Social Media Project

      
Social Media Project link : http://ism3004.wikispaces.com/Sprint


         The social media project was a project that took quite a while to complete. It was a different type of project from the other ones because the one requirement was to work with a few other people as a collaborative effort. At first, I thought it was going to be very difficult considering this is an online-type class, but it turned out to be easier to communicate than I thought. Using a combination of email correspondence and the discussion board, I think we effectively created a detailed wikipedia on the social media effort of Sprint. 


       We decided on Sprint because one of the team mates worked for Sprint and had some background knowledge into their social media efforts. Doing my part, which was researching and typing the YouTube, Wikipedia, and other social media, I learned a lot about Sprint. They had a much more extensive campaign than I was aware of. They use YouTube to market their 4G network and allow for viewers to respond positively or negatively about it. They also categorize individual phones that are on sale at the Sprint stores so that potential customers can read reviews or post one. 

wikicommons

     The Wikipedia portion involve describing the details of the company and how it evolved as a company, but it only gave the cold hard facts. I don't think wikipedia is one of the better forms of a social media outlet just because as an interactive encyclopedia, it's important to stay objective. Other than generating interest by participating in the research, I don't see how this would be a great place to advertise. 

simplyzesty

       Twitter was a great area that Sprint excels in. The @sprintcare was a great idea to take care of individual problems while allowing other people to see the resolution. One of my team mates, Burton, wrote about this and said that he saw many more replies when @sprintcare was used than when the @sprint was used. Twitratr was a problematic part of the project, because I think it didn't accurately reflect Sprint as a corporation. Many of the people that tweeted were tweeting about negative problems with their phones because they were seeking out service. 

Week 13: Clear Social Media

Methods of Social Media Advertising


The rise and popularity of the internet has shown a growth in internet advertising as well. What started out as occasional advertising on websites and pop-ups that can be annoying have transformed into a more efficient and a more profitable way of attracting customers. Two behemoths in internet advertising are Google and Facebook have paved the way in the evolution of internet advertising and have used two methods of collecting revenue for themselves. 


The Hunt

wikimedia commons

When using Google, people are on a specific fact-finding mission to search for something they want which can be for information purposes, looking for a product, looking for something for a business and Google's business model is based around targeting what customers are looking for and advertising similar products that companies have paid Google to advertise. Google uses the search history to advertise in other areas of the web. Web 2.0 has allowed Google to advertise in multiple areas and not just specifically on a Google Search.


The Hike

wikimedia commons

Facebook employs this in their business model. Rather than aiming at the people that are concentrated on seeking out information, they target the people that are exploring their site for longer periods of time. Facebook mostly uses banner ads that charge companies by what is called CPM (Cost per thousand impressions). They place ads in various areas of the website and hope the placement leads to more interest. 


Below is a video of the new innovations in the advertising field that facebook is developing to target the right audience more efficiently

Week 12 Clear: Telecommunications and the Internet

IPv4 and IPv6
One concept I thought was very interesting in the lesson section was about the Internet Protocol Version 4. It is one of the most widely used versions on the internet today. As we have grown as a society, the number of connections to the internet have grown too (exponentially). This has led to a massive amount of different IP addresses for each device. The rise of mobile devices and other devices connected to the internet has led to an exhaustion of internet addresses. This was an unforeseen consequence because the people who created the original IPv4 were unaware of the amount of connections that would be needed in the future.

Brajeshwar Oinam

A resolution to this problem has come in the form of what is known as Internet Protocol Version 6. This has taken the previous limit of a little over 4 trillion unique addresses and has increased it to 340 undecillion internet connections (3.4×10^38). This limit should take us far into the future before having to come up with a different structure to the internet protocol.

Internet of Things
On the same note, when it was discussed that many items are being connected to the internet that were not previously, I got a little curious on the developments of modern technology in that field. Some of the newly connected items to the internet include a home's oven, thermostat, garage door, alarm system, electricity in the household, cars, everything electronic you can think of is being included in the internet connection. I reviewed a video that came from another section in this class called "The Internet of Things".


