The Romanian project was an interesting idea to teach business students a few things about the business world. When I get a job doing something related to business, conferences with people across the world will be vital. The technical aspects are not important. Skype is easy to use. Emailing and instant messaging are simple. The hard parts were scheduling a meeting and conversing with our Romanian counterparts. Actually, talking with them was not especially hard. My cross-world group members spoke very good English and were very easy-going. However, scheduling a meeting was difficult due to our different schedules and, of course, the time difference. Either we would have to wake up very early to discuss our project, or they would have to sacrifice their social life one night to work on it. They volunteered, and no conflict ensued. I assume that it will not be as easy in the business world to balance schedules, but now I have experience. Now, I know it is not impossible to make international conferences work.
Aside from some of the valuable information I learned, this class has taught me two more things. First, I was able to relate my newly gained knowledge of the Internet, how it works and other things, to other classes, namely cyber psychology. I learned a lot about Web 2.0, which, I know, can be tested. However, how it related to almost every one of my other classes in some nature cannot be tested. And that knowledge is invaluable. Second, taking this class made me realize that I have a passion for computers. I have a blueprint, which can be changed very easily, for my intended major and minor and LSM now. I believe that I am going to major in CS. Even if my plan does change, I will have gained the experience of taking a CS class and knowing what I do not want to major in.
I have learned lessons from this class that cannot be tested. These lessons may have shaped my future.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Chris Penn: New Media 101 at Bentley CIS Presents (video)
The video can be found here.
Penn is an interesting character, and his charisma makes what he is saying interesting. This video focuses on New Media, what it is, how we use it, etc.
The first thing he talks about is Old Media. Old Media are things like newspapers, televisions, and radios of which there are very few options. As a result, these things are forced down our throats. Scarcity provides value, power, money, connection.
New media brings access, affordability, and abundance. Penn's example of the last trait is that there are tens of thousands of hours of YouTube videos uploaded each day. The number of iPods sold would be the 11th most populated country on the earth. MySpace would be the 3rd most populated countries in the world.
Getting into Podcasts (or other forms of New Media) is really easy. And there are tons of different ones to listen to. Penn talked about influencing the media by calling in, leaving comments, etc. Doing so is easy, and it can change the way things are done. Someone called into his show to ask about aid for people who are in active military duty now. Penn looked it up and made an entire show about it.
Then, he began talking about making your own podcast. The first thing is to make sure you have something to talk about. He stressed making a brand, which is the emotional aftertaste that stays with someone. For example, the check mark reminds people of Nike. The equipment required for a podcast: computer, microphone (camera), and internet. Also, include a lot of text (blog is essential) because Google can read text, but it does not understand speech or video.
Penn's ending summary: CBS, NBC, ABC are not the media anymore; you are. You are who Google says you are.
One last idea: knowledge arbitrage. That is, bringing your knowledge (in this case, of podcasting) to other fields (like accounting or divorce law).
Penn is very adamant about "you are the media." He really believes that marketing yourself is the most important thing you can do.
I am going to check out his podcast now and see if it interests me. This presentation was really interesting.
Penn is an interesting character, and his charisma makes what he is saying interesting. This video focuses on New Media, what it is, how we use it, etc.
The first thing he talks about is Old Media. Old Media are things like newspapers, televisions, and radios of which there are very few options. As a result, these things are forced down our throats. Scarcity provides value, power, money, connection.
New media brings access, affordability, and abundance. Penn's example of the last trait is that there are tens of thousands of hours of YouTube videos uploaded each day. The number of iPods sold would be the 11th most populated country on the earth. MySpace would be the 3rd most populated countries in the world.
Getting into Podcasts (or other forms of New Media) is really easy. And there are tons of different ones to listen to. Penn talked about influencing the media by calling in, leaving comments, etc. Doing so is easy, and it can change the way things are done. Someone called into his show to ask about aid for people who are in active military duty now. Penn looked it up and made an entire show about it.
