http://www.gpsworld.com/gpsworld
The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system made up of a network of 24 satellites placed into orbit by the U.S. Department of Defense. GPS was originally intended for military applications, but in the 1980s, the government made the system available for civilian use. A GPS satellite weighs approximately 2,000 pounds and is about 17 feet across with the solar panels extended.
GPS satellites circle the earth twice a day in a very precise orbit and transmit signal information to earth. The satellites are powered by solar energy. They have backup batteries onboard to keep them running in the event of a solar eclipse, when there's no solar power. Small rocket boosters on each satellite keep them flying in the correct path.
GPS receivers take the received information and use triangulation to calculate the user's exact location. Essentially, the GPS receiver compares the time a signal was transmitted by a satellite with the time it was received. The time difference tells the GPS receiver how far away the satellite is. Now, with distance measurements from a few more satellites, the receiver can determine the user's position and display it on the unit's electronic map. Once the user's position has been determined, the GPS unit can calculate other information, such as speed, bearing, track, trip distance, distance to destination, sunrise and sunset time and more.
This multifunctional technology allows the organizations to benefit while using it. Especially particular organizations which are providing delivery and transportation. The GPS improves customer service by showing exact locations and routs. It makes easier the process of managing field personnel. It reduces time, spent for searching the location and that is why it increases employee production and saves money. The GPS can work in any weather conditions, anywhere in the world, 24 hours a day. There are no subscription fees or setup charges to use GPS.
Although today's GPS receivers are extremely accurate, there are still few disadvantages in the usage. Certain atmospheric factors and other sources of error can affect the accuracy of GPS receivers. This can happen when the GPS signal is reflected off objects such as tall buildings or large rock surfaces before it reaches the receiver. It increases the travel time of the signal, thereby causing errors. GPS units typically will not work indoors, underwater or underground. Heavy foliage and thick branched trees can attenuate and/or block satellite signals. More importantly GPS requires training and retraining as it changes. I would like to mention that having an understanding of maps is always a good back up.
Summing up, undoubtedly, the GPS is a very effective and easy way to find the location without ever being lost and improve the services.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Scribd
Scribd is a website where users can share and post all kinds of documents for free. These documents include E-books, presentations, essays, academic papers, newsletters, photo albums, school work and sheet music. The sites newest application is ipaper which uses a document format that is specifically built for the web. It gives users a more efficient experience while using Scribd.
The website is a global community that connects publishers, readers, and collaborators. It is a simple method to publish and distribute electronic books and documents. Users have the option of setting the privacy of their document, and can specifically choose who views their work. Another advantage is that users can upload an infinite amount of documents. Although it is easy to upload documents onto Scribd, users can not directly convert images onto their document. The image must be part of a PDF or Word document in order to upload to the site. The websites older server, FlashPaper, is no longer available so users are required to install the ipaper application. Another disadvantage is that once a document is uploaded it can not be edited.
Organizations could highly benefit when using Scribd. Presentations, announcements, and planning would all benefit with the addition of using this website. All members of an organization could easily access the website and view documents made by fellow members as well as other branches of their business. If members are not able to all meet together, they can access the website and view presentations that they would have missed. The site also allows organizations to publish their ideas to the public and get feedback.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate Scribd at a 5 for its usefulness. The website is a easy and effective way for anyone to create and share documents.
http://www.scribd.com/
The website is a global community that connects publishers, readers, and collaborators. It is a simple method to publish and distribute electronic books and documents. Users have the option of setting the privacy of their document, and can specifically choose who views their work. Another advantage is that users can upload an infinite amount of documents. Although it is easy to upload documents onto Scribd, users can not directly convert images onto their document. The image must be part of a PDF or Word document in order to upload to the site. The websites older server, FlashPaper, is no longer available so users are required to install the ipaper application. Another disadvantage is that once a document is uploaded it can not be edited.
Organizations could highly benefit when using Scribd. Presentations, announcements, and planning would all benefit with the addition of using this website. All members of an organization could easily access the website and view documents made by fellow members as well as other branches of their business. If members are not able to all meet together, they can access the website and view presentations that they would have missed. The site also allows organizations to publish their ideas to the public and get feedback.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I would rate Scribd at a 5 for its usefulness. The website is a easy and effective way for anyone to create and share documents.
http://www.scribd.com/
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Flickr description
www.Flickr.com
Flickr is an online photo management, organizing and sharing application. This hosting service for personal pictures and photo albums permits a rich sharing experience.
The Flickr’ users are able to get photos into and out of the system from the web, mobile devices, the users' home computers and from whatever software they are using to manage their photos. This service can be used to organize photos in a meaningful way, because the process of organizing can become collaborative. Under your permission your friends, family, coworkers and other contacts would be able to organize your photos - not just to add comments, but also notes and tags.
On Flickr, you can choose to make your photos either public to make the photos available to the viewers or private for your own closed social circle. You can create groups and albums within certain events, annotate pictures, adding captions within the frame, or post comments below other users’ photos. Most significantly, you can append "tags," adjectives that describe the photo’s category. And then, via those tags, share images with others. Then all of the photos that share a particular tag can themselves be explored as a group, which online pundits call a "folksonomy." Finally you can at least find beautiful, cool or intriguing photo for your collection or just desktop if you are not interested in uploading your own.
I would rate this technology a 5 out of 5 because of its “endless” amount of advantages listed above. In addition I’d like to mention that the usage of the web site is free of charge; it is well designed and very easy to use, including searching, posting information, uploading and sharing photos.
I think that Flickr can definitely improve organizational communication. It gives the users the ability to share photos for a variety of purposes. Uploading pictures from corporative events or important conferences by employees or managers is an effective way to express the organizational culture and create a sense of organizational identity. Moreover in the informal visual conversation it is much more comfortable for some people to stay in touch. Flickr can also be used as a form of information distributor, so anyone who has an access to the photos can become a potential client.
