Module 13

                                                                                  What I've learned

I took this class not knowing what to expect from it. I don’t blog and don’t like writing very much so that part was a little awkward for me but after reading the book and sharing with others the way I saw every module and getting to read their point of view was actually great.

I like computers and everything that has to do with them but to be honest I did not know a lot about globalization, workflow software or how a dell was made and I had no idea how important it is to stay at par with technology.

I really enjoyed reading "A Logic named Joe"  it was very entertaining and at the same time help open our eyes about the power we give to computers. It made think of all the things people share on social media on a daily basis and how we all we do can be tracked by the way we use the computers,This has made think twice before posting on Facebook  Reading about GNR was a little scary, to think of the things we could be facing on a near future, I might not face it myself but maybe my daughter will. Makes me think what kind of world we will have then and how people could be close to useless if we don’t do something about it. It was good to know that there is a lot of people out there with the same thoughts.

Friedman's concept that the world is flat is true. We can see it everyday and everywhere we go. The way we communicate with others not only has helped business all over the world but also all of us as individuals. It is true that we are giving too much power to computers ,relying on them for almost everything but I believe that the more we fear the more power they will have over us. We have to accept that the world is all about technology now and just stay at par with it. 

Module 12

                                                                Module 12

  This week we review the article "Why the future doesn't need us" publish on Wired Magazine on April 2000. The article was written by Bill Joy and explains the term GNR and his fears on it.

GNR stands for genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. Joy was convinced that growing advances in genetic engineering and nanotechnology would bring risks to humanity.

Joy biggest concern regarding genetics is that "promises to revolutionize agriculture by increasing crop yields while reducing the use of pesticides; to create tens of thousands of novel species of bacteria, plants, viruses, and animals; to replace reproduction, or supplement it, with cloning; to create cures for many diseases, increasing our life span and our quality of life; and much, much more.” The problem is pointed out, however, that the military and offensive applications are almost easier and more easily manipulated than some of the peaceful applications for genetic research. Mr. Joy’s greatest concern regarding genetic technologies is “that it gives the power - whether militarily, accidentally, or in a deliberate terrorist act - to create a White Plague.” Joy explains that this technology must be monitored, but that monitoring would be most successful in an honors type system. Unlike atomic energy and where testing was evident, breakthroughs in genetics can be hidden and remain private until a malevolent source chose to act out some malicious plan.

He is also concern about nanotechnology and robotics, with nanotechnologies he fears that with the benefits of it we could face a big risk. People might be looking to save lives with all this technology but if we look at the whole picture like him it is another step closer to see the humans being half robots like some movies have shown us before. With robotics he points that soon machines will perform duties that would not require human intervention at all, and that soon after that robots will be making decisions on their own. This will make the system harder to turn off and by the time that people want control back the system will be so complex that humans beings will be incapable of doing so. When this happens machines will have total control over humans and we will be totally dependent on them. Joy also states that this new and advanced machines would be controlled by a few. The rich and powerful will have control over them and over the masses.

This article was written in 2000 and we are very close to the year he states this robots will be made.  It is scary to think about the human race being controlled by machines but we are a step closer every day. Some people might say that robots will never overpower humans because of their lack of emotion or pain but the way I see it that might be the advantage that they will have over us.

Module 11

                                                                                           Module 11

For this week the class had to review a film related to computers and write about it. I decided to watch again Live Free of Die Hard. I actually like all the die hard movies but this one is one of my favorites.The assignment is just to explain how the computers were used in the movie.

In this movie the F.B.I. is investigating a computer outage at their cyber-security division. They start tracing  the hackers responsible for this and they find out that most of them have been killed. The F.B.I decide to take the rest of the hackers into custody. This is when they ask detective John McLane to collect Matt Farrell because he was the closest officer available to Matt's location.

 McLane picks up Matt in time for him not be killed by assassins hired by the terrorist Matt was unknowingly working for named Gabriel. Matt explains McLane he was hired along with other hackers to find a code for a large amount of money but they didn't knew who was their boss.

When they get to D.C. there is chaos everywhere because Gabriel has taken over the transportation and stock market, he also broadcast a message threatening the United States and a broadcast showing a fake explosion of the capitol building.  Matt recognizes this as the start of an and attack designed to target the nation and explains that to McLane. They later find out that Gabriel was a top expert hacker for the U.S Defense Department  and was fired when he tried to show the head of the department about the vulnerability of America if there was a cyber-warfare.

