UPS is in the middle of doing some revolutionary things when it comes to tracking technology. They have installed a system called information acquisition device. This system give each driver a hand held device which has a gps system in it, that allows UPS to follow your packages and give you up to the minute information as to where you package is. This technology fuels most of its information system technology today. For example they have a policy called delivery intercept which allows you to change the destination of the package online up to delivery time. They also have something called quantum view notify which send you and email to confirm that your package has been sent and when it has be finally delivered. Lastly the have installed an electronic customs form which make shipping between New York and China just as easy as shipping from New York to maine. With systems in place such as this UPS will continue to be on top of the delivery service game for the foreseeable future.
www.UPS.com/tracking
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Virtual world, real emotions: Relationships in Second Life
There is a new trend in the Second Life virtual world, real relationships. Many new couples are forming and even getting married once meeting originally on Second Life. Second Life is a virtual world were people have their own property, gather at social functions, have relationships, get married - you name it, you can do it on Second Life. More recently, more and more couples are meeting on Second Life, getting into virtual relationships, and sometime after are actually meeting in real life. Nina Allam and Sean Barbary are perfect examples of a relationship sparked from Second Life. They first met on Second Life and got married in June in the virtual world. Just recently they met for the first time in person; they both hit it off in real life. There are many more couples named in this article and numerous more unmentioned, who have found "true" love in and outside of the virtual world.
This idea of meeting in a virtual world and then trying to develop a relationship is not all that new to our time. Think of a website such as e-harmony; people meet virtually with the intention to meet in real life if they think that they will be compatible with each other. The idea is not that bad. The only thing which I find odd is the idea of virtual world and how people can get in relationships or even get married. Are the feelings between two people actually real if they were created through a virtual world? There is a lot to consider before partaking in this Second Life movement. I know one thing, I will not partake in a Second Life relationship or marriage; most likely not in Second Life at all.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/12/second.life.relationship.irpt/index.html
This idea of meeting in a virtual world and then trying to develop a relationship is not all that new to our time. Think of a website such as e-harmony; people meet virtually with the intention to meet in real life if they think that they will be compatible with each other. The idea is not that bad. The only thing which I find odd is the idea of virtual world and how people can get in relationships or even get married. Are the feelings between two people actually real if they were created through a virtual world? There is a lot to consider before partaking in this Second Life movement. I know one thing, I will not partake in a Second Life relationship or marriage; most likely not in Second Life at all.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/12/12/second.life.relationship.irpt/index.html
Friday, December 12, 2008
Spotfire Holiday Gift Finder
Spotfire, a division of the software maker Tibco, is using statistics to come up with a tool for sorting potential presents. With the Spotfire Holiday Gift Finder, you can churn through thousands of products, including apparel, electronics, jewelry and tools. The software lets people narrow down their choices based on price and reviews and then points to the appropriate spot on Amazon.com where the product can be purchased. With the holidays right around the corner this would be the perfect thing to use in making all your decisions easier and faster. You would be able to buy all the presents you want in half the time you used to be able to.
The statistical analysis used is similar to ones used for fantasy football and other ranking systems. With this system you wont have to get gift cards anymore because you will have a much better idea of what the person will want.
The statistical analysis used is similar to ones used for fantasy football and other ranking systems. With this system you wont have to get gift cards anymore because you will have a much better idea of what the person will want.
Postal Services Crash Online
My article discusses problems that came about this past week for the Postal Service online applications. The Postal Service offers various services online that were affected including it's rate estimator, zip-code locator, and it's package pick-up service. The most important service online that was affected was the Click-N-Ship program on their webpage. This application allows users to print shipping labels and pay for them online, saving everyone a lot of time and effort. Last year Click-N-Ship printed off over 34 million shipping labels, so one can tell how popular it is. This crash for the shipping caused many problems around the nation and the USPS was very apologetic for it. They sent out over 900,000 e-mails apologizing for the issues and even placed several personal phone calls to their biggest customers.
