วันอังคารที่ 7 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2555

Chapter 10

Pros and Cons of Information Techology

Some advantages of Information Technology

http://www.smallbusinessbible.org/advan_disadvan_informationtechnology.html


Globalization - IT has not only brought the world closer together, but it has allowed the world's economy to become a single interdependent system. This means that we can not only share information quickly and efficiently, but we can also bring down barriers of linguistic and geographic boundaries. The world has developed into a global village due to the help of information technology allowing countries like Chile and Japan who are not only separated by distance but also by language to shares ideas and information with each other.

Communication - With the help of information technology, communication has also become cheaper, quicker, and more efficient. We can now communicate with anyone around the globe by simply text messaging them or sending them an email for an almost instantaneous response. The internet has also opened up face to face direct communication from different parts of the world thanks to the helps of video conferencing.

Cost effectiveness - Information technology has helped to computerize the business process thus streamlining businesses to make them extremely cost effective money making machines. This in turn increases productivity which ultimately gives rise to profits that means better pay and less strenuous working conditions.

Bridging the cultural gap - Information technology has helped to bridge the cultural gap by helping people from different cultures to communicate with one another, and allow for the exchange of views and ideas, thus increasing awareness and reducing prejudice.

More time -IT has made it possible for businesses to be open 24 x7 all over the globe. This means that a business can be open anytime anywhere, making purchases from different countries easier and more convenient. It also means that you can have your goods delivered right to your doorstep with having to move a single muscle.

Creation of new jobs - Probably the best advantage of information technology is the creation of new and interesting jobs. Computer programmers, Systems analyzers, Hardware and Software developers and Web designers are just some of the many new employment opportunities created with the help of IT.


Some disadvantage of Information Technology

Unemployment - While information technology may have streamlined the business process it has also crated job redundancies, downsizing and outsourcing. This means that a lot of lower and middle level jobs have been done away with causing more people to become unemployed.

Privacy -Though information technology may have made communication quicker, easier and more convenient, it has also bought along privacy issues. From cell phone signal interceptions to email hacking, people are now worried about their once private information becoming public knowledge.


.Lack of job security -Industry experts believe that the internet has made job security a big issue as since technology keeps on changing with each day. This means that one has to be in a constant learning mode, if he or she wishes for their job to be secure.

Dominant culture - While information technology may have made the world a global village, it has also contributed to one culture dominating another weaker one. For example it is now argued that US influences how most young teenagers all over the world now act, dress and behave. Languages too have become overshadowed, with English becoming the primary mode of communication for business and everything else.


 

Chapter 9


Characteristic of good websites

What makes a website successful? Keep the following points in mind when creating your website to get the most out of it:


  • Content 
Quality content on your website can provide users with the information they are looking for. Content also allows you to establish yourself as an expert in your field. When your website visitors are looking to make a purchase they will feel more comfortable with your products and services if you have built their trust and confidence through what you have written on your website.
Keyword-filled content is also crucial for getting high search engine rankings. Most internet users trust search engines to help them find what they are looking for. Taking the time to create high quality content can have huge payoffs through increased search engine rankings.
  • Simple and Attractive Design
The design of a good website should be simple, yet professional. The design should not take away or distract from the content. Websites with excessive use of Flash and moving images can be very distracting. Use design to help you get your message to visitors, not to distract them from the message. Colors should not be hard on the eyes, and text should be easy to read.
  •  Easy Navigation
Navigation and links provide opportunities to incorporate design elements in to the website; however, navigation schemes should not be so elaborate that the user has trouble knowing where to click to move to another page. The average visitor’s attention span is a matter of seconds, and if it is hard to find what he or she is looking for, you will loose that visitor very quickly. Links to your most important pages should be easily found on every page. A good rule of thumb is that every page should be accessible in two clicks from your home page (this may not be possible with larger sites).
  • Unique 
The most successful websites will stand out from the crowd. There are a number of was that you can make your website stand out: better design, high quality articles, a blog, a newsletter, some type of resource or tool. Find something that would be appealing to your target market.
  • Fresh 
Having a website that changes or is updated frequently will encourage repeat visitors. Repeat visitors will be more loyal and more likely to buy. There are a few different options for keeping your site fresh:
1- Update the site and add content occasionally – This will require you to either pay a designer or do the work yourself.
2 – Use a blog – With a blog you can add content to your website from any computer with an internet connection. All you’ll have to do is login and type. No special software or skills are required.
3 – RSS feeds – With RSS feeds you can add news headlines, weather, stock tickers, etc. to your website. Additionally, you can add content from most blogs to your site with RSS. The benefit of RSS feeds is that once in place they will automatically update.

