Social Media Project

http://ism3004socialmedia.wikispaces.com/Starbucks

This was the final project for my ISM3004 class. I didn't know what to expect when it came to doing a social media project. But I did enjoy it. There was good team effort and collaboration. I learned a lot about all the different social media engines that are available. The great thing is that they are mostly free. Unless you want to run advertising on thier sites which obviously is how they keep on running.

My portion of our groups project was for Wikipedia. Anyone can edit a wiki and I knew this but not as much as I do now. There is so much information out there and you can reference just about anything on Wikipedia, even Starbucks the company we did our Wiki on.

This was a very enjoyable class and I got to learn more than I expected. I will say getting to use all the Microsoft programs became very useful beacuse they will be needed by everyone once they enter whatever career they choose. I am already along in my career and I use Microsoft Office everyday.

Week 13: "Social Media"

This week was all about social media and it seems like it has take over everywhere. 6 or 7 years ago I remember people starting up thier MySpace accounts and finding long lost friends, then Youtube blew up along with Facebook. There is not a business out there that I could think of that doesn't have some sort of social media type of marketing or other form. Well my buisness doesn't. My company has been around since 1945 doing retirement insurance for non profit organizations all across the US and are always 10 years behind when it comes to technology. You would think they would get with the program when they have 500,000 clients. Who knows they could have 1 million by now...

This weeks topic of social media was very clear seeing how there isn't one person I know who doesn't have a clue what it is. There are jobs now for many organizations that are titled "social media specialist" and others of course. I didn't know the differnce between Web 2.0 and Web 1.0 and even what peer production was or is.. Well, peer production is "the ability for anyone to put content on the web and to work collaboratively to create that content." I thought that was just Web 2.0, I feel I am a little left behind with my company because a year ago when I was taking the business writing class they talked about Web 2.0 and I was like what the heck is that?

I personally think one of the biggest apects of social media is not just sharing pictures and videos. I think marketing is one of the valuable tools of social media. Every time I go to watch a Youtube video there is some 30 second advertisment. Or like when I open up facebook and there are ads all over the page. It seems this is a better way to get products and services out there since all of America records television and fast forwards through all the commercials. Advertsing and marketing is how these major companies stay in business and offer free stuff so its cool. Like Gmail and facebook which I use daily, its nice that they are free and I can deal with the ads and stuff.


I didnt know what Web 2.0 was about a year ago becasue I guess I just paid no attention to it but I found this video on Youtube that might help you with more of a understanding. With permission the standard Youtube license.

Week 12: Telecommunications and the Internet

I will say this is a pretty clear week when it comes to understanding this stuff, seeing that we have already learned a portion of this stuff previously. The big picture is that the internet is a network of networks all connected in some way or another that lets others connect and share data and communicate with one another. There is so much when it comes to the internet and how we all stay connected with URL's and domain names that need to be registered as .com or like our awesome University of Florida that is a .edu, or if you happen to be in other countries that would end in .uk and many more.

One thing that was a little muddy for me for this lesson was cybersquatting. This I will admit was the first time that I have ever heard of such a thing. I liked that one guys site, I think it was Mikerowesoft.com or something similar. So it is definitley illegal to register a domain name that uses a trademark already in use to try to get some cash out of them. Wow is all I can say and I am sure that people actually do this.

Ok ok I also had no clue that we are running out of IP addresses. So IPv4 is eventually going to be IPv6 of is being phased out. There was a picture of IPv4 with colors compared to IPv6 and there was a big difference. No one knew that everything was going to be a IP address from printers to computers to cell phones to every device out there and there are billion of them. Check out this video below on IP addresses that I found on Youtube, licensing with permission the standard Youtube license.

Week 11: "Database 2" Muddy

-There were a lot of things that I learned this week on databases, so once again this is a muddy topic for me. I have heard of previously about 95% of the stuff in this class, however, this stuff is unknown to me because I have never done any research on these topics before. Sure I have heard of data and information, like who hasn’t right? But to learn that information is data just presented in a context that people can understand it. There is use to putting all sorts of numbers into databases like sales and losses, or new members vs. members that left the club, and so on. There are programs that filter all of this information and help companies with marketing and other areas of their business to help with growth and sales.