This article expresses the importance of maintenance on any IT software. Those 7 processes of setting up an IT software, the one that costs the most money and takes the most time is maintenance because it is continious. As long as an IT software is in service than it needs to be maintenanced from just simple wear and tear. If the USPS had properly maintenanced their software and found the glitch before it happened, then they would have saved a lot of money in revenue and a lot of embarassment. Maintenance is an important aspect of IT software and time and money must be put into it to ensure the operation of important equipment and software.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10121982-38.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
This article expresses the importance of maintenance on any IT software. Those 7 processes of setting up an IT software, the one that costs the most money and takes the most time is maintenance because it is continious. As long as an IT software is in service than it needs to be maintenanced from just simple wear and tear. If the USPS had properly maintenanced their software and found the glitch before it happened, then they would have saved a lot of money in revenue and a lot of embarassment. Maintenance is an important aspect of IT software and time and money must be put into it to ensure the operation of important equipment and software.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10121982-38.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Microsoft Joins Free Security Push
Two years ago, Microsoft debuted its first security software called the One-Care security program. It included a $50 per year charge to keep you PC free from viruses. They will debut in the coming days a program code-named Morro. It is a free security system that aims to prevent the invasion of viruses and Trojans on a PC. They aim to provide security for 60% of computer users who do not already have security software.
In recent months, there has been an uprising of free security systems for PCs. They are scaled down from full anti-virus software such as Symantec, but it does not slow down computer performance. This is an effort put forth to combat viruses spread through social networks such as Facebook and Myspace. Security software providers' main goal by producing these free programs is to provide users with adequate security without slowing down computer performance. Likewise, Microsoft's Morro is a scaled down version of One-Care.
In recent months, there has been an uprising of free security systems for PCs. They are scaled down from full anti-virus software such as Symantec, but it does not slow down computer performance. This is an effort put forth to combat viruses spread through social networks such as Facebook and Myspace. Security software providers' main goal by producing these free programs is to provide users with adequate security without slowing down computer performance. Likewise, Microsoft's Morro is a scaled down version of One-Care.
Monday, December 8, 2008
AC blog 2
Blog #2: Panel Offers Ways to Bolster Cyberspace Security
A recent article from the New York Times, titled “Panel Offers to Bolster Cyberspace Security,” comments on the important issue of legal regulation with regards to cyber-space security. A government and technology industry panel has called for a serious change in the way that the federal government enforces this security. The panel believes that a simple use of passwords when trying to protect confidential information is a serious security breach. They suggest that the government switch to “strong authentication,” which could prevent hackers from tapping into their systems. Such a transition would most likely require all government computer users to use a physical device instead of simply typing in a password. Although this may be more expensive and maybe a hassle for the users, it may be necessary in order to keep our government’s information secure. Nobody ever said internet security would come easy.
One of the members of the panel, stated that, “we need to move away from passwords,” because in reality “the laissez-faire approach to cyber-security has failed.” This new policy for cyber-space security could eventually be adapted by the Obama administration in an attempt to make the internet safer for the future. The significance of the security breaches in our cyber-systems cannot be overlooked. There is an infinite amount of confidential information throughout the internet that can be used maliciously if it were to fall into the wrong hands. Therefore, not only the government should be worried, but especially private industries whose financial information of the company and clients can be accessed with sufficient hacking skills.
In the past year, the Department of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Commerce, NASA, and the National Defense University, were among the important agencies in our country that “suffered major intrusions by unknown foreign entities.” For example, the Secretary of State’s email was hacked into, and “terabytes” of data magically went missing from the State Department. The fact that people are able to gain access to such important information is definitely unsettling. The panel suggests that information technology officers and CIO’s are no longer enough to ensure the best cyber-security and that cyber-security is one of the most significant national security threats. If people are able to hack into the systems that carry information which our country operates and defends itself on, then it is only a matter of time before it comes back to haunt us. We need to take the necessary measures in order to secure our cyberspace. New laws and regulations have been proposed in order to govern cyberspace and I believe that if used correctly, these will help to prevent future intrusions on our government systems. Cyberspace is a dangerous place and without some sort of regulation, confidentiality may no longer exist there.
A recent article from the New York Times, titled “Panel Offers to Bolster Cyberspace Security,” comments on the important issue of legal regulation with regards to cyber-space security. A government and technology industry panel has called for a serious change in the way that the federal government enforces this security. The panel believes that a simple use of passwords when trying to protect confidential information is a serious security breach. They suggest that the government switch to “strong authentication,” which could prevent hackers from tapping into their systems. Such a transition would most likely require all government computer users to use a physical device instead of simply typing in a password. Although this may be more expensive and maybe a hassle for the users, it may be necessary in order to keep our government’s information secure. Nobody ever said internet security would come easy.
