2011 / 12 Holiday Update

Hi everyone, if you've been reading my blog these last few months you'll notice I very rarely ever post anything that I type other than notes. Well, today I'm writing to tell you a little bit about what I've been up to over the holidays of 2011/12.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to the person reading this to!

Let's start back at the beginning of the holidays. I'm apart of the Stable volunteers bunch my role is marketing. So, I was apart of much of the pre-event marketing as well as keeping people up-to-date throughout the event with the latest goss. My idea for Stable this year was to produce a nightly Youtube video that captures an aspect of what the event is like. So, I figured why not attempt a stand-up infront of the camera and be the face of Stable??? Well, I did and I must say I'm not afraid to look stupid on camera. Watch some of the videos I did for Stable on the Strand at http://www.youtube.com/stableonthestrand11. (I'm the guy who can't stop smiling on cameras)

One point I did take from creating a story each night for Stable was always do your research before interviewing somebody. Which comes down to my next part of the holidays. 

I'm currently typing this Blog entry from a home in Denistone which is located in Sydney. Why am I down here and not in Townsville you ask? Well I'm here for my work / site My Suburban News. I've found a story down here covering the Sydney New Years Eve (NYE) of 2011 !!!!! So, tomorrow I'm meeting the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore. Which should be a great experience, like I mean I've interviewed Mayors before.... But not a Lord Mayor??? Wonder how much more different it is interviewing a Lord Mayor? hmm. Time will tell.

Oh, I've learn my lesson, as I'm typing this I'm actually also reading up some information on the NYE celebrations this year from the media releases I've been receiving from the Sydney City Council's Communications department. 

Anyway, that's about all I can type about for now. Feel free to comment I'll get back to you as soon as I check that email. Oh, if your starting Uni in 2012 at JCU... Good luck and come and find me somewhere..I think I'm there four days out of five this year.

If your studying journalism and would like some experience be sure to get in contact with us and I can give you some experience out in the field on your free Uni days.

On the holiday side of this deal... I explored Katoomba today in the Blue Mountains!! Was awesome check out my photos here.

P.s. I write really horridly when it's not getting marked. AKA this blog entry.

Finished Uni for 2011

Six months down and I'm 1/6 of the way through my course. Yeah!!!! 2 months where i don't have to think about anything. My brain can just run away. xD Business now. Isn't it great. No longer have to be good at writing or anything! Can do what ever I want...

I'll post back a more serious message late this month.

3 tests down none to go, Nicholas says.

CP1005 Revision

CRM - Customer Relationship Management is about how better too manage your customers to improve your business service.

CRM system can be integrated with other software packages such as MYOB or other business applications that are widely used.

Business Intelligence is about looking at numbers and data.

Digital Dashboard is when an execuetive or manager within a business can see everything he has to know about the business in order ot make a good decision about how best to plan for the future. 

ERP - Was originally implemented of warhousing and supplies. Where it moved into a business wide solution.

Globalisation is about realising that traditional forms of business are simply not good enough to last in a global environment. Challeges with globalisation include, cultural, political and geo-economic.

The internet has had huge impact on business including the travel industry, entertainment, financial services. For example the entertainment industry has been hugely effected in terms of music piracy where people are no longer paying for their songs.

The internet also brings with it Intellectual Property concerns where business iamges are stolen or copyrights are breached.

CULTURAL IMPLICATIONS include; Languages, Religions, Customs, Social Attitudes and Political philosophies.


Questions a company asks when going global include from an IT perspective - Which country should the server be located for our customers.

What legal ramifications might occur by having websites targeted at a specific country. Such as laws and competitive behaviours.

Political - Trade Agreements.

Governance and Compliance

Is a fast-growing key area for global busines - Governanace is a method of control of government for management or control. Compliance is the act of conforming or yielding to.

Global information issues include - Security. Phyical security as well as network security. Whether to keep locks on doors, who's allowed into the server rooms etc.

primary challenges an organisatoin faces today include - Innovation, Social, Social networks and virtual worlds .

Social responsibility implies implies that the entity has a responsibility to society. Xstrata gives back to the community through sponsoring local events etc. (Corporate Responsibility)

Latencies - How long it takes for something to be done once information is put into the system. The delay. The key is to shorten the latencies so that the time frame for the customers, suppliers and others is faster and better positioned.

The bullwhip effect is where due to forecasting the demand gets greater for customers because of the need for the product. One small decision can magnify to flucuations build upstream to the supply chain.

Social networking so called passive candidates people who are happy and productive working for companies.

Boomerangs are customers that leave a business at one stage to look at a different career or a better paying job. But come back down the track to the original employer for work. less training required. You know how they work and act.

Virtual Worlds - Second Life - Companies, banks and customers.

Well the Virtual Workforce is employees who can work out from home by connecting into their companies network. Benefits, keeps cars off the road, boosts work productivity, slashes real estate costs.

Disaster Continuity Planning is the plan that an organisation puts inplace to determine the plan should a disaster occur with IT infrustruce.

Web Service - Is an event that detects any opportunities and alerts those who can act on the information.

Service - Is more like software products than coding projects. They are reusable and are going to have an impact on productivity.

Service Orientated Architecture - Business > Service > Implemenation - Allows SOAs to plug in new services or upgrade existing services in a granular fashion.

Virtualisation - Is the framework of dividing the resources of a computer into multiple environments that can be execute on the one system / hardware device.

Statistical Analysis - Performs functions as informaiton correlations. Forecast - Predictions made on the basis of time informaiton. Time-series informaiton - time stamped informaiton collected at a particular time.

Benefits of BI - Single point of access to information.

Quantifiable benefits - Four main categories: Quantifiable benefits, indirectly quantifiable, unpredictable events, intangible benefits.

ETHICS

The principles and standards that guide our behavior.

Competitive Strategy - Cost - There can only be one low cost producer -and the firm usually establishes the selling price in the market.

Quality - Is divided into two categories: Product Quality and process quality.