Summing up I would say that I do not see any disadvantages in this technology. As I see it Flickr is a place not just for self-display, but also for a positive emergent visual conversation in the organization as well.
Flickr is an online photo management, organizing and sharing application. This hosting service for personal pictures and photo albums permits a rich sharing experience.
The Flickr’ users are able to get photos into and out of the system from the web, mobile devices, the users' home computers and from whatever software they are using to manage their photos. This service can be used to organize photos in a meaningful way, because the process of organizing can become collaborative. Under your permission your friends, family, coworkers and other contacts would be able to organize your photos - not just to add comments, but also notes and tags.
On Flickr, you can choose to make your photos either public to make the photos available to the viewers or private for your own closed social circle. You can create groups and albums within certain events, annotate pictures, adding captions within the frame, or post comments below other users’ photos. Most significantly, you can append "tags," adjectives that describe the photo’s category. And then, via those tags, share images with others. Then all of the photos that share a particular tag can themselves be explored as a group, which online pundits call a "folksonomy." Finally you can at least find beautiful, cool or intriguing photo for your collection or just desktop if you are not interested in uploading your own.
I would rate this technology a 5 out of 5 because of its “endless” amount of advantages listed above. In addition I’d like to mention that the usage of the web site is free of charge; it is well designed and very easy to use, including searching, posting information, uploading and sharing photos.
I think that Flickr can definitely improve organizational communication. It gives the users the ability to share photos for a variety of purposes. Uploading pictures from corporative events or important conferences by employees or managers is an effective way to express the organizational culture and create a sense of organizational identity. Moreover in the informal visual conversation it is much more comfortable for some people to stay in touch. Flickr can also be used as a form of information distributor, so anyone who has an access to the photos can become a potential client.
Summing up I would say that I do not see any disadvantages in this technology. As I see it Flickr is a place not just for self-display, but also for a positive emergent visual conversation in the organization as well.
FastWeb.com
http://www.FastWeb.com
FastWeb is an online communication technology that was created in 1995. It assists high school and college students of all ages and all interests to find information on colleges, scholarships, and internships. Users can create a free profile to organize and filter the personalized search. It is a subsidiary of Monster.com which aids its users to search and locate jobs in their field or area of study. Many schools and other organizations recommend FastWeb to their students and employees making FastWeb one of the most popular college resources on the web.
The website’s layout is user friendly which creates a welcoming environment for stressed out students to complete a college or scholarship search. There is a questionnaire that each user answers to allow for the search engine to compile a list that pertains to their specific interests and skills. FastWeb is a handy tool for organizations and schools to communicate offers that might not have otherwise been available to the public. This technology is helpful to those in need of resources and financial aid. This technology scores a 4 out of 5 because its usefulness and unique organizational strategies, but fails to get the 5 out of 5 since many organizations are still unfamiliar with this website that could help market their business.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Cloudo
This new technology could change the way people use their computers forever. Cloudo is the first ever computer that doesn't sit at your desk at home but actually "lives" on the internet. According to the Cloudo website you can access your documents, music, videos, photos etc. from any computer in the world. You can even access it from your mobile phone. One of its benefits stated on the website is that since Cloudo is online it is much easier to access and collaborate with others on a document or video. One can log onto the Cloudo just as you would log on to the internet. When you log on your desktop appears. It looks and functions like any normal desktop or laptop, the only difference is that it is being displayed from the internet. You can sync all your computers files with your online computer's files so that you always have what you need wherever you go. This technology can be used anywhere with your laptop and cell phone. With this online computer you can access your files from anywhere and be able to do work whenever you have to. This technology will be able to help many businesses that are on a fast paced schedule.
Bittorrent
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (p2p) communications technology that allows for large amounts of data to be shared without the original distributor incurring the high hardware, hosting and bandwidth costs. With BitTorrent, as the data is distributed to other peers, they then share the data that they have already downloaded with other peers, taking the load off of the original distributor or seed. The BitTorrent technology was created by Bram Cohen in 2001. To use the technology, all you need to do is download a BitTorrent client and download a small file called a .torrent file. The client then connects you to the BitTorrent tracker, which you will then begin to download the file from the completed seeds and upload to the other peers or leechers. There is a large selection of clients available to use but the two most popular are Utorrent and Azureus. A growing number of individuals and organizations are using BitTorrent to distribute material of their own or belongs to others. Such organizations such as independent movie and music companies use BitTorrent to distribute their releases because of the low costs to do so. The open source operating system, Linux, uses BitTorrent to distribute every distribution of its operating system to its users. Even though it is legal, BitTorrent has had some legal issues since it has quickly become the number one method used to download copyrighted and unlicensed material. BitTorrent traffic is considered to take up almost a quarter of all broadband internet traffic. CableLabs, a North American cable industry estimates that BitTorrent traffic is 35% of all internet traffic. To combat BitTorrent traffic, ISPs are now using new ways to filter out BitTorrent traffic by disabling the ability to upload data to other peers. Organizations would greatly benefit from this technology, because it is so low cost when talking about bandwidth and hosting. BitTorrent could be used to distribute files to members of the organization and even consumers. With BitTorrent, you don’t have to worry about hardware failures and loosing original files because it would be available to download again, because there are other copies of it still out there on the network or on the internet. I would rate it a 4/5 because of its ability to help distribute information and data worldwide to anyone that wants it, its low costs, very lightweight and ease of use, and it can let smaller companies who don’t have the bandwidth resources to compete with bigger ones.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Voice over Internet Protocol
http://www.fcc.gov/voip/
Voice over internet protocol is a function which has the momentum to virtually change the entire phone system. It allows you to make phone calls over the internet. It is a way to verbally communicate as if by phone, but instead of using the phone, it happens through an internet broadband connection, ultimately cutting out the phone provider in some cases. VoIP works through utilizing a single network to carry voice and data. They carry signals as digital audio and use speech data compression techniques to transmit the signals over the internet. Why is VoIP useful? In a sense, it translates as free phone calls. However, it is a fast growing phenomenon and phone companies are cashing in. Companies such as Vonage and AT&T are setting up VoIP calling plans for interested customers by providing ATAs which is an analog telephone adapter. An advantage of VoIP is that the method of conduction uses less space than that of a standard circuit-switch network. Most of the advantages that I have researched are technological and structural. One of the real advantages I can think of is that if a cell phone died, all you would have to do is be at your computer in order to get a hold of someone. A second advantage for businesses could be the cost option. If long distance calls are being able to be made to other countries nearly for free, businesses will be able to cut their costs. I really do not see any true advantages to the working world with this technology because with cellphones becoming so technologically advanced, I cannot imagine the disappearance of them. Some disadvantages are that you need a internet broadband connection in order to use VoIP. You also need to buy the microphone, speakers and sound card. A second disadvantage is that people are content with their phones and e-mail and there may not be a lot of need for VoIP yet in many situations.