-I had not a clue what SQL was or is, a structured query language that is used to create and manipulate databases. Microsoft has SQL server which probably costs a ton of money and opensource has MySQL which was noted in a previous lesson, is free for the most part. To analyze the data is just amazing with how much data is out there, it was noted in the book that walmart has more than 125 times the data than the US congress or something in that area.

-There was also talk this week about big companies having a lot of data but nothing to do with it. Like if two companies merge and the data is different or the systems are not compatible what is the company to do? And I have never heard of a data warehouse or a data mart? Definitely a first for me, but all very interesting. Like I said last week, I have only made two databases and this project will be my second one. Not too hard but I guess I will find out by my grade L.  Here is a short video on the basics of data warehousing that I found helpful on Youtube, with permission “standard Youtube license.”

Database Project

I learned a little more about databases this semester with this assignment. I did something similar to this about 2 years ago in my ISM course at Palm Beach State. We did the basics when it comes to Query's and forms and reports. I know I am going to lose points because of lack of understanding when it came to the query and where it said "membership types who have left the gym within the last six months (six months prior to the database project due date)" From what I understand our database project is due April 1st 2012, and six months prior to that date is October 1st 2011. Well the excel spread sheet that was called for on this assingment has the most recent date for someone to leave the gym as 8/5/2011 so I ended up just putting all the members who left. Wouldn't I have a blank database? Or query.

I hope it isn't too many points... :( I did note in my week 10 blog post about microsoft access that I am sure there is a lot more to it then what we are diving into. I could only imagine what the access book is like because the Excel book is over 1000 pages. I have not a clue on how I could enhance the functionality of this database... I know I am still kind of lost when it comes to Microsoft Access but I will keep messing with it until I get it figured out like with most things that I do. Practice makes perfect and this is a great tool especially in the business world. I use it every day at work, just to input data, I by no means create these things.

Week 10 "Database Skills Track"

This is the second time that I have ever made any type of database and I will go with a big muddy understanding of it. Not really easy to make, even though I use it almost everyday at work. When we get jobs that come from New York they can see when we completed the jobs and how long the jobs took to be completed. I update them all the time just never create them.

There are so many features to these programs and I know this because I have the book from 2007 and it was an introduction book to Microsoft Office and it is almost 1000 pages. I mean the features and options of all these programs is amazing. There is so much to learn and when I took ISM2000 at palm beach state college we took a dive into micrsoft office and did a small microsoft access project.

I still feel like I have not the greatest understanding of the database, I think I will crack out the old 2007 book on Office.

Week 9: "Moore's Law"

Moore's law makes a lot of sense, but then again I have never done the math to see if I can get twice the speed at the same price in 18 months from now. But when I did buy my first ipod in 2008 it had 8 gigs and it was $200 and now you can get one with video and pictures and all theses other features and has 32 gigs for about $200. Like how much smaller can we really get when it comes to technology and faster. Well here is a funny youtube clip with the guys from Myth Busters. With permission standard youtube license.

This is why there is talk about the death of Moore's law. Size, heat and power will be the death of Moore's law. Then according to Dr. Michio Kaku we will be living on other planets in 100 years, ok he didn't say that but his clip on the future of technology was a little mind boggling.

Of course we will find new technologies and robots will be smarter than people and Moores law will come to an end, then there will be some other law that people follow and so on and so forth. I think form the lecture the first computer came out in 1944. "Professor Means said we didn't have to remember those dates." But look at where we are now, from bytes to Zettabytes. A zettabyte is what about of data the U.S. consumes yearly or 3 or 4 zettabytes.

Excel Project

I figured out how to do a screen capture of the Average increase pivot table that I created, and I used the snipping tool and this was a first for me. I never think to just look up in the help section of programs or even online of how to do certain things. I know I got a good screen shot of my pivot table, however, I am not very confident of the pivot table portion of my excel project. Here is my screen shot...

