Outsourcing in the US…Blog 14

Outsourcing is an allocation of specific business processes to a specialist external service provider. Most of the times an organization cannot handle all aspects of a business process internally. Additionally some processes are temporary and the organization does not intend to hire in-house professionals to perform the tasks. Once the task is outsourced to the service provider, he will take the responsibility of carrying out the tasks and maintaining the organization’s assets. However prior to outsourcing any component of your business to a third-party vendor, it is essential to understand the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing. Although outsourcing presents a variety of benefits to your organization, it could also pose difficulties if not outsourced to the right service provider.Outsourcing most commonly known as offshoring has pros and cons to it. Most of the time, the advantages of outsourcing overshadow the disadvantages of outsourcing.With all these pros and cons of outsourcing to be considered before actually approaching a service provider, it is always advisable to specifically determine the importance of the tasks which are to be outsourced. It is always beneficial for an organization to consider the advantages and disadvantages of offshoring before actually outsourcing it.

 

 

Wearable Computing Blog

Google Glass is a wearable computer with an optical head-mounted display (OHMD) that is being developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project, with a mission of producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer.^[1]Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free form that can communicate with the Internet vianatural language voice commands.

While the frames do not currently have lenses fitted to them, Google is considering partnerships with sunglass retailers such as Ray-Ban or Warby Parker, and may also open retail stores to allow customers to try on the device. The Explorer Edition cannot be used by people who wear prescription glasses, but Google has confirmed that Glass will eventually work with frames and lenses that match the wearer’s prescription; the glasses will be modular and therefore possibly attachable to normal prescription glasses.

Glass is being developed by Google X, which has worked on other futuristic technologies such as driverless cars. The project was announced on Google+ by Project Glass lead Babak Parviz, an electrical engineer who has also worked on putting displays into contact lenses; Steve Lee, a product manager and “geolocation specialist”; and Sebastian Thrun, who developed Udacity as well as worked on the autonomous car project. Google has patented the design of Project Glass.Thad Starner, an augmented reality expert, is a technical lead/manager on the project.

Python 4&5

Information I consider Private Blog12

Tax returns should be subjected to public scrutiny even though they are filed with a government entity; nor would we think that our Social Security numbers should be handed out to anyone who asks for them. How about names of minor children, or their addresses, or their schools? There is simply some information that our government has about us that should not be disclosed to the public, especially in this Internet age. Once information hits the Internet, it’s public and there is no more control over it. We need to ensure that certain information is off limits to the public and that it will be protected by the government, barring a compelling public need to know.

Social networking sites vary in the levels of privacy offered. For some social networking sites like Facebook, providing real names and other personal information is encouraged by the site(onto a page known as a ‘Profile‘). These information usually consist of birth date, current address, and telephone number(s). Some sites also allow users to provide more information about themselves such as interests, hobbies, favorite books or films, and even relationship status. Nevertheless, individuals can sometimes be identified with face re-identification. Study has been done on two major social networking sites, and it is found that by overlapping 15% of the similar photographs, profile pictures with similar pictures over multiple sites can be matched to identify the users

Python 2

Illegal Downloading

Sometimes, of course, artists or promotional sites will offer free downloads. And if you purchase a song or movie before downloading it, then there’s generally no problem. Still, the Internet is running rampant with users who illegally download — commonly via peer-to-peer networks like Limewire or BitTorrent, and also from friends who will pass on the goods. So how illegal is this, and what are the potential penalties?The act of illegally downloading something falls under the Copyright Act of 1976, a federal statute that governs copyright law in the United States.

Types of works protected by copyrights include “works of authorship” such as literary works, musical works, and motion pictures, among others. Songs and movies, therefore, definitely fall within the category of works protected by copyright.Copyright infringement occurs when the works are reproduced, republished, or used without permission from the copyright holder. This is where illegal downloading kicks in. The violation is typically enforced as a civil matter, although specific penalties vary by jurisdictions and some may apply criminal punishments.

Python 1&2

Blog 10 repost!!!!

The most important aspect of computer science is problem solving, an essential skill for life. Students study the design, development and analysis of software and hardware used to solve problems in a variety of business, scientific and social contexts. Because computers solve problems to serve people, there is a significant human side to computer science as well.

Computing drives innovation in the sciences (human genome project, AIDS vaccine research, environmental monitoring and protection just to mention a few), and also in engineering, business, entertainment and education. If you want to make a positive difference in the world, study computing.