OM - Operations Management - Adding value to your business by changing the way your operations area conducts business.

Competitive OM Strategy - Cost, Quality, Delivery, Flexibility and Service.

Uni Rivision for CP1030

Class one learnt about the functions of a computer. A computer doesn't understand information but it understands data. Likewise a computer can only understand 1s and 0s.

There are many advantages to using a computer including, speed, reliability and consistency.

Dis-Advantages include: Health risks, privacy and environment effects in a computer's disposal.

Web 2.0 is the 2nd generation of interacting with the web where uses can create, edit and interact with content on the web.

System software is software that's including at the very basic level on a computer's OS. It has utilities and abilities to manage files on the OS.

Application software on the other hand has a specific task in mind. With the aim of making a task easier or more accurate. Application software also increase productivity within a business.

There are several forms of software some that are free while others must be purchased. The following are some of those categories including; Freeware, Shareware, Open-source, Public Domain, Packaged software and custom software.


Compute Uses may include using a computer for home, office or big enterprise. While small home offices may only use a computer for gaming or for creation of documents an enterprise would generally use a computer to increase productivity.


Professional Ethics


Ethics include; Moral codes, morality, ethics and virtues.


The Australian Computer Society is responsible for governing the very basic ethics that IT professionals must adhere to which include the following values: Quality of live, province of information, honesty, competency and professionalism.


Prevention of Viruses can be done by implementing firewalls, setting rules for email attachments (don't open emails from unknown senders) or signing up to a website that sends out regular virus alerts and hoax warnings.


Honeypot is another method of combating viruses. Where the honeypot is used to deliberately attract viruses and hackers.


Accesstime is the ammount of time it takes the processor to read memory.
IPS - Is the measurement used to measure the amount of instructions a processor can carry out per second.


Output devices include: Printers, audio and more recently force feedback.


Calculating the size of an image??? BMP that is.


Resolution x Depth = Filesize in bits (Convert to bytes (/8) then to KB (/1024)


Lossy is exactly what it means it looses information.
Lossless retains the information when an image is compressed or changed.

CD quality audio is stereo and is stored in digital form. The sound waves we hear are analogue and the audio we hear from a computer or electronic device is digital.

The size of an audio file is calculated by =  (x2 for stereo) time x sample rate x (depth/8)  = Size in MBs.

Vector graphics are complex and use mathematical forces.

Project managers are responsible for the project costing, reporting and creating a project proposal.

Success is measued by good planning, requirements meet for all stakeholders, time frame
Failure is the result of bad planning, impossible schedules and lack of funds.

Constraints are related to the quality of a project... Cost, Time, Scope = Quality.

Reduced Cost = Increased Time, lack in quality.

Enterprise computing includes; retail, wholesale, transportation and government.

Cloud computing is a service delivered through the internet.
Grid computing is a number of PCs that share services and act as one large computer.

Data is organized into layers - Files, records and characters.

Virtual Worlds - It's a whole new world

Two primary types of virtual that must be considered when looking at the 21st century world:

1. Virtual worlds.
2. Virtual workforces.

 Virtual Worlds, Virtual Workforces, Virtual Organisations.


Virtual Workforce

Letting employees work from outside the office:

• Keeps cars off the road.
• Fosters long service. 

Virtual Commerce

Mobile Commerce - The ability to purchase goods and services through a wireless Internet-enabled device.

Telematics - Blending computers and wireless telecommunications technologies.

Electronic tagging - A technique for identifying and tracking assets and individuals via technologies such as radio frequency identification and smart cards.

New technology is making massive changes.

Social networking who's who

Three types of social networking an organisation can implement:

1. Passive search.
2. Boomerang.
3. Marketing networks. 

Passive search your looking for the candidate. People who are happy and productive working for other companies.

Hiring people as a result of connections through LinkedIn.

Boomerangs

Use network to lure back some former employees, or so-called boomerangs.

Boomerangs cost less to train than new hires and they tend to hit the ground running.

Marketing Networks

Forums dedicated to a specific topic. Star rating etc.

Energy Saving in IT

Energy Saving

• Throughput computing.
  Virtualisation.
• Smart cooling.
• Alternative energy source. 
• Liquid cooling (biology).
• Government involvement.

e-waste - Old computer requipment.

Governing and Compliance

What it means for a company to go global and how IT facilitates that.

• Goverance is a method or system of government for management control.
• Compliance is the act of conforming, acquiescing, or yielding.

Strategic Alignment - About making all areas of the business align with the same strategy.

Risk Management - Identifying the risks, new market (what would be the risks), making sure that if a problem occurs the risk is as minimal as possible (consequences). Doing things to minimise identified risks.

Performance Measures - KPIs.

 Enterprise Architecture - Is about scale. In IT were thinking about it from a global point of view.

A few issues; networks, regulatory issues, technology and country-orientated issues.

Global Information Issues - Business must have the appropriate levels of authentication, access control, and encryption in place, to ensure: the security of information.

Physical Security - Is the IT security integrated with the computer security and industrial security.

De-Perimeterisation occurs when an organization moves employees outside it's firewall to grow and change the way corporations expand.

Transporter Data Flow - It may violate a countries policies on the internet if you send encrypted messages into a country that doesn't allow it... they may block it.

Innovation Finding New

Innovation is the introduction of new equipment or methods.

Find your relevant area, look around (what's not there).

Politics and Journalism

The first level of Government is known as the Federal Government. More information about the Government of Australia can be found here. 

The Second tier of Government is known as the State Government more information about the State Government can be found here.

Third Tier of Government is known as the Local Government, more information can be found here.

The speaker is in the lower house. President is in the upper house. Leaders, Prime Minister, Premier, Leader of the Opposition. Senior members of government are ministers of portfolios who meet in cabinet (Minister for Defence, Minister for National Affairs etc). Opposition has 'shadow cabinet.'

Politicians have special Privileges

Including absolute privilege to say what they like while house is in the session.