I think that in an organization, business setting VoIP could help cut costs. It may help people in different countries communicate in a more efficient, affordable way, however I am not sure it is completely necessary. I would rate VoIP as a 2 in usefulness. One of the articles I read said that it may eventually end the phone service industry but I just do not see that happening.
Voice over internet protocol is a function which has the momentum to virtually change the entire phone system. It allows you to make phone calls over the internet. It is a way to verbally communicate as if by phone, but instead of using the phone, it happens through an internet broadband connection, ultimately cutting out the phone provider in some cases. VoIP works through utilizing a single network to carry voice and data. They carry signals as digital audio and use speech data compression techniques to transmit the signals over the internet. Why is VoIP useful? In a sense, it translates as free phone calls. However, it is a fast growing phenomenon and phone companies are cashing in. Companies such as Vonage and AT&T are setting up VoIP calling plans for interested customers by providing ATAs which is an analog telephone adapter. An advantage of VoIP is that the method of conduction uses less space than that of a standard circuit-switch network. Most of the advantages that I have researched are technological and structural. One of the real advantages I can think of is that if a cell phone died, all you would have to do is be at your computer in order to get a hold of someone. A second advantage for businesses could be the cost option. If long distance calls are being able to be made to other countries nearly for free, businesses will be able to cut their costs. I really do not see any true advantages to the working world with this technology because with cellphones becoming so technologically advanced, I cannot imagine the disappearance of them. Some disadvantages are that you need a internet broadband connection in order to use VoIP. You also need to buy the microphone, speakers and sound card. A second disadvantage is that people are content with their phones and e-mail and there may not be a lot of need for VoIP yet in many situations.
I think that in an organization, business setting VoIP could help cut costs. It may help people in different countries communicate in a more efficient, affordable way, however I am not sure it is completely necessary. I would rate VoIP as a 2 in usefulness. One of the articles I read said that it may eventually end the phone service industry but I just do not see that happening.
StubHub
www.StubHub.com
StubHub is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of tickets to sports events, concerts and other live entertainment. Tickets are sold close to market value and are even available for shows that are sold out. StubHub takes a 25% commission from both the buyer and seller once the sale occurs. Buyers come from all over the country, while sellers are mainly season ticket holders looking to unload tickets instead of selling them back to ticket brokers.
The advantages of StubHub include purchasing tickets to sold out events, and purchasing tickets on short notice before an event. A business owner, for example, may be looking to give away two of his season tickets to an employee because he cannot go to the game. In the event that he cannot find an employee to take the tickets, he can put them on StubHub on Tuesday afternoon and make his money back by early Tuesday evening. That money could go directly into the company's business account, the same account that is paying for the season tickets in the first place.
The main disadvantage of StubHub is the illegality of reselling tickets in 12 of the 50 United States. StubHub has begun petitioning for these states to change their laws, but has yet to make any progress. Another disadvantage is for season ticket holders who use StubHub too frequently that are blocked by their team from renewing their season tickets or purchasing playoff tickets.
An organization would benefit through such a scheme that I spoke about earlier. Many companies have season tickets to some sports team, tickets that the company account is paying for. In the event that noone uses the tickets, it is not the main user of the tickets that suffers, it is the company that looses that money. Reselling the tickets not only prevents the company from losing money, they could even turn a small profit. I give it a 5 out of 5 on its usefulness, as it is extremely productive for individuals and organizations.
StubHub is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of tickets to sports events, concerts and other live entertainment. Tickets are sold close to market value and are even available for shows that are sold out. StubHub takes a 25% commission from both the buyer and seller once the sale occurs. Buyers come from all over the country, while sellers are mainly season ticket holders looking to unload tickets instead of selling them back to ticket brokers.
The advantages of StubHub include purchasing tickets to sold out events, and purchasing tickets on short notice before an event. A business owner, for example, may be looking to give away two of his season tickets to an employee because he cannot go to the game. In the event that he cannot find an employee to take the tickets, he can put them on StubHub on Tuesday afternoon and make his money back by early Tuesday evening. That money could go directly into the company's business account, the same account that is paying for the season tickets in the first place.
The main disadvantage of StubHub is the illegality of reselling tickets in 12 of the 50 United States. StubHub has begun petitioning for these states to change their laws, but has yet to make any progress. Another disadvantage is for season ticket holders who use StubHub too frequently that are blocked by their team from renewing their season tickets or purchasing playoff tickets.
An organization would benefit through such a scheme that I spoke about earlier. Many companies have season tickets to some sports team, tickets that the company account is paying for. In the event that noone uses the tickets, it is not the main user of the tickets that suffers, it is the company that looses that money. Reselling the tickets not only prevents the company from losing money, they could even turn a small profit. I give it a 5 out of 5 on its usefulness, as it is extremely productive for individuals and organizations.