One of the members of the panel, stated that, “we need to move away from passwords,” because in reality “the laissez-faire approach to cyber-security has failed.” This new policy for cyber-space security could eventually be adapted by the Obama administration in an attempt to make the internet safer for the future. The significance of the security breaches in our cyber-systems cannot be overlooked. There is an infinite amount of confidential information throughout the internet that can be used maliciously if it were to fall into the wrong hands. Therefore, not only the government should be worried, but especially private industries whose financial information of the company and clients can be accessed with sufficient hacking skills.
In the past year, the Department of Defense, State, Homeland Security, and Commerce, NASA, and the National Defense University, were among the important agencies in our country that “suffered major intrusions by unknown foreign entities.” For example, the Secretary of State’s email was hacked into, and “terabytes” of data magically went missing from the State Department. The fact that people are able to gain access to such important information is definitely unsettling. The panel suggests that information technology officers and CIO’s are no longer enough to ensure the best cyber-security and that cyber-security is one of the most significant national security threats. If people are able to hack into the systems that carry information which our country operates and defends itself on, then it is only a matter of time before it comes back to haunt us. We need to take the necessary measures in order to secure our cyberspace. New laws and regulations have been proposed in order to govern cyberspace and I believe that if used correctly, these will help to prevent future intrusions on our government systems. Cyberspace is a dangerous place and without some sort of regulation, confidentiality may no longer exist there.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Segregation of Duties in Information Technology
Ever since the Sarbanes-Oxley act, generally accepted account rules (GAAP) has required businesses to segregate duties within a company. Segregation of duties entails having more than one person accomplishing a task. In the political sense, it is known as separation of powers. The reason behind this is to minimize risks associated with giving one person too much power enabling the temptation for fraud, money laundering, stealing, etc.
The Information Technology age has made getting information much easier and faster. However, with this technology brings more risk to businesses. Therefore, separation of duties is a must have when it comes to developing software and other entities within the business environment. For example, users who create data should not have access to process their data, and developers should not have permission to work with client's personal accounts. The process of developing to testing to upkeep is a methodical process and no person or department should have complete access to all the information, including the project manager.
From an article entitled: " Defining Segregation of Duties" (November 3, 2006, Processor.com), Ashley Owen, director of product marketing for enterprise application life cycle management solutions at Serena Software quotes:“The essence of separation of duties is one that seeks to reduce risk, increase quality, and lower the costs associated with corrective action within an organization’s internal controls. Midsized organizations should evaluate their present processes, whether documented or automated, and assess the level of risk or exposure to the business of noncompliance.” In essence, she states that along with the risks associated with enabling someone to a dangerous extent, it is also profitable for a company to spread out the workload of a project.
How you ask? The answer is proper management along with tools to help the management. A tool known as "change management software" helps coordinate the overall process of a project. It also is important if production has unexpected changes including participation from multiple business units.
In conclusion, segregation of powers is and has always been important in virtually every aspect of a business from small to global corporations. Today, with technology at its greatest, separation of duties is imperative to minimize costs, increase efficiency, and minimize risks.
The Information Technology age has made getting information much easier and faster. However, with this technology brings more risk to businesses. Therefore, separation of duties is a must have when it comes to developing software and other entities within the business environment. For example, users who create data should not have access to process their data, and developers should not have permission to work with client's personal accounts. The process of developing to testing to upkeep is a methodical process and no person or department should have complete access to all the information, including the project manager.
From an article entitled: " Defining Segregation of Duties" (November 3, 2006, Processor.com), Ashley Owen, director of product marketing for enterprise application life cycle management solutions at Serena Software quotes:“The essence of separation of duties is one that seeks to reduce risk, increase quality, and lower the costs associated with corrective action within an organization’s internal controls. Midsized organizations should evaluate their present processes, whether documented or automated, and assess the level of risk or exposure to the business of noncompliance.” In essence, she states that along with the risks associated with enabling someone to a dangerous extent, it is also profitable for a company to spread out the workload of a project.
How you ask? The answer is proper management along with tools to help the management. A tool known as "change management software" helps coordinate the overall process of a project. It also is important if production has unexpected changes including participation from multiple business units.
In conclusion, segregation of powers is and has always been important in virtually every aspect of a business from small to global corporations. Today, with technology at its greatest, separation of duties is imperative to minimize costs, increase efficiency, and minimize risks.
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