Sunday 27 May 2012

The ICT Impacts To The World (Part 2)

As I promised before, here I would like to share the other 5 from The Ten (10) Forces That Flattened The World, which taken from a book title The World Is Flat (Thomas L. Friedman):

6) Offshoring, by contrast to the outsourcing, is when a company taken one of its factories that is operating in the domestic/local country, and moves the whole factory offshore to the other country. These business practices getting actively in the business world since the December 11, 2011 when China formally joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). This means that Beijing agreed to follow the same global rules governing imports, export and foreign investments that most countries in the world were following. By doing offshoring, the factory will produces the very same product in the very same way, only with cheaper labor, lower taxes, subsidized energy and even lower health care costs.

7) Supply-Chaining is a method of collaborating horizontally among suppliers, retailers and customers to create additional value. Supply-chaining is both enabled by the flattening of the world because the more these supply chains grow and proliferate, the more they force the adoption of common standards between companies that can interface with others. Then, the companies will eliminate points of fractions so they become more efficient among each other and finally they will encourage global collaboration.

8)  Insourcing, is also one of a whole new form of collaboration and creating value horizontally. Compared to the Supply-Chaining which normally involved big companies, insourcing suitable for the smaller company. These small companies saw a lot of places where they could sell their goods/services, manufacture their goods or buy their raw materials in a more efficient manner. The best example is the UPS company that will go to the bigger company, analyze the manufacturing, packaging and delivery processes, and the design , redesign and manage the whole company's global supply chain. Just like when UPS will pick up breakdown Toshiba computer, the UPS will repair it and send it right back to the Toshiba customers.

9) In-Forming is the individual's personal analog to uploading, outsourcing, insourcing, supply-chaining and offshoring. In-Forming is the ability to build and deploy your own personal supply chain such as a supply chain of information, knowledge and entertainment. In-forming is about self collaboration when you becoming your own self-directed and self-empowered researcher, editor and selector of entertainment. In-forming is searching for knowledge, normally using Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (MSN Search) or any search engine that available.

10) Digital, Mobile, Personal and Virtual where Digital explained that majority of current jobs can be digitized and therefore can be shaped, manipulated and transmitted over computer. By virtual, the process of shaping, manipulating and transmitting this digitized content can be done at very high speed using underlying digital pipes, protocols and standards. By mobile, through the wireless technology, all of the jobs can be done from anywhere, with anyone, through any device and can be taken anywhere. And by personal, its means that it can be done by you, just for you, on your own device.

Credit to the Thomas L. Friedman.

Thursday 24 May 2012

Choosing a smartphone


Why until now I don't have any smartphone?

My favourite smart phone
 Personally, I think that when I have a smartphone, I'll not fully utilize the usage of the smartphone. I still believe that,  the marketing personnel and department creatively innovated all of the applications in a smartphone in order to create needs and demand to the users, even though the consumer will not use the application in the smartphone.
Despite of that, I'm ready to have a smartphone in future due to the usage, current trends and application available.

Before that, I would like to share the ideas in choosing a smartphone. This article mainly taken from The Malaysian Insider online news and from the other articles.

Technical specifications explained:
    iPhone (Google)
  • GHz (aka processor speed or the smartphone “brain”)
GHz is the abbreviation for gigahertz, the unit used to measure your phone’s processor speed. This determines how responsive your phone will be and how quickly it will swap between applications and browse the web. A typical smartphone in today’s market will usually come with a 1GHz processor or higher.
  • RAM (aka performance)
RAM, measured in megabytes (MB), determines the number of applications your phone can run at the same time without slowing the device down. If you’re just browsing the web or making calls, 256MB will be enough. If you like to run multiple applications (called multitasking) at the same time or play a lot of processor-intensive games, aim for a minimum of 512MB.
  • GB (aka storage)
Smart phone by Samsung
Depending on the phone you buy it may have integrated storage (that can’t be added to or removed) or a device with an expansion slot for a microSD, SD or MiniSD memory card. Device storage is measured in gigabytes (GB). If you want to store lots of music, videos, photos and apps you will want more storage. Most removable memory cards will store between 2GB and 34GB.
  • MP (aka camera quality)
The smartphone’s camera quality is measured in megapixels (MP). Typically, a smartphone with more MP will take better (higher resolution) photos. Most new smartphones now feature a 5MP or better camera but you can find smartphones that capture up to 16MP.
  • 3G or 4G (aka cellular data internet speed)
3G and 4G refer to the speed of your cellular data speed or how quick your phone’s internet connection is over your carrier’s network. Measured in Kbps and Mbps, 3G networks typically range from 144Kbps to 2.4Mbps. 4G speeds are the next step up and typically range between 1Mbps to 25Mbps (but differ country by country and carrier by carrier). 4G is expected to hit speeds of 100Mbps — faster than your existing home broadband connection — in the future. The consumers must have the knowledge of highest cellular data internet speed in his area.

