Module 13

Brandi Barnett
IST 1100
4/13/13

Hey all, the time has come where we say goodbye to this semester and start our summer vacation or for some people to shake their head in disgust and asking why am I doing summer classes agian? You will get through it I promise (eh probably not). This paper is to reflect on past assignments and getting to pick the good, bad, and the ugly of the course. Lets begin shall we:

     For the first few blog entries we were to have read The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman. I generally skip the big and thick books like this and obviously the title is not interesting to me. I am more of you know vampires sucking blood and zombies eating brains kind of person. So getting this book was defiantly a ball buster for me. However, I as it pains me to say it really liked this book. Now, don’t get me wrong there was boring parts I really wish I did not have to read. I did enjoy is opinion on the ten major reasons why the world is flat. While, reading further into the ten flatteners I finally began to get into the book. The Berlin Wall I was like just born when that happened while it was a great piece of history that happened I was just not in to it simply because I have no idea it even happened till middle school or high school. So, when it came to talking about computers and the business aspect of why the world was flat I was all ears. Computers are essentially the worlds greatest influence on mankind. Without it we would be lost since we became so dependent on it and we would of course go back to writing with pencil and paper if something were to ever happen a la revolution and computers were not existent. Overall, it was a very good read and I would truly recommended it. And, the book is available online for free. So, tell future students.

      Other blog assignments was to read articles and get to watch a movie. I really enjoyed reading “Why The Future Doesn't Needs Us” by Bill Joy. It was quite a read. I like to hear peoples arguments on certain subjects and his was one of them. He had some good arguments on the matter of GNR, but there is always a risk to everything and you can’t let that stop anyone from creating something that could be life saving. It is a chance us millions of people are willing to take.

       I am always hesitant on taking online classes since I am a forgetful person and frankly it is hard to remember you have another class. But, this one was very easy to remember since the due dates were always the same for each assignment. I did not know what to expect logging on for this class and it is definitely still not what I was expecting. I really like the class setup and what not. I was already in the blog universe since I had to do it for another class so that was not new to me and actually like that teachers are becoming more found of it. I have found new fond interests thanks to this class. Thank you.

Module 12

Brandi Barnett
IST 1100
4/6/13

This week we are supposed to read “Why The Future Needs Us” by Bill Joy and explain what GNR is and what the author fears about the. The three components to GNR are: genetic engineering, nanotechnology, robotics. The author describes how each of them will destroy man kind as we know it.

       Genetic engineering is to create a ton of crop yields while minimizing the use of pesticides to make thousands of special species of bacteria, animals, etc. and possibly help with cloning. Like with anything else genetic engineering has major side effects that Joy fears is a problem since it can be deadly his other fear is that it will create power for a white plague.

       Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale to create a utopian future of abundance. Which, would solve any disease or physical problem imaginable. Joy has issues with this particular subject because is it ethically right to do such a thing? Not only that he also fears what it can become of such great technology improvement. It can lead to a massive destruction if put into the wrong hands since it can grow back cells.

     Robotics that someone can create robots that could be really intelligent than the human race itself. What comes with a highly intelligent robot comes fear. We thrive on knowledge whether we like it or not and that could lead to humans discovering new things like building a robot which come on it is pretty cool, but it is a concern since these highly effective robots could possibly take over the human population with their really intelligent ways.

     Bill Joy is not wrong when voicing his concerns over GNR, because the greatest fear is the fear of oneself and those of others. GNR are ultimately weapons that can be used against us from outside sources or even from within our own walls. However, GNR will never replace humans because we are always in control and the future will forever need us.

Module 11; WarGames

For this assignment we were able to watch some sort of computer related movie which did not bug me one bit.I decided to watch WarGames because I absolutely love this movie and this was the perfect reason to watch it again. This time I noticed a lot more since I was watching more for the assignment and not solely on entertainment.