MySpace
www.myspace.com
MySpace has become one of the fastest growing social networking websites in the world. It is an interactive network that allows users to submit their own photos, music, videos and blogs for all members to share. It connects members across the world at an incredible rate, registering nearly 230,000 new members per day. Over 300 million accounts have been created to this day, and it continues to be one of the top three most viewed websites in the country.
The advantages of MySpace are the countless features, such as the Bulletin Board and MySpace News which allow users to post important information and newsworthy stories for all 300 million users to share. MySpace also has an instant messaging service as well as mobile service. Both of these CMC technologies could prove to be advantageous to organizations hoping to do national or international business. It is also a means of seeking employment, as users can search the Classifieds for jobs, and managers can get some background information on potential employees. T
he main disadvantage of MySpace is customer service. The website does not have any customer service phone number available to the public when the website crashes-- which does happen frequently. Inexperienced webmasters of MySpace compromise the network with poor coding and make it easy for spyware to infect the system.
Organizations could benefit from using MySpace as a way of continuing informal conversation with employees, managers, or business partners. MySpace Groups could build relationships within the organization as well as provide them with their own private page to share news and important information. Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5 with one point being taken away for the frequent problems that pop-up with the connection.
MySpace has become one of the fastest growing social networking websites in the world. It is an interactive network that allows users to submit their own photos, music, videos and blogs for all members to share. It connects members across the world at an incredible rate, registering nearly 230,000 new members per day. Over 300 million accounts have been created to this day, and it continues to be one of the top three most viewed websites in the country.
The advantages of MySpace are the countless features, such as the Bulletin Board and MySpace News which allow users to post important information and newsworthy stories for all 300 million users to share. MySpace also has an instant messaging service as well as mobile service. Both of these CMC technologies could prove to be advantageous to organizations hoping to do national or international business. It is also a means of seeking employment, as users can search the Classifieds for jobs, and managers can get some background information on potential employees. T
he main disadvantage of MySpace is customer service. The website does not have any customer service phone number available to the public when the website crashes-- which does happen frequently. Inexperienced webmasters of MySpace compromise the network with poor coding and make it easy for spyware to infect the system.
Organizations could benefit from using MySpace as a way of continuing informal conversation with employees, managers, or business partners. MySpace Groups could build relationships within the organization as well as provide them with their own private page to share news and important information. Overall, I give it a 4 out of 5 with one point being taken away for the frequent problems that pop-up with the connection.
Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobatconnectpro/
Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional is a very flexible web communication system that gives to IT professionals web communication solutions, for training, marketing, enterprise web conferencing, and online collaboration. It helps every organization to have the web communication efficiently. This system is really useful in various area of an organization, such as virtual training, marketing, and online conference. In the virtual training, they can make “self-learning course,” and “virtual class room.” They can manage these contents as online training through this system. In the marketing area, we they can find customers using “live-seminar” and “live presentation.” In the online conference, this system really works effectively. They can manage total web conference in the organization and it makes communication in the organization much more efficient. All of people in the organization can search and upload the presentation and the contents of conference. They can share the contents in each individual’s PC and see the presentation made by Power Point. This is great affordance because this system is not just video chatting system. All of people using this system can see the same content or live presentation at the same time in different places. I would give this system a five out of five. This system provides various practical functions to many organizations.
Monday, February 25, 2008
iPhone
http://www.apple.com/iphone/
News, stock information, receive and send e-mail, weather updates, internet and more all at your finger tips. The iPhone is a device which can do all of this and because of its internet access can also do so much more. The iPhone is a highly useful piece of technology for many organizations and personal users. The iPhone has been out for about 8 months and is one the of the most sought after mobile devices on the market. It is a touchscreen phone with nearly all the capabilities of a home computer, iPod and camera. The iPhone has the ability to access the internet the click of a button almost anywhere the user wishes and uses EDGE technology. EDGE stands for Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution. It is is a digital mobile phone technology that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability. There are maps available which make it virtually impossible to get lost in any circumstance and clients have company information available whenever they need it.
The advantages of the iPhone are obviously visible to the user. You are able to download pictures and document, send and recieve e-mail, text message, call, visual voicemail, internet access. Some disadvantages are that it is susceptible to crack and scratches if it does not have the proper covering, the touch screen may be difficult to use for some people. A third disadvantage is that in some closed networks, such as universities and schools, it is hard to access wi-fi internet through the iPhone. Lastly, the iPhone is very pricey. The smallest gb phone today, is $399.
In the area of organizational communication, the iPhone can do wonders for a company and its clients. All the features listed above make it easier for customers , businesses and employees to communicate on a much broader scale. No longer do clients have to wait a day or so for answers to their questions, but they can receive answers right on their lunch break from their cell phone instead of having to be in an office. Information can be received from anywhere in the form of pictures, word documents and other such files. It enables news, information and company statistics to be available right away.
Having had access to the use of an iPhone, I would rate its usefulness as a 5.
News, stock information, receive and send e-mail, weather updates, internet and more all at your finger tips. The iPhone is a device which can do all of this and because of its internet access can also do so much more. The iPhone is a highly useful piece of technology for many organizations and personal users. The iPhone has been out for about 8 months and is one the of the most sought after mobile devices on the market. It is a touchscreen phone with nearly all the capabilities of a home computer, iPod and camera. The iPhone has the ability to access the internet the click of a button almost anywhere the user wishes and uses EDGE technology. EDGE stands for Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution. It is is a digital mobile phone technology that allows increased data transmission rates and improved data transmission reliability. There are maps available which make it virtually impossible to get lost in any circumstance and clients have company information available whenever they need it.
The advantages of the iPhone are obviously visible to the user. You are able to download pictures and document, send and recieve e-mail, text message, call, visual voicemail, internet access. Some disadvantages are that it is susceptible to crack and scratches if it does not have the proper covering, the touch screen may be difficult to use for some people. A third disadvantage is that in some closed networks, such as universities and schools, it is hard to access wi-fi internet through the iPhone. Lastly, the iPhone is very pricey. The smallest gb phone today, is $399.