Then, he began talking about making your own podcast. The first thing is to make sure you have something to talk about. He stressed making a brand, which is the emotional aftertaste that stays with someone. For example, the check mark reminds people of Nike. The equipment required for a podcast: computer, microphone (camera), and internet. Also, include a lot of text (blog is essential) because Google can read text, but it does not understand speech or video.
Penn's ending summary: CBS, NBC, ABC are not the media anymore; you are. You are who Google says you are.
One last idea: knowledge arbitrage. That is, bringing your knowledge (in this case, of podcasting) to other fields (like accounting or divorce law).
Penn is very adamant about "you are the media." He really believes that marketing yourself is the most important thing you can do.
I am going to check out his podcast now and see if it interests me. This presentation was really interesting.
Laura "Pistachio" Fitton's Bentley Presentation
Laura Fitton began her Bentley presentation by running late and broadcasting to us that she would be here soon. She did so using qik.com, a website that allows live, streaming video from a phone onto the internet. When she did arrive, she spoke mostly about her experiences using Twitter. The most interesting thing, in my opinion, that she explained to us was the branching effect that Twitter has. When one person posts something on Twitter, it reaches all of her followers. The followers, in turn, post the same thing if it is important to them, which reaches all of their followers. The effect continues. I believe that Fitton said she saw a post about a family in the south in trouble because of the hurricane. She posted it as her status, and the message kept going.
Interestingly, Fitton does not work for Twitter. However, she does go around promoting the use of Twitter for business and personal use.
Overall, and I do not mean to offend, I was not overly impressed with her presentation. Twitter has its uses, some of which are practical and important. However, I do not plan to use Twitter all that much. It does not interest me, and that is likely why her presentation had the same effect on me.
Interestingly, Fitton does not work for Twitter. However, she does go around promoting the use of Twitter for business and personal use.
Overall, and I do not mean to offend, I was not overly impressed with her presentation. Twitter has its uses, some of which are practical and important. However, I do not plan to use Twitter all that much. It does not interest me, and that is likely why her presentation had the same effect on me.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Steelers win!
One last post before I go to sleep. I found out that this is a lot of fun. The Steelers beat the Redskins, 23-6. Click here for all the stats and summary and everything. The Steelers are now 7-2, first in the AFC North by one game over the Baltimore Ravens (the Ravens' quarterback is...Joe Flacco! What is going on?!?!).
Anyway, I have to wake up at 6:00 tomorrow morning, so I think it is time to go to sleep. Good night, everyone. Go Steelers!
Anyway, I have to wake up at 6:00 tomorrow morning, so I think it is time to go to sleep. Good night, everyone. Go Steelers!
Campbell threw a pick!
A tipped pass ended up in Deshea Townsend's hands! The Steelers forced Campbell's first pick of the year.
Also, I added an RSS Feed of MLBtraderumors.com on the right. It is an awesome website with baseball rumors.
Also, I added an RSS Feed of MLBtraderumors.com on the right. It is an awesome website with baseball rumors.
Steelers vs. Redskins
How clever: the NFL put the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football the day before the election. I, being a Steelers fan, am a beneficiary of this.
Last week, the Steelers got spanked by the Giants. This week, we decided not to play offense in the first quarter. And then we blocked a punt, and everything changed.
Roethlisberger is still holding the ball too long, and it cost him. He got hit on the hand, and he hurt his shoulder. He probably will not come back in, but that is okay (for today). Leftwich came in and immediately make a huge impact, tossing a 50-yard pass to Nate Washington to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Willie Parker. As long as Leftwich manages the game, the Steelers should be fine. He should not try to do too much. Five yard passes are good, and letting Willie, Mewelde, and Najeh run is great. The defense will handle the rest.
As of writing this, it is 16-6 for the Steelers, and there are about five minutes left in the third quarter. This is good, not only because the Steelers are winning, but because it means that Leftwich won't be forced to pass.