This means: Free speech in parliament, Protection from the deframation laws, Journalists can quote from Hansard without fear of prosecution for defamation.

Common Law - Made by courts / judges when they interpret law and make rulings.
Statue Law - Made by parliament when passed bill becomes an act.

What is Enterprise Computing

Enterprise Computing involves the use of computer in a network working together including: Retail, Educational, Wholesale, Transportation, Government, etc.

Enterprise computing is the underlying architecture that allows the underlying information to flow.

In an enterprise, users typically fall into one of four categories; Executive management, middle management, operational management and nonmanagement employees.

For example - Nonmanagement Employees - Need information in order to perform their job.

As you go up the lader operational management make day-2-day decisions. They normally require short-term decision information material.

Execs make decisions to ensure long term growth. They are very strategic decisions made with long-term goals.

Virtualization and Cloud Computing


Virtualization is the practice of sharing or pooling computing resources. There are two categories of Virtualization:

• Server - Provides the capability to divide a physical server logically into many virtual servers. 
• Storage - Provide the capability to increase and create single logical storage devices from many physical storage devices.

Cloud Computing is an internet service that provides computing needs to computer users. 

Grid Computing combines many services or personal computer to act as one large combined computer. 

Key Terms in developing an enterprise network includes; Scalability and Interoperability. 

• Scalability is the measure of how well the hardware or computer information system can grow to increasing performance demands. 
• Interoperability is the ability for an information system to share information to other information systems within an enterprise. 

The Internet

Launched in 1989, the WWW was not originally designed for integrating multimedia. It was designed as a method of delivering simple text documents formatted in HTML.

The first browser was the Mesh (Berners Lee 1989)

Mosaic was introduced in 1993 (inline images and ease of use)

Non Web browsers differ in features, performance and cost. 

Site Planning and Design

Web site design does not begin with making a Web page. A logical procedure should be followed to provide a blueprint for the effetive design and layout of individual pages and links. 

The design depends on the purpose and target audience of the Web site.

A website should attract visitors, maintain interest, satisfy the users needs, ensure the site is bookmarked for future visits. 

Site Planning and Design

Types of Web sites: 

Instructional (educational)

Informational

Promotional (advertisement)

Entertainment

Social

Factors to consider when planning a Website: 

• Purpose of the site. Target Audience, the User's browsers. 

Site Purpose

The purpose of the site should be clearly defined. 

Ensures the the design plan works towards satisfying the purpose; not the creative needs of the designer. 

Purposeful design is the key trick to website design. 

Target Audience - Requirements and needs are paramount in effective web design. Clearly define who will use your web site and what needs they have. Identify characteristics and demographics such as; gender, age, socio-economic background, education level, computer literacy level, etc. 

Identify characteristics and demographics such as: gender, age, socio-economic background, education level, computer literacy level, etc. 

A user must always know what page they are on at any one point in time in your website.

There are four types of navigations structures: linear structure - Forward and Backwards (One page at a time), hierachical structure, non-linear structure, composite structure / hybrid (organised as a mixture of linear and hierachical structures).

Investigative Jurnalism

Investigative journalism help right wrongs. It exposes cover-ups, crime, protects and fosters democracy, exposes incompetence, reveals dark secrets and is challenging / rewarding for journalists.

Two key factors that work against investigative journalism in Australia:

• Australian Laws - especially defamation laws. 
• Financial Costs - Company searches, legal advice and Journalists' wages / costs.

Not all investigations are expensive. Recent successful investigations have cost little or nothing.

Some stories have changed our world:

• Watergate - Led to the resignation of the US president. 
• Mt Erebus disaster - Exposed attempted cover-up of a tragic NZ plane crash. 
• CSR / James Hardie asbestos - exposed corporate negligence in Australia. 

A desire to dig up dirt is needed.

Leading Australian investigative journalists include; Bob Bottom writing for Fairfax newspapers (Exposed organised crime in NSW), Phil Dickie of the Courier-Mail (exposed police / political corruption in QLD), Chris Masters of Four Corners (Investigated corruption at many levels).

• Journalists literally make news by being proactive, conducting research and discovering information, talking to people / cultivating sources, writing agenda-setting articles. 

Investigative Journalitss should have some or all tof hte key qualities below:

• Resourceful, Thoughtful, Persistent, Intuitive, Making time for investigation. 

Finding time to investigate is challenging.

Many investigative stories takes, weeks, months or years to compile. 

How do Journalists Investigate

Define what is to be investigated: But be flexible, directions can change.
Do broad background research; check news archives, researching online.
Seek primary documents and resources. 
Consider what research reveals.
Check facts.
Legal knowledge and seeking legal advice are all essential.
Follow the money trail.
Consider the chronology of events.

Making Photos look Futuristic

Signifiers

Synthetic Colour - High saturation, primaries, secondaries.
Geometry - Angularity, Repetition.
Motion - Speed, Mechanisation.
'Information' - Numbers, Data, Graphs.
Disintegration - Fragmentation.

Umberto Boccioni Elasticity 1212 - Artist.

Luigi Russolo Revolt - 1911

Atkinson and Co., Sant' Eia Visualisation 2009.

Software Development Strategy

Software that is built correctly can transform as the organisation and its business transforms.

Developing Software:

As organizations reliance on software grows, so do the business-related consequences of the software being used. 

System Development Life Cycle (SDLC)

The overal process for developing information systems from planning and analysis through implementation and maintenance.

1 - Planning, 2 - Analysis, 3 - Design, 4 - Development, 5 - Testing, 6 - Implementation, 7 - Maintenance. 


Software Development Methodologies

Waterfall Methodology - Each phase is distinct, sequentially from planning through implementation and maintenance. Rarely going back, concept is start from the beginning build everything until it's all finished and then moving no.

Agile - Customer satisfaction through early and continuous delivery of components developed by an iterative process. Projects sets a minimum number of requirements.

RAD - Emphasizes extensive user involvement in the rapid and evolutionary construction of working prototypes of a system to accelerate the systems development process.