While the movie keeps going we discover that Gabriel plan was to take over a National Security Agency building facility where all personal data and financial records of the United States were going to be saved in case of a cyber-security emergency, this security system was created after 9/11. We also find out that Gabriel was the one who created the program,that is why he knew all the information was going to be there and why he created all this chaos, to create the illusion of an emergency and activate the download. During the movie we can see how just with a few clicks Gabriel and his crew take over not only computers by changing the traffic lights or turning down all lights of the city but also how they could hurt people and control their lives by erasing their savings accounts,401k and trying to kill anyone that interferes with his plan.

I think in this movie the use of computers is very realistic, I don’t think every hacker is going to send an F-5 to kill you but I believe that someone with knowledge can hack into the transportation system or any other system and create a disaster. Now a days there is a lot that can be made from your computer if you have the tools, you don’t even need to be as smart as the bad guy in this movie, you can learn how to hack or override something from YouTube. I think there is a lot of movies out there that shows us how much power we have given to computers in our lives and how things can go wrong from it.

Module 10

This week our assignment was to read a short story called "A Logic Named Joe" while reading this story I could not believe it was written in 1946.The author of it describes how computers could solve our problems just by asking them. In this story Joe is some type of super computer that gets smarter with experience, Joe can connect to other logics and give people answers to any type of question. We can notice in the story how the author can see that not everyone was going to use this "power" as something good, maybe the kids were asking the computers to watch some cannibals shows or how to find a buried treasure, there were no filters to what kids were able to do or look in the computers, and adults were asking how to create weapons, how to get rid of someone or to how steal money from banks.

When Jenkins wrote this story computers were big machines used for bigger tasks. He predicted that we were going to be able to have this at home and use them for simple questions and for a lot more than they were used before.In the story everyone had a logic and they would use it to watch tv, make phone calls or chat and also to get information. Now, almost everyone has a computer at home and we are able to watch tv shows, get all the information we need about something and get a hold of anyone with another computer trough a video call, social networks or chat.

Now, a computer might not be able to do what Joe did in the story but we are very close to that point. They are programmed to save patterns of the way we use them and the things we like. I was a little creep out the first time I notice that right after I visited a popular clothing store website and got out of it, the next page I opened had a add with the same item I was looking at from the same store telling that they were recommending me the particular item. After that I started to research about it and its unbelievable all the information we don’t realize we share or we teach the computer every time we use them. It is a little bit scary. Computers evolve and are getting more powerful, the worst is that we rely on them for almost everything. I cant think of what would happened to the world if all technology was taken out of it.

At the end of the story Joe gets caught or maybe I should say that the human brain beat the machine. So maybe as long as we are smarter than computers they will not overpower humans.

Module 9

                                                                                          Module 9

Right now I'm reading the final chapters of this book and still learning about how the world has flatten and how companies or countries are using this in their advantage. In past modules we learned about supply chains and after learning about them we can realize that almost everything is made by supply chains.  The process of building a Dell laptop starts with the order of the computer, the order goes to Dell's systems, they get your personal information and everything related to the order, that includes your credit card information to charge you for the item. Once you order the computer doesn't mean that the item is sitting in a shelf waiting for you, instead the item is in little parts all over the world. They have six factories around the world and your computer will be assemble in one of those, but they order the parts from their SLC warehouse. Once the computer gets assembled it is sent down to arrive at the place where the software will be installed, after that the computer goes to the boxing department and gets ready to get sent out to the buyer. This is what we call supply chains.

Al-Qaeda has a supply chain of their own too. They use this for death and destruction. The book mentions that it’s a suicide chain. The flat world has made it easier for terrorists to transmit their terror and to move the tools to conduct their operations. With the help of the internet they can also get information on the places they want to attack or their enemies without having to travel to that place, they can also recruit and train their people. This shows us that the flattening of the world can be use  for any matter and by any group.

Countries in the middle east that are rich in oil get stuck on getting money just from drilling, they don’t develop or try to to find another ways of making money. This is what her refers to The Curse of Oil. These countries generally don’t have higher education, court systems or general rights for the citizens.

If there comes a time when the oil runs out the citizens of these countries will have no way of advancing or supporting themselves.

At the end of the book we can realize that all the advances in our technology are not always use for good, but it makes our world a more productive place and helps individuals around the world to expand.

Module 8

                                                                                         Module 8

I'm from Dominican Republic, a little island in the Caribbean, like you could imagine in a 3rd world country having a computer at home back then, I'm talking about 15 or more years ago, was a luxury that not everyone could afford. I was first introduced to computers when I was in middle school. The students only had one or two hours a week of computers class and we were not allowed to use the internet, just learn about the computer and how to use it.  I remember that computer class was the favorite class of most kids, mostly because we were all curious about computers or maybe because of the fact that after the lesson was over we could use paint until the hour was over.

