However, despite all the ways the internet has been benificaial towards stopping crime, it has also resulted in more crimes being performed.
A prime example of this is the fact that people posting stuff on facebook and twitter can lead to more burglaries occuring. This is because a lot of people post something saying that they are leaving their house. This causes problems as some websites say where the post originated. Other people put their address online. These mean that burgulars can find where a person lives and also if they are at home. If the burglar knows when the people will be out he will probably break in then as they will not be people around to stop him.
Another disadvantage of the internet in reference to crime is that it has made it a easier for people to gain access to restricted files. This is because a person could hack into a supposed secure network and steal or modify important files. This could compromise nation security and put the country at risk from attack. Even if it does not comprosise national security it can take a very long time and a lot of effort and money to correct and restore any files that have been damaged.
This is very similar to people hacking into compnay or government records either to steal money or to say they have paid for or done something that they actually have not. This can cause a large problem as it means that the company or government could have financial difficulties or give the person a service that they should not receive.
It is getting harder for the police to catch hackers. This is because hackers are getting better at hiding or "spoofing" their IP address. Every computer has a unique IP address. The police can normally find the IP address of a computer that has been used to hack into files. This IP can then be traced back to find where the computer is. As hackers are getting better at hiding their IP address it becomes harder for police to trace the computers that are being used.
The last major problem with the internet in regards to law enforcement could be viewed as the number of cameras used. Some people think that the cameras are invadining their privacy and should not be used as much or in public places. There are concerns that anyone could in theory gain access to the recordings or that the recordings are used for more purposes than just security. This could result in the data being used for something other than the purpose it was collected for, thus breaking the data collection act. Other people think that the cameras are ugly and ruin the asthetics of an area.
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
wednesday 29.9 lesson
I am halfway through research about how the internet is having a negative affect on crime. I will finish and post it later today
Monday, 27 September 2010
Crime and law (benefits)
The internet has had a very large impact on crime and law enforcement.
Primarily the internet has improved how quickly the police are able to catch some-one and also how accurate they are in identifying a person.
A primary example of the internet beneffitting police officers is through traffic cameras. The are traffic cameras on most major roads now. The police can watch a live feed from the camera which is sent via the internet to the police station. This means that the police can react immediately if they see some-one breaking the law. Also the police can use the internet to access a database with every registered number plate on it which also contains information about who owns the car, if they have a licence, and whether that person has paid car tax. All this information can be used to help the police arrest people quicker. These traffic cameras can also be programmed to recognise specific license plates and immediately alert the police. This makes it easier to catch a person if the police already know what they are driving. Likewise it can also make it quicker to find stolen cars.
Speed cameras are similar to traffic cameras in that they monitor what is on the roads. However speed cameras are completely automatic. If they detect some-one speeding a picture is taken of the license plate. A computer then works out what the registration number is. The computer then accesses a database on the main server and finds the address that corresponds with the licence. The appropriate fine is then sent to the address. This is very beneficial to the police as it means that the officers can spend time doing other work instead of watching for speeders. Also a computer works a lot faster than a human when dealing with data. This means that while a human could fall behind in issuing the fines the computer will always stay up to date. Also computers make mistakes a lot more rarely than human, provided they have been programmed properly. This means that it is very rare for a fine either not to be sent or to be sent to the wronng address.
Traffic and speed cameras both work well because there is not a known way of obscuring the license plates while still making it readable for a human.
Normal security cameras work in a similar way to traffic cameras in that the police men can watch what is happening live. Security cameras are not as useful when it comes to recognising people as they can not recognise an individual person. However, they can be programmed to alert the police to anyone who looks similar to the suspect. Although not as useful as traffic cameras, this is still very useful as the police will still be informed, whereas without the camera the police would not know until later if at all.
Another way in which the internet is beneficial to the police force is that it has greatly sped up communication between officers. Nowadays an officer contact the station wherever they are really quickly. This means that they are able to report a crime, ask for backup or request information as soon as the need arises. This means that a response will be received quicker. This enables police to more successfully co-ordinate an operation, whether it is a car chase or a raid on a building. These increased levels of communication mean that the police can work more efficiently as a team which results in more arrests being made and less convicts escaping.
Another major advantage of the internet for the police is being able to search it very quickly to find something out about a person, place or company. The program google earth can be used along with other satellite tracking technology to follow where a person is going. This is useful if the police have lost visual contact with a subject or want to know where the person could be hiding illegal items or meeting other criminals.
The police can also run a program that very quickly finds images on the internet that look similar to an image. This is useful as it could let the police find out about a person even if they were only able to take a photo. This is closely linked with the police being able to quickly get a lot of information about other criminals and convicts from a central database. This means that the police can potentially identify if a suspect has any accomplices or any other outstanding charges.
Another benefit of the internet for police forces is satellite navigation (sat-nav). Satellite navigation works by having satellites triangulate where a sat-nav system is. The computer in the system receives the satellite signals and says where it is. It can then be programmed to find the quickest route to another location. This is useful as it means that police officers can get to a crime scene a lot qiucker because they will not get lost or take a wrong turn.
Also certain vehicles have sat-nat systems built into them. These are generally valuable vehicles such as ambulances or are delivery vans with valuables inside. This is so that if these vehicles are stolen the police can track it using the satellite navigation. This will speed up the time it takes for the police to find the stolen vehicle.
There is a process known as computer forensics. This is where police technicians can find out what has been saved on a computer. This is useful as it enables the police to find files on a suspect's computer that could lead to an arrest or a conviction in a court. This works even if the files have been deleted because there is still a record of the file. The files can be recovered even if the hard-drive has been broken or damaged. The only way to stop a file being recovered is to drop the hard-drive in very strong acid. This is working less because people are getting better at recovering the data.
However, even if the files can be recovered, if they are encrypted it can still be difficult to see the data. It is possible for people to break encryptions. However the more advanced an encryption is the longer it takes to break the encryption. This can be a problem if the data is needed immediately for a very important reason.
Primarily the internet has improved how quickly the police are able to catch some-one and also how accurate they are in identifying a person.
A primary example of the internet beneffitting police officers is through traffic cameras. The are traffic cameras on most major roads now. The police can watch a live feed from the camera which is sent via the internet to the police station. This means that the police can react immediately if they see some-one breaking the law. Also the police can use the internet to access a database with every registered number plate on it which also contains information about who owns the car, if they have a licence, and whether that person has paid car tax. All this information can be used to help the police arrest people quicker. These traffic cameras can also be programmed to recognise specific license plates and immediately alert the police. This makes it easier to catch a person if the police already know what they are driving. Likewise it can also make it quicker to find stolen cars.
Speed cameras are similar to traffic cameras in that they monitor what is on the roads. However speed cameras are completely automatic. If they detect some-one speeding a picture is taken of the license plate. A computer then works out what the registration number is. The computer then accesses a database on the main server and finds the address that corresponds with the licence. The appropriate fine is then sent to the address. This is very beneficial to the police as it means that the officers can spend time doing other work instead of watching for speeders. Also a computer works a lot faster than a human when dealing with data. This means that while a human could fall behind in issuing the fines the computer will always stay up to date. Also computers make mistakes a lot more rarely than human, provided they have been programmed properly. This means that it is very rare for a fine either not to be sent or to be sent to the wronng address.
