Life in the Information Age

Technology has changed our lives dramatically over the last couple of decades.  The information age has changed our lives in many different ways.  An example of this would be in the way people work in offices and on the go. 

In the 1980’s, there was not a computer on every desk and only the important people in the office got to have a phone on their desk.  The things people used to use to do their work were adding machines, which we now call calculators, and typewriters for typing up reports and letters.  The offices in the 1980’s used to have lots of filing cabinets that were full of files and reports on paper.  Today we do not use as many filing cabinets because most of the information is stored on the computer hard drives or on servers.  However, some hard copies are still required for some important documents just in case something happens to the digital copy.

Also in today’s offices, you are basically unemployable if you have no knowledge or skills on the computer.  If you don’t have basic skills such as using a word processor, you wouldn’t be able to do the office work as effectively as everyone else.  This is because using the computer is faster, more accurate and what people expect you to use.

Things have also changed for people that are on the go.  Instead of being expected to only work when you get to your work building, you are now expected to do work while you are travelling to your work building.  Years ago people would have just read the paper and had a cup of tea while they were travelling on the train, but now people use their laptops and smart phones to do reports, presentations and make important phone calls.

Before all the technology in the work place, important people like managers would have had a skilled secretary that would write their letters and reports for them because they would not have time to do it themselves.  However, today nearly every manager would have their own computer which makes it easier and faster to write their own letters and reports.  Even though this seems better than before, it means there are fewer jobs.

An example of how a specific job has changed is a sales rep.  Years ago, a sales rep would have carried a diary, a road atlas and other maps, change for pay phones, a calculator, a note pad, lots of forms and CD’s for the numerous car journeys.  This has completely changed thanks to the information age.  All a sales rep used to carry can now be replaced by just a few objects.  The diary that the sales rep would have carried can be replaced by the diary on a smart phone, the road atlas and other maps can be replaced again by a smart phone with internet or a sat nav,  the change for pay phones is no longer needed because of mobile phones, a calculator can also be replaced by a smart phone, the note pad can be replaced by a laptop or net book and the CD’s can be replaced by an ipod, an mp3 player or once again, a smart phone.  All this technology makes the sales reps job much easier.  The sales rep would have also needed to go into the office about 2 times a week to type up the paperwork he had been doing by hand, but now they don’t need to go to the office at all because of laptops or desktop computers that they could have with them all the time or at home.

Because of the Internet and the ability to communicate with the company network from anywhere in the world, many workers now work part time or full time from home.
Telework is not a specific job, it is a method of working which usually means doing work from home. There is no legal definition of teleworking, but the important feature is the use of information technology to enable people to work away from the office.
This could apply to people working full time or part-time at home, those managing their time between home and work, and mainly mobile workers who use their home as an administrative base.
Telework is growing. Over 7 million people in the UK now use IT to help them work away from the traditional office environment, either full time or part time.

On the positive side, ICT has resulted in many new jobs being created created.
Here are a few examples - I'm sure you can think of many more.

Network Technician

• Helps set up office and school networks
• Monitors network performance
• Installs new software
• Sets up and monitors user accounts
• Ensures network security

Computer programmer

• Writes the code for new software
• Adapts or develops existing software

Website Designer

With the explosion of the Internet, there has been a huge demand for people who can design and write websites.
There has also been many jobs created around web advertising, web hosting and e-commerce.

Help Desk Operator

• Answers technical problems from staff
• Provides advice when software/hardware not working
• Resets passwords
• Can remotely control a computer screen to demonstrate how to do something.

Business Analyst

Because businesses need specialist software and hardware to suit their particular needs, most large organisations employ a team of business analysts.
These analysts examine the methods currently used by the company and determine what works and what needs improving.

Technology has not just changed the way we work, it has changed the way we go shopping.  Years ago, if you wanted to buy something you would find what you wanted in the shop, go up to the till, the person on the till would have added up all of the products prices and you would pay by cash.  In today’s world, we would find what we wanted, go up to the till, the person scans the barcodes on the products, the computer tells them what the total amount to pay is and we would pay with our credit or debit card.  This is much easier and safer than carrying cash around with you all the time because if your wallet or purse got stolen, you would lose your money, but today if your card gets stolen then you would deactivate it and the criminal wouldn’t be able to buy anything with it because of your pin code.  This kind of till is called the Electronic Point of Sales.

Online Entertainment

In this blog, I will be talking about different kinds of online entertainment.

Youtube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos.

Youtube displays a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogging and short original videos. Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, although media corporations including CBS, BBC, VEVO, Hulu, and other organizations offer some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.