The movie is about a teenage hacker who hacks into a top secret computer game which unbeknownst to him the game is actually a United States military computer programmer that is programmed to predict possible outcomes of a nuclear war. When the hacker plays the game and picks a country he wants to nuke he is actually playing in real life as well and putting a lot people and countries in danger and almost starting World War III as a result.This is something that it is not very likely to happen today not necessarily the hacker part but the computer programming aspect of it. However, I do believe it could have 100 percent happened when computers were just becoming popular, but not so today. When computers have been around for a long time you learn how they work and what to do and not to do. And, because of that a few years ago the real nuclear plan was drawn out never computerized. But, back then when computers were the new up and coming no one knew just how it could work even the government was new to everything and trying to learn the new technology. So, you store everything on this computer thinking oh it will be fine not knowing it could somewhat endanger lives if it ends up in the wrong hands if you're careful. Trust was a very deal back in the early 80's we are all working together and to have someone hack into your system not just anyone but a kid is a big deal. When the movie came out some kids got the idea to hack their way into the defense department computer system and succeed. Hacking has come a long way since then and it is taking over by the minute. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) the computer programmer in the movie is actually designed to withstand a heavy bombing and tracking Santa.

Social awareness was a big theme in the movie basically act in a way you know is right and accepted and know the consequences to those wrongdoings. Hacking into anything and gathering information you know nothing about or doing it to hurt others for fun is not socially acceptable when that person knows its wrong in doing so and can have some dire consequences for either parties. In the movie the hacker gets caught and ends up trying to prove his innocence that he did not do this on purpose and wasn't some type of "spy". Moral of the movie do not hack or (just watch what you are hacking into).

Module 10

Brandi Barnett
IST 1100
3/23/13

       The writing in this story was out of this world and very hard to comprehend at times.

Which is why I loved everything thing about “A Logic Named Joe” it was funny and witty. I was truly

surprised when I saw it was written in 1946 the author predicted what computers would be like very

accurately when computers back then were practically still in the womb. Man, I really wanted to

know what the best way to make a lot of money was, out of curiosity of course.

    The author described computers like a big TV where you preview anything you want on it just by

punching the screen and brings up what you asked for. He said it would have a keyboard, software,

processing, and it would be in homes and business around the world (which we have today on our

computers). He also predicted video (you tube), communication (skype) internet, censor ship for

young kids (still working on that) etc. of course he couldn't have predicted that once something is on

the internet it is on there forever.

    The author mentions something called “The Tank” in the story and all I could think of when I read

it was the “Think Tank” from an episode of Psych. Of course, there is no correlation between the two

(eh) I just love that show. Anyways, “The Tank” the author refers to is a set of information to

translates to servers on the web which then would come up with whatever result it wanted to.

The World Is Flat: Module 9

Brandi Barnett
IST 1100
3/15/13


        Well Dell computers have six factories world wide which has its very own logistics system where many parts of the computers are held. Dell will call up one of those factories for parts and those parts will be where it needs to be within minutes. Dell would rather use the help of multiple suppliers rather than one big one in case something goes wrong down in supply demand. Sale and delivery takes about a few hundred companies and a lot of big wigs to make this happen. No two countries will ever go to war if they are both packing the same supply chain. 

   Yes, Al Qaeda has a supply chain they just work off other supply chains from other businesses. They use their source of religion to manipulate the chain of supply. They use it for recruitment for trainers and followers, raise money, and to pass along the tools they use in their operations. They have used our technology to their advantage. 
   
   Curse of the oil is when one there is no taxing on oil and when a country has no one looking out for how the oil is being used. Companies are laughing all the way to the bank all awhile abusing the system since there is no one taking care of the oil business. Since there is no tax money on the oil, there is no money to contribute to make some of those countries a little better. 