Traffic and speed cameras both work well because there is not a known way of obscuring the license plates while still making it readable for a human.
Normal security cameras work in a similar way to traffic cameras in that the police men can watch what is happening live. Security cameras are not as useful when it comes to recognising people as they can not recognise an individual person. However, they can be programmed to alert the police to anyone who looks similar to the suspect. Although not as useful as traffic cameras, this is still very useful as the police will still be informed, whereas without the camera the police would not know until later if at all.
Another way in which the internet is beneficial to the police force is that it has greatly sped up communication between officers. Nowadays an officer contact the station wherever they are really quickly. This means that they are able to report a crime, ask for backup or request information as soon as the need arises. This means that a response will be received quicker. This enables police to more successfully co-ordinate an operation, whether it is a car chase or a raid on a building. These increased levels of communication mean that the police can work more efficiently as a team which results in more arrests being made and less convicts escaping.
Another major advantage of the internet for the police is being able to search it very quickly to find something out about a person, place or company. The program google earth can be used along with other satellite tracking technology to follow where a person is going. This is useful if the police have lost visual contact with a subject or want to know where the person could be hiding illegal items or meeting other criminals.
The police can also run a program that very quickly finds images on the internet that look similar to an image. This is useful as it could let the police find out about a person even if they were only able to take a photo. This is closely linked with the police being able to quickly get a lot of information about other criminals and convicts from a central database. This means that the police can potentially identify if a suspect has any accomplices or any other outstanding charges.
Another benefit of the internet for police forces is satellite navigation (sat-nav). Satellite navigation works by having satellites triangulate where a sat-nav system is. The computer in the system receives the satellite signals and says where it is. It can then be programmed to find the quickest route to another location. This is useful as it means that police officers can get to a crime scene a lot qiucker because they will not get lost or take a wrong turn.
Also certain vehicles have sat-nat systems built into them. These are generally valuable vehicles such as ambulances or are delivery vans with valuables inside. This is so that if these vehicles are stolen the police can track it using the satellite navigation. This will speed up the time it takes for the police to find the stolen vehicle.
There is a process known as computer forensics. This is where police technicians can find out what has been saved on a computer. This is useful as it enables the police to find files on a suspect's computer that could lead to an arrest or a conviction in a court. This works even if the files have been deleted because there is still a record of the file. The files can be recovered even if the hard-drive has been broken or damaged. The only way to stop a file being recovered is to drop the hard-drive in very strong acid. This is working less because people are getting better at recovering the data.
However, even if the files can be recovered, if they are encrypted it can still be difficult to see the data. It is possible for people to break encryptions. However the more advanced an encryption is the longer it takes to break the encryption. This can be a problem if the data is needed immediately for a very important reason.
1.2 topics
the effect of ICT on crime and the law
the effect of ICT on the way people work
the effect of ICT on the way we bank and shop
the effect of ICT on their school life
the effect of ICT on the way we communicate
the effect of ICT on the way we bank and shop
the effect of ICT on their school life
the effect of ICT on the way we communicate
Sunday, 26 September 2010
pics + pros/cons
An example of a video streaming site is Youtube.
Search bar-quickness
shows popular programs-quickness
only has channel 4 programs
Youtube is the primary source of listening to music on the internet.
Itunes to download music
search bar-quickness
There is a feature on Itunes which remembers what a person has bought or liked and suggests similar products. This is useful as it can mean a person can quickly find something wothout searching for it or without even knowing of its existance.
very wide variety but not everything (underground bands)
also sells audio books and downloadable films for computer and ipod/iphone etc
Example of games website is funny games
Most popular games-easy to see what others think is good
Newest games- quickly see new games adding no looking through lists
Links to classes of games-useful if after a specific genre
no search bar- hard to find certain game
annoying/ inappropriate adverts.
An example of an MMORPG is Runescape
News-quickly says how game has been changed
F2P(free to play) basic game, small area, less items
Members(pay monthly to play) full game, large area ots of items.
Another form of online entertainment is casino games. These games are electronic versions of games people would find in a casino. This means that people can play these games even when not at a casino. Most casino game websites provide an option to either bet with real money or to play for free. Using real money means that people can win money. However there is a greater chance or lossing a lot of money. Playing for free is just so people can enjoy the games.
Youtube can be used to catch up on parts on tv shows that people have missed. This is useful as it means that it is not that difficult for people to find out what they have missed. However, only parts of the show are uploaded onto youtube. This is because the shows are copyrighted and it would be illegal.
There is a feature on youtube which remembers what videos you have watched and suggests similar videos based on what the tags are. This is useful as it can reslt in finding what you are interested in a lot quicker than searching.
Youtube has a search which enables people to quickly find the video they are after.
Youtubebe is primarily used to upload amateur videos that people have made. This can be explaining how to do something. However most amateur youtube videos aim to be comical and entetaining.
(can't find where to put html code for video)
Another type of streaming website is 4OD (channel 4 on demand). The difference between this and youtube is that 4OD made by channel 4 so can show whole programs without copyright enfringement.
shows popular programs-quickness
only has channel 4 programs
Youtube is the primary source of listening to music on the internet.
Itunes to download music
search bar-quickness
There is a feature on Itunes which remembers what a person has bought or liked and suggests similar products. This is useful as it can mean a person can quickly find something wothout searching for it or without even knowing of its existance.
very wide variety but not everything (underground bands)
also sells audio books and downloadable films for computer and ipod/iphone etc
Example of games website is funny games
Most popular games-easy to see what others think is good
Newest games- quickly see new games adding no looking through lists
Links to classes of games-useful if after a specific genre
no search bar- hard to find certain game
annoying/ inappropriate adverts.
An example of an MMORPG is Runescape
F2P(free to play) basic game, small area, less items
Members(pay monthly to play) full game, large area ots of items.
Another form of online entertainment is casino games. These games are electronic versions of games people would find in a casino. This means that people can play these games even when not at a casino. Most casino game websites provide an option to either bet with real money or to play for free. Using real money means that people can win money. However there is a greater chance or lossing a lot of money. Playing for free is just so people can enjoy the games.
online entertainment (music and games)
There are a few ways of listening to music through the internet. The most common method is to use a streaming video that only contains a few images with the music as the audio. This has all the advantages and disadvantages of using streamed videos.
The main advantage of using the internet to listen to music is very similar to the advantages of using the internet to watch movies. This is that it is possible to find music on the internet that can not be found on CDs
The other main way of listening to music from the internet involves downloading the music onto a computer and then playing the file. This method is useful as it means that people can listen to the music even when offline. By law people are required to pay to download music. This can cause a problem as there are a lot of sites that allow people to illegally download music.
There are a few main types of games on the internet. One of the most common types are free to play games generally made using either flash or adobe. They can generally be found on games websites where people upload the games they have made for any-one to play.
Most of these games are relatively simple and straight-forward to play. This is good as it means that it is possible just to "pick up and play" these games whenever they have some free time on a computer.
