Google Forms - Using the Cloud

Acquiring and sending data has now been taken to another level. Welcome to the cloud, welcome to Google Docs. The race is on to see what software company can make the most impact with regards to cloud computing. Google has set the mark with Google Docs and Google Forms.  

                                                                                                     

"“To the extent that the industry is moving toward an on-demand business model, it poses a threat to Microsoft,” said Kenneth Wasch, president of the Software and Information Industry Association and a longtime Microsoft adversary "(Markoff 2007).   Game on!!!

Now associates can work simultaneously on a project, get instant updates. A project manager has a perfect tool to handle any major project and save valuable time. Meetings can be more meaningful, because everyone can now easily be on the same page, or they maybe be eliminated do to everyone having access to the project.

Whether a firm is planning the yearly company picnic and forms a committee to handle the event planning to major construction jobs,  by using the cloud updating is at your finger tips.

Surveys are a great way to get feedback from customers. When feedback is shared, everyone benefits from the information that is collected.

Check out my little survey I put together on the Buffalo Sabres.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFRQMjB2VHA5UEE0UnlNN2N2dlA2UVE6MQ


Works Cited

Markoff, John. " Software via the Internet: Microsoft in 'Cloud'computing." pbworks.com. pbworks, 3 Sept. 2007. Web. 25 Mar. 2012.

Images Cited

Buffalo Sabres Logo- Trademark of the Buffalo Sabres

Google Docs - Google Images

Linking My Career - LinkedIn

As part of my personal learning network, I need to be connected with people that mater most. Networking will always be an important part in developing a career. Linkedin is the free tool that will do that. Remember the key to any successful  networking is to be noticed. By displaying your experiences and qualification we can be "linked " to other that  share the same interests but on a professional level.

"Most people use LinkedIn to “get to someone” in order to make a sale, form a partnership, or get a job. It works well for this because it is an online network of more than 8.5 million experienced professionals from around the world representing 130 industries"(Kawasaki).

                                                                             

There are many benefits to using LinkedIn. Probably one of the most important is the more you develop your profile and  connections, the higher your name will be displayed on searches on search engines like Google. I have added my contacts from outlook at home and will and contacts from outlook at work. I have also added the link to my signature in outlet so that I can gain even more contacts.

Users also have the ability to ask questions and get useful answers from professionals in their network. Check out the tens ways to get the most from LinkedIN by Guy Kawasaki.

Read more: http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/ten_ways_to_use.html#ixzz1oopyHg9o         

                                                                              

Any negatives  such as spam or privacy issues are minor compared with the benefits. So get connection and watch our connections in your profession grow. To explore and get more out of LinkedIn checkout How to Dominate LinkedIn by Garin  Kilpatrick. http://smartonlinesuccess.com/dominate-linkedin/

Works Cited

Kawasaki, Guy. blog.guykawasaki.com. N.p., 4 Jan. 2007. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. <http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2007/01/ten_ways_to_use.html#axzz1oopNW7OO>.

Images Cited

Kilpatrick, Garin. How To: Dominate LinkedIn. 2012. Smart Online Success. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. <http://smartonlinesuccess.com/dominate-linkedin/>.
Murphy, Patrick. Five ways to Improve Your Presence in 2012. 2012. Silicon Cloud Blog. Web. 11 Mar. 2012. <http://www.siliconcloud.com/blog/bid/80739/5-Ways-To-Improve-Your-LinkedIn-Presence-in-2012>.

My Personal Learning Network

My personal learning network is always going to be a work in progress. Using the tools of Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, You Tube and blogging I will be able to express my thoughts while providing and obtaining valuable information.  To do this I plan to stay organized and use Symbaloo as my organizer for all of my leaning needs. The objective is to stay organized and focus on material that matters.Leaning does not stop because I am finished with college. IT continues to grow , change, and evolve into a well defined " data server" for advancement of my career.

                                            

http://teachersusingtech.weebly.com/personal-learning-networks.html

My goal is to progress into a management position in either procurement or facility maintenance by using my experience, make new connections in the same field in order to learn from them and express my ideas. This continuous development will make me stronger in my field and layout a road map guiding me as I establish myself in my career field.

Connecting all of the social media types and posting blogs will allow me to increase my presence and bring more information to me. By using readers like Google reader, I can subscribe to those blogs that will keep my in the loop of information that is necessary in my career field.

 My path will change form time to time and I must be ready to adapt to these changes. By staying organized and on top of my personal information library, I can move with the changes rather than play catch up. This is so important in today's fast pace global environment.

Separating Business from Pleasure

As the world gets smaller from the increase in technology that continues to explode the information age,  the way information is researched, downloaded and shared, business and the government in particular, has the task of trying to stay current with these technologies while maintaining high security in a post 911 environment.
                                                                             


I see the tight security first hand since I work for a government contractor. The don'ts far out number the do's when using electronic devices. We are not allowed to use flash drives or connect to the system with other unapproved computer devices. However, as technology continues to evolve, the government , just like business, can either adjust to technology or simply fall behind. Luckily, security technology is catching up with the different devices.