Prototypes - A smaller-scale representation of working model of the users' requirements or a proposed design for an information system.

Computer Programming and Programming Languages

A computer program is a series of instructions that directs a computer to perform tasks, Created by a programmer using a programming language. 

Machine language is classified as a first generation language - 1GN.
Assembly Language is the second generation language - 2GN.

Programmer writes instructions using symbolic instruction codes. A source program contains the code to be converted to machine language.

3GN languages are allot more easier to program in. Which can then be converted to 1GN or 2GN languages.

In a procedural language, the programmer writes instructions that tell the comptuer what to accomplish and how to do it.

Third-Generation Language (3GL)

A third generation can compile and translate an entire program before executing it. An interpreter converts an executes one code statement at a time.

Source Program + Data > Interpreter > Results (EXE - The compiled program)

Object-Orientated Programming Languages and Program Development Tools

An object-orientated programming language allows programmers the ability to reuse and modify existing objects.

Other advantages include; objects can be reused, works well in a RAD environment, Programmers create applications faster.

Microsoft .NET Framework allows many types of programs to run onthe internet or an internal business network, as well as computers and mobile devices.

Features include: CLR (Common Language Runtime), Classes.

Visual Studio is a Microsoft suite of programs developed as tools to assist with programming.

A 4GL Language is a non-procedural language that enables users and programmers to run a query with using procedures. Examples of these are MySQL, SQL and CFM.

Web Page Development is just a markup language. It is a very limited language.

HTML is a special formatting language that programmers use to format documents for display on the Web. XHTML is a markup language that allows Web sites to be displayed more easily on mobile devices.

XML is a way for Web developers to create customized tags and use predefined tags to display content appropriately on various devices. WML is a subset of XML and is used to design pages for microbrowsers.

Two applications of XML are RSS 2.0 and ATOM.

Programmers write scripts, applets, servlets, or ActiveX controls using a variety of languages.

Javascript, Perl, PHP.

Web Page Development

Web 1.0 - Looking at the content or change the webpage.
Web 2.0 - Provides a mean to change or modify the content in some way. Creating a Blog, Wiki, Facebook, Bebo, Twitter etc.
Web 3.0 - Data driven.

Web page Authoring Software can create sophisticated Web pages that include images, video, audio animation etc.

Other authoring tools include, ToolBook Director which are designed for different platforms.

When creating a Program - Step One - Analyze Requirements

It is writted to tbe the solution to a problem or an answer to an opportunity.

To initiate a program development, programmer must: Reviews the requirements, meets with the systems analyst and users, identifies input, processing and output.

Input                   |                     Processing                         |               Output
The input var             The processing that this step does             What's the answer...

Step Two - Design Solution

In structured design, the programmer typically begins with a general design and moves toward a more detailed design. Programmers use a hierarchy template.

Object-Orientated (OO) design the programmer packages the data and the program into a single object. Encapsulation.

The selection control is an action to take, based on a certain condition. If-then-else, case, etc.

Pseudo Code is another way of going about Designing the Solution - It is a condensed form of English to convey program logic.

Step Three - Validate the Design

Check for logic errors by checking your Pseudo Code.

Step Four - Implement Design

Implementation of the design includes using a program development tool that assists the programmer by:

• Generating or providing some or all code. 
• Writing the code that translates the design into a computer program. 
• Creating the user interface. 

Extreme programming is a strategy where programmers immediately begin coding and testing solutions as soon as requirements are defined. 

Step Five - Test the Solution

Step Six - Documentation of the Solution

The Pseudo Code can be used to review the program.

System Development

System Development can follow three general guidelines. Groups activities or tasks into phases, involve users, define standards.

What is System Development

System Development should involve representatives from each department in which the proposed system will use.

Who initiates a System Development Project - A user may request a new or modified system, Organisations may want to improve hardware, software or other technology. Situations beyond an organisations control might require a change.

Analysis Phase - Consists of two major parts, conduction research and a full solution is developed.


Design Phase - Is a prototype proof of concept that can be used while the full system is being created still.

Implementation Phase - Various tests should be performed on the new system.

Media Scrums

Media Scrums in Journalism are a common thing on big stories.

Errors and Corrections are made in news stories all the time.

• Mistakes are a fact of life. 
• Problems can arise if mistakes are not corrected. 
• Admission of error - corrects in accurate information, neutralises damage and provides an explanation / apology.

Regulatory Mechanisms - Internal codes of conduct - 'in-house', Print media in Australia also accountable to the Press Council, Radio and TV ultimately answerable to the ACMA. MEAA is the Australian Journalists' Association (AJA) has a code of ethics.

MEAA members engaged in journalism commit themselves to; Honesty, Fairness, Independence & Respect for the rights of others.

Ethics and Social Responsibility

Some things can be legal, but unethical. Is a story a matter of public interest? What benefit will the public receive? Police may ask journalists not to report on a particular issue, Chequebook journalism (accepting money for work), Treat people with sensitivity and courtesy, Balance between privacy issues and press freedom, new technology aids the invasion of privacy.

Privacy

Publicity can help solve a crime. The right to know and the right to privacy. Do people involved in newsworthy events forfeit their right to privacy.

New technology and privacy

Listening devices, Camera phones, Manipulating digital images, legal issues.

Race, sex and religion

Is it ever relevant to report on a person's race, Is it ever relevant to report on a person's sexual persuasion.
 
Equity and Responsibility

Recognise religious and ethnic sensitivity towards words / phrases. People with a disability are, and should be portrayed as, part of the community.

Homosexuality should not be portrayed as abnormal.

Potholes for the unwary

Conflict of interest - When should someone else do the story?

Gifts and freebies - assumption of influence.

Advertising - to what extent should media outlets please advertisers.

Should journalists hold back from joining clubs and community organisations.

Let the reader decide

Often there are no black and white answers because many situations are different.

Journalists only have one real master - the public.