Below is a detailed explanation of IPv6

Week 11 Clear: Skills Track Access

This week we learned the generals of Microsoft Access. It's a great program for business use, but as far as personal use...it is a program that I haven't used very much. The videos discussed this week went over tables, queries, forms and reports. I will discuss each of them briefly below.

Tables

Tables in access are used to store the information in its most basic form. The table wizard can take information that was from an external source and sort it for you automatically by asking just a few questions about how you want the information sorted. Once everything's on the table it is there to be modified and formatted anyway you choose.

Brad Amidon

Queries

These basically are ways to get details on the information in a database. For example, if you wanted to know the seasonal sales for female shoppers in December, you could create a query to give you those detailed results back (if you had the information). 

Brad Amidon

Reports

Reports are used to create information from a source, whether it be from a table or query, and turn it into something that is printable and that can be easily understood by people who need to make decisions.

Forms

They make is simple to enter information so that it can be done quickly and easily without having to waste as much time moving from cell to cell. It also helps prevent wrongly entered items because there is not as much confusion. Microsoft Access gives you the ability to design very nice forms or just very simple ones.

Brad Amidon

Project- Microsoft Access

Microsoft Access is a very useful tool in the business environment, but one that I have never had a lot of experience with. I think this project helped me learn many things that I can take with me in my future career. It wasn't an extremely complicated project but one that made me go through the general aspects of Access so I could understand how all of the data are connected. The table activity showed me that I need to be aware of different "date formats" when trying to modify it. I realized the dates for "Date Left" were all in text format when they should've been in date format. The form creation taught me about how forms are created for the common person to enter data and how it should be made as easy as possible as to avoid confusion. The Query activity showed me that you can pull a very specific set of data and organize it as well. The report activity required me to take the query that I created and make a report out of it. This showed me the obvious reasons access has been vital to a company's core record keeping, because the information can be obtained and organized easily. Further, it can be put in a format that is easy to understand for people who are in charge of making decisions within a company. 


Maybe some additions to the database would include a form for exit memberships. In the instructions it was shown that the date for the end of the membership wasn't necessary because you can't fill out information on someone who is signing up and include the date they ended it as well. I do agree with that but there needs to be an easy way to modify this information about an exiting member through another easy-to-use form. Maybe include some other information on the exit form such as the reason they decided to leave. Another modification is to include more information on the new membership form. Simply filling in a postal address doesn't seem to keep up with the times. It would be nice to have such information as an email address or a phone number so these people can be contacted through other ways than regular snail mail. Another category could be "How did you hear about us?" this can be used for obvious reasons so that marketing decisions can be made to possibly increase membership. 

Clear Week 10: The Data Asset

Database Management


This week's chapters have been talking about Data and how it's used and stored within a company. Data has increasingly become more important and accessible to companies which has led to more money being spent in data management. After reading chapter 11 in the Gallagher text, I got a general idea of how database management works. 

Wikimedia Commons

SQL
I learned about SQL which stands for Structured Query Language. It is the most general language when talking about database management. This language lies at the very core of database management programs such as Access, filemaker pro, and even used in the open source by Oracle's MySQL.

MySQL
This is an open source database management software that has been a very popular choice among businesses and web developers because of it's free nature. Its one of the letters in the LAMP software stack (the M) and all of the programs are based on MySQL

Wikimedia Commons

What is MySQL

youtube

Week 9 Clear: Michio Kaku's Discussion on the Future of Technology

The Future of Technology
Michio Kaku is a highly respected theoretical physicist of modern times, and he was in a video where he discussed his opinions on the future of technology. He discusses Moore's Law which states that the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on an integrated circuit doubles approximately every two years. He gives examples of computers that are being sold are constantly being updated with newer and better processors that double in two years. He then describes the implications Moore's Law has on human existence

Types of Civilizations


Type 0 Civilization 

Flickr

Kaku describes a type 0 civilization as one that can barely use the resources of a planet and is still based on non-renewable resources such as fossil fuels. Inhabitants of this civilization still rely more on emotions and ideological principals more so than science. We are currently in this type.