When I got to High School computer class was more important, I was in an all girls school and the principal wanted to make sure that we got of school with some knowledge of technology so I remember having computer class 3 times a week for 2 hours. During this lessons we were thought how to type, use different computers programs and finally I was able to use the internet at school, but only for research. I can say that in School I learned all the basics skills of computers that I use so much today.  The skills that I learned back then not only helped me with my education today but also helped to get a job not only on Dominican Republic but also in the United States.

 After my first year in High School I remember using the internet a lot for my assignments, to have a little bit more information that what I had in books and to avoid going to the library. Today almost if not all aspects of school involves computers. Is not only used to research, we now use it to actually turn in our assignments and communicate with professors and other students. The internet has made possible for students to attend college completely online, making it easier for a person to set their own time to study and not having to go the campus.

I am one of those students who cant attend campus everyday, so computers are actually the most important factor on my education. I can take my classes online and they are a huge help on my research papers. I can find information from many sources and communicate with teachers and even with tutors to help me out if needed. I can say that I'm happy computers have taken such a great role in our education, I don’t think I will be going to School today if I didn't have the chance to be an all online student.

Module 7

                                                                    Module 7

For a long time some countries have been better then others  in different aspects of goods and trading. This is because of the location and resources that each country has, this means that if a country lacks of some products or good can still have success on another area. This is what its called Competitive Advantage. Every country has different levels of education and economic practices, the countries with most success or advantage are those who keep at par with technology and are better at innovation.

Competitive Advantage works internationally when countries produce goods separate and then are brought together to a market for the consumer.

Because of the internet we have what its called a self-directed consumers. Before the internet consumers had to buy in local companies and settle for their prices, there was not a way to compare the prices of the competition if this one was outside of your city or country. Now the internet has made possible for consumers to find the  best price and customization for them. They can search for stores nearby or stores In another country that might have a better price.  The consumer has a lot of power and feel in charge of their shopping experience, they can also let other consumers know if the experience was good or not. This is a big advantage for both, the consumers and the merchants. I am one of those consumers that, If I see something at any store I would look up for the item on the internet and try to get the most out of my dollar before buying it.

American culture has become a huge part of the global culture. Every day more and more countries are adopting American ways. In my home country, for example, I've notice that people not only include in our native language American words but also have adopted a lot of the way of Americans. I only noticed this after having moved to the United States, before that I never wonder why we did it.  Americanization is happening to everyone but we will always have countries that will want to keep their cultures the way it was.

Module 6

                                                                   Module 6

Free trade is the practice of international trade without interference of the government. This also means no taxes or fees for the goods that are being traded. The author of "The World  is Flat" tells about a English economist named David Ricardo who developed a theory on free trade that says that if a country only export the items in which it specializes then by doing that all the countries that export or import from other countries will make money and boost their own economies together. I think free trade its important because its allowing us to get products that maybe another country can make better at a better rate.

As is read in the book the new middlers are the jobs whose workers will create the new middle class. With the new technology a lot of jobs will soon become obsolete. The new middlers skills are important and some of this skills include being collaborators and orchestrators, being great synthesizers, great explainers, great collaborators, great adapters and being green. Having one of these skills is necessary but having all of them will get you success.

The equation CQ+PQ>IQ means that Curiosity Quotient + Passion Quotient is greater than Intelligent quotient. The author states that he would take a student with passion and curiosity over one with intelligence because of their ability to learn and create new outcomes. I agree with this statement, its very difficult for me and a lot of people to understand something or feel good doing it if they have no interest at all on what they are doing, It doesn’t matter if they are smart or not. Its not the same doing something that you like that something to get by. I also like how he says that with effort anything can be done no matter the IQ that a person has.

Module 5

                                                                                         Module 5

In chapter three of the book the Author talks about what he calls "The Triple Convergence". This basically tells you how all of the flatteners by getting together flatten the world even more.

The first convergence is the merging of flatteners or  technologies. Around the year 2000 they started to combine and worked together.

The product he describes called the Bizhub is a great example of this . This is a new platform or playing field that gives people the opportunity to collaborate with other in many different ways.

The second convergence explain how business are taking advantage of this new platform and using it effectively. The smaller the supply chains the more products companies can make that are in demand. The southwest example explains it really well. I've used this company and could not be happier for the process. I get to print my own boarding pass, saving me time in lines at the airport and for the company they save money not having to pay an extra employee to work overnight for people like me that like to have a seat on the A section.