Many companies have concerns of allowing its employees mix " business with pleasure". Firms are trying to keep certain data confidential. Firms also are concern with safety issues regarding such  as texting while driving.
Companies have developed guidelines for its associates to follow. These guidelines include : "

Don't:

• Allow mobile devices to have free access to all sensitive corporate data, unless strong security measures (VPNs, authentication and encryption) are in place.
• Leave mobile devices in areas where they can be seen or easily taken.
• Share or leave password information in places where unauthorised users can find it"(Business Link).

                                                                                  

As for the government, keeping personal data separate from secured government systems was the best way to protect the sensitive material.  That is until recent developments in technology."

This spring, Korean manufacturer LG -- not a device maker known for security-savvy smartphones -- will deploy Android smartphone prototypes for U.S. federal government testing that run two separate operating systems, one managed by the user and one by the government"(Gruman).   By having separate operating systems, users can have their personal data on one and high security for the government on the other. 

If the future is like the past, business will gain follow government innovation  for development of technology necessary to help organize and keep business separate from pleasure.

 Works Cited
EasiShare - Secure "dropbox" for Enterpr. You Tube. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWRLVKvyusA>.


Gruman, Galen. "Business smartphone, personal smartphone: One device." Info World. Info World, 28 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/business-smartphone-personal-smartphone-one-device-185908>.

"Managing the Use of Mobile Devices." Business Link. Business Link, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1074298309&type=RESOURCES>.

Images Cited

IT and Computing. Deakin University, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.deakin.edu.au/current-students/it-support/email/mobile/index.php>.

Research Alternatives to Search Engines

There are more ways to obtain information than uses the regular search engine method. "For in-depth or scholarly research,  a more effective strategy is to access specialized collections of electronic resources"(Shelly, Napier, Rivers). These sites include..."well known services such as  LexisNexis, IgentraConnect,FindLaw, Hoover's, Dun & Bradstreet, and Dialog"(Shelly, Napier, Rivers).

Whether your looking for news or historical documentation, LexisNexis offers many sources for research. IngentaConnect lists over 10,000 from professional and academic sources.Small and large business owners turn to Hoover's and Bradstreet for business information and stock information.  

                                                            

Another great reference tool is the Library of Congress's THOMAS which gives legislative information.  Unlike THOMAS, Thomas Registry gives users the ability to find vendors of particular products.

                                                      

http://www.thomasnet.com/?cov=NA&heading=0000000&pslpid=0000000&WT.mc_t=PPC&WT.mc_n=mcgoog&WT.sem_engine=mcgoog&WT.srch=1&WT.z_sem_account=1&mctoken=none&WT.sem_keyword=thomas%2520register

Works Cited

Shelly, Gary B., Albert H. Napier, and Olilie Rivers. Discovering the Internet Complete Concepts and Techniques. 3rdrd ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2010. 149. Print.


Images Cited

Lexis Nexis. Advertisement. Wikipedia. Wikapedia, 13 Dec. 2008. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&gl=us&biw=1600&bih=756&tbm=isch&tbnid=mkR9IkziZG_O6M:&imgrefurl=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:LexisNexis_logo.png&docid=tRWyShKQVt1CEM&imgurl=http://upload.wikim>.

Thomas Register. Advertisement. Useful CAD Links. MyCadSite.com, n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.we-r-   here.com/cad_07/links/index.htm>.

Advanced Internet Searching

One of the nice features that internet search box has  on Internet Explorer, is the ability to add new search engines to the quick pick menu. This id done through the Add-ons Gallery. Searching specific information an a web page can  take place by using  the find bar to sift through all the information on a page and help quickly locate the exact topic your looking for.  Another  nice feature is the ability to use the Research Explorer Bar to search online reference tools.


                                                                                 


A great Shortcut in internet searching is that a user can narrow down the results simply by use a search engine that is more specialized in that particular area."Searching for people, news,magazine or journal articles, video, blogs ans other social media, products  or services can be made easier when you use specialized search engines"(Shelly, Napier, Rivers).


For example searching the government for various form and tools can be cumbersome to say the least."The U.S. government generates a wealth of useful and interesting information. Despite excellent government-oriented search engines like USA.gov and Data.gov, government information isn't always easy to find. That’s why if you use government information it’s important to put together your own toolkit of specialized government-related search engines. Here’s a roundup of several new search tools that have come online in the couple of weeks"(Price). http://searchengineland.com/a-roundup-of-new-u-s-government-search-tools-109408?utm_source=sel&utm_medium=scap&utm_campaign=email

Works Cited

Shelly, Gary B., Albert H. Napier, and Olilie Rivers. Discovering the Internet Complete    Concepts and Techniques. 3rdrd ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2010. 140. Print.