Aaron Swartz!!!

Swartz took his own life in January while facing multiple Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) felony charges relating to an attempt to download scholarly articles from academic database JSTOR in bulk through the MIT network.The 100-plus pages report lays out the institution’s actions and decisions from the initial investigation into the unusual JSTOR activity through Swartz’s suicide. The report ultimately concludes that MIT didn’t do anything particularly wrong, other than letting attempts to be neutral cloud its view of the larger ethical issues brought up by the case. Others have been less charitable toward the report and the actions it describes. Before the report was released, Swartz’s father released a statement saying he expected “MIT will recognize that it made significant mistakes in how it handled Aaron’s situation.” After its release, Swartz’s former partner Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman released a statement calling MIT’s behavior during the case “reprehensible,” and terming the report “quite frankly a whitewash.”

Andrea Paterson published on July 31 2013, MIT’s report on Aaron Swartz, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/07/30/the-four-lamest-excuses-in-mits-report-on-aaron-swartz/

Economics and Statistics administration July 14, 2011 Economics and Statistics Administration Releases New Report on STEM: Good Jobs Now and For the Future http://www.iseek.org/careers/stemcareers.html.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math are the subjects that make up the Stem careers. 

Check out these 27 STEM careers that are currently in high demand in Minnesota.

Job Title	Hourly Wage	Most Common Education/Training Requirements
Accountants and Auditors	$29.04	Bachelor’s degree
Actuaries	$46.29	Bachelor’s degree
Aerospace Engineers	$45.22	Bachelor’s degree
Agricultural and Food Science Technicians	$17.77	Associate degree
Biochemists and Biophysicists	$25.23	Doctoral or professional degree
Biomedical Engineers	$46.74	Bachelor’s degree
Chemical Engineers	$38.17	Bachelor’s degree
Chemical Technicians	$19.72	Associate degree
Chemists	$37.27	Bachelor’s degree
Civil Engineering Technicians	$27.77	Associate degree
Civil Engineers	$36.64	Bachelor’s degree
Computer and Information Systems Managers	$55.74	Bachelor’s degree
Computer Hardware Engineers	$47.25	Bachelor’s degree
Computer Programmers	$33.31	Bachelor’s degree
Computer Systems Analysts	$36.66	Bachelor’s degree
Construction Managers	$40.51	Associate degree
Cost Estimators	$27.72	Bachelor’s degree
Database Administrators	$38.03	Bachelor’s degree
Electrical Engineers	$40.37	Bachelor’s degree
Electro-Mechanical Technicians	$27.18	Associate degree
Electronics Engineers, Except Computer	$41.76	Bachelor’s degree
Engineering Managers	$57.37	Bachelor’s degree
Environmental Engineering Technicians	$20.80	Associate degree
Environmental Engineers	$38.71	Bachelor’s degree
Environmental Science and Protection Technicians, Including Health	$21.54	Associate degree
Environmental Scientists and Specialists, Including Health	$28.69	Bachelor’s degree
Food Scientists and Technologists	$34.71	Bachelor’s degree
Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors	$40.03	Bachelor’s degree
Hydrologists	$32.80	Master’s degree
Industrial Engineering Technicians	$23.45	Associate degree
Industrial Engineers	$37.95	Bachelor’s degree
Materials Engineers	$40.38	Bachelor’s degree
Mechanical Engineering Technicians	$25.86	Associate degree
Mechanical Engineers	$36.20	Bachelor’s degree
Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	$31.26	Doctoral or professional degree
Microbiologists	$31.29	Bachelor’s degree
Natural Sciences Managers	$53.08	Bachelor’s degree
Network and Computer Systems Administrators	$33.58	Bachelor’s degree
Nuclear Medicine Technologists	$36.37	Associate degree
Operations Research Analysts	$33.54	Bachelor’s degree
Software Developers, Applications	$43.51	Bachelor’s degree
Software Developers, Systems Software	$47.40	Bachelor’s degree
Soil and Plant Scientists	$30.14	Bachelor’s degree
Statistician	$41.44	Master’s degree

 

retrieved from  Economics and Statistics administration July 14, 2011 Economics and Statistics Administration Releases New Report on STEM: Good Jobs Now and For the Future http://www.iseek.org/careers/stemcareers.html.