The purpose of defamation law

We all have a duty to avoid unnecessarily damaging someone's reputation as a result of your work.

It can be written or spoken words, a photograph, drawing or comic.

Defences - Truth, known as justification, qualified privelege, publication of public documents, fair report of proceedings of public concern, honest opinion, triviality, innocent dissemination.

Using extended Techniques

For example, you may have intended to shoot a futuristic scene, but can submit your photographs to either look as if they were hyper real, glossy and futuristic, as Mariko Mori does, or grimy. 

Interesting styles of photos -  http://history.hipstamatic.com.

Deadline Friday 4^th November.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Summary - Integration, about creating a single system that will enable an enterprise to operate through a single IT system.
ERP are powerful systems
- Is a logical solution to incompatible applications.
- ERP addresses global information sharing and reporting.
- Avoides the pain and expense of fixing legacy systems.
Content management system is actually a government legislated system for large enterprises such as JCU.  Helps out with reporting.
ERP is about consistency.
Digital Dashboard - Being able to see everything in one place and understand easily what the current enterprise state is.
ERP systems collect data from across a whole organisation.
Before ERP everyone stored things seperately and it was always a matter of asking someone for the physical, ERP is a single source.
Core - Traditional components are included in almost all ERPs as standard; accounting and finance, production and materials, human resources.
Extended - Extra components that meet the organisational demand; Business intelligence, CRM, Supply Chain Management, e-Business.
Accounting and Finance Management - Manages accounting data and financial processes within the enterprise with functions such as ledgers, accountsf payable, budgeting, asse managememt, etc.
Production and materials management - job cost accounting, quality control.
Human resources ERP component - tracks employee information, benefits, compensation, performance assessment, legal requirements, etc.
ERP - Business intelligence (BI), crm, scm, e-Business.
SCM, ERP and CRM are the backbone of enterprise.
Balanced scoreboard - Enables organisations to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action.

Townsville Pallarenda

Complimentary post for MySuburban News in Townsville a site that I'm the Editor-in-chief.

A beautiful photo looking back on Townsville from a point in the suburb of Pallarenda has been captured by My Suburban News Editor, Nicholas O’Sullivan.

The photo is available for download in a low quality. High resolution shots are available by calling My Suburban News on 07 4767 7405.

Panoramic photo taken of Townsville’s CBD with a SONY DSLR A33, 55-200mm lens.

Read more at My Suburban News - http://www.mysuburbannews.com.au/2011/10/01/townsville-pallarenda-20204479.html#ixzz1ZVhWW9Sn

Townsville Pallarenda

Second Assignment Submission of JN1005 - Homelessness on the Rise for Families

I've just submitted my second assignment for JN1005. I'm not whether I've done as good job as I did on my previous story where I got a HD, 93 per cent.

The story I submitted was a story on Homelessness in Townsville and how it's on the rise throughout Australia in general. My story's angle is the growing number of families that are being affected by Homelessness as a result of many complicated issue, too many issues to be spoken about in 8 - 9 pars.

I have published the news story online at www.mysuburbannews.com.au where already in less than 24 hours it has had over 150 views.

NM1202 Collabyrinth Assignment

This is the image that was created in a joint project displaying a certain type of photo editing skill called Collabyrinth. The technique basically involves creating an image from using cut outs of other images. The final picture that is produced is realistic as if it was captured by the camera. 

Databases, Data and Information

Data needs to be correct to be of any use as Information.

Valuable information should have the following characteristics, Accurate, Verifiable, Timely, Organized, Accessible, Useful, Cost-effective.

Data is organized into layers - Files, Records, Fields & Characters.

A record is a group of related fields - A primary key uniquely identifies each record.
A data file is a collection of related records.

File maintenance refers to the procedures that keep data current - Adding records, modifying records & deleting records.

Maintaining Data requires validation - Compares data with a set of rules or values to find out if data is correct.

An example of a file processing system is a Spread Sheet.

File Processing System can be an Excel Spreadsheet. These have been used for many years and have data redundancy and allow data to be isolated.

A Database Approach is a program where users share data. It reduces data redundancy and allows for easier access. One vulnerability to a Database is access to a database can be breached by malicious hackers.

Database Management Systems provides several tools that allow users and programs to retrieve and maintain data in the database - Query language, Query by Example, Form, Report Generator.

Feature Article Writing

Feature Writing requires creativity and it allows for the use of adjectives, nouns that can make the article sound more of a comment. 


Preparing to write a Feature Story includes; researching, finding experts, interviewing, organising facts, analysing complex information and interpreting and converting bureaucratic language.

Qualities Required: Creativity, Maturity, Sensitivity, Ability to examine issues and personalities in depth, Accuracy, Fairness and balance.

People and Place

• People - Accents, movements, appearance.
• Place - Setting and Positioning. 
• Imagery.
• Descriptive detail.
• Observation
• Characterization.

Types of Feature Stories; How to do it, Lifestyle / trend, Historical, Investigative, Human-interest, First-person, Travel, 'New' journalism.

Human Interest and Colour Stories - Human Interest and colour stories have mass appeal and do not necessarily need a specific news angle. They can be timeless, stand-alone stories. Human Interest stories can also be 'slice of life' story.

'New' Journalism

Is far removed from 'normal' feature writing. Also known as literary journalism. Writing is more subjective and personal. Non-fiction writing that can incorporate content drawn from memory or even invented.

Writing the Description: Use detail, but do not disrupt the flow of the story Use examples and metaphors to evoke mental images. Depict reality. Concse and concrete information.

Feature Structures: Modified Inverted Pyramid, String of Pearls, Projection, Focus.

The Closer

Circular, Summary, Poetic, Looking ahead, 'That's that', 'See what I mean', All closers can be enhanced by repeating a key word or phrase used in the feature.

Chapter 14 for more information... 