Module 8

Brandi Barnett
3/2/13
IST 1100

While growing up my mom had bought a whole collection of encyclopedias that were to be used by my siblings and I. We did have to read cover to cover (she was once of one those moms) but we only got to a few of them before computers were becoming popular and everyone had to get one even my family. After the computers were introduced in my household my mom gave up and figured we would use that for learning. I was in elementary when my family first acquired this fascinating new piece of technology. I was only allowed to play games on it for an hour once a week since I was so young. However, in elementary we had computer time where we would do some type of subject matter on there and during recess we could play games on it. Even with little access to the computer it was such a huge deal as a little kid to be playing with this big toy. Older generations would go on to say people my age have become the lazy generation for relying on technology so young and so fast.

            I spent parts of my life in California before moving to Utah. I moved to Utah the summer after 7^th grade. My middle school in California had no computers except for the ones for the teachers. Students were not allowed access. We had to do computer work at home or at the library. My dad was really strict and never let me use it even for homework he would always tell me to go to the library and read up on it. Yes, I know what I library is barely. When I moved to Utah and started Jr. High that school had a lot more computers then what I was used to. I was overwhelmed because I did not know how to properly use one. That was the beginning of my “laziness.”

            In high school computers were heavily relied on for homework and answers. Thanks to Google. I am a Google queen. During my senior year administrators new computers would be really useful out in the real world so they had a great idea in order to graduate we would need to take a computer class requirement and need at least a “B” to pass. We would learn the ins and outs of hard drives and monitors, software, printers, search engines. Etc. you name it we were taught it. We were the guinea pigs to see how things would go. It went extremely well. They do change a few things about it. But, I really loved that class and it was one of my favorites. To be able to learn this every growing technology is very powerful.

            Now, in college you need a computer to even survive. They are now offering e textbooks in some classes. We have online classes. We have to register online. We have to email teachers or text. Everything we do is via a computer. Most teachers lecture off of PowerPoint. It is an everyday occurrence using some type of software. What happened to the chalkboard days?

            Some days I am very grateful for a computer and the internet. It is such easy access for everything. Regardless of it being true or not. Then, there are days where I could just pop open those encyclopedia and just read and do research based on that. But, that is way too much work. It is true we are the lazy generation. I wonder what will become of the kids who are being brought up in a technology based world today.

The World Is Flat: Part 6

Brandi Barnett
IST 1100
2/16/13

Hello again,

Free trade is trading for free. Kidding, of course. Free trading is actually a trade between nations. David Ricardo a  came up with the idea of free trade. Ricardo thought it would be an economic advantage if we could trade goods with other nations. Ricardo made it free so that it can be easily to import and sell. I think free trade is very important in this never ending flat world. It allows countries to sell what other countries are selling and maybe even improve it a little a sell it. As long as people demand the goods and service there will not be a problem with free trade.

       A new middler is someone who is middle class. To make it in any world you need to be untouchable where jobs are not outsourced or digitized. Friedman explained what a good middle class job is and what you need in eight categories: 1) Great collaborators and orchestrators must be able to translate the service of a global company for the local market. 2) The great synthesizers will be able to combine and distribute. 3) The great explainers will be able to explain what is happening in simple terms. 4) The great leverages will design computer programs that will work smarter and faster. 5) The great adapters have a high degree of skills who can apply said skills in any situation. 6) The green people (aliens!) are environmental and will become more efficient. 7) The passionate personalizers that will had their own touch on a boring job. 8) The great localizers is business people that will be able to compete globally with high techy stuff.

       CQ + PQ > IQ is a certain set of skills to learn that describes what the right stuff is to have for future employers and educators. CQ is the curiosity element and PQ is the passion element of a skill and of course IQ is the brainy element of all. It is very important because it teaches itself to become the successful person you are set out to be. You need to be passionate towards others in an environment show that you care about whatever you do. Have curiosity about new and different things explore. Discover what you are passionate about. These two are very important. Intelligence what in the world is that.

