Dean Thomas discussed the IST program, its roots, and its mission today in class. His main point is that IST prepares leaders for the global digital economy …

Dean Thomas started by talking about that there is a 2 trillion dollars a year investment in technology in the US … top managers in the USA are not seeing the return on investment based on the fact that there are few people who know “how to use the technology to make a difference,” not “how do you do 200 lines of debugged code.” He went on to say that we as educators haven’t trained people to be solution providers – we tend to focus on the technology itself. At IST we look at the interfaces, the social, ethical, policy issues, as well as the drill downs into the basics of technology … we educate students who can engage, defend, and articulate solutions with clients. Employers love that stuff! And oh, by the way so do students … both in their internships and their real jobs!

In relation to outsourcing, Dean Thomas says he hears a lot parents say “outsourcing means there won’t be any jobs out there for my kid …” the dean laughs – he even calls it silly. The stuff that gets outsourced is “production stuff,” not problem solving. He goes on to say, that IST students can go into companies and provide a series of competencies that will not be outsourced — they become strategic advantages.

Let’s boil it down to two main issues that get to the heart of the IST:

1. Can you use technology for competitive distinctions when everyone has the access to the same technology? Yes … it becomes the people who use the technology to create winning solution.

2. How do you get people to use the technology so it can make a difference? You make them understand that there is more to a solution than the technology — that solutions are a product of a systems-level perspective.

He also discussed some numbers related to the School — 98% placement at about $53,000.00 starting salaries — both the highest rates at Penn State. If you were engaged in consulting (a third of our graduates last year) those salaries went up into the $70,000 and $80,000 range. Check out some of these stats online. As a School, we do huge research initiatives – we’ve done over 24 million in research in the list two years. Check it out.

He discussed several IST faculty member’s research agendas … really just to give you all a flavor of what is going on here – and how applied it is to the real world. Sort of like your videos! Take a look around the IST website and see what its all about. If any of you have questions for Dean Thomas, you can post them as comments here and I’ll make sure he gets them. Thanks for listening and asking such insightful questions.

Topic 7 is designed to help you understand the value of data and data management tools and how they can be applied. Very little of what we do today as an Information Society would be possible without the massive investment in database tools, techniques, and technologies … most of the knowledge we come across in our daily lives is stored in some sort of a database structure. Please read topic 7 so you can understand that there are different types of databases for different reasons. I have to say, you cannot solve our challenge without a complete understanding of database technologies — you just can’t do it. Pieces of what you learn in this topic will really allow you to solve it.

The topic begins with an overview of the importance of data. Without data, computers are of little value. The worth of a computer or an information system is measured in terms of its ability to support the processing, transmission and/or accessing of data. In fact, data management can be the key to success or failure for an organization. Many companies run into difficulties because they lack the appropriate data to make effective decisions, and/or the way their databases are constructed inhibits the ability to analyze and manipulate data in a timely, cost-effective manner. It goes on to lay out the basic terminology associated with databases … this is a critical bunch of information as it really gives you the basics.

From there, it goes on to discuss the characteristics of databases and on to a very importnat lesson related to database management systems. Make sure you finish out your reading as it gets into some fairly complex stuff … the key here is that databases are the main ingrediant in so much of what you as a knowledge worker will need to know to solve large-scale IT challenges. Don’t miss reading this topic! When you finish your reading, respond to the discussion activity below … and remember, your challenge asks you to decide on a database sytem to power your solution — the information in this topic should be a starting point for you to do just that.

Discussion Activity

At times, we collect data from our employees, peers, customers, and friends. As knowledge workers, we are expected to sort through data and come up with meaningful information. There are many things that can jeopardize the meaning that we intend to pull from data, especially when data comes from surveys or some type of human-generated information (interviews, reports, journals, or books). The respondents’ truthfulness, the quantity of responses, possible bias, and time constraints can lead us to “stories” that might not be valid. Can you think of some other problems that may occur when trying to extract meaningful data? How do you plan to only extract valid and reliable data so as to create meaningful information?

Dr. Bagby did a whirlwind overview of the concepts of copyright, P2P, and intellectual property … here is my reaction to what I heard, with some links to some extras. I really enjoyed it and want you to realize that this is complex stuff and that it is so tied to the future of innovation — as much as anything else we’ve talked about.