Last week, the Steelers got spanked by the Giants. This week, we decided not to play offense in the first quarter. And then we blocked a punt, and everything changed.
Roethlisberger is still holding the ball too long, and it cost him. He got hit on the hand, and he hurt his shoulder. He probably will not come back in, but that is okay (for today). Leftwich came in and immediately make a huge impact, tossing a 50-yard pass to Nate Washington to set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Willie Parker. As long as Leftwich manages the game, the Steelers should be fine. He should not try to do too much. Five yard passes are good, and letting Willie, Mewelde, and Najeh run is great. The defense will handle the rest.
As of writing this, it is 16-6 for the Steelers, and there are about five minutes left in the third quarter. This is good, not only because the Steelers are winning, but because it means that Leftwich won't be forced to pass.
"Technology is Our Business" pt. 2
I wanted to put these in two posts so that no one would get bored reading a really long post.
Carol Vallone says that the number of people 55+ is increasing to 20%, the number of students graduating high school is decreasing, and there is a huge gap in math and technical skills. Technically competent people with a business background are the people who will change the world. Vallone created the first e-learning system and sold it to Blackboard two years ago.
Lisa Hoffman is a Bentley graduate in 1986! She is the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and Vice President of Software Development at Synapse Group. IT is not programming (w00t, programming sucks)! "The future for IT is leadership."
Brian Heemsoth works for Aetna and graduated from Bentley last May!!! Go Falcons! He has not typed a line of programming in his job yet (good for him)! He says that CS240 and CS440 helped him with development, and GB201 and GB301 helped him with the business aspect (thanks, Brandon, for letting me read your screen to get that info). "If you don't major in CIS, minor in it" (that's not his quote, but one of his superiors).
Josh Marine graduated in 2003 with a degree in CIS. He worked for John Hancock (so, he probably graduated from Bentley), and then went to Fidelity. Some of the IT skills that he learned that he uses: programming (booooooo!), management. These skills help him solve some of the problems that seem to arise in the economy or other places in the job world.
Question and answer session (not verbatim):
Q: Do women have an advantage in getting a tech job?
A: Yes, because there are fewer women, and people pay more attention to technologically advanced women. Also, there is a different perspective. Women ask different, not necessarily better, questions.
Q: If you could do things differently, what would you do? (asked by Mr. Guarin)
A: Get internships! Volunteer your time. Get experience; it is more important than getting money. Everyone stressed internships. Get an internship! Josh says to take more communication courses. He says that communicating over the phone or anyway is extremely important. Also, he says to get a mentor. Third, he emphasizes networking. Take a course on presentations: how to present yourself and your ideas. Edwin says to bridge the gap between technology and soft skills.
Q: What minor would you recommend to a CIS major?
A: Finance. A lot of projects are based upon numbers, and understanding the financial aspects is extremely important.
Q: For a technology company, to go into marketing, should you major in marketing and minor in CIS or vice-versa?
A: Carol says marketing major, CIS minor. She says that it is important to have a marketing knowledge, and the CIS minor differentiates yourself. Lisa says CIS major, marketing minor. She says that there are so many marketing majors that it is very hard to get a job.
That's all. Prizes now! Ten of Tom's books were given out, and they are all signed by him. Five XBOX360 games. Another book by Tom: "The Innovation Zone." It is not published yet, but it will be soon!
I think I am going to blog about the Steelers game tonight. The presentation was fun. See you soon.
Carol Vallone says that the number of people 55+ is increasing to 20%, the number of students graduating high school is decreasing, and there is a huge gap in math and technical skills. Technically competent people with a business background are the people who will change the world. Vallone created the first e-learning system and sold it to Blackboard two years ago.
Lisa Hoffman is a Bentley graduate in 1986! She is the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) and Vice President of Software Development at Synapse Group. IT is not programming (w00t, programming sucks)! "The future for IT is leadership."
