Ambulance Case Study

Ambulance Case Study

Within the ambulance service there are more than just hands on paramedics which turn up to the scene of an emergency. There are also just as important operators at a local headquarter. They receive the calls and allocate the call to a paramedic, ambulance or appropriate service.

The operators at the headquarters use GPS or some form of tracking system on the available medical support teams, by looking at the location of service and emergency they send the nearest team to help out. By having the computer software to aid them, this allows them to organise and sort out the best solution. 

Due to some locations seeming to occur the most need and support, they are telling ambulances to wait nearby instead of reporting back to their stations, so they can try and react quicker. But an accident or emergency could occur any time or place so by doing that doesn't seem very fair or accurate. But the benefits of the IT systems is can see and work out the best solutions and has led to an increase in response times which is a great target to achieve. 

Legal Rights

Legal Rights

Freedom of Information Act 2005

‘The Freedom of Information Act ('the Act') was passed on 30 November 2000 and came into force in January 2005. It gives the public a right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, but also sets out exemptions from that right. The term 'public authority' is defined in the Act and includes all public bodies and Government departments in the UK.’

This act allows individuals to gain and access information about companies and organisations, this was implemented as they wanted to show they was open to share their details and not covering anything up. But there are some limitations to what can and can’t be accessed without permission. Similarly it made it possible to find out what information is personally being kept about you, yet again are some circumstances and exceptions when this isn't possible.

On a government level, the advantages are that as a nation and public we can see and access what actions are being enforced by our government and can get an honest idea of the running of our own country. But it does have its disadvantages too, if certain information got into the wrong hands it could cause hassle and damage to relationships and reputation.

http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/freedomInformation/freedomInfo.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/foi/about/foi_explained.shtml

http://ihrprojects.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/freedom-of-information-benefits-and-limitations-of-the-act/

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110411043216AAFAW0q

Computer Misuse Act 1990

‘This was passed by Parliament and made three new offences:

1. Accessing computer material without permission, eg looking at someone else's files.

2. Accessing computer material without permission with intent to commit further criminal offences, eg hacking into the bank's computer and wanting to increase the amount in your account.

3. Altering computer data without permission, eg writing a virus to destroy someone else's data, or actually changing the money in an account.'

This act was implemented to try and prevent people accessing files and information without permission or licence to do so. It tried to allow more privacy and protection to your own work and documents. 

An advantage of this was it prevented more people from due to the potential consequences they could face if they did offend, but the only problem with it was that the penalties and consequences weren’t enforced properly.  

http://uk.ask.com/question/advantages-of-computer-misuse-act

http://www.teach-ict.com/as_a2_ict_new/ocr/AS_G061/317_role_impact_ict/computer_misuse_act/miniweb/index.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/legal/1dataandcomputermisuserev2.shtml

Accountant Job Research

 Accountancy Job Evolution

Job Description: 'Chartered accountants provide trustworthy information about financial records. This might involve financial reporting, taxation, auditing, forensic accounting, corporate finance, business recovery and insolvency, or accounting systems and processes'

http://www.prospects.ac.uk/chartered_accountant_job_description.htm

This job is now operated mainly by using software such as Microsoft Excel to input data and calculate it, in the past would have used paper, pen and calculator to work this information. This has adapted how the job has changed over time to become what it has now.

Going back roughly 20 years ago people would have sat there with boxed paper and wrote out in columns the data then used a calculator to add it up and get a total. Now with certain formulas can automatically do this on a computer so saves time and potential mistakes too. This has changed the job as means the job is quicker, so allows to complete more jobs or tasks during a day.

The job description back then would have still been the same just the way the job is completed and operated would have been different to modern day accountancy jobs. By having the job like this now it is more flexible as the job can be completed on the go easier and can be taken home easier as all available to access at home. The jobs employment hasn’t changed due to this as accountants are always going to be wanted and needed from either the government or a business.

How Technology had changed jobs

Majority of jobs have now changed due to IT and technology which means people have to keep up to date with technology and way jobs are operated now. An example of this is teacher, in the past would have relied on textbooks whereas now they have internet, YouTube videos and revision websites which can help and support the teachers and students alike.

