tree video source - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5L8TCp5FIE

Sadly, Semester last Post

The semester has come to a close but to me one of the best classes taken at Empire. I would never have known the many options we have on the web to make our jobs much easier or more creative without this class. I've been given many new tools to practice with and grateful. Also grateful for the opportunity to meet and correspond with good people. I wish you all and your families a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
John-

Chapter 7 - E-Business

Chapter 7 starts off with a great phrase, when it comes to e-business "geography and time no longer matter". The opportunity for businesses exploded once technical barriers were broken down. Consumers are now able to conduct business or shop during any period of time and in any country. I myself wanted a map of the underground system in London and found a nice novelty shop located in London itself that had one, cheap and inexpensive to ship to me here in the United States. As business demand increase, businesses are also able to increase as well by installing PC network systems and personnel to manage them. This allows a business to handle multiple customers at the same time. For example a call center that is located in India will handle a large business located in the U.S their customer needs or trouble with a product. E-business permits a company to manage their websites to particular advertisements for a product but also embed other pertinent links that can give the consumer additional information. For example twitter and facebook accounts can be set up in an e-business home page account.

E-Business has also become huge in the vacation travel and shopping markets. These businesses are able to give the consumers excellent photograph or video samples of what they are offering the consumer. What makes this all possible is the technology necessary to manage these systems. In my organization a supply chain management system has become essential to manage not only products ordered but also costs associated. E-business has also given anyone the opportunity to create their own online business and be able to sell items on ebay for instance.



http://www.canstockphoto.com/illustration/ebusiness.html#file_view.php?id=3189915
http://www.expedia.com/Rome.d179899.Destination-Travel-Guides
Shelly, G.B., Napier, H.A. & Rivers, O. (2010) Discovering the Internet Complete Concepts and Techniques, 3rd edition

Chapter 6 - Networking

Networking computers what a great opportunity for business to not only be connected in a building but also in a region. My organization encompasses multiple counties and by utilizing LAN and  MAN technology setups it's like working next door to each other. Our business became instantly connected once the technology was installed. Of course we quickly rely and become dependant on it. 2 years ago our system crashed and we needed to go back into the basics to function. Fortunately many of us dinosaurs are still here that knew the basics. Today's youth have grown up with these internet tools as being their basics. Coaxial cable has become obsolete now with fiber optics becoming the best way to transmit information. In the homes wireless routers are very popular with being able to have multiple PC's in the household all using at the same time. Beware though that you make sure security settings are in place. A couple venders were telling me that they drive into neighborhoods looking to see if their wireless card will find an unsecured network so then they can access their own vender accounts instead of finding a starbucks that offer the service.



















Conferencing and other opportunities such as skpe give computer users a method for real time business meetings or just a chance to realx with a loved one who can be as far away as Bagdad. My friends had a son in military and weekly they could skpe with him which was very reaasuring compared to past wars when families had to wait for the mail which of course was already many days later after it was completed.



http://www.canstockphoto.com/illustration/network.html#file_view.php?id=5748285
http://www.canstockphoto.com/illustration/skype.html#file_view.php?id=3703477
http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/mail-bag.html

Chapter 5 - Getting More Out Of The Internet

or.......squeezing every drop we can out of the internet by using a variety of excellent portals. Every day we use consumer type portal to find various information on news, weather and general topics. You can also make these portals more personal and specific to yourself as called horizontal portals. Vertical portals are gateways towards a particular interest; say for instance automobile repair and DYI type web sites. A new phenomenon the past few years has been online banking and paying differnt type bills (mortgages, utilities etc). Of course most business have their own as well. Mine does and I have security user rights associated for accessing.Students and teachers have an abundance of links to encyclopedia and dictionary sites that will give easy and credible access to a wealth of information. And of course with a busy year of work and school, what better way then to plan and see so many areas in the globe to vacation at when it's time to relax.

And of course you can't stay at the resort the whole time so why not surf the area for potentials links of what else to do when on vacation. You'll also be able to see videos and picture of what each attraction will have to offer.
And of course, who can forget shopping,  Shopping, Shopping


sources
http://www.fotosearch.com/UNZ001/u18474924/
http://youtu.be/kJQ9vYQFh4s
http://www.clipartof.com/portfolio/kjpargeter/illustration/3d-silver-robot-surfing-on-a-credit-card-over-a-laptop-97413.html

Souncloud, this is a great website that will allow any business or someone who just wishes to get out there with sound bite information. Musicians can easily upload tracks of their music that give so many the opportunity to hear and decide if the tracks are good or not. This is also a way to create a mini commercial for a personal business which can give the listner another feel for the people who own or work there. Teachers can do quick tutorials etc.
This course has opened up so many new options out there that will help me not only in the workplace but actually have some fun doing this. I need to play a little bit more in the site and see if I can change the timer settings of how much recording can be done.




