprint showing the structure of the IS components and how they work together.

IS will normally be developed on top of an existing IT integration .

The following stage would be implementation.

My notes at this point are a bit inadequate to give a good enough explanation so I will be visiting my classmates blogs for the remaining information/ thats one of the benefit of having a blog about our experiences in INFO 1400.

Well I do hope I was a little helpful in giving some insight into our class discussions on SDLC, until next post keep good and byyeee ........
oh, one more thing/ remember to keep smiling :)

End of the week

Well it's Friday morning and I'm waiting for class / I have an entire hour's wait though . See you there !!! On a more constructive note I must say I enjoyed yesterday's tutorial with Mrs. Mohammed . The session was based on the strategic levels of management, information systems and obviously data/information . The class was divided into groups : those for the argument, those against it, managers and a CEO . The debate was centred around the statement : The University of the West Indies should replace the current Information System with a new Information System . I was on the for side so although I did not agree with the statement I had to be in favour of it . Well both sides presented some interesting points but the managers had to make the decision and present it to the CEO . The managers decided to keep the current Information System and upgrade it . Dr. Mohan even dropped in to see how the debate was coming along . Ultimately, the CEO also agreed with the decision of the managers as did most of the class I presume . It would be more beneficial to work out the problems with the current IS, such as by providing training for all users, as oppose to implementing a new IS . However, it is not totally out of the question to implement a new IS as there are many aspects of the rapidly increasing technoloigies that UWI is yet to utilise but maybe in the near future, we'll have to wait and see . I'll be seeing you in class . Byyeee***

It's Thursday / IT Fundamental

Well as promise I did listen to the lecture this morning . We began with Dr. Mohan giving us a text book definition of Information Technology or It as it is commonly referred to . Unfortunately I was unable to document the definition that was given .

*******************************************

Information Technology:

Information Technology (IT) is concerned with the use of technology in managing and processing information, especially in large organizations.
In particular, IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and retrieve information.

*******************************************

IT should facilitate the various business processes to increase its: - productivity
- efficiency
-profitability

The focus of info tech fundamentals will be ' How can an IS improve atleast one individual's life ? ' .

IT infrastructure (Launchpad for all other applications)

The Information Technology Infrastructure is a framework of best practice approaches intended to facilitate the delivery of high quality information technology (IT) services. It outlines an extensive set of management procedures that are intended to support businesses in achieving both quality and value for money in IT operations. Developed to provide guidance across the breadth of IT infrastructure, development and operations.

There are disadvantages to having several IS with different infrastructures: There are difficulties involved in its maintenance, it is expensive, presents integration dificulties and it is also inefficient . Therefore, it is good practice for the organization to have a standardised IS, the infrastructure should be the same . If an additional IS is to be introduced it should have the same infrastructure as the one in operation .

I really hope this is helpful . Smile : )

Tuesday's Class

Honestly I was not very attentive in class today . The discussion continued from Monday about satellites and how they transmit data . The little parts of the lecture I heard was interesting, I hope to learn more about how the technolgy works . We also looked at Google Earth and the technology used . Some of my classmates, Giselle Singh just to name one, are well informed about the different technologies used in tracking . Well I'll try to pay more attention inn class on Thursday . Enjoy your day and be safe . Bye ***

IT Ethics

What is ethics ??? Our class discussion focused on It ethics . Although we will go more in-depth later on we did manage to get the basic ideas involved with It ethics . What is ethical ??? Should burning CDs for personal use be considered as piracy or only when a profit is gained from this action . Well let me start off by defining ethics:

Ethics (from the Ancient Greek "ethikos", meaning "arising from habit"), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of value or quality. It covers the analysis and employment of concepts such as right, wrong, good, evil, and responsibility. It is divided into three primary areas: meta-ethics (the study of what ethicality is), normative ethics (the study of what ethical truths there are and how they are known), and applied ethics (the study of the use of ethical knowledge).

As a consumer we do not see the direct link to the people involved in the production of a product but by purchasing the original version of this product, somewhere down the line these individuals benefits . It is important for as to reward these individuals for the time and effort that went into the product by purchasing the products from authorised distributors instead of those individuals who merely reproduce many copies of the product from one original version .

Intellectual Property

In law, intellectual property (IP) is an umbrella term for various legal entitlements which attach to certain types of information, ideas, or other intangibles in their expressed form. The holder of this legal entitlement is generally entitled to exercise various exclusive rights in relation to the subject matter of the IP. The term intellectual property reflects the idea that this subject matter is the product of the mind or the intellect, and that IP rights may be protected at law in the same way as any other form of property.

We as human beings value the most the intellectual property of others .
Piracy is defined by what the manufacturer says .

This was just an introduction to ethics . It Ethics / something to look forward to !!!

My last two lectures in INFO 1400

As usual at the centre of our discussion was data / information . We looked at Information Systems.

Information System

1. A system, whether automated or manual, that comprises people, machines, and/or methods organized to collect, process, transmit, and disseminate data that represent user information. 2. Any telecommunications and/or computer related equipment or interconnected system or subsystems of equipment that is used in the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management, movement, control, display, switching, interchange, transmission, or reception of voice and/or data, and includes software, firmware, and hardware. The entire infrastructure, organization, personnel, and components for the collection, processing, storage, transmission, display, dissemination, and disposition of information.