       I enjoyed this very much. I thought the CQ, etc. would be about computers I was like not again. It was very interesting to read it and how intelligence really is not the important like we are lead to believe. It is up there, but not like CQ +PQ.

The World Is Flat: Part 5

        Hello, fellow bloggers. After, taking a week off from the book I kind of missed it, shockingly. I wish I had done the interview but I simply did not have time. It was a crazy week. I would have liked to gain more insight in the IT world. Well this week it is all about the triple convergence, who is exploiter and exploited party, and the intellectual party.

      The triple convergence is where all the events the author wrote about that creates an even flatter world. The first convergence is when computer base generated programs made a difference in peoples lives. It shaped and mapped the world as we know it. People could now communicate via e-mail and other ways. The second convergence is the business aspect of it where certain skills were provided to people. They are essential in this world. The third convergence actually comes from other countries. They help shape this world by joining the global market place and making a huge boom in the economic area. They provided a lot of workers that we could not. The triple convergence is very important in this ever growing world. Without computers how would we connect to people all away around the world?

        The case Indiana vs. India comes the question who is the exploiter and who is the exploited in this epic battle? Indiana needed to upgrade their computer system, so they outsourced an Indian company who had won a bid. India wanted to use their own employees and use local people from Indiana. In my opinion India is the exploiter and Indiana is the exploited. Indiana went out of their to help India and then not even get appreciated, while India was just using them to get what they wanted. 

      Intellectual property is a law that protect you and a certain idea of products and services that you may have. It gives you rights. Someone could claim ownership of a certain idea that you have, but since you have property rights (patent/trademark) you can shut them down quick. It is very important when it comes to businesses alike. It protects their business from money hungry people. 

The World Is Flat: Part 3

Brandi Barnett

1/26/13

IST 1100

       This week in reading The World Is Flat I read something I thought I had already known, but that was not the case. You do learn something new every day even when you thought you had the answer to that something it just opened your eyes to something much greater. Today I will be discussing: off-shoring, supply chain, and Google. 

Off-shoring is when a company moves a factory to another country and getting work done and Outsourcing is getting work out to an organization with a set of skills. Many reasons companies choose to go the off-shoring route is because it is cheaper that way and fewer taxes as well. 

 Supply chain is to create a value between consumers and the store. The author then sets up an example regarding Wal-Mart and how they use the supply chain to their advantage and makes next to nothing. During the holiday seasons even when the product may not be the best quality they still sell millions upon millions of merchandise because their prices are so low. Since, Wal-Mart has such low prices the employees suffer because of it with little to no benefits and reduced salaries. 

Google has become something we all rely on and it is available 24/7 and provides all this information you can ever dream of within seconds. And all that information stored in a single stroke. Google has affected the business world in a good way. Instead of having you or some assistant thumb through a lot of old boxes of documents you can just go through Google and it will have your answer waiting for you. You become your own researcher. Search engines have a lot of knowledge behind them. But, with knowledge comes a price. Google could also stir up trouble by having unwanted information out there for everyone to see. If we heavily rely on a computer generated search engine were not truly applying ourselves to learn. 

I enjoyed this section of the book. I learned a lot of things I didn't know and a lot of things I knew but was misinformed. There was a lot I wanted to say but it was all jumbled in my head and couldn't properly form it into words/sentences. 

The Wold Is Flat: Part 2

Brandi Barnett
1/17/13
IST 1100

Well here we are again fellow lurkers it is another assignment on why Thomas L. Friedman thinks the world is flat. This time around the paper-blog will be discussing more computer based technical advances. The life advances on why the world may be flat include: Workflow software allowed work to flow, open source software where you are collaborating on projects , and outsourcing is split services.

     Workflow software no one really knew what it was and pretty much was kept on the down low. It was a way of communicating with business associates all the way around the world in a better fashion. Of course, with all this new technology people started to get greedy and wanted more to do with this new found invention. Consumers wanted to buy and sell things over the internet and may be provide good with whatever they came up with. Then, came programs like HTML it provided consumers the same based computer language. Another example of workflow software is PDF, which is a file format that captures elements of a printed document as an electronic image. It has become a big thing in the college world.