YouTube Statistics

48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day

Over 3 billion videos are viewed a day

Users upload the equivalent of 240,000 full-length films every week

YouTube is localised in 25 countries across 43 languages

YouTube's demographic is broad: 18-54 years old

YouTube reached over 700 billion playbacks in 2010

Advantages of You Tube

• There are lots of different channels that upload different things so you can find something that you are interested in.
• You can subscribe to a particular channel so you can be notified when they have made a new video for you to watch.
• There are millions of videos to choose from that can entertain you.
• Some TV companies upload previous episodes of a television series so you can watch it if you missed it the first time round.
• You can watch it on the go on your mobile.

Disadvantages of You Tube

• People can post what ever they want on You Tube so some videos could be found to be offensive.
•  Some videos can take a long time to load before you can view them or they could randomly pause in the middle of the video to load.
•  There are lots of adverts at the beginning on videos that can take up to 30 seconds to stop before you can watch the video.

 In my opinion, YouTube is extremely entertaining as you can find a video about almost anything you can think of.  Any disadvantages are a small price to pay for the large amount of entertaining content all on one website.

Second Life Online Game

In 1999, Philip Rosedale formed Linden Lab. He made Second Life, developing computer hardware allowing people to immerse in a virtual world.

Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on the 23 June, 2003.  Client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users to interact with each other through their avatars. Residents can explore the world, meet other residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade virtual property and services with one another.  In November 2010, 21.3 million accounts were registered and as of 2011 the game has about one million active users that play regularly.

Advantages of Second Life 

• People find it fun to be able to play a game where they can forget about what is going on around them and immerse themselves in their second life online. 
• It is a free game and it is easy to sign up to play. 
• You can connect with and talk to other people. 
• You can make money from the game from the in-game currency called lindens.

  Disadvantages of Second Life

• If someone plays it too much they can get addicted which can lead to health problems. 
• They would be staring at a screen for ages which can lead to eye problems. 
• You need a good computer in order to run the game. 
• You need a good internet connection in order to connect to the game servers. 

 In my opinion, a game like second life could be very entertaining.  You can connect to other people around the world and play it with your friends.  However,  the game needs a good internet connection and computer to be able to run and some people may be playing this role playing game too seriously, which could be a problem if they get addicted to it.

  

Music and Movies

On the internet, there are a number of companies that have programs that enable you to buy music and movies from the internet to your computer or mobile device, for your entertainment.  One of the most well known and most used is Itunes.

iTunes was introduced by Apple Inc. on January 9, 2001.

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing and downloading digital music and video files computers. It can also organise the contents on iPods, iPhones and iPads.  iTunes can connect to the iTunes Store to purchase and download music, music videos, television shows, iPod games, audiobooks and podcasts.

As of October 4, 2011, the store served its 16 billionth song.

Advantages of music and movies online 

• Convenient as you can download and listen to it in just a few clicks. 
• It is easy to find the song or movie you want by just searching, buying, downloading and playing it. 
• There are thousands of entertaining movies and songs. 
• Once you buy and download it you can play it anywhere.

  Disadvantages of music and movies 

• They can take up lots of hard drive space on your computer. 
• Long movies can take a long time to download before you can watch them. 
• Some people download music and movies for free from illegal websites.

  

In my opinion, music and movies from the internet are very entertaining and convenient.  They are as entertaining as music and movies that you buy on a disk, but they are much easier to obtain from a website such as Itunes and much easier to watch or listen to on the computer, which I think makes it better. 

Download Services

In this blog we will be looking at a few of the many download services available today on the internet.

Patches

A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance. Though meant to fix problems, poorly designed patches can sometimes introduce new problems.

The size of patches may vary from a few kilobytes to hundreds of megabytes — mostly more significant changes imply a larger size, though this also depends on whether the patch includes entire files or only the changed portion(s) of files. In particular, patches can become quite large when the changes add or replace non-program data, such as graphics and sounds files. Such situations commonly occur in the patching of computer games. Compared with the initial installation of software, patches usually do not take long to install.

Computer games receive patches to fix compatibility problems after their initial release just like any other software, but they can also be applied to change game rules and to fix glitches. Extra features and game play tweaks can often be added. These kinds of patches are common in first-person shooters with multiplayer modes, and in MMORPGs.  MMORPGs, which are normally complex with large amounts of content, always rely heavily on patches following the release.

Advantages of patches

• It is automatically downloaded to our computer which saves us time.
• They fix our software and games if there are problems.
• They can add new features to our software and games.

Disadvantages of patches

• They take up more memory on our computers.
• They could take a long time to download and install if it is a large patch.
• They could create more problems if the patch has not been checked thoroughly for errors.