These games can have a feature where they can save some files known as cookies onto the computer. This is advantageous as the player can save what progress has been made in the game. However there are a few problems with these cookie files. The main one is that they can fill up space in a computers hard drive resulting in the computer becoming slower. The other problem is that these cookies can contain virus files that can damage a computer.
The other main type of online gaming is in the form of MMORPGs(Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). In these games the player creates a character that they control in the game. These characters can be made to interact with characters that other people have made.
Normally it is free to play a basic version of these games, however in order to be able to access everything in the game people will have to pay. These payments can either be a 1-time payment or a monthly charge.
These games are normally found on sites specifically made by the company that made the game for that game.
These games do not use cookies to save a persons progress, instead all the data is stored on a central server that the company has. When a person logs in their computer connects with the server to receive the saved game data. This means that it is possible to play these games from any computer.
It normally takes a very long time to create a powerful character in the game. This has resulted in people buying charcaters from other people, sometimes for really large sums of oney.
The main advantage of using the internet to listen to music is very similar to the advantages of using the internet to watch movies. This is that it is possible to find music on the internet that can not be found on CDs
The other main way of listening to music from the internet involves downloading the music onto a computer and then playing the file. This method is useful as it means that people can listen to the music even when offline. By law people are required to pay to download music. This can cause a problem as there are a lot of sites that allow people to illegally download music.
There are a few main types of games on the internet. One of the most common types are free to play games generally made using either flash or adobe. They can generally be found on games websites where people upload the games they have made for any-one to play.
Most of these games are relatively simple and straight-forward to play. This is good as it means that it is possible just to "pick up and play" these games whenever they have some free time on a computer.
These games can have a feature where they can save some files known as cookies onto the computer. This is advantageous as the player can save what progress has been made in the game. However there are a few problems with these cookie files. The main one is that they can fill up space in a computers hard drive resulting in the computer becoming slower. The other problem is that these cookies can contain virus files that can damage a computer.
The other main type of online gaming is in the form of MMORPGs(Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games). In these games the player creates a character that they control in the game. These characters can be made to interact with characters that other people have made.
Normally it is free to play a basic version of these games, however in order to be able to access everything in the game people will have to pay. These payments can either be a 1-time payment or a monthly charge.
These games are normally found on sites specifically made by the company that made the game for that game.
These games do not use cookies to save a persons progress, instead all the data is stored on a central server that the company has. When a person logs in their computer connects with the server to receive the saved game data. This means that it is possible to play these games from any computer.
It normally takes a very long time to create a powerful character in the game. This has resulted in people buying charcaters from other people, sometimes for really large sums of oney.
Thursday, 23 September 2010
online entertainment (videos)
There are a lot of different types of entertainment available via the internet. The main types of entertainment are watching videos, either professional or amateur, listening to music and playing online games.
A professional video is generally a video made by a company which is then usually sold to make money. An amateur video is generally made by the general public and not sold for money.
The main advatage of watching films on the internet is that it is possible to watch videos that are not available to watch on tele. These include various amateur videos, programs that are no longer being aired, or programs not aired in a particular region or country.
Most websites that enable people to watch videos enable a streaming feature. This is were it is possible to wath the video while it is being down loaded to the computers tempory internet files.
This means that it is is possible to start watching a video before it has been completely downloaded. This is very useful either for very large computer files or for when the internet is not downloading quickly.
The main disadvantage of this type of service is that if the internet is being very slow, possibly due to a lot of people watching movies via streaming services, the movie can play faster than it is being streamed. This results in the point where the movie is playing "catching up" with the point it has streamed to. This will result in the movie being stopped until it has streamed sufficiantly to continue. When the internet is particularly slow it is not uncommon for movies to play for about 2 seconds then have to stream for a few seconds only to play about 2 more seconds before having to stream for another few seconds.
Another problem is where one or more of the streaming bytes gets corrupted as it is is downloaded onto the compter. This can result in the movie freezing or the picture becoming disjointed with the sound. This is sometimes fixed by refreshing the page. If that does not work the only way to be able to watch the movie is to clear the tempory files. This is problematic as it takes a very long time to do and can cause problems on other websites.
Another way of watching movies from the internet is to download them completely to a computer and then watch them. This is normally the case with professional videos as there is a possibility of copy-right infringement if they are available via streaming.
A professional video is generally a video made by a company which is then usually sold to make money. An amateur video is generally made by the general public and not sold for money.
The main advatage of watching films on the internet is that it is possible to watch videos that are not available to watch on tele. These include various amateur videos, programs that are no longer being aired, or programs not aired in a particular region or country.
Most websites that enable people to watch videos enable a streaming feature. This is were it is possible to wath the video while it is being down loaded to the computers tempory internet files.
This means that it is is possible to start watching a video before it has been completely downloaded. This is very useful either for very large computer files or for when the internet is not downloading quickly.
The main disadvantage of this type of service is that if the internet is being very slow, possibly due to a lot of people watching movies via streaming services, the movie can play faster than it is being streamed. This results in the point where the movie is playing "catching up" with the point it has streamed to. This will result in the movie being stopped until it has streamed sufficiantly to continue. When the internet is particularly slow it is not uncommon for movies to play for about 2 seconds then have to stream for a few seconds only to play about 2 more seconds before having to stream for another few seconds.
Another problem is where one or more of the streaming bytes gets corrupted as it is is downloaded onto the compter. This can result in the movie freezing or the picture becoming disjointed with the sound. This is sometimes fixed by refreshing the page. If that does not work the only way to be able to watch the movie is to clear the tempory files. This is problematic as it takes a very long time to do and can cause problems on other websites.
Another way of watching movies from the internet is to download them completely to a computer and then watch them. This is normally the case with professional videos as there is a possibility of copy-right infringement if they are available via streaming.
Monday, 20 September 2010
E commerce news
The online shopping site "Amazon"'s net profit increased by 68% between April and June. This raised Amazon's total net profit to £194.5 million. The income from sales increased by 46% to provide a gross income of £456 billion.
Despite this raise in the companies gross and net profits the value of shares of Amazon has dropped by 6%.
An ex-paratrooper has been jailed for 10 months for selling stolen militar equipment on ebay. Allan peet stole £6500 of equipment including military boots, day sacks, hydration systems and rations. He stole the equipment from MoD stores at RAF St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan and then sold it on to military enthusiasts via ebay. He was caught because the equipment is not legally open for the public to buy. Therefore when it appeared on ebay the police were able to track the IP address of the computer. He also has to pay a £1000 fine and do 250 hours of community service
Despite this raise in the companies gross and net profits the value of shares of Amazon has dropped by 6%.
An ex-paratrooper has been jailed for 10 months for selling stolen militar equipment on ebay. Allan peet stole £6500 of equipment including military boots, day sacks, hydration systems and rations. He stole the equipment from MoD stores at RAF St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan and then sold it on to military enthusiasts via ebay. He was caught because the equipment is not legally open for the public to buy. Therefore when it appeared on ebay the police were able to track the IP address of the computer. He also has to pay a £1000 fine and do 250 hours of community service
Sunday, 19 September 2010
E commerce site (Ebay/ Tesco)
Another example of an E-commerce site is "Tesco Online".