In the area of organizational communication, the iPhone can do wonders for a company and its clients. All the features listed above make it easier for customers , businesses and employees to communicate on a much broader scale. No longer do clients have to wait a day or so for answers to their questions, but they can receive answers right on their lunch break from their cell phone instead of having to be in an office. Information can be received from anywhere in the form of pictures, word documents and other such files. It enables news, information and company statistics to be available right away.
Having had access to the use of an iPhone, I would rate its usefulness as a 5.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Linked In
LinkedIn.com
LinkedIn is a relatively new communication technology which has quickly become a great resource for the professional community. It is a website based on social networking that allows businesses and people to search through an abundance of job opportunities, learn about potential help or competition, and stay updated on the status of other companies. Founded in 2002 by CEO Dan Nye, LinkedIn has become increasingly popular due to the usefulness and convenience the site brings to motivated or successful individuals who understand the advantages this unique site allows. The cost is free to join and permits you to create your own account in order to begin your own path of social networking. Although the site is intended to only further your own or your company’s individual achievement, the main downfall lies within LinkedIn’s competition. Extremely similar services are offered through other websites such as Ryze.com, Plaxo, and Yahoo! HotJobs. Deciding which site will offer you with the best options and connections might defer all potential help from falling within this one site, LinkedIn. Besides that minor setback, the potential usefulness for any user is endless. For me, I would rank this tool as a 10 out of 10 considering all the helpful features, the simplicity and convenience of the site, along with the degree of value concerning professional networking.
LinkedIn is a relatively new communication technology which has quickly become a great resource for the professional community. It is a website based on social networking that allows businesses and people to search through an abundance of job opportunities, learn about potential help or competition, and stay updated on the status of other companies. Founded in 2002 by CEO Dan Nye, LinkedIn has become increasingly popular due to the usefulness and convenience the site brings to motivated or successful individuals who understand the advantages this unique site allows. The cost is free to join and permits you to create your own account in order to begin your own path of social networking. Although the site is intended to only further your own or your company’s individual achievement, the main downfall lies within LinkedIn’s competition. Extremely similar services are offered through other websites such as Ryze.com, Plaxo, and Yahoo! HotJobs. Deciding which site will offer you with the best options and connections might defer all potential help from falling within this one site, LinkedIn. Besides that minor setback, the potential usefulness for any user is endless. For me, I would rank this tool as a 10 out of 10 considering all the helpful features, the simplicity and convenience of the site, along with the degree of value concerning professional networking.
Friday, February 22, 2008
eBay
eBay Inc. is an online shopping center created for the purpose of buying and selling to occur between people and businesses for a wide variety of goods. Created in 1995 and becoming public in 1998, eBay was originally founded as an American internet company but has expanded to dozens of other countries. The site’s membership is open to anyone looking to buy or sell virtually anything—whether new, old, broken, expensive, cheap, useful, lost, or alive, your selection includes few exceptions of potential and permissible items. The actual purchases happen through an auction system with items being sold to the highest bidder within the previously set time allotment. The site has become extremely useful for those looking for the best price options for desired items or—and often more importantly—items difficult to locate. Disadvantages of this new communication technology include the notion of fraud, inflating shipping costs, auction sniping, stealing accounts, and forgeries. For a company, however, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages due to benefits from reaching the multiple millions of people familiar with the site’s functions, and the simplicity it brings towards the act of buying and selling. For a company, usefulness ratings would be a 9 out of 10. The site has exponentially grown to reach millions of users and has been thriving for ten consecutive years. Considering this information and the fact that eBay owns PayPal and Skype, I’d say that this new communication technology is extremely useful and effective through its obvious success.
Windows Msn Messesnger
By Richard Thebaud
http://get.live.com/messenger/features
Windows Messenger is a great application to be used for every organization. This internet chat comes with many available features. It comes with features such as PC to PC calling, video conversations, text message to phones, sharing folders. This system is very user friendly. The reason this technology would be especially good for organizations to improve organizational communication is because employees will be able to contact other employees whether they are near a computer or a cell phone. The video feature is also a great affordance for organizations. This will give organizations to hold conferences all over the world. It will also allow a face to face communication which would not be allowed in a regular messaging system. I would give this product a five out of five, because it give companies a product that is cheap, effective, and user friendly.
Sprint i4 IP Key System
By Richard Thebaud
http://www.comtex-nj.com/category.aspx?categoryID=96
The Sprint I4 IP key system is a telephone system which offers a good communication technology that can be used by an organization to improve organizational communication. This device has a variety of applications which include integrated voicemail, networking, emergency 911 support, message waiting indicators, phonebook access, as well as simultaneous ringing. This product also is not too expensive, so it won’t cost a company an arm and a leg. Another important quality this product contains is that it is user friendly. Companies will not have to offer training. Another quality the Sprint I4 IP key system has, with this product you are able to expand your system size over time. I would have to give this product a four out of five. The reason I have given this technology a four out of five is because this product is recommended for small to medium sized companies.
YouTube
YouTube, created in February 2005, is a website where viewers can upload, view, and share video clips. The website is free to anyone wanting to access or upload videos. The site uses Adobe Flash technology for easy and quick viewing. The videos range from movie clips, television show clips, music videos, and "home-made" videos from virtually anyone. While most viewers can see a selection of video clips, becoming a registered member permits the viewer to the entire collection of videos. Registering only costs a few minutes of your time to fill out minor information, but there is no payment necessary. The most recent statistics show that there are over 73,000,000 videos and 2,750,000 users.