I think I did this pivot table to the best of my ability. The instructions asked to group the ages by decade and I did, the gender in columns and age in rows and I did... I suppressed the display of grand totals and I am not confident on the display of percentages with 1 decimal place. Well this was the first time I have ever attempted something like this before and I am learning so much.

As for the rest of the project I have played around with excel but not like this. All the formulas were really interesting and could definitely be useful in the future. At my office once a year one of the trainers has classes on word, excel, and other office software and I can say that I have a general knowledge of excel and its features. I use excel at work every day and I use it to log in all the completed jobs. Its great because I update it daily with counts and who submitted the work and estimated time of completion of the projects and so forth.

I am the kind of person that will keep doing things the hard way until I find out by coincidence, like I never knew you could print titles on spread sheets, I always tried to make the headers of the worksheet fit above the columns like an idiot. Or I would copy the column headings and paste them to each sheet and have it in page break preview. Oh the joys of school to make my life a little bit easier.



Week 7: "Muddy/Clear" Application Software 2

This week was all on the cloud and opensource. I have never heard of these things, actually I have but I never knew what they were or I didn’t give any thought to it. I mean like my best friend of 20 years works for EMC and I also know the widow of one of three original founders to EMC. Shows how much I pay attention to things that go on around me.... That’s where the muddy part comes in, as far as the principals of this technology it was pretty clear. Not too hard to comprehend. The video below is from EMC and published with permission with the standard youtube license.

The idea of owning a company or starting up a company and not having to worry about having any type of server in my building is amazing. Then on top of that to not even have to pay all those costs for windows and use Linux for free. There are pro’s and con’s of everything and that is why they stressed this week about being a manger and weighing costs to see what is or will be beneficial to the company.

When I saw the servers in cargo containers I thought that was pure genius and I can see why these major corporations make so much money. Why do you need a multimillion dollar building? Just put the servers in some metal storage container out in a field somewhere with thousands of other storage containers. Then have some web based application that customers can access with their monthly accounts to hook them up to these servers.

Another great thing I learned about software this week was that once you spend the millions of dollars paying programmers to write up the code it costs pennies to produce more of your software. I compare this to cars, say it cost 20,000 to build my Honda and I paid 27,000. This is only 7,000 per car minus all other costs that the dealer incurs in each car sale. But for windows 7 or Microsoft office, the code was written and it has its cost to pay the programmers, but when it’s loaded on every Dell machine practically sold the profit is out of this world. Hence, this is why Bill Gates is one of the wealthiest philanthropists on the planet. Maybe I could learn a thing or two about this.

Presentation Project

This presentation I kind of had a jump start on because last semester in my business writing class I had to make a presentation with 4 other members on PowerPoint with photos, and my voice. I still am a rookie when it comes to using PowerPoint. Last semesters presentation was on mountain biking at Whistler the best downhill mountain bike course in North America. It was really fun because I got to learn more about something that I love and it seemed that the other people in my virtual group who I had never met were cool with it also.

This course I got to learn a little more about new programs or software that can be used for creating presentations. This is the first time I have ever uploaded a video to Youtube, I know I know… I am probably the last person on earth to have ever done this. I also used this program called Camtasia, which is awesome. I can see myself purchasing this software and using it more and more. I do use my GoPro video camera for mountain biking and I need some good video editing software and this is exactly what I was looking for. The time line at the bottom is easy and very useful. Big thumbs up to camtaisa.

“Presentation Evaluation,” This is where the fun begins right… My logical flow and sequence of content is good, I did throw in the mix an off topic subject about my cousins alert response dog Lilly, but I felt it was a good addition to the project even though the JDRF has nothing to do with those services. I stated the questions on my powerpoint presentation as I was reading the answers and I thought that was good so the audiences can see the screen and hear my voice and it showed consistency. I never had any questions that were not answered.