This site is very similar in design to Amazon, with a search bar and drop down menus to make it quicker and easier for a person to find the product they are looking for.
Tesco Online is predominately used for grocery shopping. This is were a customer searches through all the grocery products available and then choose what they want and the quantity. This item it then added to their "basket", a webpage that keeps track of everything the customer has selected to buy but not yet bought. This "basket" system is useful as people can make huge lists of items and buy them all at once instead of taking time to make many smaller purchases.
The customer chooses a date and a 2 hour time slot at least 24 hours later than the current time. The products are then delivered at the time specified. This is useful because the person does not have to leave their house and that it is easy to deliver a large order using a van, as opposed to trying to fit it all in one car. The main disadvantage of this delivery is that someone has to be at the house in order to collect it. As it is a 2 hour slot this means that some-one has to make sure that they at in the house for those 2 hours. This can cause a problem either if a person can not get home to take the delivery or if they have got something else planned near that time slot.
It is possible that Tesco does not have some of the items you ordered in stock when they make the delivery. If this is the case they either substitute a similar item or do not charge the person for the item not delivered. This substitution of products can be problematic because a person might be allergic to ingredients in the new product.
Tesco Online keeps a record of what products you have bought from it. This is useful because it makes it easier to order the same products which is common with grocery shopping. A disadvantage of this however is that the list contains all grocery products brought. This means that some-one could click on and buy something they did not want. This can cause a problem if the product was bought once but the person found that they did not like it.
Another example of an E-commerce site is Ebay. Ebay is different from the majority of other E-commerce sites as the products for sale are not being sold by the company. Anybody with an ebay account can put items up for auction. Other people can then bid for these items.
Ebay also has a search bay and drop down menus which enable people to quickly find what they are looking.
Ebay contains an auto-bidding system. This is where a person states the maximum amount of money they are willing to bid for an item. A computer program then places a bid only a small amount above the current price. If another person places a higher bid the auto bidding computer system then increases the bid. This continues until on of the people reach their max bid. When this happens the computer stops bidding for that person. This is useful as it means that people will not have to constantly watch the item they are bidding on. It also means that people will pay the lowest possible price. The "bid history" shows the number of bids on an item. This is useful as it shows if other people have bid on a item. This can provide an idea of whether the product is worth bidding on.
As anyone can sell stuff on ebay there is a risk that the product may be damaged. People also have to be careful of what they buy. Although by law people have to accurately describe the product in the description box, sometimes people only read a bit of the description and focus more on the picture which can lead to them buying something they do not want. An example of this was when somebody took a photo of their car and turned it into a poster. He then put the poster up on Ebay . In the description box he described all the features of the actual car. Halfway throughthe description he mentioned it was a poster. However many people did not read this part and proceded to bid ridiculously high amounts of money. The person could not get prosecuted as he had said that he was selling a poster.
However an advantage of anyone being able to sell objects can result in people being able to find rare or limited edition items that can not be brought from a company.
Ebay uses a feature called pay-pal. This is were you tell the compnay pay-pal your credit card information. This is so that you can make payments through pay-pal and not directly. This is very useful becuase it dramatically reduces the risk of someone illegally gaining your credit card information, which they can work out if you pay them directly. The only concern is that pay-pal may use your credit card. However pay-pal is a professional company so it is very unlikely for that to happen
This site is very similar in design to Amazon, with a search bar and drop down menus to make it quicker and easier for a person to find the product they are looking for.
Tesco Online is predominately used for grocery shopping. This is were a customer searches through all the grocery products available and then choose what they want and the quantity. This item it then added to their "basket", a webpage that keeps track of everything the customer has selected to buy but not yet bought. This "basket" system is useful as people can make huge lists of items and buy them all at once instead of taking time to make many smaller purchases.
The customer chooses a date and a 2 hour time slot at least 24 hours later than the current time. The products are then delivered at the time specified. This is useful because the person does not have to leave their house and that it is easy to deliver a large order using a van, as opposed to trying to fit it all in one car. The main disadvantage of this delivery is that someone has to be at the house in order to collect it. As it is a 2 hour slot this means that some-one has to make sure that they at in the house for those 2 hours. This can cause a problem either if a person can not get home to take the delivery or if they have got something else planned near that time slot.
It is possible that Tesco does not have some of the items you ordered in stock when they make the delivery. If this is the case they either substitute a similar item or do not charge the person for the item not delivered. This substitution of products can be problematic because a person might be allergic to ingredients in the new product.
Tesco Online keeps a record of what products you have bought from it. This is useful because it makes it easier to order the same products which is common with grocery shopping. A disadvantage of this however is that the list contains all grocery products brought. This means that some-one could click on and buy something they did not want. This can cause a problem if the product was bought once but the person found that they did not like it.
There is a feature on Tesco online that shows recipes for meals. This is useful as it can provide people with ideas on what to cook. Each recipe lists the ingrediants needed and has an option of buying all of them at once. This can make it quicker for a person to order ingrediants to prepare a meal.
Another example of an E-commerce site is Ebay. Ebay is different from the majority of other E-commerce sites as the products for sale are not being sold by the company. Anybody with an ebay account can put items up for auction. Other people can then bid for these items.
As anyone can sell stuff on ebay there is a risk that the product may be damaged. People also have to be careful of what they buy. Although by law people have to accurately describe the product in the description box, sometimes people only read a bit of the description and focus more on the picture which can lead to them buying something they do not want. An example of this was when somebody took a photo of their car and turned it into a poster. He then put the poster up on Ebay . In the description box he described all the features of the actual car. Halfway throughthe description he mentioned it was a poster. However many people did not read this part and proceded to bid ridiculously high amounts of money. The person could not get prosecuted as he had said that he was selling a poster.
However an advantage of anyone being able to sell objects can result in people being able to find rare or limited edition items that can not be brought from a company.
Ebay uses a feature called pay-pal. This is were you tell the compnay pay-pal your credit card information. This is so that you can make payments through pay-pal and not directly. This is very useful becuase it dramatically reduces the risk of someone illegally gaining your credit card information, which they can work out if you pay them directly. The only concern is that pay-pal may use your credit card. However pay-pal is a professional company so it is very unlikely for that to happen
Thursday, 16 September 2010
E commerce site (Amazon)
An example of an online shopping website is Amazon.
Amazon has been described as an "online shopping centre". This is because just about anything can be found and bought there. There are menus which enable people to quickly choose a category of merchandise and browse through that. This is useful if some-one is interested in a certain type of product but does not know what is out.
Another useful feature is that there is a search bar for people to use if they want to find a specific product. That is a lot quicker than looking round shops trying to find a product.
Amazon tracks what you buy and search for. This is then used to show you other products similar to what you have already shown an interest in. This is useful as you can either see something you did not know was out or find what you are looking for very quickly.
Amazon offer an express delivery service for the package to arrive the day after it was order provided it is ordered before approxiamtely 9pm. This is useful if the object is important and needs to be deliveried as quickly as possible. The downside of this express delivery is that it costs more than standard delivery.