YouTube allows users from all over the world to access videos for multiple purposes. The website can be used as an educational medium for schools and universities. Many videos can be used as a learning module in classrooms or in businesses for a variety of reasons. The website has also sprouted Internet celebrities, these of which have uploaded there own video that became extremely popular and even controversial. These individuals, or more so there videos, have become so popular that they are featured all over the media including entertainment news programs and late night talk shows. Along with Internet celebrities, amateur bands and performers can be discovered on YouTube. The site gives outstanding media exposure and music promotion. The website's slogan "Broadcast Yourself" encourages the user to promote their ideas and creativity by creating their own video. Although many videos can be displayed to any user of the website, users can also set up there own private account so only specific viewers with the appropriate password can access their videos.
The website also encounters some disadvantages, one of these being explicit content. The website includes many controversial videos, displaying violence such as street fights and animal abuse. These are just a few of the many video clips that have maneuvered its way on the site. Although YouTube does not allow videos that are not permitted by the United States copyright law, there are still infringements with movie/television clips being broadcasted on the site. Another disadvantage is finding a specific video out of the 73 million. The search engine does not provide the viewer with easy access to specific videos, especially if the title or video provider is unknown. YouTube also allows for virtually any video to be uploaded, leading speakers or "actors" in the video to be displayed without consent.
I think that YouTube should be used within an organization to access appropriate videos for projects, media information, and media output. Organizations can share there videos with other organizations or branches to collect and distribute ideas that the employees can not only hear but also see.
On a 5 point scale, 1 being least useful and 5 the most useful, I would rate YouTube at a 5. It gives all users the ability to share videos for a variety of purposes. It also benefits as not only a form of entertainment but also a means of distributing information to anyone who has access to the Internet.
YouTube allows users from all over the world to access videos for multiple purposes. The website can be used as an educational medium for schools and universities. Many videos can be used as a learning module in classrooms or in businesses for a variety of reasons. The website has also sprouted Internet celebrities, these of which have uploaded there own video that became extremely popular and even controversial. These individuals, or more so there videos, have become so popular that they are featured all over the media including entertainment news programs and late night talk shows. Along with Internet celebrities, amateur bands and performers can be discovered on YouTube. The site gives outstanding media exposure and music promotion. The website's slogan "Broadcast Yourself" encourages the user to promote their ideas and creativity by creating their own video. Although many videos can be displayed to any user of the website, users can also set up there own private account so only specific viewers with the appropriate password can access their videos.
The website also encounters some disadvantages, one of these being explicit content. The website includes many controversial videos, displaying violence such as street fights and animal abuse. These are just a few of the many video clips that have maneuvered its way on the site. Although YouTube does not allow videos that are not permitted by the United States copyright law, there are still infringements with movie/television clips being broadcasted on the site. Another disadvantage is finding a specific video out of the 73 million. The search engine does not provide the viewer with easy access to specific videos, especially if the title or video provider is unknown. YouTube also allows for virtually any video to be uploaded, leading speakers or "actors" in the video to be displayed without consent.
I think that YouTube should be used within an organization to access appropriate videos for projects, media information, and media output. Organizations can share there videos with other organizations or branches to collect and distribute ideas that the employees can not only hear but also see.
On a 5 point scale, 1 being least useful and 5 the most useful, I would rate YouTube at a 5. It gives all users the ability to share videos for a variety of purposes. It also benefits as not only a form of entertainment but also a means of distributing information to anyone who has access to the Internet.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi, short for Wireless Fidelity, is a wireless technology owned by the Wi-Fi Alliance that allows for the flow of information while being completely mobile. The Wi-Fi Alliance is a group of independent companies that collaborate the connectivity of wireless technologies. Society has become accustomed to 'plugging in' whenever we want to connect the Internet but soon it might just be a matter of which direction you are facing. Since 1997, the use of wireless technologies has sprawled and it seems that we have only scratched the surface of the limitless possibilities of its uses. Companies such as Intel are currently developing high-performance wireless communication that will significantly broaden the reach of Wi-Fi. The future of wireless is not going to be about its fancy gadgets. As Intel states, "It's going to be about a wireless society." This would be on a global scale and would allow people to exchange information seamless as they move from place to place.
The advantages of having this technology in an organization are invaluable as they cut costs and free up time for those that use it. It allows you to communicate without being tied down by cables and with the right technology, you can be in touch with the world anywhere you need to be. Most new computer technology, such as laptops, already have Wi-Fi capability built in standard so there is little or no extra cost. There are also hundreds of thousands of public locations that currently have Wi-Fi connections that are easily accessible. With faster communication, organizations can quickly and efficiently execute their business.
Although there are many possibilities for Wi-Fi, there are still limitations and disadvantages of the wireless technology. As its popularity grows, so will its volume of traffic and users. This will inevitably slow its performance if we cannot keep up with its growth. Wi-Fi also requires more power which pushes for better battery technology which can drives up expenses. And then there are the more obvious flaws such as natural barriers that limit connectivity, range of the connection and technology failures.
Since this is still a developing technology, any one of these advantages or disadvantages could intensify or disappear completely. Wi-Fi technology should be rated very highly on its usefulness in an organization as long as the company has the technology and knowledge to support it.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wireless-network1.htm
The advantages of having this technology in an organization are invaluable as they cut costs and free up time for those that use it. It allows you to communicate without being tied down by cables and with the right technology, you can be in touch with the world anywhere you need to be. Most new computer technology, such as laptops, already have Wi-Fi capability built in standard so there is little or no extra cost. There are also hundreds of thousands of public locations that currently have Wi-Fi connections that are easily accessible. With faster communication, organizations can quickly and efficiently execute their business.
Although there are many possibilities for Wi-Fi, there are still limitations and disadvantages of the wireless technology. As its popularity grows, so will its volume of traffic and users. This will inevitably slow its performance if we cannot keep up with its growth. Wi-Fi also requires more power which pushes for better battery technology which can drives up expenses. And then there are the more obvious flaws such as natural barriers that limit connectivity, range of the connection and technology failures.