Urban Legends

The most interesting in my mind of the myths Dr. Bagby spoke of was … “Things posted on the Internet are free and free to use” … Where did that myth come from? Interesting topic … Dr. Bagby claims that the net-newbies felt as though the “net should not be regulated.” He went on the say that this is just not true and that the courts will ultimately decide. Because of this attitude, things have moved so far to the other side and that the copyright office and the court insists on DRM … throwing out the baby with the bathwater, as he was saying. I’d be really interested to know what you guys think about the “free” nature of the Internet … are things posted on the web open as fair game? You all “borrow” images to use in your iMovies … is that cool, legal, or should it be regulated? Clearly, Dr. Bagby even highlighted the fact that ALL photos are protected … so think twice. The other two myths are interesting, but the first was one is the one that I think we could spend time thinking about and discussing. The other two are that only materials “marked” with the &copy symbol and are registered with the Copyright office are protected … the other is that P2P traders will NOT get caught — both myths! BTW, anything produced and published, posted, or simply created are protected under copyright — there are alternate copyright formats emerging.

Tidbits

Software is protected as a Literary work — I did not know that. Sonny Bono — I had no idea he had anything to do with any of this … 100 years! That’s just silly. He looked at Fair Use Factors … you really ought to know this stuff! ANGEL is there to protect us … very interesting … it’s a shell to authenticate users so we can keep people from seeing what’s really in there. Parody and criticism is allowable — I did not know that either. Last thing … Dr. Bagby sent me this via email to post for you all as well … ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY SEEKS GROKSTER SUPREME CT. REVIEW — Major movie studios and record labels have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to grant cert to hear an appeal of the Grokster decision. In August, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an April 2003 U.S. District Court decision that certain services should not be held liable for the alleged infringements of their users. Read about it (1 & 2) and view the petition.

Some Cases

He went on to talk about the RIAA and some of their litigation … did you know that RIAA chief council was none other that a PSU grad named, Barry K. Robinson. This little read pulls it together for you — BTW, I posted this one before. Anyway, he went on to describe the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 as a response to the fact that all of a sudden, people could really make great home recordings — the DAT (digital audio tape) allowed people to make these things … but, the compromise was a form of copy protection scheme — BTW, Sony still uses some of those types of protections in their Mini Disc players. Fast forward to 1999 to the case of RIAA v Diamond … a digital audio recording device does not have to use this type of copy protection — or limitations. Cool stuff … it means PCs aren’t really covered by the law!

Two years later … Napster shows up. That’s when the shit starts to hit the fan … A&M Records v Napster … this is what established limits on fair use … take a look at what this really means … boil it down, and you have to not be creating competition for the original creator. What does it all mean … client server architecture for sharing is done. Dr. Bagby says that this is what forced innovation — they thought they would stop this, but it created a new way to move stuff, peer to peer (P2P) … man, how do you stop that? I just read something in Business Week that claims copyright is actually stifling innovation … read, decide, and post!

My Conclusion

This stuff is very complex and is not going to get any easier. As you begin to pull your solutions together, use the resources Dr. Bagby has assembled for you and make sure you are paying attention to the details … the details will be the difference in the good solutions and the bad ones. The depth of your research will serve you well across the board in all your courses — and when you get into the real world. Thanks for paying attention and listening. If this stuff interests you, take a couple courses with Dr. Bagby … hell send him a note and let him know you like it.

Ok, so you’ve all had a chance to look through the Online IST 110 Challenge for this semester so I thought I’d get you moving in the right direction. First of all, tomorrow, Tuesday 10.12.2004, Dr. John Bagby will be our guest lecturer … He has posted an entire site that you NEED to look over before class tomorrow … make sure you do it!

Dr. Bagby is a senior faculty member here in the School of IST focusing on policy and legislative issues in IT. Dr. Bagby is a very well published author and an excellent lecturer and all around good guy. He will be talking a bit about the realities of the file sharing issue … he asked that you all be prepared to discuss the issues and said he wanted you to look over some basic information. Thanks to our TA, Paula Bach, we have several good sources of information. I’ll just drop the links in without editorial notes … just go and get caught up on this stuff!