Work/Social Life

Due to technology such as; laptops, tablets and phones being able to access work and documents from anywhere this means our work/social life has changed. By being able to access your work at home might mean that you spend less time socialising or time with family. But it also allows some jobs to work from home, so can work what hours suit your lifestyle as long as it is completed by a deadline. So modern technology has changed the way in which we live and work. 

 

Team Presentation

E-mail and Cloud Presentation

In class we were put into groups to create a presentation on different topics, ours was 'e-mail and cloud'. As a group we got in contact with each other through gmail/google hangout, found these links and accounts via our blogs. We contributed by making some slides each then coming together to produce one presentation on PowerPoint as a group. We gathered the information through online research.

My Online Uses

How I Used The Internet

Today I used SMS and Instant Messaging to talk to friends to arrange meeting up n a group chat in WhatsApp, as was easier in a group so could all talk in one place. Also used Instant Messaging to talk to friends just for a general catch up. Whilst completing homework I had music playing through YouTube. 

Online Education

Online Education

In the new technology age there is many types of online education and revision sites. These can vary in how they are set-up and operate, which is useful as gives a variety of sources and ways to learn/revise. Different styles suit individuals better than others. Personally when doing GCSE's I used ; SamLearning, BBC bite size, MyMaths, YouTube videos and specific to topic websites. Sam learning is a good source as has all topics and different specifications for all exam boards, which variety of different revision techniques available. BBC bite size similarly catered for everyone and including reading guides, interactive guides and mini tests. MyMaths was purely for maths, but has all topics well covered with step-by-step guides and questions to attempt. YouTube videos weren't always the most reliable but if unsure on something someone explaining it did help. 

Online education was and is beneficial as can do work and revision at home without teachers help or reading out of a textbook which gets repetitive and boring after so long.

Online Banking

Online Banking

Many banks have mobile/online banking available, most banks have this feature now but I looked at Lloyds TSB and Halifax. Most banks offer this service so customers can carry out certain transactions without going to a bank, this benefits both the bank and them customers. For the banks it means less people to serve during a day so can complete other jobs and services. Whereas for the customer means they can complete the action without making the effort of going to visiting the bank and gets the transaction completed quicker. This benefits customers who don't have the spare time so can do it on the go or from the comfort of their own home. Online banking keeps developing and changing to improve but this could be restricted by security reasons, as if all information is accessible via phone or laptop then could be easily accessed by someone else if get hold of the account. 

Tsunami Case Study

Tsunami case study

When the huge tsunami occurred and severely affected the communication methods in the area, this caused major problems as many people relied and required wired connection. Those who had access to mobile phones and similar technology were able to get in touch with others to let them know of their situation. 

Some people created blogs and websites to support and help others, by doing this online it is instant and quick for those who can access it. People, companies and families were brought together through this using modern technology. When people criticise the use of modern technology, they forget the positive effects and changes it can have after a tragic natural disaster. 

Frog Dissection

Netfrog

This website is giving step-by-step on how to dissect a frog with images and a guide with narrations. I can imagine it is rather helpful as shows how to do it in reality, or just a general virtual tour on how to dissect a frog if not able to complete the experiment. Online simulations are a good source for education as everyone can access it even if not able to attend the lesson or complete the experiment in class.

Weather

Weather In Your Area

I found out the predicted weather for the week through BBC Weather and going to compare the predictions to reality of the next 5 days to check reliability. Here is the predictions for next few days...

Monday's prediction was for a variety of weather conditions during the day whilst being windy, in reality it was similar to this with rain showers throughout the afternoon.

Tuesday it was predicted to rain most of the day with a less powerful wind, in reality it was raining for some of the afternoon and evening. 

Wednesday it was predicted to be sunny with overcast spells during the day, in reality it was as predicted. 

Thursday it was predicted to be cloudy and raining throughout the day, in reality it was similar to this with rain showers throughout the day.

Friday it was predicted to be calm and cloudy all day, in reality it was a warm day with overcast and sunny periods.

It was rather accurate but as the week went on it become less reliable and accurate .

My Online Uses

How I Used The Internet

Today I used the Internet to do some research for a few different subjects and topics, including IT for my presentation on Email's and Cloud computing. I tried e-mailing and instant messaging the other members of my group but received no replies. I also used it for instant messaging, SMS, browsing and using/playing apps. 