Using Analytical CRM to drive Business

Develop a personal customer profile - when a website knows enough about a person's like and dislikes that it can fashion offers that are moe likely to appeal to that person (personalisation)

Data Mart - More specific view, a focus i.e. just the residential customers. Where as a Data Warehouse stores all the data as a whole.

These systems quickly aggregate, analyse, analyse,  and disseminate customer information throughout an organisation.

Analytical CRM information examples: Give customers more of what they want, value their time, Over-deliver, Contact frequently, Follow up.

Have a look at this video from Career Builder.

Current trends include: 

• Supplier Relationship Management (SRM).
• Partner Relationship Management (PRM).
• Employee Relationship Management (ERM).

The Ugly side of CRM:

Business 2.0 ranked you, the customer, as the number one person who mattered cost. The internet has given you a much louder, powerful and more visible voice.

Business Intelligence (BI)

Using information technology to lead to good business decisions.

Parallels between the challenges in business and challenges of war.

• Collecting information, Discerning patterns and meaning in the information, Responding to the resultant information.

Data Rich, Information Poor

Business face a data explosion as digital images, email inboxes, and broadband connections dude by 2010 (21% of the world connected by 2010) The amount of data generated doubles ever year.

BI enables business users to receive data for analysis that is: Reliable, Consistent, Understandable & Easily Manipulated. 

BI can answer tough customer questions. I.e. Why are sales below target? -> Because we sold less in the Western region. Why did we sell les in the west? -> Because sales of product X dropped.

Bi's Operation Value - The key is to shorten latencies. The time frame for opportunistic influences on customers, suppliers, and others is faster, more interactive, and better positioned. 

Data Mining Tools - Use a variety of techniques to find patterns and relationships in large volumes of information. Classification, Estimation, Affinity grouping, Clustering.

Data Mining - cluster analysis, assocation detection, statistical analysis.

CRM and Business Intelligence

CRM is about attracting and maintaining customer relationships.

Operational CRM the basics of how to use CRM to manage business. Analytical is looking at future trends and what can be changed to improve CRM.

Example - Persons history into purchasing.

Customer Relation Management (CRM) - Involves managing all aspects of a customer's relationship with an organisation to increase customer loyalty and retention and an organsiation's profitability.

Many organisations, such as Charles Schwab, have obtained great success through implementing a CRM system.

Bigger businesses have a CRM. Different departments can update sections of the CRM; like accounting look at the costs, inventory management, customer services department makes the return calls.

CRM is a strategy, a strategy and business goal that an organisation must embrace fully to be effective.

CRM enables the ability to; identify the customer, design individual market campaigns, treat each customer individually, customer buying behaving.

Identifying behaviours - Like people buying snacks at lunch time along with their chips and fries. etc.

Business Benefits of CRM: Providing better customer service, discovering new customers, increasing customer revenues, cross-selling more effectively.

Organisations can find most valuable customers through RFM: Recency, Frequency & Monetary Value. How recent was the customer's purchase? How often does the customer come? Home much a customer spends on each purchase?

Evolutions of CRM: Reporting, Predicting & Analysis.

Operation CRM is the front office (i.e. ordering a pizza and they know your name) and Analytical is where they analyse your trends as a customer (business analyst)

CRM metrics: sales, service & marketing. Tracking and monitoring performance is a best practice for many companies.

Sales Metrics: Prospective customers, sales calls, proposals given, retained customers, recurring revenue.

Service Metrics: Cases closed same day, number of service calls, tie to resolution, number of service requests by type.

Project Management One - Introduction - Lecture Two

Assignment Two Information!!!

The Project plans sets out the resources available and the schedule.

The structure of the Plan - Introduction, Project Organisation, Resource Requirements (staff, hardware and software etc), Work breakdown, Project schedule, Costing, Risk analysis (monitoring and reporting mechanisms).

The Introduction

The Introduction: Purpose in the project is used to establish; projects objectives, establish the projects constraints, make initial assessments of the project parameters, define milestones.

The stakeholders Analysis: Who are the stakeholders (clients, end-users, team members, etc)

Is there a target audience or end user - Demographic analysis, requirements. (age, gender, socioeconomic)

Issue and Management

Issues are restraints to accomplishing the deliverables of the project.
Issues are typically identified throughout the project and logged and tracked through resolution.
Issues not easily resolved are escalated for resolution. 

Project Staffing

May not be possible to appoint the ideal people to work on the project. Managers have to work within these constraints especially when there are shortages of trained staff.

Managers have to work within these constraints especially when there are shortages of trained staff. 

PLOT         |        Jo       |      Su     |      Po    

CCNA         |        5       |      10     |      8   

JAVA          |        5       |      6     |     5   

MYSQL      |        5       |      0     |      10   

HTML         |        0       |      0    |      0    

Project Hardware Software Requirements

Functional Requirements - explain what has to be done by identifying the necessary task, action or activity that must be accomplished.

Create a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS)

The WBS step helps accomplish the following key objectives: Develops an objective, rational view of the amount of work required.Provides a basis for next identifying the skills and resources required for the project.

Project Scheduling

Split project into tasks and estimate time and resources required to complete each task. Minimize task dependencies to avoid delays caused by one task waiting for another to complete.

What is a project Timeline - It answered the following; the tasks, how long, when & who.

For each task it determines; How long you think each task will take. (Time Required)
At what stage of the project they will need to be done? (When)
What other tasks need to be done before and after each milestone. (Relationship with other tasks)
Does this task need to be revisited several times during the project. (Contingency Plan)

Project Costing

There are two components that must be considered when preparing a quite for the development of a project; Indirect costs and Direct costs.

Indirect Costs

This is known as overheads. Costs that are incurred as a result of equipping and being able to maintain the business.

Indirect Cost = Total Cost divided by the number of ordinary working hours in a year.

Direct Costs

Is anything that only exists as a result of a project being completed; .e.g. Hardware and Software roll out, Labor Costs, Hosting costs.

The Project Quote - Working out the quoted price for the project with a percentage of overheads and the full direct costs incorporated.