Audio Recording on Sunday morning by jbsjr1


http://soundcloud.com/jbsjr1
http://www.clipartguide.com/_search_terms/cloud.html

Chapter 4 - Social Media "Be My Friend"

My Father lived in Texas, it was the greates thing to hear that sound of the IM when he'd contact me. No more long distance phone charges and no more waiting for an email reply back. Immediately social networking began with time direct conversations between family and friends. These were also set up so that you could have numerous people on at the same time. Now using similar technology we have texting, twitter, blogs and facebook to name a few that instantly keep us connected. Of course these tools while giving us easy communication abilities should still be looked upon as unguarded, not censored private thoughts that not place our views and opinions to the entire public.The web is constantly reviewed by parties looking for negative posted communications that can jeopardize a persons employment.



1. Turning customers off with your personal beliefs – In an attempt to show customers your human side, you run the risk of alienating or offending them with your opinions and beliefs. This is especially true if you decide to discuss politics or religion. A simple Tweet talking about your support for a certain candidate or a policy can upset some of your customers and cause them to boycott your business. That’s why I recommend staying away from sensitive issues whenever possible.
2. Overlooking the importance of print – Sure, the number of people who get their information from blogs and social networks is constantly increasing. However, that doesn’t mean you should write off the print media altogether. Coverage in a major newspaper or magazine can still provide some great results for your company, so be careful not to get overly obsessed with the novelty of social media.
3. Decreasing your productivity – One of the biggest dangers of social media is that it can quickly transform from a powerful marketing tool into a huge time waster. You need to make sure you outline social media goals and a plan for how you’re going to reach them. Once you have a plan in place, make sure all of your social media activities are in line with this plan so you don’t end up wasting hours doing nothing.
4. Worsening your customer service – Ideally, social media can improve your customer service. JetBlue, H&R Block, and Comcast are just a few examples of companies who’ve been successful using Twitter for light customer service tasks. However, if your business plans to do the same, you need to be careful. Make sure your employees are well-trained on how to provide customer service through Twitter, and be sure they understand how to not cross the line of being too informal (a huge danger with social media).
5. Burning yourself out too early – If I’ve seen it once, I’ve seen it a thousand times. A key decision maker at a company hears about this “hot social media thing”, and decides his company needs to start blogging and Tweeting. They blindly jump in with no plan, and blog and Tweet furiously for a few weeks. Of course, they don’t get any results because: 1) They don’t have a plan and 2) they don’t really know much about social media marketing. As a result, they get burnt out, proclaiming social media to be an overhyped waste of time. The reality is they never gave themselves a chance for it to work.

http://www.ereleases.com/prfuel/social-media-obsession/

http://www.oldapps.com/aim.php?old_aim=1

http://www.canstockphoto.com/illustration/social-media.html#file_view.php?id=7880430

PLN - Update

As I progressed through this course the above video depicts how my PLN developed over the semester. Started as seeds which slowly grew into a trunk and various branches of knowledge. I have learned many new items this semester which will surely help me in my profession. My favorites of course are Jing, Google advance search engine and Google docs. But like the branches reach towards the sun, I need to reach to my teams with some of this same knowledge. Knowledge gained is 50%, to achieve 100% it needs to be paid forward.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i4yrPeuofI&feature=related

Chapter 4 - email Has Taken Over Our Lives

Now that the email accounts are created for both professional and personal needs, there are many things that be done with these accounts so that they are managed effectively and efficiently. Contact emails can be set up in address books in which you’ve created by slececting “new address book” and then place all the contact email addresses into that folder. This way if you wish to send an email to a whole group you simply select that address and it automatically populates the “To” line on the email. This can be done with any type of email account whether at work or gmail, yahoo mail, roadrunner etc.

These accounts can also be set up with any mobile device so that you are constantly near your email accounts. Of course in the business world today that basically means you are also constantly accessible as well !! With both desk top and mobile access to all your email accounts you can also manage these accounts. View, delete, save emails as you prefer otherwise you'll have a flood of them.

sources:
outlook mail
roadrunner.com
gmail.com
jing.com
http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&rlz=1T4ADFA_enUS456US457&biw=1280&bih=822&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=6VfUTUaFjr_0IM:&imgrefurl=http://www.skinz.org/free-clipart/free-email-clipart.html&docid=VgtA4yLAb3paUM&imgurl=http://www.skinz.org/free-clipart/email-graphics/other-clipart-1.jpg&w=360&h=350&ei=sN_bTqPVGOXl0QH_1pWGDg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=93&sig=106659514633347530239&page=1&tbnh=148&tbnw=143&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:3,s:0&tx=54&ty=84

Chapter Four - the beginning of email

Created this Voki character but for some reason the code only showed the picture and did not permit a playback ??  Thankfully I have Jing.