The third convergence explains how more players are added to this field or platform. How this open a lot more concepts to do business.

This triple convergence is happening fast and as more players are added and more forms of collaboration are made available the ones that will lead the way will be those who have learn the process, habits and skills most quickly.

How ironic is that in the case of India and Indiana they were going to pay an Indian company to upgrade the unemployment department of Indiana. In this case it seems that India was going to be the exploited one but I'm not sure, they bid lowest than American companies and they were willing to hire some American workers to help out but also the Indians tech workers will be benefited from this contract which also it was great for business. The American company even expressed that the Indian company was great to work with. This move was going to save American tax payers millions of dollars that at the end might have been useful to hire more state workers.

When talking about intellectual property we can understand that refers to any product, it can be software, art, images, trademarks, etc. The point is that is property and it needs to be protected. There are laws to help protect this, copyright and patents are an example. The way I see it the owners or creators of a product should have protection, not everyone wants to collaborate and help with good intentions, someone could use your product to copy it or claim ownership of it to get the benefits. There is nothing in the market that cannot be copied or counterfeited. The intellectual property might be the key of a business and the inventor of the business should have the benefits from it. 

Module 4

                                                                                      Module 4

This week our assignment was to conduct a research on a job connected to computers or networks. I decided to talk to my Friend Carol. She works as an I.T. support specialist for a private company. She is from Dominican Republic, like me and we've known each other for years. Every time I've needed help or want information on a new software she is the one I call. Because I'm living in Utah and she still in Dominican Republic this interview we did it over Skype.

I talk to my family and my closest friends almost everyday, over Skype while using the computer or just text messages, we never go over 3 days without talking to each other but usually we talk about other stuff, not details about our jobs, so it was a little different this time when I had to make my friend sit and explain me her work over the video chat. We got out of context during the whole interview but she help me get the information I needed.

The first thing I asked her was to explain me why she decided to be an I.T. specialist, she told me that her first computer was used and every now and then will come up with some problem, she had someone fix the computer for her  a couple of times but they didn't do a good job so she decided to go on Google and find step by step information on what to do instead of paying someone to do it wrong. She said that there was nothing to lose with her trying to do it herself because the computer was going to die sooner or later anyways. After that she got fascinated with knowing how the computers worked and how to solve any issues with them.

After that I told her to explain me what she does everyday at work. She gets to work at 6:00 am everyday and the first thing she most do is verify that all tickets or problems from the day before are solved, she has to check the daily performance of all the computers systems, she also has to go and personally check that all employee computers have the appropriate software and that it works like its supposed to. She told me they keep records of data and they can access to see everything that has been downloaded to any computer in the company. They have to check to make sure employees are not downloading anything that is not work related. She also has to keep herself at par with training and/or manuals for new software and if there is any problem they have to create tickets, keep a record of it, give a report on how they solved it or what the problem was and also follow up to make sure the problem was completely solved.

She really likes her job and anything that has to do with computers. after this interview I know that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to and I.T. specialist job and it actually sounds really cool being able to know what to do with computers and how to fix them. 

Module 3

                                                                    Module 3

In this section of the book the Author keeps informing us about the ten forces that flattened the world as he sees it. He talks about offshoring ,outsourcing, supply chains and Google.

offshoring is shipping the entire business to another country to produce the product or service at a less-expensive price while Outsourcing takes a part of a company, like their call center and contracts a different company to do the same work for less money. While reading the book I realized that offshoring is not as bad as most people want to make it look because of people losing their jobs, the Author helped me understand that even when the company moved the entire business to another country a variety of studies indicate that for every dollar they invested in an offshore factory this makes additional exports for its home country. The offshoring works both ways and America also benefits of the offshore investment coming in every year from those that want access to American markets. Also I think that a lot of those companies that have moved their factories overseas might not be in business anymore without doing that and for most cases I've heard of the company usually leaves some jobs in the united states.

We can call supply chain at the process of moving a product from the supplier to the consumer. A big example of good supply chain is Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart Inc. has become the biggest and most profitable retailer on the market. They realized they could save money and offer better prices if they got their good directly from manufactures, they have cutting edge technology to their advantage , they learn from their customers and what products consumers are buying the most, then they send that information to the supply chain to get them replaced right away.