Cloud Services

Cloud Services

There are a variety of cloud services available currently, such as; Oracle, Google Drive, iCloud and SkyDrive. These are used to access different documents all over the world so don't have to worry about data, software and operating systems. Most of these offer a similar version to Word, Powerpoint and others, so this means you don't have to worry about personally owning the software at home to finish work. This allows businesses to contribute as a team to get work completed a team. A lot of companies are now using this as 14% of companies downsized to just using cloud services, to save money and make it easier too.

Entertainment

Online Entertainment

This has become very popular over the last few years with various ways to keep yourself entertained on the Internet. Now online you can; watch videos, watch films, listen to music, play games, listen to the radio and read books just as a few examples. 

Personally, I tend to watch YouTube videos, listen to music via YouTube or iTunes, plays games through Xbox Live, listen to Radio 1xtra live and play online apps on iPad. All these are aimed at a younger generation but certain radio channels, apps and YouTube accounts are focused at others too. If willing to search there is something available for all to be entertained by online, some can be accessed without Internet access but adds additional features and bonuses to enhance the experience. 

YouTube is the most watched channel in the world now and has become extremely popular, where you can find a video of almost anything imaginable. With over 6 billion hours of video being watched every month and 100 hours of footage being uploaded every minute, it is growing and increasing in size all the time. Nearly all music stars have official YouTube accounts to launch there new songs as gains huge publicity in little time, with millions of views on a single video. 

Playstation Network and Xbox Live are both very popular. I own a Xbox so use Xbox Live occasionally. It is a very clever feature to enhance the quality of the gaming as can play online against friends, family or some gamer from the other side of the world. Most games are all based around the online features now and more focused on that than the single player game play. The average Xbox Live customer spends 68 hours online per month. New games and technology are always being produced, with the PS4 and Xbox One consoles soon to come available with new feautures and ideas to try and improve gaming experience. Also popular games such as ;Call of Duty, Fifa and GTA. Both games and consoles alone are brought in huge amounts, for example to produce GTA V it cost $265 million which they made back in just pre-orders alone. 

Apps are now commonly played from little simple fun games to in-depth full games, they tend to be free to a few pounds in cost which entices more people to pay/play them. On any new technology such as;laptops, phones and tablets you can access these apps through different app stores. The Apple app store started with 500 apps and has rapidly increased to having just short of a million apps available to purchase. Over 50 billion apps have been downloaded from just the Apple app store alone. 

Online entertainment plays a key part in most modern day lifestyle routines and has become a huge industry. 

My Online Uses

How I Used The Internet

Today I used the internet to order my NUS Student card, it was a simple and easy step-by-step payment and process to complete. I also used BBC news to print off some articles for other subject homework. Along with all the general day-to-day uses such as; Instant Messaging, E-mail, SMS and browsing. 

My Online Uses

How I Used The Internet

Today I didn't use the internet for any specific reasons but as of most days I used SMS text messages, Instant messaging (both WhatsApp and BBM) and logged into Facebook. I also used e-mail on my phone to contact my mum on the other side of the world currently. Also I browsed the internet looking at some clothes websites.

 

Downloading Goods and Services

 

Downloaded Items

 

Now online you can purchase and download many different types of goods at a click of a finger such as :

• Books
• Games
• Movies
• Music
• Apps

I have personally used all of these services amongst my family. Books are available through app stores such as Kindle. Games and Apps can be downloaded through different app stores for phones, tablets and laptops. I have downloaded games through Xbox Live before and Music through iTunes. I believe most people buy items online now and as it is instant and can do it from the comfort of your own home. They often can work out cheaper too by doing it online. The online market is increasing as most people store there information on some type of memory storage instead of going out and purchasing; DVD's, CD's, Games and Books. Also with the introduction to companies such as Netflix has become popular to so can access films and shows straight to their tv via a subscription package. By doing it this way can save space in the house too and have it all on one device.



E-Government

 

E-Government

 

There is plenty of information, advice and services online via the government which makes life easier as all sources are in one place and explained simply for consumers. I have made a table showing different services shown in table under certain titles.