Tips to buy a smartphone:
Lumia (Google)
1. Try before you buy
Go into a store and try as many different smartphones as you can to see which one feels most comfortable. Before you buy use the exact model you are interested in purchasing. Try using the device to take a photo, send a text, make a call, download apps and browse the internet.Focus on the features you want
Figure out what is most important to you (long battery life, good camera, fast internet (WiFi and 3G or 4G), cost, easy-to-use operating system, applications, gaming, email). This will help you choose the right handset for your needs. 

2. Choose your operating system
Major smartphone operating systems include Google’s Android, Apple’s iOS, Microsoft’s Windows Phone and Research In Motion’s BlackBerry platform. Choosing the right operating system (often referred to as a smartphone “OS”) is almost more important than choosing the right smartphone: It will determine the applications you can download and will govern the way you interact with your phone.

3. Research, research, research
HTC (Google)
After narrowing it down to a few models, hit the web and search for smartphone reviews. Look for “hands on” reviews on technology blogs like TechCrunch, The Verge, Gizmodo, VentureBeat, ReadWriteWeb, AllThingsD, Engadget, Mashable, CNET and The Next Web for comprehensive information about the smartphone you are interested in.

4. Take a knowledgeable friend with you
It’s good to have a tech-savvy friend to provide assistance and make sure you don’t get conned into buying old technology at inflated prices. If you don’t have a friend in the know, sites like Decide and Retrevo can help you find the right device at the right price.

I do recommend the following:
  • One spec that you should look at is battery life. Nothing worse than dealing with a dead phone when you need it most.
  • If you have a choice, get a phone with as much RAM as you can. CPU speed isn’t the only factor in the zippiness of a device.
  • Don’t just go by whether a processor is single-, dual- or (as more phones release) quad-core. Some phones are actually zippier with a single-core CPU than others with dual cores, likely because the software was written optimally for it.
  • Consider your storage needs. If you know you’re an app hound, or you tend to stash large amounts of media on your phone, you’ll need as much room as you can afford.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has just released a handy guide that explains smartphone basics on hardware specs. The guide focuses on Windows Phones but still offers some helpful advice for first time smartphone buyers. PC Advisor has also created an in depth smartphone buyer’s guide that can be found there. — AFP/Relaxnews

The ICT Impacts To The World (Part 1)


One of the my favorite books

As I mentioned before, I would like to share one of the my favorite book which I bought in February 2007 ago. The title is THE WORLD IS FLAT, by Thomas L. Friedman.
Actually, some of the contents of this book's was used by me during presenting Public Speaking when I'm doing my Penilaian Tahap Kompetensi (PTK) in 2008.

The author's mentioned that there are Ten (10) Forces That Flattened The World. In this Part 1, I would like to share the first five (5) of the factors which are: 