In my opinion, patches are very good because you can see that the developer cares about its consumers and wants to fix and update the programs that people use.  Patches can fix things quickly and easily with not much involvement from us.

Torrents and BitTorrent

Programmer Bram Cohen designed it in April 2001 and released a first implementation on July 2, 2001. It is now maintained by Cohen's company BitTorrent, Inc.

As of January 2011 BitTorrent has 100 million users and a greater share of network bandwidth than Netflix and Hulu combined.

At any given instant of time BitTorrent has more active users than YouTube and Facebook combined.

A torrent file stores metadata used for BitTorrent. A torrent is data about a target file.  The only data that the torrent holds is information about the location of different pieces of the target file. Torrents work by dividing the target file into small information chunks, found on an unlimited number of different hosts. Through this method, torrents are able to download large files quickly. When a person has started a torrent download, the chunks of target file that are needed can be found easily. Once all the chunks are downloaded the client can assemble them into one usable file.

BitTorrent is peer-to-peer used for distributing large amounts of data over the Internet. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, and it has been estimated that it accounted for roughly 43% to 70% of all Internet traffic.

Advantages of Torrents

• You can download files and programs much faster.
• It is peer-to-peer so you download from people you could trust.

Disadvantages of Torrents

• People can abuse the service and use it for distributing software illegally.
• There could be a higher risk of viruses.

In my opinion, torrents are a good idea because you get to download what you want much faster.  However, it is easily abused for people to distribute software illegally and there could be a higher risk of viruses because the file is downloaded from lots of different places.

Security

Whenever you download a file, there is always a small risk that the file will contain a virus or a program that can damage your computer or your information. Here are some steps you can take to help protect your computer when you download files:

Only download files from websites that you trust.

Be cautious of certain file types. Some file types are less safe because they can carry viruses. The main file types to avoid are program files with extensions such as .exe, .scr, .bat, .com, or pif. Often a dangerous file is disguised as a less risky file type, because it has two file name extensions such as, filename.txt.exe. This example might look like a text file, but it's actually an executable file.

Install and use an antivirus program. Antivirus programs scan files before opening them and notify you if a file is unsafe.  Antivirus software can also block certain files from being downloaded if they are immediately recognised as a threat, which stops it from getting onto your computer.  Antivirus software can also scan your entire computer to see if there are any other hidden threats that you or the computer had not noticed before.

Advantages of download security

• It protects you from viruses that could ruin your computer.
• It makes us aware of things we should look out for and we will know not to use certain websites again.
• It keeps our computers and files safe.

Disadvantages of download security

• The antivirus software could look at a file wrong and stop you from downloading it because it looks like a virus when you know it is not.
• Some antivirus software is quite expensive because you have to renew a subscription every year to use the software.

In my opinion, download security is something that everyone should have and be aware of.  Antivirus software may seem expensive but it is worth it to not lose everything on your computer because of viruses.

Contemporary Issues in I.T

Contemporary Issues in IT

This is a post about the use of IT in the news and around the world.

Hospitals using IT to save lives

Better use of information technology in England's hospitals could help prevent 16,000 deaths a year.

University Hospitals Birmingham has recommended its system to the team investigating above-average death rates from 2005 to 2008 at Stafford Hospital.

The trust says it saw a 17% fall in deaths among emergency patients over 12 months, which would equate to 16,000 deaths prevented across England.

Advantages of New IT System

• More people will survive in hospitals.
• Patients will receive all of their drugs because of reminders from the system.  This is good because one in five drugs is not given to the patient at the moment, but this could stop it.
• This system can also keep the doctors and nurses informed about the patient’s condition and previous medical history.

Disadvantages of New IT System

• This new system will be very expensive and the NHS is funded by tax payers money so the tax payers will be paying for it.

In my opinion, the new system is a worth while project that can save thousands of lives and anything that can save lives is worth the money.

The London Roits

A number of politicians and members of the police force have suggested that Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger were partly to blame for the organisation of the London riots.  This is because the information of the riot meet ups were shared over the internet on social networking sites, such as twitter and facebook, and the free messaging service offered by Blackberry called BBM.  These services were being used to start the riots by organising where to strike in the city.  Blackberry has offered their services in order to help the police find the rioters.

Websites and services like BBM and Twitter are extremely useful for people to contact friends and family, but unfortunately some people abused the easy communication to set up where they would next wreak havoc. One of  its disadvantages are that it is harder to track people down if they are in trouble with the police for doing something illegal, such as organising riots on the internet.