Brian Heemsoth works for Aetna and graduated from Bentley last May!!! Go Falcons! He has not typed a line of programming in his job yet (good for him)! He says that CS240 and CS440 helped him with development, and GB201 and GB301 helped him with the business aspect (thanks, Brandon, for letting me read your screen to get that info). "If you don't major in CIS, minor in it" (that's not his quote, but one of his superiors).
Josh Marine graduated in 2003 with a degree in CIS. He worked for John Hancock (so, he probably graduated from Bentley), and then went to Fidelity. Some of the IT skills that he learned that he uses: programming (booooooo!), management. These skills help him solve some of the problems that seem to arise in the economy or other places in the job world.
Question and answer session (not verbatim):
Q: Do women have an advantage in getting a tech job?
A: Yes, because there are fewer women, and people pay more attention to technologically advanced women. Also, there is a different perspective. Women ask different, not necessarily better, questions.
Q: If you could do things differently, what would you do? (asked by Mr. Guarin)
A: Get internships! Volunteer your time. Get experience; it is more important than getting money. Everyone stressed internships. Get an internship! Josh says to take more communication courses. He says that communicating over the phone or anyway is extremely important. Also, he says to get a mentor. Third, he emphasizes networking. Take a course on presentations: how to present yourself and your ideas. Edwin says to bridge the gap between technology and soft skills.
Q: What minor would you recommend to a CIS major?
A: Finance. A lot of projects are based upon numbers, and understanding the financial aspects is extremely important.
Q: For a technology company, to go into marketing, should you major in marketing and minor in CIS or vice-versa?
A: Carol says marketing major, CIS minor. She says that it is important to have a marketing knowledge, and the CIS minor differentiates yourself. Lisa says CIS major, marketing minor. She says that there are so many marketing majors that it is very hard to get a job.
That's all. Prizes now! Ten of Tom's books were given out, and they are all signed by him. Five XBOX360 games. Another book by Tom: "The Innovation Zone." It is not published yet, but it will be soon!
I think I am going to blog about the Steelers game tonight. The presentation was fun. See you soon.
"Technology is Our Business"
The following people came to speak to us about technology and how it will affect our lives and careers:
Microsoft - Edwin Guarin
DelphiGroup - Tom Koulopouslos
GreatPaths, Inc. - Carol Vallone
Synapse Group - Lisa Hoffman
Fidelity - Josh Marine
Aetna - Brian Heemsoth
Guarin is a self-proclaimed "education evangelist." He showed us a super zoom to count people in a tower from extremely far away. He showed us the same concept in a picture on a website, where it zoomed out from figures of the Beatles, to a showcase in a window, to a street showing the Hard Rock Cafe, to a set of pictures. He demoed the voice command technology in Windows Vista. For the most part, it worked, but it still has many problems. He stresses that it is useful for people who cannot type.
Tom Koulopoulus graduated from Bentley more than five-ten years ago. He asked to picture the world in our head, and then he told us that we should think about networks, cell phone towers, etc. That is the future. We are all "technology geeks" compared to twenty years ago. CIS is not just technology; it is the "glue that holds everything together." Do something you love and you are "great" at. "Core competency" is the subject, or area of study, that you are passionate about and that you are great at. He said that we should have a mentor, someone who genuinely cares about you and to whom you really look up. He said that we, college kids, CIS majors (I think) are going to build what the world will be in ten years.
Mr. Koulopoulus took questions about how he got here and what he does now. He started DelphiGroup, sold it, and bought back the name. A good question from the audience was, "If you were a CIS major now, what would you focus on?" He says that language is very important, not to know it, but to know how other people think. Also, he says managing a project is extremely important, from the technical side and the human side. Take courses in innovation.
"What global innovations do you see for the near future?" He says that CNN will have really cool technological innovations for the election tomorrow.