Type 1 Civilization
This is a civilization that can fully utilize the power of the planet and has become a planetary system. Using solar power, geothermal energy, and can control the weather and earthquakes. Kaku states that us as a civilization will reach that stage in 100 years. 

flickr

There are emerging type 1 civilization activities that show a transformation today. Examples include the internet, which is a planetary form of instant communication. A type 1 civilization economy is one like the European Union who puts aside their political differences to become more efficient as an economy. 




 Type 2 Civilization

http://www.flickr.com/photos/badastronomy/3176565627/

A type of civilization that can harness the power of the solar systems sun and can control all of the power within the planetary system. Kaku states at this point the civilization becomes immortal because all of the known events in sciences can't extinguish the civilization. They have the power to avoid it or survive it. 


Type 3 Civilization
A civilization that can harness the power of entire galaxies. They can transport across galaxies as well. They can potentially unlock all that is possible with matter down to the superstrings and multi-dimensions. 


Michio Kaku also stated that type 0 civilizations like our own are probably not as common as others because they die out before reaching a type 1 civilization. Our ideological opinions coupled with the use of nuclear weapons have put us at risk for not making it to the next step. 


The video discussing this is below:

The Future of Technology

Excel Project

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/5e/Excel2007.PNG

This week I dedicated to completing the excel project. It started out with completing the scavenger hunt which was filled with answers to questions about the basics of excel and also detailing some of the more advanced functions. At first it wasn't clear to me why this "scavenger hunt" had to be done, but as I started on the project itself, that paper I completed became much more useful.




The Project!
The first part of the project required you to download the master excel file from the e-learning website. I was relieved because I had an excel project in my head that I had assumed we would have to supply our own data. As I opened the file, I realized there were TONS OF NUMBERS!

It started out easy enough, manipulating the font and changing the alignment. I did come to some trouble with freezing the panes. I found the button to actually freeze the panes, but could not figure out why it would not freeze the panes I selected. After doing some googling, I found out that the selector on excel had to be on the area BELOW the panes you wanted frozen, simply highlighting the panes to be frozen wouldn't work.The entering the functions went smoothly. I could do the absolute and relative 
functions with ease. The area I ran into some trouble was the "IF" function and after an hour or so of rereading the instructions and seeking help elsewhere, I figured it out. After that I had to manipulate the workbook to print exactly as the instructions said and I figured it out quickly (Thanks to the videos!).


The Pivot tables were easy as well, it simply involved taking the raw data and presenting it they way the fitness center would like to see it.


What I learned
I knew some background of excel before coming into this project, but I also learned a substantial amount I think I can carry over to other classes and more importantly a future career! I vaguely knew about the conditional and relative functions, but I was stumped on how to deal with them. It simply involved inserting a "$" in front of the row and column you want to keep absolute. So Easy! The pivot tables were another thing I had no idea about. I liked the ease at which Microsoft Excel was able to recognize data and words and be able to allow me to categorize which data I wanted and filter the ones I didn't need out of it.

Screenshot taken by Brad Amidon

Here is the screenshot of my pivot table of the average percent increase in heart rate from start to finish. These were grouped in to age groups (by decade). 

Extra Credit - Smarterer

One of the extra credit assignments instructed me to try out this site called Smarterer it tests your ability on a variety of computer and internet applications. It uses a scoring method similar to the GRE.


As I arrived at the site, it gave me a few options to be tested on. Naturally, I wanted to pick the one I thought I had the most knowledge in. So I chose, the Google Chrome since I've been using it forever. The questions started out easy enough, giving you a time limit of about 5 seconds on each question. I took the test and got them all right and missed one and it just ended the test. It said I qualified as "Smarterer" and that I ranked 10th on the leaderboard.
 I got addicted and took a few more just to see how I'd do. I even tried the Corporate Finance one and ranked 5th in that category.


Below are the badges:

Extra Credit - Google+ Experience

I have been a member of Google+ since June of 2011 and I have to say, I really like the entire package. Google+ has taken all of the essentials provided by facebook and more! I don't have alot of friends on here yet, but hopefully alot of people on facebook will make the transition to Google+. 