I can still remember when email evolved in our organization during the late 1990’s. Once email was implemented, communication among our selves was instant. Email was a new and exciting format to enhance our business communication needs. It was also a quick way to get immediate response and documents from our colleagues. In order for the organization to provide email capability for their employees various hardware equipment such as servers and computers needed to be installed at each employee’s workstation. A company was setting up their own private maintained computer network that the company authorized their user group or as called the “Intranet”. Fiscally, for a business during the 1990’s this was a very costly initiative for them by needing to purchase computers for every employee. Also developed were personal email accounts that were by paid subscriptions to various providers such as Prodigy and AOL. Once a person created their own personal or professional email accounts certain etiquettes were designed to follow such as what and how you wrote an email, make sure it is appropriate, the right addresses are included and to be aware that many things written in an email can give wrong perception to reader. Whether received and sent, emails can also be stored in various folders for accessing at a later date. Also archiving systems are now inplace to reduce memory storage on your email accounts. Once these accounts are full, until you delete old sent-received emails your account can become frozen. Junk email can quickly fill your email account so a user needs to be careful of what emails they open from unknown sources. Another great tool, emails received that are of interest or contain important information can be quickly forwarded to a friend or colleague.

sources

http://www.voki.com/create.php

http://cybercoyote.org/security/av-email.htm

Shelly, G.B., Napier, H.A. & Rivers, O. (2010) Discovering the Internet Complete Concepts and Techniques, 3rd edition 

project back up

Face Book - adjust your speaker volume (I spoke)

Google Docs and PLN "DO" go together

Figured it out, I just needed to really look at the screen to find another "tool" that would allow me to go back in to edit my form that I designed.

Data has already been received from some peers and will be tested to see if this document will meet all of our needs.

This survey tool is a mandatory function in Healthcare and I believe Google Docs will make extracting the obtained data regarding compliance much more easier then accustomed to so far.

Google docs and PLN - should be? an easy "Hand 'n Hand" experience

Well.....
I created a nice 100 question gathering form that I'm looking to develope for 500 leaders to complete. I had the question title, question itself with check boxes. In the design and also on the email I sent out as a draft to many of my peers it looks great. However, the spread sheet top row does not show the question itself (only the titles). I figured I can maybe edit back the original form I created but so far can only see it in spreadsheet view whether saved in docs or on my hard drive.

So far a frustrating tool that started with so much potential, is it me or program? hard to determine so far.... I'm determined though to find out.

Mobile devices - search engines part II

This is a video that will show the technology I have at work that will be soon on my mobile device (500 video cameras). Also I needed to watch the tutorial from Prof. Ferree on my mobile device as I completed on computer. The width and height are a challenge though.

Mobile Devices in Business

We have come a long way in technology over the past 25 years especially with mobile devices. I can remember my father having the type of cell phone w/ box shown above that he traveled with in his car. When he first started using this it was essentially for his business of being a counselor. Already back then we evolved and depended on mobile devices to help in business. Today, I would be lost without mine due to easy access to my email accounts and calendar. It’s imperative today that we keep pace and makes you wonder how we did so with a rotary phone and face to face meetings all the time.

I did search mobile devices using various search engines and my examples are from Google advance search. I had to find it though in the tools icon, text book directions different but web browsers have also improved since book published I’m sure. Many opportunities to find pertinent information with simple descriptive words in the engine, click search and there it all is. A top 10 list sponsored by UPS explains that mobile devices in business can assist repair men on a call send photos back to store, DYI activities, tracking, access to your Microsoft Office docs, scan QR codes (I had to advance search this – never heard that little square barcode was a QR code). I do worry about credibility, I like to think edu and library sites and this UPS sponsor are Ok. Also I don't usually look in just one spot for information. The more sites visited the information may be the same-credible ??

I also used the advanced search engine to locate an item for my own profession, CCTV on mobile devices. I have a security camera system that at times I need to view from a distance. Now technology gives me the opportunity to simply use an app, log in and presto I can see my campus. But, the bad news is that the system I have is still working on the app for my phone. That will be included in the NEXT annual version upgrade. We’ve become spoiled with all this technology and also the methods to find information about it easily accessible. We also want it now and lost a little patience having to wait for it. Below are examples of a security camera system on various devices with the ipad and iphone as being mobile.