Microsoft - Edwin Guarin
DelphiGroup - Tom Koulopouslos
GreatPaths, Inc. - Carol Vallone
Synapse Group - Lisa Hoffman
Fidelity - Josh Marine
Aetna - Brian Heemsoth
Guarin is a self-proclaimed "education evangelist." He showed us a super zoom to count people in a tower from extremely far away. He showed us the same concept in a picture on a website, where it zoomed out from figures of the Beatles, to a showcase in a window, to a street showing the Hard Rock Cafe, to a set of pictures. He demoed the voice command technology in Windows Vista. For the most part, it worked, but it still has many problems. He stresses that it is useful for people who cannot type.
Tom Koulopoulus graduated from Bentley more than five-ten years ago. He asked to picture the world in our head, and then he told us that we should think about networks, cell phone towers, etc. That is the future. We are all "technology geeks" compared to twenty years ago. CIS is not just technology; it is the "glue that holds everything together." Do something you love and you are "great" at. "Core competency" is the subject, or area of study, that you are passionate about and that you are great at. He said that we should have a mentor, someone who genuinely cares about you and to whom you really look up. He said that we, college kids, CIS majors (I think) are going to build what the world will be in ten years.
Mr. Koulopoulus took questions about how he got here and what he does now. He started DelphiGroup, sold it, and bought back the name. A good question from the audience was, "If you were a CIS major now, what would you focus on?" He says that language is very important, not to know it, but to know how other people think. Also, he says managing a project is extremely important, from the technical side and the human side. Take courses in innovation.
"What global innovations do you see for the near future?" He says that CNN will have really cool technological innovations for the election tomorrow.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
CCleaner and Ad-Aware
Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!Ad-Aware is a very useful, free program that searches the computer for spyware and other malicious files and asks the user if they should be deleted. The results of my search were not surprising as I do not or cannot use programs that are known to give off spyware. Two files were found, and their risk factors were pretty low.
Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!
Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!CCleaner is also a really cool program. I learned about it a few years ago from a friend. CCleaner searches the computer for any useless files, or crap (from which the C in CCleaner comes) and deletes them. However, it also does two more things. It also searches the registry for any problems in there and gives the user the option of deleting them. The final thing CCleaner does is allow the user to uninstall programs from the computer.
I was not surprised by what CCleaner deleted for a few reasons. First, I have used the program before. Second, the program clearly defines where it is searching and what it is searching for. For example, on the left it says it is searching Internet Explorer for Temporary Internet Files. So, I was pretty certain that CCleaner would go after that. It did.
Spy-ware is generally hidden in programs. They get there by paying the company that publishes the program. As a result, both the program and the spy-ware company benefit.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Vista Feature Project
Search Menu Video
In the video, I detailed the usefulness of the new Windows Vista Search box. Search appears in any Windows Explorer, and it helps us find programs and other folders much more easily than manually searching. It is also available on the Start Menu, which is an extremely helpful alternative to displaying all the programs.
CrossLoop is a very useful program in that it can help a novice computer user solve problems much more easily than by calling a service company on the phone. It allows the company to take control of the computer and solve the problem. It can also be very useful in businesses which use computers to spread ideas and give presentations. As far as my personal use, I will now be able to connect to the computer at home and retrieve files that I accidentally left there. In fact, now that I know the capabilities of CrossLoop, I plan to use it more often in the future for my computing needs.
In the video, I detailed the usefulness of the new Windows Vista Search box. Search appears in any Windows Explorer, and it helps us find programs and other folders much more easily than manually searching. It is also available on the Start Menu, which is an extremely helpful alternative to displaying all the programs.
CrossLoop is a very useful program in that it can help a novice computer user solve problems much more easily than by calling a service company on the phone. It allows the company to take control of the computer and solve the problem. It can also be very useful in businesses which use computers to spread ideas and give presentations. As far as my personal use, I will now be able to connect to the computer at home and retrieve files that I accidentally left there. In fact, now that I know the capabilities of CrossLoop, I plan to use it more often in the future for my computing needs.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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