My google+ homepage: https://plus.google.com/103511755377218568721/posts


Some of the cool features:
One of the first things I noticed is the way you can group people you know. Previously on facebook, you had two options when creating a friend request, a friend or not a friend. While that may work for some people, others would rather not divulge all that much information about their personal life to someone they don't know that well and conversely not be annoyed by constant status updates from this acquaintance. The official categories are Friends, Family, Acquaintance, Following. Those categories make logical sense to me. 


Google Hangout
I really liked this option. It was something I tried within a few days of using the site. It takes the functionality of  webchat interfaces like skype and joins it with an actual social network. Another interesting feature is the intelligent design behind it. For example, I tried it with two other friends and the camera would automatically shift over to who ever was talking onto the main screen while still having your other friend visable in the smaller screen. Inside the Google Hangout was a functionality for playing youtube videos. This is something that I think is revolutionary! 

Created by Brad Amidon, using Print Screen 

Instant Queue Photos
When you snap a great photo with your cellphone and would like to share it with people, the typical thing you do is find a way to upload it online. Well google+ sort of skips a few steps here. I discovered the pictures I was taking was being stored on google+ in this instant upload area. The thing I liked about it is that it gave you the privacy you needed by not automatically uploading just any picture, but letting you scroll through which ones you wanted to post and not post. 


Facebook Poll Opinion 
The article here states that a survey showed 50 percent will abandon facebook as their primary social networking place to go to. It revealed that many aren't switching from facebook for purely reasons of innovation, they are using google+ more because facebook is making users more frustrated. I would switch to google+ if more of my friends regularly posted on there, but I don't see all of them moving over to the new site anytime soon. 


Funny Video:

Extra Credit - Avatar

One of the extra credit assignments includes creating an avatar of yourself. I think it's pretty cool to create one of these because it shows people on the web what you look like in a nutshell, and a little bit about your personality without revealing too much about yourself. 

When I used the doppleme website, I thought there were relatively few options you could do without actually signing up, but it was enough. I'm sure there are better out there and if someone gets really into socializing in the virtual world on sites other than facebook, I suggest you look into another website. 

A few of the options included, skin color, eye color, hair color, facial expression, clothes, and accessories. You could also choose a background. It was relatively easy to make one. It was a good learning experience. 

Here's a screenshot of my avatar:

Brad Amidon using DoppleMe

clear Web Services

Client-Server Applications

This week I read in the Gallagher book about web services. These services started out as a novelty but really started catching on when larger companies were investing into the technology. It basically uses various machines to access a remote server to do a variety of different tasks. In modern applications, customers can go online to purchase items, the customer will see a very simplistic version of what is actually going on (for good reason) but when they decide on something and place the order, the customer is sending a request to the remote server to place an order. It can use the logic that a cash register would use to communicate that information to the accountants at that company as well as the credit card company the money is coming from. Compared to older times, less human interaction in these financial and logistical affairs leads to less errors, less required labor, and more cost savings for the company. It also give the company multiple ways to access their target consumers.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fboyd/503773218/

More about Web Services

Project- Presentations

Presentation Projects


Self-Critique 

Overall, I think my presentation was a good representation of what was in the rubric. There was several hours that went into this project and I hope there will be a good grade to come of it. I think there was a logical flow of content and the information flowed smoothly. It could've been improved by not going into as much detail about their efficiency strategy, but I felt like that really had to hit home with the viewers of the presentation. I think I anticipated questions the viewers might have had and I think they were placed correctly. A good example is talking about how they do compete with larger supermarkets and giving examples how they make the profits to compete. 
As far as grabbing the attention of the audience, I think I could've done a better job at that. I did mention how many stores the chain had and I thought the amount was pretty amazing. Somewhere I thought I also lacked was asking questions that sparked curiosity. There could've been more of that but, honestly, there are so many other creative ways of engaging the viewers interest instead of asking a question. 
The conciseness of the presentation I had trouble with at first. I could not get the time below the 3-minute mark and realized that I had to reorganize my entire presentation because there were just too many superfluous details. After reorganizing it a bit, I think I really only spoke about the core of Aldi's strategy without getting bogged down into the details too much. 
I think I did a good job of validating the claims that I did have. One example would be the low prices Aldi has, I used a survey from MarketForce which is a very reputable organization. I executed all of this without making any spelling errors, typos, or unbelievable claims. I did mess up talking a little bit, but I blame that on my nervousness when speaking into the microphone. I avoided clutter as much as possible, trying to keep my slides concise and to the point without requiring too much reading on the audience's part. I contrasted the colors very well and went slow enough to understand. I also ensure readability by using animations to highlight the area I was speaking about as I was speaking about it. 