Risk Management

Is nothing until it becomes real. Can be managed with Risk; identification, analysis, planning and monitoring.

Risk Identification: Technology risks, people risks, organization risks, requirements risks, estimation risks.

Risk Analysis: Assess probability and seriousness of each risk.

Risk                                                             Probability                    Effects
Key staff @ critical times in project              High                           Serious
                                                                    Low | Moderate              

What can you do to minimize the risks.

Risk                                                  |    Strategies
Organsation financial problems    |    Prepare a briefing document for senior management showing how the project is making a very important contribution to the goals of the business. 

Project Management One - Introduction - Lecture One

Roles and Responsibilities of the Project Manager

The overall development, implementation, and day-to-day operations of the project. They need to know the physical constraints of the project - understanding of the strengths and limitations of hardware and software. They are the person that conveys the information and ensure it's completed on time and within budget.

Management Activities: 

• Proposal writing                                    All these elements are involved in Assignment 2.
• Project planning and scheduling. 
• Project costing.
• Reporting writing and presentations.     

• Project monitoring and reviews. 
• Personnel selection and evaluation. 

Project Management in IT - It's about ensuring the user requirements and business requirements are meet in accordance with the requirements of the client.

A project has several characteristics: Temporary, Unique.

Temporary = Definitive beginning and end. Unique = New undertaking, unfamiliar ground.

Why Projects are successful project; requirements and all stakeholders needs have been meet, completed within budget, acceptance by customer, completed within time frame.

Why Projects Fail; improper planning, scope creep, poor requirements gathering, lack of sponsorship, unrealistic planning and scheduling / impossible schedule commitments, Lack of resources. 

The purpose of project management is prediction and prevention

There are three main constraints - Time, Cost, Scope = Quality.

• Scope - The requirements and needs to be identified or unidentified expectations.
• Cost / Resources - People, money, tools.
• Schedule / Time.

Increased Scope = increased time + increased cost.
Tight Time = increased costs + reduced scope.
Tight Budget = increased time + reduced scope.

PM Law Number 2 - When things go well something's been overlooked

PROJECT PLANNING

This is the most time-consuming project management activity. Plans must be regularly revised as new information becomes available.

Key Areas of Project Management:

• Planning
• Time Management
• Scope Management
• Cost Management
• Quality Management
•  Communications Management
• Risk Management
• Change Control Management

 Scope Management is the process to ensure that the project is inclusive of all the work required, and only the work require, for successful completion.

PM Law #3 - If project content is allowed to change freely. The rate of change will exceed the rate of progress.

Time Management - This is the efficient use of scheduling, and management of people, activities on time.
Scope Management - Ensuring the project is inclusive of all work required.
Cost Management - The process required to ensure it's completed within budget.
Quality Management - Is the quality of the product going to meet the needs via, Quality planning, quality assurance, quality control.
Communications Management - This determines the needs of the information flow, collection and storage of project information.
Risk Management - Identification and migration of strategy.

PM Law #4 - Project teams DETEST progress reporting! It manifests their lack of progress :(

Change Control Management - All changes require collaboration and buy in via the project's sponsors signature prior to implementation of the changes.

Six Phases of a project - Enthusiasm, Disenchantment, Panic, Probe for the guilty, Punishment of the innocent, Praise and honors for the non participants.

Computer Assisted Reporting

Computer Assisted Journalism is the use of computers for gathering of data and information.

This data and information can be used to, generate story ideas and existing story content (research / investigate journalism). Also helpful in finding people to interview.

What is Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR)?

At a basic level, it is something most journalists do today – use computers to help find information for stories.

At a more complex level, it is finding information many people do not know exists.

It is also about researching online without being fooled by false information.

It is about interpreting statistics.

What CAR is not

Car is about online news gathering and research (or input) – it is not about online publishing. It’s about the input.

Levels of CAR

At its shallowest level CAR is about going online to check a fact, find a phone number, or contact someone by email.

And its most complex level, it requires journalists to ‘dig’ for information to inform stories by using computers to analyae complex databases and statistics. 

More Basics

The web is a service that runs on the internet network topology.

The web is not a lawless frontier - there have been some monumental lawsuits resulting from online defamation.

There have also been major problems with breaches of sub judicial contempt on the web.

Something that may be legally safe to publish in one jurisdiction may be fraught with danger legally in another - for example, the Gutnick defamation case.

Don't make a fool of yourself

'Lifting' information you find online is highly dangerous - questions about ethics and plagiarism aside, fines for breach of copyright can be up to about $60, 000 for an individual and $300, 000 for a company.

It is as important to check your facts in the online world as it is in the real world.

Do not take online information at face value unless it is from a totally trustworthy site.

If you are tricked by a hoax, it could be the end of your career.

Verifying what your find online

• Look at the address of the website.
• Ask who put the information online?
• Is the author mentioned on the website? 
• Does the website have contact details? 
• Is there a street address as well as an email address? 
• Does the author have the authority to be saying that they have put online?
• Read the content - Is it plausible or does something seem wrong with the content or how it is written?
• Is there a street address and a fixed-line telephone number? 

Searching newspaper archives

A good way to find background information. You have to be an insider, a student with access via a university library. You can expect to pay upwards of $1.75 per article downloaded when searching News Limited or Fairfax papers.

One such news archive is www.newstext.com.au.  

Tips for web searching

There is more to the web than Google, Think carefully about the search terms, use advanced searches, make a habit of Boolean searching, Use meta-search engines.

Searching the hidden web can reveal - original documents, documents which were prepared or created in the past but which are no longer generally available. Photographs and recordings as well as written information. Court documents, government documents.

Use resources designed for Journalists - http://www.journoz.com, Computer Assisted Reporting.

CP 1005 - Lecture Seven - Networks, Telecommunications

Wireless networking is a mobile workforce.

Companies worldwide are going wireless to increase productivity.