Basically we listed the different peripheral devices that are used with all the components of an IS .
Hardware:
Collection -> keyboard, scanner, microphone
Storage -> disk drive, CD-ROM, DVD, tape drive
Output -> monitor, printer, speaker
Networking -> domestic telephone/ telephone exchange :copper wire, fibre optic, cable, switches, routers, hubs, bridges

We continued discussing IS , sir referred to it as 'An Application of Information Technology' . It is important that software be upgraded regularly . This is mainly because :

1. The need to interact with other software which has been upgrade

2. More information and products are now available

3. The need for a facelift

4. Changes in legislation, regulations, business strategies

We concluded on procedures (Instructions pertaining to use, backup, security of the system.) involved in an IS.
Until Friday /bye ...

Today's Tutorial

Its Monday and INFO 1400 tutorial starts off my week in UWI . We did a review of all the topics we have been dicussing since the start of the semester /surprisingly I remembered all of them . That means Dr. Mohan's lectures though not the typical lecture format are sticking with me . I guess the stories and references to real life situations make class more interesting for me .
Anyway I hope this continues as it feels rather satisfying to keep abreast of the work done in class as oppose to being left behind while everyone else moves on . Ms Mohammed tied all of the topics together so although we may have been a bit confused as to how everything fits , lets just say the pieces of the puzzle (known to us as INFO 1400) is finally coming together and definitely creating a bigger picture . As with everything else in this course data and information is at the core of that bigger picture I refered to earlier . Well we have many more classes ahead so until next time, keep on enjoying class . Smile ***

IT Fundamentals 05/10/06

We have dealt with data and information up to this point and for those of us who are a little tired of hearing those terms , get use to it /you may hear it more than your own name over the next three years and beyond . We began looking at Data Hierarchy-refers to the systematic organisation of data . The structure is as follows:
bit(1,0) -> byte(8 bits)/character -> field(set of characters) -> record -> file(group of related records) -> database(group of related files) /where a bit is the smallest about of data available .

** Ms mohammed informed us in our tutorial session that 4 bits is referred to as a nibble .**


We touched on DBMS/ Database Management Systems . Basically its the software that controls the database . Software is responsible for : * query
* inserting data
* updating data
* deleting data
* and granting permission to the database

We also looked at the typical databases found in an organizations /employee database, asset database, financial database, estate management database . Since we were using UWI as an example in addition to the more common ones we listed student database and library database as well . A few examples of DBMS : SQL Server, Oracle and MS Access just to name a few . We ended our lecture at this point . Until next class , bye sir .

INFO 1400 Tutorials

Well tutorials are finally becoming interesting . We started discussing data , infomation and decisions about two weeks back . On monday we resumed our discussion and we looked at Management decisions . As we learnt in INFO 1410 , there are three levels of management decisions : strategic , tactical and operational . Since we were already familiar with this topic we were more invloved in the tutorial session , some much more than others . We examined the timeframe of each level , the degree of information i.e. whether it needs to be summarised or detailed . We also looked at the frequency of the management decision levels and whether the information used at each level is external or internal . We concluded our session by examining the structure of the three levels . Ms. Mohammed used the example of Nike shoe company and we were therefore able to incorporate each of the concepts in a real life situation . Although I am not very interactive in class I am learning a lot about the buiness world as it pertains to IT .
In class we also looked at E-commerce . We did labs on it where we went to the websites(Amazon) and saw how we would go about purchasing an item online . I hope our sessions continue to be interesting . Hope to post soon /later ...

INFO TECH /Classes over the last week

hey , its been a while . I'm still enjoying my lectures so that's a good sign . Last week we discussed the attributes of information . My classmate brought up a very interesting attribute , information must be cost beneficial . Surprisingly this sparked a small debate in which some students disagreed . They could not see how being cost beneficial would be an attribute of information . This left some of students in doubt , even sir was not 100% certain at this point . After careful research and review and one thoughtful student even provided a link to websites through his blog for us to do additional reading . This lead to sir concluding that yes it was a valid point but a more precise term to use in place of Attributes of Information would be Measures to determine the VALUE of Information . This made class exciting and I hope to see more discussions of this type in the near future . Well until next time . Enjoy !!!

INFO TECH FUNDAMENTALS 27/09/06 / Enjoying Class

Hi * hope everyone's enjoying the class /personally it's one of the more comfortable class for me . Our discusions last week ended with the risks invloved in data storage , in our tutorial on Thursday we had a class discussion on data, information and decisions . We used the example of the banana industry and distinguished whether the activities invloved fell under data , information and decisions . This week we started talking about data processing. We used the example of ordering an item over the internet and traced the package through the the various stages up to the point of delivery . Well I'll let you know how our discussions progress throughout the week . Enjoy !!!

INFO TECH in Organizations

hey *
this week we have been discussing DATA/INFORMATION and the ways in which it is used in organizations . Data are collected , stored , processed and output which has subcomponents transission and distribution . We went in depth into storage and discovered that there are several risks involved with data storage . Today we began looking at some of those risks , the ways in which risk can be avoided and in the event it does happen risk minimization . we will continue with this discusion in tomorrow's lecture . Bye for now.

Info Tech Fundamentals /14-09-06

hey ,
this morning's class was a discussion on IT in organizations . We talked about globalization with respect to IT ; the establishment of Amazon.com , how it started with a single individual working from home without any physical inventory . Every class it becomes clearer that IT and the business world goes hand in hand .

Byyeee ...