Software News

Read the following article and search for the two softwares office 365 and Googles apps.

What do you think are the issues here?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13943437

Politics and Government: Information storage and Updating

The Smart City

http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/thesmartercity/index_flash.html?cm_mmc=agus_brsmartcity-20090929-usbrp111-_-p-_-smcityvan-_-smcityvan#/home/?menuid=transportation2

There are many services that are offered by governments in terms of Access, information storage, processing and Updating

Your task is to compare three countries: one in Africa, one in Asia and one in Europe by studying how the information is collected, stored, processed and updated

Online tax returns

Passport application and renewal

Medical records

Online police records

Social security information

Security: Social and ethical Significance

Computer security is concerned with taking care of hardware, software and data. Data is only as secure as the system that it is held on and data security is concerned with keeping the data safe from the various hazards that could destroy it. There are a number of ways that system administrators can protect data.

Task 1
Read the any of the article below and discuss in pairs the questions following

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13740591

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13711528

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7633402.stm

http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/computer-networking-network-security/628452-1.html

Answering social impacts and ethical issues

a) Who are the stakeholders in each of the above article?

b) What is the impact on human life in each case?

c) Who is responsible for the problem in each case

d) Suggest some solutions to each case

ITGS Subject Guide

Find below the link to the ITGS Subject Guide for first examination in 2012 onwards

http://gandhijkt.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/ITGS-lates-guide_first-exam2012.pdf

Theme: Politics and Governement: Strand 2 (Period 4 Thurs 15/09/11)

The importance of I.T is becoming increasingly evident in political compaigns and other governmental operations. The task below will focus on I.T as used in Political processes

Task1
You have been assigned a specific area of research. Your task is to prepare a powerpoint presentation that will be presented in our 6th lesson on 20th Sept 2011. Your Powerpoint presentation should be neat, attractive and focused. You will be allowed to include appropriate images where possible. In the powerpoint you will ;

a) Describe the technology in relation to Political processes.
b) State the I.T developments that have contributed to the existence of this technology.
c) state the advantages and disadvantages of the technology with evidence from research.
c) Describe atleast three social /ethical impacts that can result from the technology with specific examples from research.
d) For any problems associated with the technology suggest any three viable solutions
e) Cite all your sources using the APA standard format.

George, Fatema & Mayur: Online campaign
Jamal & William: Online voting
Jamil & Solitei:Online lobbying
Khalid & Sheehan:Online fundraising
Sohail & Aasfa:Open Government
Caleb & Sadhu: Online advertising
Barry& Emanu: Online vetting

Assessment Rubric
0-2
The powerpoint presentation is fairly designed and presented. The technology is described partially with limited linking to political processes and the I.T development is not clearly stated. The impacts of the technology is superficial and the social issues are stated with limited evidence from research. The solutions suggested are fairly viable and the referencing partially meets the APA standard formatting.
3-4
The powerpoint presentation is properly designed and presented. The technology is described well with some link to political processes and I.T development is partially stated. The impacts of the technology is good and the social issues are explained with some evidence from research. The solutions suggested viable and the referencing meets some the APA standard formatting.
5-6
The powerpoint presentation is well designed and presented. The technology is described good and linking to political process and the I.T development is clearly stated. The impacts of the technology is clear and the social issues are stated with some evidence from research. The solutions suggested are viable and the referencing meeting in the most part the APA standard formatting.
7
The powerpoint presentation is thoroughly designed and presented. The technology is described clearly with clear link to political process. The I.T development is clearly stated. The impacts of the technology is thorough and the social issues are stated with extensive evidence from research. The solutions suggested are laudable and the referencing meets the APA standard formatting.

Integrity

Task 1
Integrity refers to safeguarding the accuracy and completeness of stored data. Data lacks integrity when it has been changed accidentally or tampered with. Examples of data losing integrity are where information is duplicated in a relational database and only one copy is updated or where data entries have been maliciously altered

Read the articles in the link below and answer questions following

1. http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/10/facebook.groups.hacked/index.html

2. http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/231601110

3. http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/05/02/sony-online-entertainment-databases-were-hacked-players-credit-card-and-bank-information-stolen/
Answering social impacts and ethical issues
a) Who are the stakeholders in each of the above article?
b) What is the impact on human life in each case?
c) Who is responsible for the problem in each case
d) Suggest some solutions to each case



Some Technology reading sources
http://www.wired.com/, http://www.cnn.com/, http://www.zdnet.com/, http://www.bbc.co.uk/, http://www.bbcworld.com/, http://www.msnbc.com/ ,http://www.npr.org/ ,http://www.techreview.com/, http://www.nytimes.com/, http://www.worldpress.org/,
http://www.webpronews.com/

Computer Input/Output Devices

Task1

Read and make notes where possible of computer input devices.

You may use the link below:

http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/i/inputdev.htm

Describe any unique input devices used in different IT systems in any of the application scenarios.

Task 2
Research on the assigned input/output device below and post your findings on this blog. In your research
i) Describe how the device works or how it is used
ii) Outline areas where the device is commonly used
iii) Name any different types or categories of the device if any

Fatema: MICR readers
George:mouth wands
Barry:Smart Card readers
Caleb:radio frequency identification (RFID)
Sohali: Sensors readers
Emmanuel: Plotters
William: Printers
Solitei:Projectors
Khalid:MFP printers
Mayur: Eyegaze System
Jamil:blow pipe systems
Jamal:Braille keyboards
Sadruddin:VR goggles
Sheehan:Magnetic stripe Readers

Reliability: Social & Ethical Consideration

Reliability refers to the ability of hardware or information systems to function without failure.

a) Give examples of situations where you computer has been unreliable.

b) Why are computers more unreliable?

c) How do we make hardware and IT system reliable?

Read the article in the link below an answer the questions following in your note book;

http://www.kellyhs.org/itgs/ethics/reliability/THERAC-25.htm

c) Why was the software controlled machine more dangerous that the previously mechanical Therac?

d) Why would they choose to use software instead of mechanical devices when building the new Therac?

e) What changes in the development of the machine could have prevented the failures?


Research Activity

Research for any IT hardware or IT system that proved unreliable in any of the listed ITGS applications to specific scenarios.

The Motherboard

Task 1 (Write brief notes on this)

What is a motherboard?

What is housed in the computers' motherboard?

Task 2

Computers harddisk space size: How is it measured?

Use the link below and write down brief notes on the different storage size measurements.

http://www.whatsabyte.com/

Task 3

The ASCII codes; What are they? How is it different from binary?

Refer to the ASCII table in the link below

http://www.asciitable.com/

Further readings;

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/73165.html?wlc=1314953540

http://www.vita.virginia.gov/about/default.aspx?id=12596

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/35111.wss

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/disk+grooming