Assignment 11 - The Final One!!

When I originally signed up for the class I will be honest I did not think I would learn much besides the Microsoft programs(Office, Power Point, Excel, Access).  From what the syllabus had listed that's what it seemed we'd be spending most of our time working on.  After spending the semester in this class that feeling has changed dramatically, I've learned much more than just the programs.  But when I signed up for the class I had just thought we'd be going more in depth with the Microsoft Programs. 

The one computer concept/idea that I learned most about was how a computer operates and functions.  Learning about how much goes into not only maintaining a running computer but also how much memory and pieces of equipment are in a computer to have it operate correctly.  I had no idea that there was so much communication that went on with the computer and the networks just to get on the internet and even if I wanted to open up a program.

The Microsoft application that I learned most about was Excel, that's what we spent the most time on.  I had no idea how to do simple tasks like merge and center, change the theme and the background or anything that seems easy to me now.    After learning how to use Excel in this class I keep most of my logs on the application (workout log, food chart and etc).  Without this class and the information I would not be using Excel for storing most of my information. 

The one aspect from the class that I've benefited from the most is learning how to use the Microsoft applications.  I really only knew how to use Word, Power Point and Excel I barely knew how to use and Access I had never used before.  But this class has gone more in depth on how to use the 4 programs and also has made it easy for me to remember the basics of each program.  Without this class I would still only know how to use Word well and not the others.  I've also benefited from taking the tests and quizzes involved with each program because it helped confirm how much I learned from the lessons. 

# 11-1: Do You Work Harder When Someone is Watching? (page 422)

I chose to read the section about whether or not people work harder while someone is watching because it interested me compared to the other option.  Also I think at some point or another we all have wondered if people work harder when being watched.  Also considering I believe it is true and have worked harder at something when I know I'm being watched intrigued me more to read this article. 

I do believe that you work harder when being watched, especially when your being watched by a boss or higher up authority.  The fact that your boss or higher up authority is watching you work makes you work harder because most people want to keep their job so if they do bad in front of the boss they may get demoted or fired.  I think no matter where you are or what your doing if you have someone watching you do that work your going to work harder at it.  My opinion about the Hawthorne Effect is that it is true and has the statistics and research to back it up.  The Effect just confirmed what I already believed about working harder while someone was watching you.  I would agree with this research 100 percent and I think anyone with doubts would too if they also saw the statistics they had.  I do think though however that it is ethical but will have a psychological effect on employees.  It's a mind game when your being watched working because you want to do well in their eyes but you don't know what their thinking or saying about your work ethic/how your working.  Observation is a good data gathering technique in a system study if productivity increases because anytime you can increase productivity in a certain field its always good to try its effects on another field.  If the productivity increases during observation than it would be a effective way to put that technique when getting data in a system study.  I think no matter what your doing or where it is, anytime your being observed or watched productivity is going to increase and be better because your being closely watched and you don't want to mess up.  So yes I believe its a good data gathering technique in system study.

Assignment 8 - Ch. 9

I searched three databases and came to the conclusion that http://mytaskhelper.com/ was the best database out of the three I selected.  For this database I had to sign up for a account and after that I went to create a new project.  For entering data into this database all you have to do is type in the blank space what you want it to say and put whether you want it to be a single line, double line or many of the other options listed.  After that you hit add the field and that part of the database is complete.  You keep doing that until your done with the data and complete with your database. 

Now this was the easiest one to be me by far because of the fact that the hardest part was just signing up for a account.  The fact that you also can export this into a excel file makes it that much more accessible and convenient.  This database also worked the best for me because it saves your database you created with the latest information you provided, so you can go back to where you left off.  The fact that the other databases you could not export into excel directly from that website like this one was the final contributing factor.  These are the main reasons why this database worked best for me and not the other two.

8-2: Should You Worry about Cell Phone, Cellular Antenna, and Wi-Fi Device Radiation? (page 340)

I chose to read this article because I've heard before about radiation due to cell phones, cellular antenna and Wi-Fi devices and wanted to know more about it.  I also chose to read this because I wanted to see if they gave any factual evidence on if these products do cause radiation.  This article interested me from the title alone and the fact that I’ve wanted to know about this topic more in depth for awhile.