  • Optimized 
A successful website will be search engine-friendly. Optimization includes things like using page titles and meta tags for all of your pages. Using headers and alt tags for images can also help optimization and accessibility. Even a website that is strong in other areas but weak in optimization may be hard for users to find.

Example of good website


http://bigthink.com/

The thinking at Big Think is big indeed. This blog and video site covers, well, the world: arts, business, science, history and much more. Resident big thinkers such as futurist Ray Kurzweil and distinguished guests tackle the topics seriously, and counterintuitive notions and outright heresy are welcome. (One post speculated that there's a 20% chance that we're all part of an elaborate computer simulation from the future.) It's a great place to go to challenge your preconceived notions and recharge your mental batteries.
 



Three-year-old Airbnb is a sort of eBay for places to stay: a marketplace for spare bedrooms and unused vacation homes in 190 countries that matches travelers with hosts and handles the financial transaction in return for a 3% cut. It's gained a reputation as a more economical, personal alternative to chain hotels, and has inspired countless glowing testimonials. But in July, the site had a p.r. crisis when a host blogged about a nightmarish experience with a destructive, pilfering guest. After a somewhat shaky response, Airbnb responded by instituting a $50,000 insurance plan — and all evidence still suggests that deals gone bad are one in a million.

Example of Bias information

This list includes many examples of Bias in Wikipedia, related to homosexuality;

1. Wikipedia Homosexual agenda by its editors is clearly visible.

2. The Wikipedia entry for homosexuality is adorned with a rainbow graphic but fails to mention the following: the many diseases associated with homosexuality, the high promiscuity rates of the male homosexual community, the higher incidences of domestic violence among homosexual couples compared to heterosexual couples, the prevalence of murder in the homosexual community, and the substantially higher mental illness and drug usage rates of the homosexuality community. In addition, the Wikipedia article on homosexuality fails to mention that the American Psychiatric Association issued a fact sheet in May of 2000 stating that "..there are no replicated scientific studies supporting a specific biological etiology for homosexuality."

3. Wikipedia editors regularly and fiercely alter the use of the terms "he" or "she" in articles regarding cross-dressing/transsexual figures. Men attempting to pass as females are near-universally referred to as "she" while women attempting to pass as men are referred to as "he", despite this usage absolutely incorrect in both scientific and legal senses.

 

Chapter 8

How do search engines work?




  • Internet search engines are web search engines that search and retrieve information on the web. Most of them use crawler indexer architecture. They depend on their crawler modules. Crawlers also referred to as spiders are small programs that browse the web.
  • Crawlers are given an initial set of URLs whose pages they retrieve. They extract the URLs that appear on the crawled pages and give this information to the crawler control module. The crawler module decides which pages to visit next and gives their URLs back to the crawlers.
  • The topics covered by different search engines vary according to the algorithms they use. Some search engines are programmed to search sites on a particular topic while the crawlers in others may be visiting as many sites as possible.
  • The crawl control module may use the link graph of a previous crawl or may use usage patterns to help in its crawling strategy.
  • The indexer module extracts the words form each page it visits and records its URLs. It results into a large lookup table that gives a list of URLs pointing to pages where each word occurs. The table lists those pages, which were covered in the crawling process.
  • A collection analysis module is another important part of the search engine architecture. It creates a utility index. A utility index may provide access to pages of a given length or pages containing a certain number of pictures on them.
  • During the process of crawling and indexing, a search engine stores the pages it retrieves. They are temporarily stored in a page repository. Search engines maintain a cache of pages they visit so that retrieval of already visited pages expedites.
  • The query module of a search engine receives search requests form users in the form of keywords. The ranking module sorts the results.
  • The crawler indexer architecture has many variants. It is modified in the distributed architecture of a search engine. These search engine architectures consist of gatherers and brokers. Gatherers collect indexing information from web servers while the brokers give the indexing mechanism and the query interface. Brokers update indices on the basis of information received from gatherers and other brokers. They can filter information. Many search engines of today use this type of architecture.


  • Example of 5 engines  on the Internet







    Chapter 7

    Ideas to help and support the flooding crisis in Thailand



    - Every community affected is already in desperate need of water, rice, basic supplies, even clothes.

    - After flooding crisis. Project concept and idea to help flood victim after flood. looking for ideas to help flooding crisis flood victim to earn income after flood eg. Otop clothes bag,

    handmade books or calendar, key ring.

    Chapter 6

    Example of a Report and Citation

    Report




    Citation

    an example of a Harvard Style in-line citation

    Chapter 5

    Database

     

    The example of Book Database