“Evaluation continued…” I definitely grabbed the attention of my audience in the first 30-60 seconds, I mean it is only 2:45 how could I not right? If my questions did not spark the curiosity of my audience then they don’t really care about the JDRF and its cause anyways. I was clear in what I was trying to say. I spoke about what type 1 diabetes is and how it affects the lives of millions of Americans and how donating money to the JDRF is for a good cause.

“Presentation Evaluation…” I had a few inconsistencies in my speech while I was trying to speak about JDRF. This was my first presentation on this type of system so I was a little new and nervous so I stuttered a few times. My grade will show with these faults but I take it all as a learning experience and strive to do better. Overall this was a good experience and look forward to using these tools in the future.

Week 6: "Muddy" Application software

There is so much to application software, that I have not a clue about. It makes a lot of sense that if you do not have software then your computer is just a bunch of metal and wires, with a screen that would be blank. I have see code for web sites and have even tried to do create my own web page. I know that simple web pages of code are like an inch compared to a mile when it comes to writing code for software. Here is a quick video on software engineers, with permission standard youtube licencse...

I thought that software was just Microsoft office, turbo tax, visual basic, and so on. Well technically it is, but it is only one type of software. First it takes some type of operating system to be able to support software or to make it work, this I knew. I am a windows user, I never got into linux or MAC OS X, I always bought Dell and they come preloaded with windows.

I only use application software, this is the work of a single user on a single computer. At my office I have come to find out that they use enterprise software, which supports multiple users across an business or an organization. After I get this degree I may venture off to computer school and learn more especially after being with my company for so long it only makes, sense, I do work in the office of technology for my company.

Another thing that struck an interest this week was 9.4 in the info systems book on distributed computing, how southwest added other features to their site by linking it to other car and hotel sites. There is a bigger problem with this and it is security, which they talked about adding more and more doors to an already existing system and now having to protect each one of them.

Week 5: "Clear" Presentations

I say clear because I remember all the rules to giving a good presentation at work and school. I had to take a speech class when I was going for my Associates degree at Palm Beach State College. I remembered all those key points from that class and I have applied them here at my job. I get to go into the training department a few times a year and give presentations on life, health, and annuities.

Below is a video on you tube that has some great tips on speaking, you see his power points on fears and this is how they should look with all the right elements. With permission standard youtube license.

The one thing I do not do is create the power point slides. This is where it gets a little muddy. I had to put a power point presentation together for my writing class last semester and I ended up getting a 65% on it. It was a group project and I thought we had at least a B on it. I still have a lot to learn when it comes to making presentations I guess.

Hopefully with all that I have learned this week I will do better than a 65% on this presentation. I will put the extra time into figuring out the best way to make my presentation capture my audience. I had no clue about the copyright laws and that even pictures need to be cited. I will definitely cite everything for this project so I can avoid getting points taken off of my grade. My presentation is about donating money to the JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My younger cousin Joey has Type 1 and I believe in the JDRF and hope that one day they find some break through cure or something to make this life threatening disease go away. It is so hard for my family to deal with this and just to know that there is a foundation to try to over come this is amazing.

Week 4: "Muddy" Strategy and Technology

Without some form of technology it seems that no business will survive in today’s day and age. Technology is what helps out the most when it comes to a businesses strategy. So many companies sit back and wait for new innovations to be put on the shelves, why? It costs so much in research and development in creating new products that it is easier to let other companies do it so the other guys can do a little reverse engineering. Why is this muddy to me? It is this first time I have learned about these things. This can go both ways if you really look at it. When the iphone came out it was a huge success and still is, now there are android phones, when the ipad came out there are now tablets in all shapes and sizes. When groupon came out I think I read that within a short period of time there were 500 competitors. WOW!! All these me too products just so someone else can make a buck.

There is obviously a danger on relying just on technology I noted above, any company can create a product basically exactly like the new product that I just came up. According to Michael Porter you need to know the 5 competitive forces that shape strategy. He says that most companies rely on operational effectiveness and not on strategic positioning. If you look at the definition of operational effectiveness, “Performing the same tasks better than rivals perform them.” This seems like a great strategy, well at least so I thought. It is having the strategic positioning to make your company or organization succeed. An example in the book is FreshDirect and how they are ahead of everyone in the supermarket business in a major metropolitan area.