In my opinion, the social networking sites and BBM were partly to blame for the London riots.  This is because they offer a service that most of the people in the riots used and it was just convenient for them to use them for their illegal activities.

NASA Launches the NPP Satellite

The NPP satellite, NASA’s newest Earth-observing satellite, soared into space aboard a Delta II rocket after lift off on 28^th October.

NPP carries five science instruments to help meteorologists improve short-term weather forecasts and to help climatologists observe long-term patterns. The mission will extend more than 30 key long-term data sets that NASA has been tracking, including measurements of the ozone layer, land cover, ice cover, clouds, the ocean surface, and vegetation.  It orbits 512 miles above the Earth.

Advantages of the NPP Satellite

• We will be able to predict what the weather will be like more accurately and we can observe the condition of other things such as the ozone layer better.
• It will improve our understanding of what earth is doing.
• It will be a step forward in better technology.

Disadvantages of the NPP Satellite

• The Satellite traffic will increase as it joins the many that are already in orbit.
• The satellite cost billions to make.

In my opinion, the satellite is a great project for improving weather forecasting by making it more reliable and accurate.  It can also collect more data and information for the experts that are working on this, so they can improve things even more in the future.

On-line Banking

Testing with online banking started during the early 1980s, but it wasn't until 6^th October 1995, that Presidential Savings Bank first offered customers an online alternative to the traditional banking experience. 

With online banking, customers can view their current and available balances, view transactions, pay your bills, transfer money to external accounts, transfer money between your banking and savings accounts, transfer money overseas, request a new overdraft and request an increased limit for an existing overdraft.

You can also use on-line banking for your credit cards. Customers can,

View their balance and any recent transactions and transfer balances from other credit or store cards.

Some banks have higher security than others.  Banks that have started to use online banking more have created card reading devices that give the customer a special login code for them to enter into their website in order for the customer to access their account online.  This code is different every time so it is less likely that they can be a victim of fraud and hacking.

There are also online only banks such as:

• First Direct
• Egg
• ING Direct
• RaboDirect

These are banks that are only online and do not have any branches for customers to go to.  Everything that the customer needs is on the banks website and they have phone lines for people to call if they have any problems or need help with complicated banking.

Online Banking has advantages and disadvantages for different groups of people.

These groups are the customer, the bank and the employees.

Advantages for customers

• Convenient because it is quick and easy when you don’t want to go out.
• No need to travel because you can look at your bank from the comfort of your own home.
• Open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• No queuing because you are online instead of in a building waiting to be served.
• The customer can find details quickly because the easy to use websites keep the information you need.

Disadvantages for customers

• There can be some security risks such as hackers.
• Possibility of errors on the systems or by people that could enter the wrong information.
• The Digital Divide.  Some people do not trust and do not like using technology for something so personal and important.

Advantages for the bank

• They have fewer employees to pay which means they have less money going out.
• Wider customer base because some people might join a bank for their appealing online alternatives.
• The bank doesn't need as many buildings because people are doing more of their banking on-line.

Disadvantages for the bank

• If something goes wrong with security, then the bank is the one in trouble because their reputation is at risk.
• It costs the bank lots of money in order to keep their customers safe.
• Some customers might not trust the online banking because of hackers and the digital divide which means fewer customers for the bank.

Advantages for employees

• New job opportunities for website developers and designers.

Disadvantages for employees

• Some people might lose jobs if the banking is being used more than the branches.

In my opinion, online banking is a great and very useful idea.  It lets people do their banking anywhere and at any time.  There are some risks involved in online banking, such as hackers and system errors, but the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and people would rather take the small risk and use the useful online alternative to going into a branch.

E-Government

E-government is a digital interaction between government and citizen.

Examples of this are:

• Taxes- Inland Revenue and car tax
• Voting
• Petitions
• Pensions- Apply for a pension forecast
• Contact your MP
• NHS
• Party Policies
• Electronic Application Services
• UCAS
• Driving applications
• Online Statistics
• Police
• Environment
• Schools

The main e-government website in the UK is Directgov.  It covers everything above and more, including help for young people, crime, motoring, children, employment and many more.

NHS Choices

The NHS stands for National Health Service and it is run by the government.  The NHS have a website called NHS Choices and it has lots of information about where to find NHS services, how to live healthily and information on conditions and symptoms and what you can do about them.

Advantages of NHS Choices

It is run by the government, so it will always be there for when people have problems with their health.

It is useful for someone that cant go to a doctor or just needs information about something minor because they can just go onto this website and find out everything they need to know and can get further information whether they need to go to the doctor or not.