The terms mobile and wireless are often used synonymously, but actually denote two different technologies:

• Mobile means the technology can travel with the user, but it is not necessarily in real-time.
• Wireless gives users a live (Internet) connection via satellite or radio transmitters. Wimax is a type of wireless technology that enables the user to be connect to a wireless network, www.wimax.com. 

Business Drivers for Wireless Technology; Universal access to information and applications, The automation of business processes, User convenience, timeliness and ability to conduct business 24/7, 365 days a year.

• People delayed in airports no longer have to feel cut off from the world to their office. Through wireless tools and wireless solutions, such as a BalckBerry or iPhone device can access their information anytime, anywhere.

Step to take for deploying mobile strategies

Compliance in the mobile enterprise, Staying flexible and embracing change.

Mobile telephones (or cell phones) work by using radio waves to to communicate with radio antennas (or towers) placed with adjacent geographic areas called cells.

Each tower on a mobile network is considered a Cell.

Satellite - A big microwave repeated in the sky; it contains one or more transponders that listen to a particular portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Location Based Services (LBS) - Are wireless mobile content services which provide location-specific information to mobile users moving from one location to location. 

Global Position Services (GPS) - Is a "constellation" of 24 well-spaced satellites that orbit the Earth and make it possible for people with ground receivers to pinpoint their geographic location. Currently 33 according to Wikipedia.

Geographic Information Services (GIS) - Is designed to work with information that can be shown on a map.

Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi) - A means of linking computers using infrared or radio signals.

WiMax is a telecommunications technology aimed at providing data over long distances in a variety of ways, from point-to-point links to full mobile cellular types of access.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) - Contains a mirochip and an antenna, and typically works by transmitting a serial number via radio waves to an electronic reader, which confirms the identity of a person or object bearing the tag. Active powered and passive tags in the forms of chips that store information.

Tagged products - RFID Reader - Network - Server - Supplier Data, Customer Data.

Mobile Workforce trends - Mobile TV, Location-based services, mobile advertising, enterprise mobility, wireless security moves to the forefront.

CP 1005 - Lecture Six - Networks, Telecommunications & Mobile Technology

The future of Mobile Media Communications - MOCOM 2020 - MOCOM2020.com

If I were an IT Administrator in a business what would be the case I could make on mobile technology to help market.

Competitive Advantages include; Voice over internet Protocol (VOIP), Networking businesses, Securing business networks, increasing the speed of business processes (aspect).

Networking Businesses - Internet based products and services to handle many aspects of customer and supplier interactions.

Customers have come to expect seamless retailing between online and in-store.

VPN - Virtual Private Network - Provide secure access to an organisation's network.

Value-added network (VAN) - A private network provided by a third party, for exchanging information through a high capacity connection.

Bandwidth - The difference between the highest and the lowest frequencies that can be transmitted on a single medium.

Broadband - Refers to the speed of a connection that are greater than 200 bps.

Securing Business Networks 

Organizations have to be concerned about: Proper identification of users and authorization network access. The control of access, and the protection of data integrity.

More important than the sharing of technology resources through the sharing of data.

Either a LAN or WAN permits users on a network to get data (provided they are authorized).

Characteristics of Data

Consistency, Accuracy, Timeliness, Uniqueness & Completeness. (Like Print Journalism)

Writing for Audio

"Visual storytelling" is surprisingly written for the EAR and not for the eye.

How it differs from text and Online

• Sentences ten to be short and contain only one idea at a time. 
• No opportunity for listeners to 'replay' what they heard.
  Tends to follow 5-word sentences.
• Best to alternate short and longer sentences.
• Sentence fragments are acceptable; e.g. Bad news for Townsville shoppers, Townsville has opened up their new basketball stadium. 

Ground Rules

Audio stories contain fewer details, usually feature just one key fact of the 5Ws and a H. Tell it like a friend would; must be conversational. Audio leads put a premium on ACTION!e.g.  instead of "6 people went missing..."; you would write: "Coast Guard rescue teams are searching for 6 people lost in the sea..."

SVO = Subject Verb Object - Present tense for online/print or radio.

Summary leads don't always 'work.' Try instead a MAIN POINT lead. (Strives to deliver the major impact of the story quickly)

Soft lead - Delays the main point of the story. Which eases listeners or viewer with a teaser. Good for lighter news stories; or very complicated ones.

Throwaway Lead - offers even less information than a soft lead.

Umbrella Lead - Equivalent of multiple element leads. Which can tie together 2 or 3 main ideas in one story or tie together 2 or 3 seperate stories.

Delayed lead - Follows the chronology.

Question lead - Poses a question of general interest to introduce the point of the story. It's job is to set up the story.

Planning to head to the beach this weekend? You might have to get an early start as traffic is expected.

Humor Lead - Can help draw audiences in, or it may not if its no genuinely funny.

Drives should be experiencing less gas pain soon. An increase in cruid oil supply.

What we have learn so far with Images

1. Name 4 characteristics (e.g. compression, file size, bitrate, etc)
• Bitmap: uncompressed data matrix, made up of individual dots on an image, large variation in colour and depth size (from 1bit to 24bit etc).
• Jpeg: lossy compression, very large file size, usually 16bit and higher
• Gif: lossless compression, small file size, usually 8bit (256colours)
2. What is the relationship between a bitmap and jpegs, gifs and tiffs? enable the compression of lossy and lossless of the information, usually reduces file size and quality, enhance and make composite images, alter and distort images, add and delete images, morph images, animations and web-enabled images.
3. What is the difference between a vector and a bitmap? vector graphics only defined in mathematical formulas, vector are used in CAD programs to create images, vector usually have smaller file size, quick downloading, can resizes image without distortion and perform animation quickly and harder to create images. It is opposite for bitmap which are easy to create, are photorealistic, large file sizes, extensive colours and depth.
4. What is the most appropriate use for:
• The jpeg versus a gif format? jpeg uses for good photographics and gif uses for cartoon images
• A bitmap versus a vector image? bitmap uses for representing photorealistic images with better quality, vector images generally use for animations