Amazon is a professional company and are careful with the products. This means that there is no more risk of getting a faulty product from Amazon than there is from an actual shop.
Amazon also has a feature called a wish-list. This is where you make a record of objects you want. This has numerous advantages. The main one is that it is very easy and quick to find something you have already seen. Another advantage is that people can see what you would like and get it for you as a gift.
Another useful feature is that there is a search bar for people to use if they want to find a specific product. That is a lot quicker than looking round shops trying to find a product.
Amazon offer an express delivery service for the package to arrive the day after it was order provided it is ordered before approxiamtely 9pm. This is useful if the object is important and needs to be deliveried as quickly as possible. The downside of this express delivery is that it costs more than standard delivery.
Amazon is a professional company and are careful with the products. This means that there is no more risk of getting a faulty product from Amazon than there is from an actual shop.
Amazon also has a feature called a wish-list. This is where you make a record of objects you want. This has numerous advantages. The main one is that it is very easy and quick to find something you have already seen. Another advantage is that people can see what you would like and get it for you as a gift.
E-commerce
E-commerce is where people can buy and sell services and products online.
The main advantage of E-commerce is that people do not have to travel to the shops in order to purchase something. This is useful if a person finfs it difficult to travel, possibly due to age or disabilities. Also most online shops provide delivery, either free or at a small charge. Again this is useful for people who find it difficult to leave their house.
If someone buys a lot of products in a shop normally, they could struggle to get it all safely in their car. E-commerce solves this problem either by using company lorries and trucks to make deliveries, using a courrier company or using the royal mail.
The main problem with E-commerce is that you can not physically see the product to see if it is in good condition and is what you actually want. Another problem with E-commerce is that if a hi-tech product such as a computer or camera is being brought it can be difficult to find and understand all the specifications and features. This is not helped by the fact that there is no-one to talk to who can explain the product while online as opposed to being in the shop. This can result in people purchasing the wrong item or equipment. It often takes a lot of time, money and effort to either purchase the right piece of equipment or get the wrong piece of equipment working.
Another type of E-commerce is being able to hire a professional, i.e. a plumber, over the interenet. This can be better than phoning the service because you will not be put on hold. Online it is possible to fill in a form which states your address, roughly what time you want the person to arrive and a simple description of the problem. This then gets seen by the company and they set aside an appointment at in the time block you specified. If they are unable to provide an appointment when you requested they contact you saying so and ask for you to specify another timeslot. Most people get the second time slot they selected if not the first. However,occasionally someone does not get their specificed time slot until after many tries. This can happen if the cmompany is very busy. This can be very frustrating and could result in the job not being done for months, or not at all/
The main advantage of E-commerce is that people do not have to travel to the shops in order to purchase something. This is useful if a person finfs it difficult to travel, possibly due to age or disabilities. Also most online shops provide delivery, either free or at a small charge. Again this is useful for people who find it difficult to leave their house.
If someone buys a lot of products in a shop normally, they could struggle to get it all safely in their car. E-commerce solves this problem either by using company lorries and trucks to make deliveries, using a courrier company or using the royal mail.
The main problem with E-commerce is that you can not physically see the product to see if it is in good condition and is what you actually want. Another problem with E-commerce is that if a hi-tech product such as a computer or camera is being brought it can be difficult to find and understand all the specifications and features. This is not helped by the fact that there is no-one to talk to who can explain the product while online as opposed to being in the shop. This can result in people purchasing the wrong item or equipment. It often takes a lot of time, money and effort to either purchase the right piece of equipment or get the wrong piece of equipment working.
Another type of E-commerce is being able to hire a professional, i.e. a plumber, over the interenet. This can be better than phoning the service because you will not be put on hold. Online it is possible to fill in a form which states your address, roughly what time you want the person to arrive and a simple description of the problem. This then gets seen by the company and they set aside an appointment at in the time block you specified. If they are unable to provide an appointment when you requested they contact you saying so and ask for you to specify another timeslot. Most people get the second time slot they selected if not the first. However,occasionally someone does not get their specificed time slot until after many tries. This can happen if the cmompany is very busy. This can be very frustrating and could result in the job not being done for months, or not at all/
Wednesday, 15 September 2010
online education news stories
There are fears that the increasing use of computers in schools can disadvantage students who come from poorer backgrounds. Researchers in the USA state that for children how do not have access to computers at home do not benefit from their use in class. This is because they do not understand how to work them properly so spend a lot longer getting started compared to people who have computers at home. These studenrts from lower classes also suffer if there is homework set that involves using the internet.
However students how have regular access to computers tend to be better at analytical thinking and problem solving.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/323272.stm)
The government has said that all secondary schools must publish the reports for students online for the parents to see. This is to prevent students from hiding their reports and not telling their parents. A secure website is used so only the parents of a child can see that child's reports. All primary schools are to have made a similar change by 2012.
The idea behind this is so parents can find out how their children are performing in school and try to help them.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/apr/27/online-school-reports)
However students how have regular access to computers tend to be better at analytical thinking and problem solving.
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/323272.stm)
The government has said that all secondary schools must publish the reports for students online for the parents to see. This is to prevent students from hiding their reports and not telling their parents. A secure website is used so only the parents of a child can see that child's reports. All primary schools are to have made a similar change by 2012.
The idea behind this is so parents can find out how their children are performing in school and try to help them.
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/apr/27/online-school-reports)
twitter graph
This graph shows how rapidly twitter has become popular. Since January 2009 Twitter has rapidly become very popular. This is because celebrities started using twitter. The general public soon started to use twitter to see what celebrities were doing. Another reason for the sudden increase in popularity is because "smart phones with email capabilities were realised around January 2009 which meant that is was easier for people to check and update twitter wherever they are.
Tuesday, 14 September 2010
online education (fronter)
There are online services which schools can subscrbibe to that the pupils and teachers can log in to. These websites are called VLEs ( virtual learning environments) These services generally provide a closed message system for students and teachers to message each other without having to use an actual email service. This is useful as students can send work to be marked to the appropriate tacher without having to spend a lot of time printing out. The teacher can send a marked copy of the work back to the student in a short amount of time. The message service being closed means that people can only message people in their school. This is useful as it means that students will not waste time messaging their friends.
There is also normally a system that lets students upload files to the site so that they can be downloaded and worked on anywhere. This is useful to get files from school to home and vice versa. A problem that sometimes occurs with this is that there is a limit on file size. This is not a problem for normal documents, but it can prevent movie files or projects with a lot of pictures from being uploaded. This makes it difficult to show teachers what you have done.
An example of this type of website is fronter.
Fronter also contains a series of pages called "rooms". Each "room" is named after a class or subject and the information in those "rooms" relates to that subject. There are often work sheets or files that can be downloaded in each "room". This is very useful because if a person misses a lesson they can download any relevant information and catch up wiyjout to much difficulty. The main problem with this is that if the teacher forgets to upload the necessary work or the student can not connect to the internet the student not being able to receive the work and could fall behind.