Finally, Yes there are many advantages having everything readily available at our fingertips. Our professional and personal lives are intermingled and moments away from us on that small rectangle device. There also has been some disadvantages we’ve identified in our workplace; employees are constantly on the phone and now a new policy was developed, we’ve had to spend many dollars to enhance our facility so communication is barrier free for freqs and we’ve seen an increase in some harassment cases. But of course those are traceable.

sources
http://smallbiztrends.com/2010/09/mobile-devices-to-run-your-business.html
http://searchengineland.com/what-is-a-qr-code-and-why-do-you-need-one-27588
http://www.vmukti.com/mobile-surveillance-software.html
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-701&sz=all&va=1st+cell+phone
https://www.google.com/searchq=CCTV+on+mobile+devices&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1024&bih=682&num=10&lr=&ft=i&cr=&safe=images

Search Engines, Search Engines, Search Engines !!!
I had thought I had a good concept of how to easily search topics of interest, I still believe that but this textbook just gives us so many more tools to do so. While these can be great for us to utilize, it’s also a little scary. I’ve had some of these search engines attach themselves to my registry and then I cannot easily get them off as becoming my internet browser homepage and have needed IS&T assistance. So I now tread lightly unfortunately and still trying to determine if I’m losing out on some great opportunities here. Directories and drilling down are features that enable a user to see all links of an interest all at once that can then be quickly selected. This helps save some surfing and searching time. But with regards to the search engines themselves I’m still not sure if any one of them is any better then the next. I tested Google, Yahoo and Ask for FEMA and all appear to get me to the link I needed. Fire Fox and Searchme are other great search engines actually recommended by Professors but because need to have software downloaded I get back to that fearful mode of inexperience.
Search engines while can be colorful still have created much gray for me and my wordle reflects that.

Searching the web

In reviewing chapter 4 there are many opportunities to search the web to find information that can be used for personal reasons or professionally. As a manager of safety and security at Millard Fillmore Hospital I have become quite accustomed to using Bing Maps. Currently today we are participating in the county wide prescription drug drop off in which we needed two days to plan and isolate our parking area to place the tent and outline traffic flow. Imagine doing this when we are 100% full capacity Mon-Fri. Below are maps of what I was able to capture from Bing maps and then edit in paint and send specific color coded instructions to my team for our plan.

I had tried other mapping programs but Bing Maps seems to be so far the easiest and the best engine for this purpose.

GoAnimate - hope this works

GoAnimate.com: 1st blog GoAnimate by jbsholdemm

created this so I hope it plays for everyone, still an aspiring rookie with all this but it is sure fun learning.

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!

Chapter 2 - Surfing the web

I love surfing the web and there were some interesting things that I learned in chapter 2 that will help me be more efficiently. Let’s face it, in the workplace the quicker and better we do things saves time and money. Years ago I became aware of the IP address when I had a tech support problem with a software program on my desktop and my computer was accessed remotely by the service department using the IP address. It was pretty neat watching them work on my desktop and they were 10 mile away. Of course today I always take notes as I see what they are doing in the event of a repeat problem that maybe I can fix myself now. Domains on the other hand have been frustrating and a pain because if not spelled or identified correctly nothing will work. As the chapter section explained, the domain names must be unique and of course if to unique chances are pretty good they will be forgotten in case a device needs to have the information re-entered.

The “favorites” is a nice way to organize frequent URL’s but I’ve now become more partial to Symbaloo since creating my own homepage. I have a duel monitor set up so Symbaloo is on one to easily access all my sites with just a click of the mouse. I was not aware about web slices and their purpose, a little information of any topic you create the slice for is easily available. I like quick previews of information and will be looking to incorporate some slices on my command bar. Of course that too needs attention.

Two other chapter features that may be common knowledge to versed users but not to me was emailing a web page to someone else and printing a web page. I’ve done much copy-pasting a screen shot to a word document and then printed and now just a push of a button. Work related web sites can be easily sent to other members of my team now with the instructions this chapter provided.

My biggest challenge is I have a laptop provided from work that has extensive security settings and even though was approved for school function too, I face many frustrations.

I'm a movie buff so what better way to find quick information then on the web, a great movie here about technology and released 20 years ago.

Chapter Source:                       Shelly, G.B., Napier, H.A. & Rivers, O. (2010) Discovering the Internet

                                               Complete Concepts and Techniques, 3rd edition

Web source:                             http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/

Cartoon Source:                       http://www.fotosearch.com/DNV221/021c1005ll/

Symbaloo

I have created a Symbaloo account and have set up many URL's that I already access daily and copied with Jing. You'll notice that I've created my tiles and color coded each per the area of interest (green for work, orange for school etc). Symbaloo is so much easier then going into favorites all the time. I'm in school for the purpose of learning new things, so far this class has been beneficial to me.