Looking at the other presentations and evaluating them, I realized that I didn't have to do a complete talking presentation. I should've tried to convey the message other than just speaking about it. Possibly through though-provoking pictures, and shorter concise messages to convey a larger meaning. I thought too many animations and other media would negatively impact the signal-to-noise ratio of my presentation. I could've chosen to make my own presentation but I liked doing the case study on Aldi. I chose Aldi, because I was in one not too long ago and thought their strategies were very unique and "bare-boned" and it intrigued me. 

Presentation Aldi: Value through Efficiency 

Week 6: Clear- Open Source Software

Open Source Software

Open Source software is defined as "a program in which the source code is available to the general public for use and/or modification free of charge. Webopedia.


Open Source Software (OSS) was first introduced and made popular to the world by a 21 year old named Linus Torvalds. He developed an operating system name Linux (note the resemblance to his first name).
The development of this and following generations of the Linux OS ushered in a new era of software development. It completely redefined how software was developed, evolving from a company-based development initiative (which was guarded much like trade secrets) to a completely free and publicly collaborative atmosphere.


Many corporations opt to use OSS over proprietary software for many reasons, a few are:


Its Free- the software used in corporations can be very costly and drive up tech costs. A conversion to open source could be very cost effective. Many Fortune 500 companies have reported several millions of dollars in annual savings just by changing from proprietary software. 

wikimedia

More Secure and Reliable- When you have many people collaboratively working on developing software, it is much more likely that a bug or glitch will be found and fixed. This also goes for security issues and finding backdoors into programs. The more people reading through the code, the more likely they will find a vulnerability that wasn't previously located. 










Video explaining OSS:

youtube

Week 5 Presentations- Clear: 5 Rules for Creating a Presentation

Five Rules for Creating an Effective Presentation

One area that was very clear to me when I was reading about Presentations was Duarte's video concerning five important rules when creating a presentation. I always assumed the more information on a screen is better, but as I will describe below, simplicity gets the message across to the audience much clearer

Clay Newton

                      

                              

Treat the Audience as King

Instead of designing a presentation that suits your needs, put yourself in the audience's shoes and look at it from a third-person standpoint. You want the people viewing your presentation to understand what you are trying to convey. It is important to design a presentation that meets THEIR needs.

Tabitha Kokoska

Spread Ideas and Move People

Don't just design a presentation with the thought that is just going to be another commonplace meeting. Approach it with effort in creating meaning to the audience. There are many ways to capture the audience's attention. Play a thought-provoking video, these can help get the viewers involved.

Mark Brannen

Help Them See What You Are Saying

Many people viewing your presentation interpret information better using different methods. There are many visually-oriented people and many people understand information better using speech and audio. The key is to have a great mix of both. This helps people on both sides understand the presentation more clearly.

Practice Design Not Decoration

Everyone knows about the people who make the common mistakes of overdecorating their power point presentations. This falls into the signal to noise ratio, it's important to concentrate more on conveying the message and make graphics that are relevant to the presentation, not to be there to just decorate. Consider using a one-word slide, these can be thought-provoking and allow you to personalize this word to the audience. Quotes can be very powerful but convey a clear message as well.

Cultivate Healthy Relationships

Take a step back from the presentation itself and focus on the people you are surrounded by. Don't hide behind your presentation, engage the audience and the presentation will become easier. Make eye contract and really have passion and intention behind your presentation, this will help getting the audience on your side.

ThinkPanama

Sources:

http://www.duarte.com/training/tools/

Week 4 Clear: Porter's Five Competitive Forces

Porter's Five Competitive Forces 

Micheal E. Porter is a professor at Harvard University. He is the head of the Institute of Strategy and Competitiveness. He derived what is known as the five competitive forces. It challenges the old strategies once employed by industries, that the only competition is your direct competition. But as Porter shows, there is much more to it. Below is an outline of the five forces that shape the strategy of a corporation.