There is more to technology and strategy than reverse engineering a product. Look at Michael Porter and his 5 competitive forces that shape strategy. They are “Threats of New Entrants, Bargaining Power of Suppliers, Bargaining Power of Buyers, Threat of Substitute Products or Services, Rivalry Among Existing Competitors.” For over 30 years these forces have helped successful companies become what they are today and continue to beat out the competition. I takes a lot I am sure to make a great product, but to make it more efficient, cheaper, and all the other things with the added technology needed is no easy task I am sure.  

Week 3: Muddy "Networks"

Or so I thought I knew all about networks and servers... There are so many acronyms that its is mind blowing and how can someone really remember all of them, LAN, WAN, MAC(maybe not an acronym), TCP, UDP, and I think there are a bunch more right... I remeber the good ones like BIBLE "Basic instruction before leaving earth" or BUDWEISER "Because U deserve what every individual should enjoy regularly."

Above is my picture of a network, see there is a server and a star and all the computers. Now everyone is connected and we can all share information and it is just that easy... right? No I guess it isn't as easy as it looks. I learned so much this week on networking and that was barely the beginning I am sure. The network administrators at my office make the big bucks along with the programmers and I see why. If something goes wrong they need to know how to fix it and make sure everything is secure.

Who knew that there was more to networking than just the blue network cable with the RJ45 jacks on the end of them? I didn't.

Week 2: Clear, The Personal Computer

Being almost 30 years old I grew up when personal computers just started entering the homes of Americans. Of course as a child I has no clue what these things did but I knew I could play games on them. It wasn’t until high school that I started to understand what went on inside a computer when I took an electronics/CPU course after school one year. The first thing we were taught was binary numbers and yes I did hear the “only 10 people understand binary numbers…” joke.

It is amazing to see how much technology has changed over the years with computers. I remember the big black floppy disks turn into hard smaller disks and then into CD’s, and now it is all USB. The principles are all very similar but the technology has changed immensely. Just because I took come intro to computers and electronics does not mean I am a computer genius. I actually only know the basics and this week I learned a lot more than I thought I could going into this course.

My electronics abilities are minimal, see below the resistor that I replaced on the power control circuit board of my Samsung LCD TV. Needless to say I will not be purchasing a Samsung ever again. After this first week of diving into the book I hope I learn more to get me to pursue a career in computers. I work at the technology building of a life insurance company and there are so many possibilities here for growth, at least in the technology department, not the printing department that I work in.

Avatar Extra Credit

Extra credit? Why not I always can use some extra credit. Above you can see myself as an Avatar, not like the blue guys from that billion dollar movie a couple of years ago. I chose the website of (http://www.doppelme.com/) an it turned out not as bad as I thought. The only time I had an opportunity to make any Avatars is on nintendo's Wii and on the XBOX. This guy up above is now my profile picture of my amazing blog. I was given many choices of faces, colors, clothes and so on... Kind of neat so you could keep what you look like a secret as you blog.

Week 1: Muddy "Course Introduction"

Wednesday January 11th,

This will be my first time Blogging and I have come to the conclusion that for the next 14 or so weeks I will be doing a lot of this. Why did I label this one muddy? I will say that I never read blogs and I never thought I would be creating my own, so this is where I got muddy from. I also have learned from taking the introduction quiz that everything is fair game... even the crazy Disney video, seriously?

Was I really supposed to take notes from that. Yeah because one of the questions on the quiz came from it. The first week I did rush a little but it is in my nature to get the ball moving, lesson for me this semester is to take my time. So this experience of blogging I will try to take full advantage of because the likely hood of me ever doing something like this again is slim to none. Well you never know I could become so amazing at this that I turn it into a career.

Here is a picture for your enjoyment of my favorite mascot that I took at the NCAA men's basketball tournament in Atlanta last year. Go Gators!!!!