Since this is still a developing technology, any one of these advantages or disadvantages could intensify or disappear completely. Wi-Fi technology should be rated very highly on its usefulness in an organization as long as the company has the technology and knowledge to support it.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wireless-network1.htm
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Skype
Skype
By Tyler Endres
Skype is a software program that allows users to make telephone calls over the internet to other users for free. Calls can also be made to landlines and cell phones for a fee. Other features available through Skype include instant messaging, file transfer, short message service, and video conferencing. The software program was created by the Swedish and Danish entrepreneurs Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis in 2003. The Skype Group was acquired by eBay in 2005 and has experienced rapid growth ever since.
Overall, I would rate Skype as 3.5 out of 5. While it’s very useful and cost effective, it also has a lot of kinks to work out before it will be widely used and accepted among corporations.
Monday, February 18, 2008
TheOpenDoc.com
TheOpenDoc.com was created merely a few months ago as a platform for organizing and collaborating on documents and tasks. The program is free to join and allows users to create multiple workspaces. Each workspace allows you to save text documents, post discussions, create tasks and mark them off when complete. It allows you to give other people access to the workspace and see, edit, and create new content, allowing for collaborations between colleagues or people in general. If not working on a team, there is a feature to make the workspace private, which would still give the user access to their work progresses on any computer with and Internet connection.
This program seems to have been created to benefit working people, but I can see benefits to it being used in a classroom setting. For example, with our conference groups we would be able to stay organized on what tasks need to get completed, what we have completed, and discuss the information we have come up with. This program is similar to BLS only has less features, such as a live chat.
TheOpenDoc.com has plans on adding new features to the program in the future such as file repository in workspaces, detailed permission settings for workspaces, advanced revision history for documents, creation of project plans/ GANTT charts directly in workspaces, and expanded user profiles. Once these new services are implemented I think the program would be a huge asset to anyone collaborating on a project.
Right now I would probably rate this program a 4, but when all it's new features are added I would give it a 5.
This program seems to have been created to benefit working people, but I can see benefits to it being used in a classroom setting. For example, with our conference groups we would be able to stay organized on what tasks need to get completed, what we have completed, and discuss the information we have come up with. This program is similar to BLS only has less features, such as a live chat.
TheOpenDoc.com has plans on adding new features to the program in the future such as file repository in workspaces, detailed permission settings for workspaces, advanced revision history for documents, creation of project plans/ GANTT charts directly in workspaces, and expanded user profiles. Once these new services are implemented I think the program would be a huge asset to anyone collaborating on a project.
Right now I would probably rate this program a 4, but when all it's new features are added I would give it a 5.
iTunes
iTunes is a digital media player application, introduced by Apple in 2000 for playing and organizing digital music and video files and has been changing ever since. Originally users were able to openly share any downloaded music file throughout the Internet. However, the free music was harming record sales, and iTunes implemented a Digital Audio AccessProtocol (DAAP) system in their 7.0 upgrade. The DAAP system allows sharing or streaming of music and other files between up to five users yet blocks those files from being saved to other users hard drives and from being burnt onto CDs.
With the invention of the iPod and iPhone, iTunes is the software that can sycronize a hard drive’s video and audio library to the iPod or iPhone everytime it is connected. Today, other affordances of iTunes include: podcasting, and buying music, television shows, music videos, iPod games, audiobooks, feature length films, and ringtones at the iTunes store. iTunes also automatically uses the Internet to find the name of the record and artist in order to organize downloaded files using the interactive audio CD database called Gracenote. The playlist feature also allows users to organize their music any way they choose. ITunes is able to read the songs frequently played by the user and has a Most Played list for easy access to favorite music.
A disadvantage of iTunes is that many people are able find a way to access free music and video files which can then be converted to their iTunes library and synconized with iPods or iPhones.
iTunes is free to download for many computer systems including Mac OS X, Windows Vista, and Windows XP from Apple's website.
I would rate iTunes a 5 for it's ease of access, and overall availability and usefulness.
With the invention of the iPod and iPhone, iTunes is the software that can sycronize a hard drive’s video and audio library to the iPod or iPhone everytime it is connected. Today, other affordances of iTunes include: podcasting, and buying music, television shows, music videos, iPod games, audiobooks, feature length films, and ringtones at the iTunes store. iTunes also automatically uses the Internet to find the name of the record and artist in order to organize downloaded files using the interactive audio CD database called Gracenote. The playlist feature also allows users to organize their music any way they choose. ITunes is able to read the songs frequently played by the user and has a Most Played list for easy access to favorite music.
A disadvantage of iTunes is that many people are able find a way to access free music and video files which can then be converted to their iTunes library and synconized with iPods or iPhones.
iTunes is free to download for many computer systems including Mac OS X, Windows Vista, and Windows XP from Apple's website.
I would rate iTunes a 5 for it's ease of access, and overall availability and usefulness.
Facebook.com
By Tyler Endres
Facebook.com is a social networking web site, first introduced on February 4, 2004. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg, a former Harvard student, who initially started Facebook as a hobby project. When it began, Facebook was only available to Harvard students. Within two months Facebook’s availability was quickly expanded to all Ivy League schools. Over the next year universities around the world were quickly added to the social networking web site. High schools and some large companies were eligible to join just about two years after the launch of the site. Today, the site has over 64 million active users and is the 7th most visited site according to Alexa.
Some advantages of using Facebook include, giving friends, classmates, and co-workers a place to communicate with each other. Users are given the opportunity to decide what they want and don’t want to share, with users in their networks and their selected friends. Facebook is a one-stop site for sharing media, calendaring, blogging, communicating, sharing information, etc. Facebook.com is also available in a mobile version, which gives users access to the site anywhere using their cell phone.
As well as advantages, Facebook also has disadvantages. Sharing too much information could be a problem for some people. Other people say that using Facebook is just a waste of time. The site can also allow complete strangers to view someone’s profile which could have bad consequences for some users.
I believe that Facebook should be used within an organization as an informal means of communication for employees, managers, etc. It could allow an organization’s users to create relationships with each other, which would be harder to do without Facebook.