It has useful information for people that are not ill.  If someone just wants to know how to keep healthy then they can have a look on the website and get loads of information.

There are updates on the news of medical science for people to read and stay up to date with new treatments and new breakthroughs on medicines and cures.

Disadvantages of NHS Choices

People could use this as a substitute doctor and could wrongly diagnose themselves when they could be seriously ill.

The website can’t be as accurate as going to a hospital or seeing your GP.

In my opinion, this kind of E-government is quite good because I can see it being very useful for the people that need it.  It is useful for people that might be curious about something because it is quick and convenient to use with lots of information.

Motoring

Advantages of Motoring

You can apply for a driving licence online.  This would be quick and would have lots of information about what you have to do.

It has lots of information about driving and the Highway Code.

Information about vehicle crime and lots of other legal car information.

Disadvantages of Motoring

If you lose your driving licence or it gets stolen you will have to apply again online and wait for another one.

In my opinion, a motoring section online is a helpful part of e-government.  This is because young people will not know much about what to do to get driving and what to do when they are on the road.

Voting

Advantages of Voting

There is lots of information that tells you how to vote.  This is good for people that are new to voting.

You can register to vote online.  This is good because it is convenient and easy.

It shows local government elections.  This is good because you can see what will happen in your local area if you decide to vote for a specific party.

Disadvantages of Voting

You can not vote in local government elections if you are a British citizen living abroad and registered as an overseas voter.

You can’t actually vote online, just register to vote and go to a polling station or by a letter in the post.

In my opinion, registering online is a good idea and giving lots of information to people about the elections is useful but it would be better if you would be able to vote online instead of going to the polling station or posting it. 

Online Education

The internet helps towards education in several different ways such as information websites, educational videos, online activities, research and forums.

Examples of websites like this are:

BBC Bitesize- An online revision website for all subjects up to GCSE level.

MyMaths- An online maths website that can be used for learning, revision and homework.

YouTube- An online video website that lets you search anything you want.  These videos 

can show examples of what you are learning or videos that explain things to you.

Wikipedia- An online information website that has information about nearly everything for you to research.

The Student Room- An online forum for students to ask questions about problems they are having with work or exams.

Sam Learning- An online education website for people to revise and do quizzes on certain subjects in order to earn points on their profile and beat their friends.

FastTomato- An online careers education and guidance system, designed for people aged 12 upwards who are considering their future career and study options.

Net Frog- An online tutorial website that shows you how to dissect a frog correctly.  It has videos and activities for you to do, to help you understand.

Advantages of Research Websites:

• Fast to search what you are looking for
• Helps people with their homework
• They have information about lots of topics

Disadvantages of Research Websites:

• It is not guaranteed that they will have the exact information you want
• Some of the information could be out of date
• Some information could be incorrect

In my opinion, research websites are very useful.  If you need to know something, I’m sure there will be a website that can tell you.  However, if you are using a website such as wikipedia, then you should check the information on another website to make sure it is correct.  This is because wikipedia can be edited by anyone that thinks they know about something and sometimes write the wrong information.

Advantages of Educational Videos:

• Easy to learn from because people don’t get bored from reading lots of text
• More interesting
• Wide range of things to learn about
• Kids prefer to learn from videos rather than teachers talking or going through a book.

Disadvantages of Educational Videos:

• Some videos displayed by your search can be irrelevant to what you are looking for
• Videos might not go into much detail
• Slow internet connections can affect your experience with videos because they can load really slowly and you have to wait.

In my opinion, educational videos are good.  They break up the old ways of learning and revising.  During my exams I used to go onto youtube to find some videos that would help me understand and remember topics better, and it worked.  This is a good form of education, but unfortunately everyone learns in different ways so it might only be useful for some people.

Advantages of Revision Websites:

• Made especially to help you remember information
• Easy to use
• Nearly every subject to revise
• Activities such as quizzes to test what you have learned

Disadvantages of Revision Websites:

• It doesn’t cover a whole topic, just the important bits
• All the schools in the country are doing something slightly different, so the revision website might not include what you are learning 

In my opinion, revision websites help with the main points of a topic but not the less important points which make it less useful than other education sources.  However it has good activities that help you revise.

Advantages of Activity Websites:

• They help people to practice questions such as maths sums
• It is more fun to do an activity and it might help you learn better
• It is easy to use

Disadvantages of Activity Websites:

• Some activities might only cover a topic briefly
• MyMaths needs a login to be able to use it
• Some people might find them repetitive

In my opinion, I think activity websites are also useful because it could be a preferred way for someone to learn and it is a good way to learn maths because it guides you through while you work out sums and it is easier than using pens, paper and text books.