 

The government are trying to cut down on costs by having people use the online services instead to cut down on wage costs and other outlays. By having people do it online requires less employees and saves money for the government in the long term. 

eBay

Visiting eBay

 

eBay is a very well known and popular website for buying and selling a wide variety of products. Through eBay you can buy all sorts of products such as; clothes, technology, toys and cars. nearly every product you could wish for would be possible to buy online through eBay unless very specialised. On eBay you buy products in a couple of ways Buy It Now or Auction. Due to the wide variety of products it is not specialised to a certain target market, but the news and offers through eBay are aimed at the younger generation. The main purpose is that it is for individuals or customers to sell or buy their product online at a potentially lower price than RRP. It works rather well as people will visit due to the wide range and chance that could buy a bargain.

 

 

Journey Planning

 

 

Planning A Journey

 

 

To get from my house to Tottenham Court Road in London, it would be easiest to get the train from Bedford to there would be quickest to get train from Bedford Station to London Charing Cross. From Charing Cross can either jump onto the tube or take a short walk to reach the underground station. The journey would roughly take 1 hour and 20 minutes and cost £23.10. If you was to drive there it would take roughly 1 hour and 45 minutes, but would probably cost more due to petrol and congestion charge fees.

 

The websites I used to get this information were: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&tab=ll and http://www.thetrainline.com/. I found these helpful as got the information quickly and with ease so could compare the two ways and find the best for time or cost.

 



Real Time Information

 

Real Time Information

 

There are many types of real time information such as; weather, traffic, sports scores and aeroplane times. I often use the weather or sports score apps to gain the information quickly to keep up to date. I decided to look into the Sky Sports Score Centre which can be accessed through the Internet on the website or via the available app. It shows up to date scores with match information. Here is a screen shot of what the page looks like....

 



Research

 

Tim Berners-Lee

 

 

'Berners Lee is a British computer scientist who invented the World Wide Web.' He was born on the 8th of June 1955 and lived in London. When he grew up he went to Oxford University to study physics. As a career he become a software engineer. He created the first website on the 6th of August 1991, explaining and giving information about the idea of the internet and world wide web. Due to his great success' he has gained and been awarded many titles and honours such as; Millennium Technology Prize,  Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth. Since his success with the world wide web he has become a professor at a university, whilst being the founding director of the World Wide Web Foundation. I used the following links to find out this information; http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/berners_lee_tim.shtml ,

http://www.webfoundation.org/about/sir-tim-berners-lee/and http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/

 

 

Google Groups'

Digital Divide

I struggled to find a decent and recent discussion on google groups about the digital divide, but I did manage to find one from March 19th briefly discussing a few factors of the digital divide. On the page it is about how teenagers access to Internet is a factor of the digital divide even in more developed countries. They believe low-income households that can't afford to get full useage of the Internet at properly are disadvantaged. 

By using discussion forums like this they have there ups and downs. They aren't always reliable as don't know where the information has came from but also there is a lot of biased opinions on the page. But from reading these pages can find opinions on each side of an opinion. So these pages can help research but may need backing up with reliable sources of information. 

The page I viewed was...

https://groups.google.com/forum/m/#!search/Digital$20divide/openoaklanddigitaldivide/k21GmC51NKI

It wasn't the best page, it would have been better if the post was newer and there was more user 

comments to improve the discussion.

My Online Uses

How I Used The Internet

Internet can be used for loads of reasons now on Smartphones, as they have many functions and apps available now. Over the weekend I used an online map on my phone whilst travelling somewhere to find the correct route after a road closure. Whilst I was out too I couldn't find out or view the football scores, so I used the 'Sky Sports Football Score Centre' app, so I could keep up to date with the latest scores on the go. 

SMS

SMS

SMS is the most commonly used way to currently stay in contact with people. It is fairly easy to use and sends almost straight away to alert the recipients phone. Text messages is the most common with limited characters to 140 per text, due to this has led to text talk. I wrote a basic Haiku showing an example of a conversation...

Haiku: Hi, are you okay?

           Yeah thanks, what about you mate?

           Yes thanks, glad to hear!