There is also normally a system that lets students upload files to the site so that they can be downloaded and worked on anywhere. This is useful to get files from school to home and vice versa. A problem that sometimes occurs with this is that there is a limit on file size. This is not a problem for normal documents, but it can prevent movie files or projects with a lot of pictures from being uploaded. This makes it difficult to show teachers what you have done.
An example of this type of website is fronter.
Fronter contains the aforementioned message feature and the ability to upload files.
Fronter also contains a series of pages called "rooms". Each "room" is named after a class or subject and the information in those "rooms" relates to that subject. There are often work sheets or files that can be downloaded in each "room". This is very useful because if a person misses a lesson they can download any relevant information and catch up wiyjout to much difficulty. The main problem with this is that if the teacher forgets to upload the necessary work or the student can not connect to the internet the student not being able to receive the work and could fall behind.
Monday, 13 September 2010
online education
Online education is useful for schools. There are many different types of education resources on the internet. The 3 main types are; free resources open to everyone, resources that the school has to subscribe to that explain 1 or more subjects often with activities and services that the school has to subscribe to that let teachers and pupils upload files to send.
Resources that are free for everyone to use are useful as they enable students to revise what they have learnt in lessons or read about the upcoming lesson. Teachers can use these sites to support there lessons or if necessary to check what parts of the syllabus have to be taught when. The information uploaded is often straight to the point and concise. This is useful because it means that it is easy to revise key points.
The main problem with these websites is that they sometimes do not contain the syllabus being studies for certain subjects. This is problematic because people can not learn or revise what they want to. Also if someone did not notice that it was the correct syllabus they could study the wrong things having a detrimental affect on their education.
An example of this type of website is BBC Bitesize.Bitesize contains information and revision from KS1 to higher education. This is useful because it means that students of any age can go onto bitesize and find work appropraie for there age.
Bitesize has got information on a lot of the common subjects studied at school. A student can select a topic they want to study and then specify what part of the subject they want to study. This is useful as it means that students can go straight to the part of the subject they want to revise and leave all the bits they already know or are irrelevant.
Bitesize revision is designed to be easy to understand yet detailed enough to fully explain the topic. This is good because it means the revision "bites" can be used quickly and often, which is a good method of revision. There are sometimes activities to go with the revision to make it more interesting and to check that the person understands.
Problems can be caused as bitesize does not have all the subjects studied, this can lead to someone finding to hard to revise or look something up. Another problem is that bitesize sometimes does not have all the examining bodies which can lead to someone loading the syllabus from the wrong examining body and therefore not learning what they need to.
Websites that schools have to subscribe to often focus extensively on a particular subject. These are used to check pupils' understanding of the information tsught in class. Often homework tasks can be set from the website for the students to do online which the teacher then received electronically. This can be useful as students do not have to carry sheets of paper that could potentially get lost. It is also easier for the teacher to mark. The biggest problem with this layout however is that if the student can not connect to the internet for whatever reason they will not be able to do their homework which could lead to them getting a detention. Another possible inconvenience is that this websites can be expensive to use and some schools might not be able to afford the.
An example of this sort of website is mymaths.
Mymaths costs a school approximately £450 per annum to use. It provides a single usernsameand password that everyone in the school can use to access various resources. These resources contain the maths syllabus from KS1 to higher education. This is useful as it is appropriate to pupils of any age. When the resources explain how to work a type of problem out it is always accompanied by interactive examples to help students understand what they have to do.
Mymaths enables the teachers to set up an individual account for every student at the school. This results in the teachers being able to set work electronically When the students log in they are able to see any homework that they have to do. The students can have a look at the online lesson before they attempt the homework if they are not very confident. When the homework is done mymaths automatically makes it and sends the information to the teacher. This is good as students do not need to carry sheets around and the teacher does not need to spend a long time maing the work.
The main problem with this approach is because a computer is making a work there is no margin for error. It has been programmed to except one value as the correct answer and everything else is wrong. This can cause problems if a student was taught in a slightly different way compared to how the subject is taught on mymaths. This would result in the student losing marks although the answer could be completely correct.
Mymaths also has a featue where students can search for topics that have not been set fot homework. This is useful because it means that students canrevise a topic that they go not feel very confident with.
Resources that are free for everyone to use are useful as they enable students to revise what they have learnt in lessons or read about the upcoming lesson. Teachers can use these sites to support there lessons or if necessary to check what parts of the syllabus have to be taught when. The information uploaded is often straight to the point and concise. This is useful because it means that it is easy to revise key points.
The main problem with these websites is that they sometimes do not contain the syllabus being studies for certain subjects. This is problematic because people can not learn or revise what they want to. Also if someone did not notice that it was the correct syllabus they could study the wrong things having a detrimental affect on their education.
An example of this type of website is BBC Bitesize.Bitesize contains information and revision from KS1 to higher education. This is useful because it means that students of any age can go onto bitesize and find work appropraie for there age.
Bitesize revision is designed to be easy to understand yet detailed enough to fully explain the topic. This is good because it means the revision "bites" can be used quickly and often, which is a good method of revision. There are sometimes activities to go with the revision to make it more interesting and to check that the person understands.
Problems can be caused as bitesize does not have all the subjects studied, this can lead to someone finding to hard to revise or look something up. Another problem is that bitesize sometimes does not have all the examining bodies which can lead to someone loading the syllabus from the wrong examining body and therefore not learning what they need to.
Websites that schools have to subscribe to often focus extensively on a particular subject. These are used to check pupils' understanding of the information tsught in class. Often homework tasks can be set from the website for the students to do online which the teacher then received electronically. This can be useful as students do not have to carry sheets of paper that could potentially get lost. It is also easier for the teacher to mark. The biggest problem with this layout however is that if the student can not connect to the internet for whatever reason they will not be able to do their homework which could lead to them getting a detention. Another possible inconvenience is that this websites can be expensive to use and some schools might not be able to afford the.
An example of this sort of website is mymaths.Mymaths costs a school approximately £450 per annum to use. It provides a single usernsameand password that everyone in the school can use to access various resources. These resources contain the maths syllabus from KS1 to higher education. This is useful as it is appropriate to pupils of any age. When the resources explain how to work a type of problem out it is always accompanied by interactive examples to help students understand what they have to do.
The main problem with this approach is because a computer is making a work there is no margin for error. It has been programmed to except one value as the correct answer and everything else is wrong. This can cause problems if a student was taught in a slightly different way compared to how the subject is taught on mymaths. This would result in the student losing marks although the answer could be completely correct.
Mymaths also has a featue where students can search for topics that have not been set fot homework. This is useful because it means that students canrevise a topic that they go not feel very confident with.
Saturday, 11 September 2010
email services
Windows live has got a 10GB file size limit. This is very useful because it would require numerous very large files to overload it. That means that large images and movies can be attached to emails and sent and received without causing trouble.
When an email is received there are many options available as to what to do with it including basic replies and forward. There are also options to mark it as Junk. This moves the email to the junk folder and can add the address that email came from to the blocked list which prevents any more emails from that address bring received. It can also be flagged. This means that the email is moved to the flagged folder. This is very useful as it enables people to keep all of their important emails in one folder instead of sorting through hte whole in box to find it. Windows live has a very useful spam filter built into it. It is very efficant in that I have received only a minimul number of spam enmails in all the years I have been using it. This is very useful as I do not have to sort through a lot of garbage to find what is important.