Net Neutrality - My Comments

Net Neutrality is currently great by having the opportunity to surf the web, utilize multiple search engines and go anywhere you pretty much want to with out much interference, slow downs or intentional blocking from companies on the web. Verizon, and Google who once were on opposite sides have teamed with MetroPCS Communications to pursue their rights to create a separate public paid internet. These companies are also in favor of hindering web users from using their sites if the users are dedicated to others. For example if Yahoo is a preference then the user will not be able to log into Google or have accessed be severely slowed down. Over so many years, the standard acceptance has been that Net Neutrality is the accepted shorthand for the idea that internet service providers should not be allowed to block, degrade or charge extra 1. These companies are also fighting the FCC who has challenged them. Verizon and MetroPCS Communications Inc has accused the FCC of overstepping it’s authority in a challenge after the the FCC’s 3-2 vote 2. There have been some minor protests regarding this and the FCC has also been struggling to mange control of the issue. The biggest concern over Net Neutrality is should broadband be exempt? Heavy use would incur heavy costs to the consumers who use smartphones and laptops if not exempt.

1.            www.macworld.com/article/153750/2010/08netneutrality.html?1src=nl_mwweek_h...

2.             www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/12/fcc-​net-neutrality.


Our days of surfing stress free may soon be over.

Source      http://www.hasslefreeclipart.com/clipart_compusers/stressed_out.html

Chapter 1 Review and Comments

Remembering my childhood days in which we had a party line black rotary phone and only 3 channels (2,4,7) on the television, reading this chapter was essentially a review of my own history. Sort of like a “This Is Your Life” episode. My father from Texas got me started on computers and our first one was purchased in the late 1980’s and basic. Once we beefed up and had a modem, wow the world was instantly opened up to us with Prodigy and then AOL. Nothing was neater back then when logging in and hearing “you have mail”. Instant Messaging (IM) soon followed and to then be able to communicate with someone long distance without those phone associated charges was and to quote MasterCard, “priceless”. Page by page of the chapter reminded me of what I needed to learn in similar order for operating the PC, the software and also the online features that back then were very basic but soon had surpassed and overwhelmed. I remember in my early ignorance to the terminology used that I almost corrected a colleague for misspelling internet with intranet. I thought best to research the word instead and found it meant our own organizations server and networking system. With this in place, soon email became a fast and in my opinion now an impersonal method of communicating with each other. Face to face of phone calls now are close to being obsolete and always remember to not send an email if full of emotion. But on the other hand, email capability has developed better ways to communicate with other business associates in easily receiving information, quotes or other items of interest. The WEB has evolved into a whole new world of shopping, finding information quickly, banking, going to school etc. And all thes same technology that at one time was on a large desktop or heavy laptop is accessible on a small smart phone. It’s amazing what I’ve witness and lived through these past 20 years, can’t wait to see what is next on the agenda.

Module 1 - Read and Summarize the information in the blogging articles

While reviewing the information which contained links to articles about blogging and business, the very first link from Chris Brogan I was overwhelmed with all the information and never ending links that he supplied to help us generate great blogs. What I was able to decipher with these helpful links was the importance of selecting a topic of interest and then to write quick, casual and clear blog as if discussing with a friend or colleague. One thing mentioned a few times in many of these articles was to have a regular routine in publishing your blogs. Like most things in life, if you don’t use it you’ll lose it 1. I also interpreted in these articles that if we are looking to blog a comment or an opinion on a particular issue or event that we post the blogs while the topic is still current and fresh. This way comments will generate creative dialog. What I found interesting as well was the difference of how you would blog an opinion or comment compared to trying to promote a business. Matthew Bandyk discussed in his article some key do’s and don’ts for small business blogging with the most important being that the person be well versed in blogging language and formats. Business bloggers should also be r\well read of blogs and understand that this is a cheap and effective way to get their business awareness publicized. As I stated above, the informational links are never ending so I’ll be looking at these for helpful information and also the lists of topics that could be of interest me. I also plan to research the top bloggers for 2010 and 2011 to again find some interests and the opportunity to post my own comments to their postings. 1. Darren Rowse, Use it or lose it: Five Tips on How to Keep your Blogging Regular (ProBlogger forum 1/15/2010)

my 1st blog

I'm brand new to this way of publishing thoughts, ideas or information. I'm doing this because of being back in school for the purpose to learn new things and already I'm very interested in this concept. Being my very first day and blog, I can't wait to see where this now goes.