In the UK 96% of smartphone users use texts, with the younger generation aged 18-24 sending and receiving 4,000 messages per month. (http://www.factbrowser.com/tags/sms/ ).The first ever text message was sent on the 3rd of 

December 1992. Here is a short and brief history to the development of text messaging...

http://theweek.com/article/index/237240/the-text-message-turns-20-a-brief-history-of-sms

Instant Messaging Analysis

Instant Messaging

Chat and Instant Messaging has become very popular and commonly used in the modern world as it is very quick and most modern technology can access it, whether at home or on the move. Some of the most commonly used messenger services are; Skype, iMessage, BlackBerry Messenger and WhatsApp. Most of the younger generations use this instead of text messages to save on costs and due to popularity. I found some interesting facts and figures about instant messaging on this link...http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/infographic-instant-messaging-facts-figures/

But this has its dangers too as don't always know exactly who you are talking too, which isn't safe especially if start to share details or plan to meet up eith each other. So on instant messaging should only talk to people you personally know and can trust. 

My Online Uses

How I Used The Internet

On my blog I am planning on keeping a record of how and when I use the Internet and for what purposes. It has now become part of daily life to use the Internet often for various services. Today, I ordered my GCE IT textbook for this course using Amazon website online. Also on a daily basis I use Social networking and instant messaging to chat with friends and family, I do this on either my phone, tablet or laptop. Also I regularly use the Internet to research into certain topics or just generally browse looking at a variety of websites.

 

E-mail Quiz

 

E-mails

 

We completed an online E-mail quiz and I managed to get a score of 8/10. The link was http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/email-quiz.htm and was an article accompanied to it.

 

 

 

 

What is an E-mail?

What is an E-mail?

An E-mail is an electronic mail, hence why how it is named. This allows a huge communication system online as they are instantly sent to anywhere around the world. The very first e-mail was sent in 1971 by a computer engineer called Ray Tomlinson this message read 'QWERTYUIOP', the same man used the idea to include the '@' symbol in e-mail addresses. When sending an e-mail we see it as a simple step system but really it has several stages to it. From the second you press send to the time it takes to reach the recipient it passes through your own Internet router and an e-mail queue which then passes through security systems to reach recipients server which can pass it onto receivers e-mail account. So this shows that it is a much more complicated system than we think and take advantage of. 42 years on from the very first e-mail being sent things have changed massively, as in 2012, 144 billion e-mails were sent per day but of which nearly 69% was spam. Spam mail can cause damage to computer and e-mail accounts as in some cases it contains viruses, Trojans and worms which can corrupt all parts involved. There are steps which can be taken to limit the chances of this occurring such as;adjusting computer/e-mail settings, avoiding unknown websites and using Internet and computer security systems. Some of the most common security systems are Norton and McAfee. E-mails have become a very important part of modern day life with people relying on them. 



My Blogging Research

 

 

My Blogging Research

 

 

 

 Since starting my blog I researched into how and why people blog. I was interested to see what was the best way to optimise my own blog. I quickly found from a google search that there is many different blogging websites available but the most popular being; Typepad, SquareSpace, Tumblr, Blogger and Wordpress. I found this out through a website comparing the websites, link to the article here... https://www.udemy.com/blog/best-blogging-platform/ . All these websites are used and created to link together, this creates the blogosphere, which is the world of blogs. Around the world there is roughly 181 million blogs and this was found out from an independent company at beginning of 2012, this will have increased since there too. I found this information from http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2012/buzz-in-the-blogosphere-millions-more-bloggers-and-blog-readers.html . A lot of large companies take advantage of this large audience and have created blogs to help promote their company and increase profits. It all started from Peter Merholz who created the word 'blog' by shortening 'web log' together in 1999, I found this information from http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2011/03/a-brief-history-of-blogging/ . Blogging has become very popular and rapidly grown in size, since doing this research I found a lot of interesting blogs which I may follow and read in the future to gain information and knowledge, including some of my favourite sports teams and shops. I also found out that quite a lot of people consider 'tweeting' to be a short form of blogging. So from a simple research of the topic I found quite a lot of information to help me out.

First Proper Blog

First Proper Blog

I decided to follow a blog called Geeky Gadgets for my ICT course, as I thought it was relavant to my course and an interesting read at the same time. Their blog address is...http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/. I hope to be able to create a blog similar level to this about my topic instead.

Welcome!

 

Welcome

 

 

Welcome, this is my new blog for my IT GCE course. My name is James Allen and I recently started attending Bedford Sixth Form. I am planning on updating this regularly to update my progress during the course. I am going to list and discuss my uses of online services, which I use often. I hope you enjoy reading.