Overall, I would rate Facebook.com as 5 out of 5 on its usefulness because of its unique ability to connect people over the web.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Craigslist by Amanda Luckow
Craigslist is the new way to bring goods and services to those who need them, while avoiding the costs and effort associated with classified ads. Because it is more wide spread it makes it easier to match people’s needs. It has many more advantages than the common classified advertisement, and in some respects has simplified the process of exchanging goods, which EBay sought out to do. You can search the site under any of the fifty states and even narrow it down by county. Not only can you buy and sell stuff on Craigslist but you can also look for jobs, housing, activities, talk in discussion forums and find different services you may need. It even has a section for personals. Not many people are familiar with it yet but it is becoming more wide spread because of its easy access. When trying to buy something, you can see a description, the price, and pictures; similar to EBay. But that difference is that you meet up with the person selling the good instead of having it shipped. You know exactly what your getting and if your not satisfied you don’t need to worry about dealing with exchanging or returning something over the internet. There is no charge to post the listing which is also a good advantage; unless it is a job posting there is a small fee. A disadvantage of Craigslist is that you don’t always know the person who you are buying something from and if it is even legitimate. Anyone can post about an item or job. Most of the jobs are real but I have seen many that could have easily been typed by a seven year old the way that it was written. You should never go to someone’s house; you should meet them in a popular place to make sure you are safe. I think that Craigslist is a four because of how useful it is. Maybe one day people won’t need to have garage sales because they can so easily list it on the internet that it saves so much unnecessary time and effort. The only reason I believe it is not a five is because of safety but there is yet to be a case where it has played a negative role.
BlackBerry Smartphone
Research In Motion’s (RIM) design of the BlackBerry smartphone in 1999 has evolved to become the latest and most efficient communication technology for the international business world. The BlackBerry is most popular for its ability to send and receive e-mails anywhere and in real-time making them addictive. Recently the BlackBerry has been nicknamed the “CrackBerry” due to the ease of e-mailing and messaging.
An advantage to the BlackBerry is that it makes it much easier to stay in constant, direct communication with clients and colleagues when traveling outside of the office. This is made possible by integrating the user’s company e-mail account with their BlackBerry through software called, “BlackBerry Enterprise Server” (BES). BES allows wireless synchronization between BlackBerrys and applications like Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes. Additional features included on the phone besides quick e-mail access is a full QWERTY keyboard, text messaging, digital address book, calendar, calculator, notes, and the ability to set up meetings. There is also a thumbwheel on the side of the phone which enables easy navigation around the screen.
This new and exciting communication tool keeps users in constant contact and always in-the-know. Even in business meetings you can find users answering e-mails from their BlackBerrys. Not only in meetings are people messaging but while driving as well, which is not very safe. This device accompanies users everywhere they go causing them to become workaholics. The easy navigation and simple keyboard becomes addicting for users, causing longer work hours. Most recently, connectivity issues have left BlackBerry users without service causing many users that are dependent on the smartphone frustrating work days.
I rate the BlackBerry as a 5 for usefulness due to the fast communication it creates among users and organizations. The timely communication helps improve organizational communication tremendously.
For more information on BlackBerry devices visit the BlackBerry homepage at www.blackberry.com. Click on the following New York Times link to read more about Monday's BlackBerry Outage: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/technology/apee-rim.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Lotus Notes
IBM’s Lotus Notes is a new and successful communication technology for many large companies and organizations. Lotus Notes is a client-server application that is mainly used for e-mail. That’s not all though! This program combines e-mail, calendar and scheduling capabilities, instant messaging, web conferencing (optional) and collaborative tools. These options allow fast and easy internal and external communication for many companies. One very effective and important tool on Lotus Notes is its scheduling capability. In order to schedule a meeting all you have to do is choose a date and time and then type in the names of the people invited to the meeting. After the meeting invitation is completed it is sent out to the people invited where they can then accept the invitation or decline. The program will even allow you to check your colleague’s calendars when scheduling a meeting to make sure the invitees are available. In addition to scheduling meetings within the office, Lotus has a centralized management of conference rooms. This enables the chairperson scheduling the meeting to see what rooms are available to have the meeting in. This easy scheduling tool avoids miscommunication and double booking of meetings in the same room. In addition, Lotus has one of the best security systems. According to Wikipedia, “Notes was the first widely adopted software product to use public key cryptography for client-server and server-server authentication and for encryption of data.” Lotus also enables users to forward e-mails to personal BlackBerries which can be set up by the company’s IT/IS department.
Some disadvantages to this software are that it is not easily assessable for the blind. Successful business people that are blind have a hard time navigating around Lotus Notes and cannot easily schedule meetings as well as see weather or not they are bcc’d on notes. Although, talking software can be used with Lotus it still makes it difficult to communicate to others efficiently.
I would rate Lotus Notes at a 4 for usefulness as a communication technology.
More information about Lotus Notes can be accessed through IBM’s website or by clicking on the following link: http://www-306.ibm.com/software/lotus.
Paypal by Amanda Luckow
I chose Paypal for my new communication technology. It can be accessed at www.paypal.com. Many companies use Paypal in order to have secure transactions over the internet. While there are many different forms of purchasing items, with Paypal you can pay for online purchases, send and request money worldwide, track you’re online spending and accept credit cards. “PayPal acts as a middle man between the buyer and seller so that the seller never has to expose his payment information to the seller directly.”(westwind.com) You also have the ability of saving your credit card information for easy access any time you want to spend. A downside to Paypal is that it can only be used for web based purchases. You cannot use it for something that doesn’t involve the web and therefore if your business does offline sales it would be of little use. Another disadvantage is that they take a small percentage of each sale for the company. I would rate Paypal a 5 on its usefulness because you don’t have to worry about getting spammed by the seller and also if you end up having a dispute over an item Paypal will help you to settle it quick and efficiently.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
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