Overview of the digital millennium copyright act

Many links (including video) of the Napster case

Webopedia DRM def’n

“DRM is moribund” from Compaq research center

Press release from Grokster that they are not guilty of copyright infringement

Links about legal issues surrounding DRM

I also came across this little article about the MPAA asking the Supreme Court to rule on P2P cases that were already settled … they are looking for the Court to overturn a ruling that absolve networks for P2P violations of its users. Quick, easy read–>

Just poking around the web this morning waiting for College Football to get started and started to read about the concept of “Podcasting.” Its really just mp3 audio files done in radio show style that can be automatically moved to your portable mp3 player on the fly using a simple application. What is cool is that once you record your program, you can set it up to syndicate the material, ala RSS style, so applications can find the new posts and auto download them and dump to your mp3 device. What that means is that you can have a daily dose of audio content to listen to.

It started with a little article in Wired this morning that sort of brought it to life. I then went digging and found a couple of sites (1 & 2) that list podcast programming … finally I found a how-to article that really lays out how to set this whole thing up on a Mac. Really cool and it has me thinking about how we could use it in this class, at the Solutions Institute, or for the School of IST. My co-worker, Bart Pursel and I have been toying with the idea of a bi-weekly Internet radio show, SBL Live that would cover innovation and interesting daily news. If you’re interested, I’ll show you all our first show’s playlist. What I really think is cool is that it gives US the power to build our own media outlet … how can the FCC deal with this? Who’s rules do we play by in this world? If you think blogging is getting big, just wait … with the explosion of mp3 players, this could be the next big thing …

The questions I have for all of you are related to your usage … would you listen to podcasts? Would you produce them? Would you like it if some of your assignments were built around this new concept? Take a look at some of the links and let us all know what you think–>

I saw this little article in BBC Tech News this morning and thought I’d share it … here’s the teaser:

“Children at a secondary school in Bradford got a little more than they bargained for when an Internet search for information about the heart resulted in a page of links to hardcore pornography.”

If you go on to read the article you’ll see the snafu was due to a faulty search filtering technology. All this stuff is software based, so I thought it went along nicely with the readings we’ve been doing (uhm, you HAVE been reading haven’t you). Seems to me if you are a major player — or are trying to hold onto being a major player — in the search space you better make sure your bread and butter technologies work. Looks like Ask Jeeves pulled the new technology before it “filtered” any more results … teaching with technology never seemed so dangerous – and exciting!

In some unrelated news, Google — the real search engine … finally topped its IPO price of $108-$135.00. After weeks of performing below, or at, that level the Internet search giant broke the $135.00 ceiling and closed at $138.37. Not that you guys care too much, but it is interesting to note that what was once a niche category is now THE major player in Internet technology. Just very interesting … You can read the article at the NY Time Online, but you’ll have to register for free … which I highly recommend!

While I’m reporting random tech news, the European Union wants to see Microsoft stay clear of owning the rights to a dominant DRM technology … they feel it will strengthen Microsoft’s strangle hold on the desktop and the emerging digital media market. Take a look at this article in Wired and start to think about what it all means.

One more quickie for you — insert porn joke here — I read this morning in the Chronicle of Higher Education that Congress has praised several Colleges for their efforts to curb illegal file sharing. Guess who’s in it? That’s right our very own President Spanier … interesting read and fits well with where we are going. You think all this stuff is really making a difference?

Interesting times to be alive! Porn in sixth grade, tech bouncing back, DRM battles just getting started, and PSU stopping illegal file sharing … What are your thoughts on this or anything else?

Topic 5 discusses the various forms of Computer Software … it does a decent job of covering the basics and should be required reading if you are new to the “computer thing.” It starts out with a real basic overview of system software and operating systems, how the machine interacts with the system, what the GUI is, and then jumps into the basic types of application software.

Software isn’t something you can get too jacked up about, but rest assured there are some VERY important things discussed in the topic … so make sure you get in there and read it. Some of the more interesting things discussed are the approaches to programming and a brief history related to the types of computer languages. All-in-all, good stuff and important information to know … Answer the question below and let us know what you think!

Discussion Activity 5

The GUI (pronounced Gooey) has made computing much more accessible to the masses. It also may be responsible for the explosion in popularity of the personal computer. Predict what the world would be like today if the graphical user interface were not invented. Would computers be as popular today without it? Would as many people be using computers without the GUI? How would our lives be different?

In class today I showed you all a couple of screen shots of a new software suite we are building in the IST Solutions Institute … I asked for you all to think of a good name for the project or the product itself. I am posting a quick shot of the prototype showing the student, faculty, and peer video review panels. Look at it, think about it, and submit your entry. Winning entry gets a prize … OK, maybe not anything good, but you’ll be recognized for your creativity!