Price, Gary. Search Engine Land. Third Door Media, 30 Jan. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://searchengineland.com/a-roundup-of-new-u-s-government-search-tools-109408?utm_source=sel&utm_medium=scap&utm_campaign=email>.

Images Cited

Local Internet Search via mobile helps customers find your business. 2011. Business Video Fast. Web. 10 Mar. 2012. <http://www.businessvideofast.com/2011/01/local-internet-search-via-mobile-helps.html>.

Power Up your Browsing

Searching the internet can be a cumbersome job resulting in searching through thousands of web pages. But thanks to advanced searching techniques and shortcuts , searches on the internet can lead to the results you expect. Many search engines have build in Boolean operators that uses conjunction like and , or and not.

 Also when performing a search, it is best to try to be as precise as possible in order to narrow down the search results. " For example, suppose you are researching an answer to the following question: How many college students play sports and why? After selecting the search engine to use, the next task is to formulate the search query by selecting the keywords that will perform the search most efficiently - college and students and sports"(Shelly,Napier, Rivers).

Shortcuts are also was to get the fastest results while searching web pages. For example, if looking for maps while on Yahoo, simply type " map! (city your looking for)"   Bing and Google both offer short cuts for currency conversion and weather respectively.

Google Chrome offers unique and easy way to search web sites. Partial typing of keywords loads possible results and use of tab key allow uses to quickly move to what they need. "Chrome makes it much easier to add search engines than other browsers, as it automatically adds new search sites as you perform searches on various sites across the web"(Guay). http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/24227/complete-guide-to-keyword-shortcuts-to-search-sites-in-google-chrome/ 

                                                                              

The easy for searching the internet is continuously evolving and its a good thing because the number of new users continuously increasing as well. What will the next great search engine lead us?

Images Cited

Google Images

Works Cited

Shelly, Gary B., Albert H. Napier, and Ollie Rivers. Discovering the Internet Complete Concepts and Techniques. 3rd ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2010. 123. Print.

Guay, Mathew. "Shortcuts to Search Sites in Google Chrome." How to Geek. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Aug. 201. <http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/24227/complete-guide-to-keyword-shortcuts-to-search-sites-in-google-chrome/>. 

Browsing the Internet

I never paid attention that there was more to internet searches than using the default web browser. To search the internet you can either use computer software or use directories. "A human-compiled , hierarchical list  of web pages organized by category is called directory"(Shelly,Napier, Rivers). Basically it takes a broad category and narrows it down through use of a breadcrumb trail. These sub-categories narrow down to specific information.


The other form of performing a search is through search engines. These are software programs  use  a web crawler to search the internet for keywords. Different search engines can and will produce different results depending on popularity of the keyword , sponsored  listings and placement due to paid listings.


Finally, many search tools have become hybrids - basing their results on indexes created both by Web crawlers and human editors.(Shelly, Napier,Rivers).

One of the neat features is the ability to search web sites through multiple search engines or what is called metasearch engine"Metasearch engines  were developed to compile  the search results from multiple search engines into a single search result list"(Shelly, Napier,Rivers).




"The World Wide Web creates many new challenges for information retrieval. It is very large and
heterogeneous. Current estimates are that there are over 150 million web pages with a doubling
life of less than one year. More importantly, the web pages are extremely diverse, ranging from
"What is Joe having for lunch to day?" to journals about information retrieval. In addition to these
major challenges, search engines on the Web must also contend with inexperienced users and pages
engineered to manipulate search engine ranking function"(Ilpubs).

http://ilpubs.stanford.edu:8090/422/1/1999-66.pdf

Web designers are trying to make web pages easier to navigate due to the fact that more users are coming online everyday. Social media is the method that will tie all this together and help users search the internet through connections and personal learning networks.

Image Courtesy of Google Images






Works Cited

Shelly, Gary B., Albert H. Napier, and Olilie Rivers. Discovering the Internet Complete Concepts and    Techniques. 3rdrd ed. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2010. 110-120. Print.


Page, Lawrence and Brin, Sergey and Motwani, Rajeev and Winograd, Terry (1999) The PageRank Citation Ranking: Bringing Order to the Web. Technical Report. Stanford InfoLab.


Images Cited


http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/michaeldb/michaeldb0906/michaeldb090600003/4956077-a-set-of-magnifying-glass-icons-to-search-the-earth-to-find-a-web-page.jpg

GoAnimate.com: Social Networking is the future in Communication by Scott Dirmyer

Like it? Create your own at GoAnimate.com. It's free and fun!


Now we can be creative even if we don't have artistic ability. Go Animate helps with tutorials and gives web blogs that added flair. Social networking and use of sites like Go Animate can help us develop our personal learning networks. This is the future of communication and it is only the beginning!!

Symbaloo

Personal Learning Network

Symbaloo contains my social networking sites  Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Tweekdeck, and many others. This will continue to develop and expand so that my leaning network becomes a valuable resource.