There is also a feature called contacts. This is so that it is possible to type in information about a person and the computer will remember them. This information can include contact details and personal information. This is useful because it means that people do not have to try and remember all the details. Another useful feature is that when a new email is being typed it is possible to open the contacts information to quickly find the email address of the person you want to send the email to.
Another email provider service is orange. This is a free service, which in my mind is vastly inferior to Windows Live Mail. The file size limit is 5MB. This is not good because anything with pictures can quickly overload it preventing new emails from being received. Also this limit is never updated and because file sizes are increasnig in size this means that even fewer emails can not be received.This problem is not helped by the amount of spam emails received.Everyday approxiamtely 25 junk emails arrive in the Inbox. These can be marked as junk which moves them from the inbox to the junk folder. However marking emails as junk does not help as the next day there are more. There is a feature which enables email address to be blocked and any messages received from those sites get deleted immediately. However the blocked list can only contain 100 addresses.
This is useless because of the problem of "botnets". A botnet is where a number of computers with internet access are hacked into and controlled by the hacker. The computers can then be used to all send out spam emails from all different addresses. A botnet can in theory contain an unlimited number of computres. As orange can only block 100 addresses that feature is useless against botnets.
This problem is made worse by the fact that orange does not seem to have any filter services against spam emails and it views every email recieved as legitamate. It can take a very long ime to clear all the spam from an inbox, especially when making sure not to delete legitamate emails.
Orange is also highly tempermental. Sometimes when someone tries to log in, the web page either freezes or loads so slowly that it is impossible to use. The problems differ depending on the browser; Firefox gets a blank screen and the loading symbol appears although it is obvious that the page is not loading but has crashed. With Internet Explorer it says that the page can not be displayed but can not identify the reason.
Friday, 10 September 2010
email news stories.
A Tory MP asked for his email address to be removed from the website 38 degrees. He said that he was being sent a lot of "cloned" emails.
38 degress is a campaign grroup that encourages the public to send messages to their local MPs to help resolve problems. A postform is used where messages are sent to the MPs email without showing the address it was sent from.
Dominic Raab explains that while he tries to respond to as many emails as possible in a resonable time his time is finite. He says that he is being sent a lot of identical emails. These duplicate emails make it hard for him to prioritize and find the most important emails that he needs to respond to.
38 degrees has refused to take his email address down because they say it is in the public domain.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10916309)
A community worker from London had her email account hacked into in order to try and scam her contacts. Jeannette Wark lost control of her Hotmail account. She could not log in because it said that the password was wrong. The people in her contacts list then all received emails saying that see was on holiday abroad but had encountered financle difficulties and needed money to get home.
She was unaware that her email was hacked until she started getting a lot texts from friends asking her were she was staying.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-11057762)
38 degress is a campaign grroup that encourages the public to send messages to their local MPs to help resolve problems. A postform is used where messages are sent to the MPs email without showing the address it was sent from.
Dominic Raab explains that while he tries to respond to as many emails as possible in a resonable time his time is finite. He says that he is being sent a lot of identical emails. These duplicate emails make it hard for him to prioritize and find the most important emails that he needs to respond to.
38 degrees has refused to take his email address down because they say it is in the public domain.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-10916309)
A community worker from London had her email account hacked into in order to try and scam her contacts. Jeannette Wark lost control of her Hotmail account. She could not log in because it said that the password was wrong. The people in her contacts list then all received emails saying that see was on holiday abroad but had encountered financle difficulties and needed money to get home.
She was unaware that her email was hacked until she started getting a lot texts from friends asking her were she was staying.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-11057762)
more email notes-viruses (friday)
Another problem with email is the amount of spam or junk emails recieved. Spam emails are generally received my people you do no know, either promoting a special offer or trying to get you to visit a site. Some website providers have spam filters. However if the spam filters are not very efficient people soon start getting loadsd of spam every day. It is very time consuming to go through and delete these. Also if a delete selected tool is used and block select it is very easy to delete an important email along with the spam.This can cause the productivity of businesses to suffer as workers have to spend time sorting the spam mail out.
Spam can also overload the file size limit on email service resulting in potential server crashes, especially in business, hampering productivity. This can be common as most spam emails contain large picture files.
Spam can also contain contain virus and malicious software. This can be viruses that damage integural computer programs which can crash the computer. This slows work down and can result in either having to reformat the hard drive, or get a new computer. Both of these take a really large amouint of time which could prevent deadlines being met.
They can also contain keyloggers which record what keys are pressed. This can be used to find out password and bank details so the person who made the virus can steal personal information and money.
There are also viruses that can copy files from the hard-drive to the maker. These can be used to copy confidentual files which could drive a business bankrupt or even compromise national security.
Spam can also overload the file size limit on email service resulting in potential server crashes, especially in business, hampering productivity. This can be common as most spam emails contain large picture files.
Spam can also contain contain virus and malicious software. This can be viruses that damage integural computer programs which can crash the computer. This slows work down and can result in either having to reformat the hard drive, or get a new computer. Both of these take a really large amouint of time which could prevent deadlines being met.
They can also contain keyloggers which record what keys are pressed. This can be used to find out password and bank details so the person who made the virus can steal personal information and money.
There are also viruses that can copy files from the hard-drive to the maker. These can be used to copy confidentual files which could drive a business bankrupt or even compromise national security.
email notes (thursday)
Email is a system which enables computer users to send electronic messages to other people with computers via the internet. The word "email" comes from the combination of "electronic mail"
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/email)
Email is useful because because the messages sent travel almost instantaneously which it better yhan conventional mail
It can also cheaper than conventional mail as it is either completely free or there is an annual service charge. Email enables people to communicate over great distances quickly even if the people do not know each other in person.
Email is very useful for companies as emails can be sent to multiple addresses at once which can dramatically improve efficiency.
Also if a person receives an email they can forward it to other people which is where it is immediately sent to other email addresses. This can also improve speed and efficiency of a company.
Email is also useful because audio, visual, picure and text files can be uploaded and attached to an email which enables those to be sent as well which lets other people see the files quickly and easily.
Links can also be added to an email which enables the person who received the mail to quickly look at the page specified. Useful for research and companies.
There are disadvantages to email as well.
The main one is that a computer has got to be on in order to receive emails and the person has to be logged in to an email account. This could potentially cause delays for businesses if some one is not logged in or their computer breaks.
Also as email systems rely on the internet, if the internet goes down, possibly due to router problems or just a tempermental connection, people not be able to send or receive email. This can specific cause problems for businesses among the general public because it could mean important information could not be sent to meet the deadline.
Most email services have a limit on the file sizes of emails. Normally this limit is not exceeded because a lot of space is provided for users. However some services offer only a small limit. This can quickly get full. When that happens new emails can not be received and the email that went over the limit is usually incomplete. Someone might not receive an important email if this happemn.Emails have to be permanently deleted to make more space. This can take a lot of time and effort.