By Grahams Child [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)] from Wikimedia Commons

Threat of New Entrants

New companies that enter an industry come with a drive to gain market share. Some companies are just starting out in an industry, but others are larger corporations that have the financial leverage to become a big threat to existing companies. The competitors themselves do not necessarily put pressure on costs, prices, and profitability. The actual threat of new entry does though because if there are not big barriers preventing new entrants, the entire approach and strategy must be developed to anticipate future competitors. 

Image: graur razvan ionut / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Companies in an industry must be able to depend on a supplier (or multiple) in their supply chain, and the leveraging power of these suppliers are critical to the profitability of a company. If a supplier has many clients and is largely depended on for materials, they have more negotiating ability in supply prices and terms. These suppliers will try to maximize their profits and that could have an enormous impact on a company's strategy. 


Another big part is switching costs. Many companies work very closely with their suppliers to obtain an end product that meets the needs of the consumer. It takes an abundance of R&D and other types of investments to derive such products. This makes it more unlikely for a company to change suppliers. 

Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Bargaining Power of Buyers

Large purchasers from suppliers also can hold significant bargaining power over their suppliers. These buyers can demand better quality products and force down the prices of these supplies which can drive up the costs to the supplier. Suppliers are especially at risk from buyers if there is more than one supplier in their industry. If the materials offered by the supplier are relatively common, the switching costs are minimal to the purchaser which can lead to fierce price competition between suppliers of an industry. 


Threat of Substitutes

Substitutes can present a threat to an industry because it can perform the same or similar function by a different means. Substitutes have always been around but sometimes they are not easy to spot or associate with a product. That is because a seemingly unrelated action or product can have a significant impact on a different industry. For example, the increase in internet speeds around the globe with the advent of high speed cable, led to more calls being placed online and less being made using a landline. Phone companies are continuing to suffer less profitability because a price ceiling has capped off the industry.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/duien/with/79371194/

Rivalry Among Existing Competitors


This force nearly goes without saying because rivalry among businesses of the same industry has been around for a very long time. Price competition, continuous new products, and advertising all have an effect on the profitability of a company in any industry. The intensity of competition differs in each industry but high intensity has many common factors such as: numerous competitors, high exit barriers, high fixed costs. Examples include the relatively new industry for smartphones. Apple came out with the iphone which has been an amazing success story, but it opened up an entire industry of fierce competitors vying to be a better choice. Companies such as Samsung, Research in Motion, and Nokia have come out with great substitutes that are as powerful if not more powerful than the iphone. Along with the continuous technological improvements on each phones is the price competition among them. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guileite/with/929553853/

Sources:
https://ares-uflib-ufl-edu.lp.hscl.ufl.edu/ares.dll?Action=10&Type=10&Value=88939
UF Login Required

Week 3: Clear "Networking"

Network Topology

There are various networking structures that businesses use in modern times to help relay information back and forth. Some are outdated, some have become popular in the last few years. Below is a list and an explanation for the some network layouts that are used to connect computers and components to each other so that they can communicate. 


Client/Server
This setup includes various computers on a Local Area Network that are connected to one main computer that acts as the server. Stored in the server is many programs and data that is relayed for use by the nodes or clients that are connected to it. 

jscreationzs / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Peer-to-Peer 

When using P2P, the computer acts as a server and a client at the same time, this information relays by uploading as it is downloading and has no central server connection. It depends on the connection of other computers. A side note, peer-to-peer networking has grown in popularity with the start of Napster. The sharing of music evolved into the sharing of other media and has contributed to the growing problem of copyright infringement.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P2P-network.svg 

By User:Mauro Bieg (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Bus Networking

This connection also relies on other computers to transmit information. It is one single line that runs down a circuit. All the computers are connected to the single cable. It is inexpensive and simple to set up, but if one computer goes down the entire circuit is broken.

By Bakshi41c (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)

 or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

Detailed Video

Credit: http://www.youtube.com/user/ProfessorNVCC

attribution details: Section 6C http://www.youtube.com/t/terms

More info:

Further Information on network topologies used to connect to the internet and other computers are found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_topology