Google is everywhere, its available all over the world and in different languages, at this point you don’t even need to know how to type to use it, your voice is enough. What made Google the leader in search engines was the technology they used to show the most relevant pages to the specific keyword that was entered in the search bar. Google knows exactly what you are looking for and with this comes the way they affected business. They offered business the opportunity to advertise online, for a price of course, but depending on your search or keyword you now get ads for any business that offer what you are looking for. You can get an advertise for a local business or for someone who has the product you need in another part of the country or world. That has helped both, consumers and business. I'm one of those who wont buy an item without looking at the reviews, options or prices on Google first, and to be honest if I don’t know something I turn to Google.  This search engine has helped every type of business, from small to large company to have growing opportunities and those who are not at par with technology will not be able to compete with the ones who already are.

Module 2

Module 2

In this section of the book the author talks about more 3 more flatteners  He talks about workflow software, open source software and outsourcing.

Workflow Software is described by Friedman as a software that can be used in companies to make everything work together. He explains the software revolution developed after people who were connecting wanted to do more with the internet than just browsing or sending emails.  This gave companies the ability to communicate between departments. Before the workflow  companies had different systems on each department, depending on their needs, that didn't mean that they were not successful just that work didn't flow digitally because maybe in a company someone from the sales department still had to go to the warehouse to verify if the item needed was on inventory. We needed something that would ensure that everyone's emails and software could connect with everyone else's email and software.

A good example is the company I used to work for. It was a medical insurance company. I had to make sure that our customers were cold find a doctor with our product and all their claims were covered. I did not worked in the claims department or a doctors office but using their software system and without having to move from my office I was able to verify the claims that someone else had worked on another department, check their notes from the doctors office and a lot more. Communicating with other offices within the same company that were not even in the same building that I was at the moment.

Open source Software is also knows as community developed software and this one is created by programmers and given away for free download.  The programmers also let anyone that has something to improve this software to collaborate. The free software movement is a bigger deal that what some people think, right now almost every kind of software can be found with a free alternative. An example that I know and is also mentioned in the book is Open office, It has the basic features of Microsoft office but you don’t have to pay from $99 to $200 to use it. Most of the companies that offer paid software are very expensive and It is nice to have another option, I think that is a fact that makes open source so important in our lives.

The author also talks a little about uploading and with this comes Blogging , podcasting , YouTube and Wikipedia. All of this ones just illustrates how popular uploading has become. All this sites have allowed the users to share, view, contribute and also learn from others.

The last flattener on this module is outsourcing. The author explains how United states benefited from India, any service, business, call center or business operation that could be done over the internet could be outsourced to the cheapest provider. Outsourcing from America to India as a new form of collaboration exploded. He explains that Indian companies were good and cheap. The Y2K gave India a bigger chance to collaborate with western companies, to upgrade their  computers the companies had to find who will do the job for as little money as possible, and the Indians companies did just that. That makes outsourcing important, the effectiveness and cost. After that Indian companies started to develop their own products and transform themselves from maintenance to product  companies. 

Module 1

Module 1 

  

In the first part of The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman he discusses globalization and explain how the world has flatten by explaining that American companies are outsourcing their jobs with European, Asian and also Indian Countries to save money.

Globalization 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 describes the different eras of how people and countries interact with each other. Globalization 1 .0 began around 1492 up to the year 1800 and the global interaction during that time was between governments and nations. Globalization 2.0 began around 1800 up to 2000 and global interaction was happening more and more in companies and large corporations. The majority of these were initiated by western based companies. Around the year 2000 as he explains came globalization 3.0, our era, when is not about the country or the companies but about the individual, we now have the ability to share information, work or talk from different computers all over the world. Friedman says, allows “individuals to collaborate and compete globally” in what he calls a flat world platform.

Friedman talks about 10 events that helped flatten the word, right now I will talk about two of them. One of them was the fall of the wall of Berlin  Friedman explains how this was a critical event and it opened up new ways of communication for everyone. Friedman explains that the wall was not only blocking our way but it was blocking our sight .With the fall of the wall of Berlin communism came to an end and the countries under that system were free to pursue other markets.

Another event is Netscape. They created the first web browser that was accessible to anyone with a computer from small to large business to small children Friedman mentions “once the browser brought the internet alive and made web pages sing and dance and display, everyone wanted everything digitalized as much as possible”. They made it very simple for people to use and also offered free trials of their software. He also mentioned the fiber optic cables as that are vital for the internet to function. The rise of the internet usage has helped flatten the world. 

Technology grows every day, and because of this the world will keep getting flatter. For example I come from a small island called Dominican Republic, even when walking through a poor neighborhood you can see people with phones that have internet or with computers, sharing and communicating with others.  People from anywhere in the world can communicate with other anytime. As I finish reading the pages for this assignment I can understand why Friedman states that the world is flat.