(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/email)
Email is useful because because the messages sent travel almost instantaneously which it better yhan conventional mail
It can also cheaper than conventional mail as it is either completely free or there is an annual service charge. Email enables people to communicate over great distances quickly even if the people do not know each other in person.
Email is very useful for companies as emails can be sent to multiple addresses at once which can dramatically improve efficiency.
Also if a person receives an email they can forward it to other people which is where it is immediately sent to other email addresses. This can also improve speed and efficiency of a company.
Email is also useful because audio, visual, picure and text files can be uploaded and attached to an email which enables those to be sent as well which lets other people see the files quickly and easily.
Links can also be added to an email which enables the person who received the mail to quickly look at the page specified. Useful for research and companies.
There are disadvantages to email as well.
The main one is that a computer has got to be on in order to receive emails and the person has to be logged in to an email account. This could potentially cause delays for businesses if some one is not logged in or their computer breaks.
Also as email systems rely on the internet, if the internet goes down, possibly due to router problems or just a tempermental connection, people not be able to send or receive email. This can specific cause problems for businesses among the general public because it could mean important information could not be sent to meet the deadline.
Most email services have a limit on the file sizes of emails. Normally this limit is not exceeded because a lot of space is provided for users. However some services offer only a small limit. This can quickly get full. When that happens new emails can not be received and the email that went over the limit is usually incomplete. Someone might not receive an important email if this happemn.Emails have to be permanently deleted to make more space. This can take a lot of time and effort.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Twitter (homework)
Twitter is a "micro-blog" designed for small posts and comments. This is because it was originally designed to be added to via mobiles. This can be useful as people have to be concise about what they type without going off-topic or starting to waffle, so it is easier to read. However it can be problematic if someone is trying to explain something in depth and do not have the available characters.
The main page of twitter shows "Top Tweets" which are "tweets" or posts that people think are important. It cycles through the top tweets from approximately 3 hours ago to when the page was loaded. This is useful because it lets people see the important posts quickly without even logging in.
There is also a reel at the top ofthe page which shows popular recent searches. This is useful because pepole can use those links to quickly be taken to popular topics or discussions.
Twitter shows all posts to everybody. This means that anyone on twitter can see what every-one else has just posted. This is good if a lot of people need to be told or if the person thinks the general public should know. However if a person makes a derrogitary statement everyone will see it. Even if they regret making the statement later a lot of people will already have seen it. This can cause problems for celebrities and companies. It is likely that the company will fire an employee for making a derrogatory statement about it.
A scottish MP, Patrick Harvie, complained on his twitter account about how slow he finds Windows 7, the new operating system from Microsoft. During his complaint he used expletive. He has been criticised as he is in the public view.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11220656)
The main page of twitter shows "Top Tweets" which are "tweets" or posts that people think are important. It cycles through the top tweets from approximately 3 hours ago to when the page was loaded. This is useful because it lets people see the important posts quickly without even logging in.
There is also a reel at the top ofthe page which shows popular recent searches. This is useful because pepole can use those links to quickly be taken to popular topics or discussions.
A scottish MP, Patrick Harvie, complained on his twitter account about how slow he finds Windows 7, the new operating system from Microsoft. During his complaint he used expletive. He has been criticised as he is in the public view.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-11220656)
g-mail notes
gmai l priority inbox
Very good spam filters
finds important message and sorts for me
check messages and checks importanec using algorithms, checks what you read quickly and increases importance. also what you reply toaffects importance. Imporoves with time
Puts important to top
junk, shop offers near bottom.
uses button to increase/decrease importance
Star option to save important messages in a special folder
Has filters to automaticall perform various actions when certain emails are received, e.g.star,delete or forward. Useful to organise and improves speed.
avoid "information overload" order mail quickly
easier to check email, more enjoyable find miportant mail quickly, especially for work
can use mic and headset as a phone
Very good spam filters
finds important message and sorts for me
check messages and checks importanec using algorithms, checks what you read quickly and increases importance. also what you reply toaffects importance. Imporoves with time
Puts important to top
junk, shop offers near bottom.
uses button to increase/decrease importance
Star option to save important messages in a special folder
Has filters to automaticall perform various actions when certain emails are received, e.g.star,delete or forward. Useful to organise and improves speed.
avoid "information overload" order mail quickly
easier to check email, more enjoyable find miportant mail quickly, especially for work
can use mic and headset as a phone
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Blogs research
Blogs differ from normal web pages in that they are usually interactive, in that people observing can often add comments to a post and send messages to each other or the creator via widgets. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog)
Blogs are used because they can provide new or interesting angles on news articles.
Also people can use blogs as a diary or running commentary of their life or an event. The blogger is often proud of his or her blog, which often becomes more than a method of communication. The blogs can reflect on life or be sentimental.
Blogs can be used in companies to either improve communication between workers or to advertise and public relations.
Some people use blogs which focus on a certain subject that they are interested in. i.e. Music blogs
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog)
The advantages of blogging are that people can communicate quickly with other people and comment on those posts. People can also quickly find out information about one of there interests by doing to a blog about that subject.
The disadvantages are that if people blog in their workplace, they could damage the reputation of their company. This could result in that person being fired or put on probation. E.g. A delta airlines flight attendant, called Ellen Simonetti, was fired because the comments posted in her blog "Queen of Sky: Diary of a Flight Attendant" were thought to be inappropriate.
Another disadvantage is that it can be difficult to control what is published for such a wide audience. This can lead to hateful and derogatory remarks being published. With particularly strict government rules this can result in people being imprisoned or having to leave the country. E.g. a UN representative for
There is also a possibility of insults and threats being made against the author of the blog. E.g. Kathy Sierra was threatened without apparent cause after she published her blog "Creating Passionate Users"
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog)
Being able to leave comments on a blog is useful if a person wants to provide feedback or an opinion to what was posted. The comments could be used to ask the writer questions about the blog. If the blog was a social blog people could use comments just to talk to the writer. The comment system is useful because it enables people to contact the author even if they do not have his/her telephone number or email address. The person writing the comments does not need to have a blog or email account themselves.
However, comments in a blog can create problems for the administrator, such as inappropriate comments. It can be time consuming to properly moderate the comments.
(http://gigaom.com/collaboration/are-blog-comments-worth-it/)
Monday, 6 September 2010
6.09.10 ICT summary (screenshots of blog) Blogger
The blog provided by Google is called "Blogger" It lets my customize my blog to suit my preferences.
I added features to my blog including a blog list and a newsreel using the design tab and add gadget.
I added features to my blog including a blog list and a newsreel using the design tab and add gadget.
The bloglist enables me to put in the URL of other blogs and quickly check their most recent posts. This is useful because I can check the blogs I use a lot quickly and easily without having to go to the actual website.
I added Jeffrey's blog. This is useful because it is quicker to check what he has updated quickly which will make it easier to compare notes if we are working together
I also added a newsreel so I can quickly and easily see the major headlines and click on them to access whole story. This will help me keep up to date on the news without having to trawl through news websites.
I also changed the template and appearance of my blog using the template tool. I did this to make my blog easier to read while also making it look more professional.
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Simulations14 years ago