Personally I am not worried about cell phone, cellular antenna, and Wi-Fi radiation because we all suffer from harmful things every day.  Whether that be the pollutants in the air we breathe, the bad habits that we are consumed by and etc, these radiation occurrences are rare and do not happen too many people.  Even stated in the article that most research studies have concluded that these three products are not solely responsible for the health issues suffered in people.  It says that skeptics are not sure about this, but there are always skeptics when it comes to stories and data, doesn’t mean those people are right it just means they have doubts.  In conclusion I am not worried about the radiation from these products; I am worried about how much room these antennas and cell phone stores will take up around our area though.

Nobody that I know minimizes the use of cell phones or other wireless devices due to health concerns because they share the same feelings as I do listed above.  Actually I use these devices less than most of the people that I know, so if it is true these because health effects than their more exposed to it than I am.  We live in a technology world and to minimize these devices is honestly not an option. 

Even though everyone else and I do not believe that these devices are causing health problems, nor are we concerned does not mean that the government shouldn’t consider the possibility.  I believe that governments should be required to consider health concerns when making decisions about wireless deployments.  It is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to this, but if the positives outweigh the negatives when it comes to deploying a wireless spot than I believe it should not be a concern.  The deployment of a wireless spot could equal more money and better coverage for cell phones and other devices.  They should consider the possibilities because if for some reason radiation did affect people with health problems and they readjusted the law made in 1996, that means the companies could be sued by those people and lose a huge profit.  They need to consider all possibilities when it comes to deploying a wireless spot.  It is a small percentage of people that are affected by radiation due to the devices, so I would say it’s a yes and no when it comes to the government considering the possibilities of deployments.

It wouldn’t bother me to live next to a cellular antenna because I don’t believe that radiation is exerted through the devices listed above and if it is, it’s a small percentage of people that are affected anyways.  Also due to the fact that no case has ever been won because of findings that the illness was caused by cell phones makes me not care if I lived next to a cellular antenna or not.  The only reason I would care if I lived next to a cellular antenna or not is when I started noticing a difference in my health from when I did not live next to one compared to when I did.  This would be the only time I would be concerned about living next to an antenna, if I did see a decline in health I would move and reconsider my position on this topic.

6-3: Should the World Become a Cashless Society? (page 257)

The reason why I made this selection is because the article interested me, and I wanted to see what it was specifically about.  I also chose this article because the other ones listed that we could choose from seemed less interesting than this one. 

The world should not become a cashless society because like it says in the article "A smart card purchase preserves a record of the transaction that could become available to other merchants, advertisers, government agencies, or hackers.  Having a cashless society would in my opinion cause more harm than good, the positives for the smart card get outweighed by the negative effects.  For instance what would happen if your smart card had a malfunction and spent more money than what you really did, technically difficulties would be bound to happen at some point. 

I would not be comfortable using a smart card or fingerprint instead of actual cash because I feel like the fingerprint and smart cards would just be a way for the government to keep track of you.  It comes down to being a complete invasion of privacy which would violate my rights as a American citizen.  If you use a fingerprint or smart card where does all that information go and who gets to see it?  I'm sure that you will be able to see your own transactions and such, but you would never truly know who else would see it.  When it all comes down to it I think this is just another way to have the government keep track of people without actually telling them the main reason.

How I spent my weekend (9/11-9/12)

This past weekend I spent working at my job which is Champs Sports in the Annapolis Mall.  On 9/11 I worked from 2-10 and on 9/12 I worked 12-10.  For anyone that doesn’t know what Champs Sports is, it’s one of the many shoe stores associated with Foot Locker.  It is the biggest shoe and sports apparel store in the Annapolis Mall and I’m sure many of the people in this class have been in the store before.

During working at the store I bought a pair of shoes called the Nike Wavy’s.  They are a newly released shoe that in our store was on sale.  So in addition of the shoe being on sale I also used my 30% discount saving about $41.  Besides working at my job I went out on 9/11 and went to a couple of parties.  

In addition to going to work for most of Saturday and Sunday I spent some of the time working on homework that needed to be caught up on.  Some of these homework’s are pointless but it is what it is.  Finally the only other thing I did this weekend other than working and doing homework was go up to the studio outside of D.C.  I usually go there every Tuesday and Thursday because that’s all time allows me to, being that I have school all day M,W,F and work on the weekends.  So this is how I spent my weekend of 9/11-9/12