     Open source software is a free based downloading source that lets people contribute and improve the software. It should be free and free to all. Open source was created so people can get out of the control of corporations. Mozilla Firebox is an open source software which is a free web browser installation. It had over ten million downloads. One of the reasons why it is so popular is that you can add extensions sometimes for free to the browser like an app. This was a huge turn around that can actually help people in other parts of the world. Since, out source programs can literally run on any sized computer. The internet explorer is dying a slow death.

     Outsourcing was probably the only thins that came out positive during the Y2K phenomenon. Computers went into a frenzy during the 90’s with the height of Y2K. It was too much for the every day worker with hardly any knowledge on how to correctly fix a computer problem they realized they can rely on other people and not just people from inside their own house. This is where India enters the equation they had enough software engineers and people who can fix the problem with their advanced skills and so many IT schools. It was not just beneficial and problem solving situation it was learned that by using sources from the outside world it is a lot cheaper and faster to get something done correctly and on time.

     This book is definitely an interesting read it is not something I would generally go and pick up myself. Out of the six events that have caused the world to go flat so far that has been covered. I have only found one to be enjoyable. I hope you are enjoying the book so far than I have. I can not wait till it picks up some speed and covers events I am truly interested and invested in. Maybe off shoring will be it.

The World Is Flat: Part 1

Brandi Barnett
1/12/13
IST 1100

        I have heard about this book through out the years and never would have thought to get it since I 

heard so much about it already and just by the title of the book I already knew what it would be about. Well 

I was wrong. The author, Thomas L. Friedman, goes in depth on why the world the flat just by the economic 

of it and globalization of the world. Not, just by traveling the world going by distance like Columbus had did 

previously. The author goes on to tell us how major historical events flattened the world. It was interesting 

to read what he had discovered and some things he noted made sense in a way. Certain events can literally 

shape the world. 

  Globalization is the interchange of world views. Friedman breaks down the globalization into three parts 

1.0, 2.0, and 3.0. Friedman, notes that the Globalization 1.0  is the first era went from a small size world to 

about a large size in a matter of minutes. It was all about what kind of muscle you had. It had the power to 

change. Globalization 2.0 was the era of the Great Depression and Cold Wars and introduced us to certain 

companies and took us back to being small and it opened the world to the internet. It was considered the 

global integration.  Globalization 3.0 went from small to tiny and  is all about the individuals and the power 

they hold. 

     The first example he gives is the fall of the Berlin Wall and how it became the center of the world

becoming flat so to speak. The of the Berlin Wall to Thomas L. Friedman, the author, believed it tipped the 

balance of power across the world. With the wall still standing there was two big players at play capitalism 

and communism when the wall fell there was only one power. The fall of the Berlin Wall helped free-market 

capitalism and it also helped see the world differently. It only takes one major thing to affect other 

events as well. 
  Netscape was very important in the land of events of making this world flat. Before they came along we 

had no way to instantly communicate with one another and provide essential research. Sure, we did fine 

before technology came into play, but it made it easier or some would say lazier to people around the world.  

It brought the internet on its toes and made it available for anyone to use. With so much demand for certain 

networks it spawned a whole bunch of operating systems such as Windows 95 which, became the number 

one consumer use world wide. People were communicating via the internet left and right with people all over 

the world  before we knew it. Netscape also started the dot com sensation. The internet-email-interacting-

phase became the reason of globalization 3.0.

      I really liked reading the interview between the author and the CEO of Netscape. It was such a telling 

interview and learned a lot of things about how the internet became this important technology in our daily 

lives. Who knew it would become such a hit and influence today’s world. It defiantly makes the world a bit 

more flat. of course, being a kid that was brought into the early days of technology this interested me more 

than the Berlin Wall.