  1. On November 9, 1989: The New Age of Creativity; when the fall of the Berlin Wall that unleashed and tipped the balanced of power across the world towards those advocating democratic, consensual, free-market oriented governance, and away from those advocating authoritarian rule. The Cold War had been a struggle between two economic systems which between capitalism and communism. When the Berlin Wall fall in 1989, there was only one system left.
  2.  The New Age of Connectivity: When the Web Went Around and Netscape Went Public. The authors did mentioned about the concept of a World Wide Web (WWW), a system for creating, organizing and linking documents so they could be easily browsed over the Internet. In facts, WWW was developed by British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee and he posted the first Web site in 1991. After the Berners-Lee inventions, others scientist and created a number of browsers to surf this early Web. The whole culture of Web browsing for the general public was created by a tiny start-up company in Mountain View, California, called Netscape. Netscape went public on August 9, 1995.
  3. Work Flow Software. The rise and integration of work flow software in mid-to late 1990s was a quiet revolution that most people had no clue what was happening. The work flow software enable more people in more places to design, display, manage and collaborate on business data previously handled manually. The first breakthrough in work flow was the combination of the PC and e-mail.
  4. Uploading. There are variety of uploading. The flat-world platform not only enabled more people to author more content, and to collaborate on that content. it also enabled people to upload files and globalize the content. The most popular uploading web site is Wikipedia, that also known as "the people's encyclopedia". The word "wiki" is taken from the Hawaiian word for "quick". Wiki are Web sites that allow user to directly edit any Web pages on their own from their home computer.
  5. The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman
  6. Outsourcing here means that many American business player looking more brainpower, educated person especially from India to migrate to the United State to work with them. The history begin when Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, set up the first of India' seven Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in the eastern city of Kharagpur. in the fifty-five years since then, hundreds of thousands of Indian have completed to gain entry and then graduate from these IIT's. However, India could not provide good jobs for most of the talented engineers. So, America got to be the second buyer of India's brainpower.

GPS Navigation Device

I still remember when I bought a GPS Navigation Device at the end of year 2011. With considerably at cheaper price compare to the one year before, I also received several gives namely as anti-virus software, hard disk cover and several others.


This is the GPS device in my hand's.
I feel that GPS help a lot in finding a route especially at unfamiliar place or location. GPS also capable in tracing the speed trap location. 

But the user must read that GPS cautiously during driving. Please avoid any incidents or accidents.  


The GPS device activate.
However, my wife unable to use the GPS mainly because confusion during driving and also annoyed from the GPS voice.


What is the GPS Navigation Device?

A GPS navigation device is any device that receives Global Positioning System (GPS) signals for the purpose of determining the device's current location on Earth. GPS devices provide latitude and longitude  information, and some may also calculate altitude, although this is not considered sufficiently accurate or continuously available enough due to the possibility of signal blockage and other factors). GPS devices are used in military, aviation, marine and consumer product applications.

GPS devices may also have additional capabilities such as:
  • containing maps, which may be displayed in human readable format via text or in a graphical format
  • providing suggested directions to a human in charge of a vehicle or vessel via text or speech
  • providing directions directly to an autonomous vehicle such as a robotic probe
  • providing information on traffic conditions (either via historical or real time data) and suggesting alternative directions
  • providing information on nearby amenities such as restaurants, fueling stations, etc.
In other words, all GPS devices can answer the question "Where am I?", and may also be able to answer:
  • which roads or paths are available to me now?
  • which roads or paths should I take in order to get to my desired destination?
  • if some roads are usually busy at this time or are busy right now, what would be a better route to take?
  • where can I get something to eat nearby or where can I get fuel for my vehicle?
Consumer GPS navigation devices include:
  • Dedicated GPS navigation devices
  • GPS modules that need to be connected to a computer to be used
  • GPS loggers that record trip information for download. Such GPS tracking is useful for trailblazing, mapping by hikers and cyclists, and the production of geocoded photographs. 
  • Converged devices, including GPS Phones and GPS cameras, in which GPS is a feature rather than the main purpose of the device. Those devices are the majority, and may use assisted GPS or standalone (not network dependent) or both.
Source of reference: Wikipedia

INTRODUCTION

Firstly, I would like to say thanks and deeply appreciation to the Prof Madya Dr Norzaidi Mohd Daud, our lecturer of Managerial Information System (MIS 750) because gave us an assignment which is to develop our own blog.

If not of him, I may not develop any blog at this time, since I have an intention to develop a blog. Therefore, this blog will be my starting point to be one of the active blogger in Malaysia.

Basically, at now, this blog will shared my experiences in using ICT apparatus or gadget due to the our lecturer request.