PICLYF! :)

Want to share your memories to the world? Then join Piclyf! It is the newest photo sharing + social networking site in one! It is based in Davao City, Philippines. You can also win prizes(like iPad!) just by earning badges and a little bit of luck during the raffle day. It is a much quicker way of photo sharing because you can link your facebook, tumblr, wordpress and other social networking sites and blogging sites to publish your photo in all of your accounts in just one click. It has many more features - but I'll let you discover it for yourself. So join Piclyf now!!

CASE STUDY #3 - TIME-SHARING ENVIRONMENT SECURITY ISSUES

            Just a piece of review, multiprogramming is the allocation of a computer system and its resources to more than one concurrent application, job, or user which is being used in a time-sharing environment where two or more computers can share computer resources to one another. 

Having this type of environment is reasonably normal nowadays due to its benefits which are (1) Resource Sharing Capability, (2) More efficient file sharing, (3) Standard PC hardware can be used by any workstation in the environment gives flexibility, easy maintenance, and cost efficiency, and a lot more. But like any other computer technology, it has various problems especially on security.

            Security of files is one of the main problems in a time-sharing environment. Due to more efficient file sharing capability of the said environment other users can also view, edit, or even erase a file that you saved in folder that is shared in the environment. Yes, you can say that it is a bit clumsy in part of the maker of the file to save it in a shared folder but let us think of it as the person is still a beginner with zero knowledge about the environment. It will be just tolerable if the file does not have much importance like an old assignment or pictures that already were uploaded to different social networking sites because you can easily retrieve those. But what if the files that were accessed are private pictures(no pun intended) or assignments or projects that is to be passed. It would be a big disaster.

            Another security problem that might be encountered in the said environment is the increase of sophisticated hacker attacks. Hackers nowadays shifted from crashing system for fun to professional criminals taking over systems for profit which means additional motivation for them to do this dirty job. Installing security features are not enough. The user himself must be responsible on handling the workstation he is assigned on. But we all know that a trait like that is something that everybody doesn’t have. For example, in a company, where the computers will be most likely in a time-sharing environment and, possibly, are internet connected. One reckless employee curiously clicks a link without minding a possible hacker attack. The user is prompted if he would like to download “name-that-is-not-suspicious.exe”.  The user clicks the “Yes” button downloading what he thought is only the “name-that-is-not-suspicious.exe” but, for the sake of this situation; he also downloaded a malware, software designed to secretly access a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The attack now leads to illegal accessing to the system of the company affecting all the workstations and server/s of the environment which then resulted to modification and loss of data. And finally the hacker smiles in contentment. Of course problems like this can be controlled by proper orientation of employees and better security features but curiosity and fast technological advancement are things that are hard to catch.

            Obviously there is a great difference between the degrees of security in a time-sharing machine as we have in a dedicated machine. Time-sharing machines are more prone to unauthorized or illegal access by its co-machine in the environment or coming from outside of the environment like hackers this is due to it has a bigger parameter than a dedicated machine which makes it more hard to secure.

CASE STUDY #2 - USAGES OF HANDHELD COMPUTERS FOR PROFESSIONALS

It is not to be disregarded that technology has a great influence on any kind of person nowadays. Professionals, for example, rely on fast innovating technology in order to run their businesses or to do their respective jobs efficiently thus making life easier. But not all the time they will be in their offices. For this reason, technology provided them with what we call handheld computers. From the name itself, handheld computers are computers which are portable or can be carried by hand. Some examples of handheld computers are iPod, cellphone, iPhone, PDA and pager.

Hereunder are some usages I theorized for two professionals that I selected.

A delivery person for a courier service

            I know you already know some businesses that provide courier services in the Philippines some of which are LBC, 2GO, and JRS. Their goal is to deliver packages depending on what kind of service you availed from one place to another. One of the services that you may avail is the door-to-door courier delivery service which the protagonists are the delivery persons. Common problem among these actors of the scene are the addresses of the letters or packages they need to deliver for the fact that some of them are elusive. This is the time where handheld computers come in handy. Expectedly, the handheld computer should have a GPS on it where with proper application you can view where you are and where your destination is. Moreover, it can also show to the delivery person the shortest path from where he is to where the package or letter will be delivered with consideration to traffic and other blockages thus making the delivery faster and safer. 

MANAGER IN A SUPERMARKET

            We all know that being a manager requires great responsibility especially if you are running a big supermarket. There are many aspects that should be given importance like the prices, expiration dates, and number of products depending on the demand-supply rate, the required workforce, financial statements, and security. All of these should be closely monitored by the manager in order to be called a good administrator of the business. This is where technology comes in again. Handheld computers, with proper software, can facilitate these entire jobs making the life of the manager easier.

            With access to the database of the supermarket, the manager, wherever he may be, can use a handheld computer to keep an eye on the available stocks with each product rather than going to a bulk of files to see each available stock of a particular product which takes time and effort. Furthermore, he can also check and sort the products according to the details like expiration date, price, weight, manufacturer, and the like. Moreover, to be an excellent manager you must know your employees. Not only their names but how good they are in work to scrutinize who deserves a promotion and who deserves a demotion. You can check this by checking the attendance and performance rate of each employee that can be also provided by your handheld computer, with proper application and resources of course, anywhere you like. In addition, you can also supervise or review the transactions that have been made. Last but not the least the chance to check the supermarket by getting access to the security cameras using the handheld computer which is currently being used in some businesses in Japan.

Basically, with our current technology now you can do office works in a café or in your house or wherever you want.