Facebook Keeps A History Of Everyone Who Has Ever Poked You, Along With A Lot Of Other Data

Posted by & filed under FaceBook, free speech, IS ethics, national culture, Privacy.

Description: Most of you probably know that Facebook knows a lot about you. But did you know that if you were to print it out, it might take up about 880 pages?

Source: Forbes.com

Date: Sept 27, 2011

European users can request their information with this Facebook form (instructions here). Max Schrems of Europe v. Facebook put his request in to Facebook’s Ireland office and says it took the company about 30 days to send his report, and that it arrived on a C.D. from California.

One thing that I found a bit concerning about the process is that it only requires a photo of your government i.d., your name, and birthdate to confirm your identity. Given how easy it is to get one’s hands on someone else’s ID (say if you’re dating someone and s/he leaves a wallet about your house), I could imagine some scenarios in which this process could be abused.  REST OF STORY

Questions for discussion:

  1. Who should own and control your Facebook data?

2.  Which privacy laws do you think are better U.SA. or Europe? Why?

Retail giant’s @Walmartlabs plans to reinvent online shopping with ‘social commerce’

Posted by & filed under Business Intelligence, business models, Ecommerce, Sentiment Analysis, Twitter.

Description: Wal-Mart is hoping the two start-up mavens can reinvent its own e-commerce platform, which has lagged competitors.

Source: Gobe & Mail.com

Date: Oct. 3, 2011

Tucked in the heart of Silicon Valley, Wal-Mart (WMT-N52.120.210.41%) has assembled a team of 70 developers, computer engineers and researchers – dubbed @WalmartLabs – in an aggressive attempt to position itself at the forefront of social and mobile commerce. Read REST OF STORY

Questions for discussion:

  1. Do you feel that this e-commerce initive will succeed for wal-mart?  Why or Why Not?

2.  How will utilizing the data from social media help Wal-Mart discover the next “it” items.  Give an example.

Idaho ‘Ground Zero” in Cyber-Terror War?

Posted by & filed under cyber terroism, cyber war, Cyberforensics, data analytics, Uncategorized.

Description: CNN’s Dan Simon pays a visit to a U.S. government lab that protects the nation from cyber-terrorism.

Source: CNN .com.

Date: Oct 1, 2011

Questions for discussion:

  1. What do you feel are the major risks from cyber terrorism in your geographic area?
  2. How should Canada best prepare for cyber war attacks?

Child Porn or Free Speech

Posted by & filed under EXAM ARTICLE, free speech, pornography, Privacy, Social Media.

Description: Anderson Cooper looks at a portion of the user-generated news site Reddit and its potentially illegal content.

Source: CNN .com.

Date: Oct 1, 2011

Questions for discussion:

  1. Who should police the content on the Internet? Why
  2. Is there any content that should not be allowed on the internet? What?

Fighting viruses, defending the net

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, business models, Cloud Computing, cyber terroism, cyber war, Cyberforensics, data analytics, IS ethics.

Source: Ted.com.

Date: July, 2011



Questions for discussion:

  1. Is this technical threat a manageable risk for the modern organization?  How would one manage theses risks

2.  Should this threat be managed by governments or by the private sector?  Why?

When Machines Get Ahead Of Us

Posted by & filed under Artificial intelligence, Biometrics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, data analytics, Data storage, EXAM ARTICLE, IS ethics, Uncategorized.

Description: Two recent articles in the New York Times highlight two different aspects of a single phenomenon: we build powerful machines, their capabilities lead to unintended consequences, and they ensnare us in some unforeseen way.

Source: Forbes.com.

Date: Sept 20, 2011

The first discusses a new technology, an improvement, really, of a technology that’s been under development for a long time: generating meaningful news stories from pure data.

The second concerns the case heading to the Supreme Court pertaining to the matter of state surveillance of individuals using Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and how that relates to the 4th Amendment, which in theory enshrines personal privacy against unreasonable search and seizure.

In the first case, computers’ increased capabilities are in the process of taking over a sophisticated task formerly performed by people.  In the second, computers are getting ahead of existing laws and social covenants.

Read rest of story

Questions for discussion:

  1. Which of the two stories of MACHINES GETTING AHEAD OF US do you feel describes a technology leading to the most troubling unintended consequences.  Why?

2.  Can you think of any other technologies that were developed for one purpose and had some unintended consequences either good or bad? Describe.

No Cards, No Cash. Just a Phone.

Posted by & filed under e-payment, Ecommerce, EXAM ARTICLE, fraud, Google, industry analysis, M-commerce, revenue model, Security, smartphones.

Description: Plenty of companies would love to get their hands on our wallets. But Google wants to go one step further: it wants to be our wallets.

Source: NYT.com.

Date: Sept 21, 2011

Its new phone software, called Google Wallet, is intended to replace the credit cards in our actual wallets.

It does sound pretty spectacular, doesn’t it? No fishing plastic cards out of wallets, no paper slips, no signatures. Everything is handled securely, instantly, conveniently, with one tap of your phone at the register.

Europeans and Asians already routinely pay for things that way. Why can’t we have that in America?

Read rest of story

Questions for discussion:

  1. Do you think this new technology will succeed in being adopted on a wide scale? Why? Or  Why Not?
  1. If you were Google what strategy could you employ to keep competitors and substitutes out of this market?

Using the Webb to Investigate Jurors

Posted by & filed under Business Intelligence, business models, data analytics, Social Media, Uncategorized.

Description: The internet is being seen as a legitimate way to screen  jurors to see if they will benefit a particular case for one side or the other.  There are two sides as the benifits and downsides of using theses technologies in this fashion.

Source: Cnn.com

Date: Sept 20, 2011

Questions for discussion:

  1. Do you feel that using this technology in juror searches is legal? Ethical?
  2. If you were given the job to investigate jurors where would you begin and then proceed in your search for ” business intelligence” about the jurors

Cloud Computing May be a Shot in the Arm our Economy Needs

Posted by & filed under business models, Cloud Computing, e-payment, Ecommerce, EXAM ARTICLE, Google, M-commerce, smart phones, smartphones, Software.

Description: Economists and pundits have long feared the emergence of what they called “hollow corporations,” or businesses that don’t actually produce actual goods or services themselves, but instead act as brokers or intermediaries relying on networks of suppliers and partners.

Source: Forbes .com.

Date: Sept 19, 2011

Where are these services coming from?  Look to the cloud.

Yes, cloud computing enables cost savings — as companies can access technology and applications on-demand on an as-needed basis and pay for only what they use. And yes, this fosters greater agility, with less reliance on legacy IT assets. But the changes go even deeper that that. Consider the ways cloud computing is altering our business landscape:     Read rest of story

Questions for discussion:

  1. What ways can the Cloud be a boost to our sagging economy and give it a boost?

2. List and describe the ways cloud computing is altering our business landscape.

How to increase your search engine optimization

Posted by & filed under Digital Policy, EXAM ARTICLE, Google, industry analysis, IS ethics, SEO.

Description: Every company wants to be the first listing in a Google search. Some spend thousands of dollars making sure their websites are search accessible. This process is called search engine optimization (SEO). It’s certainly legal and quite common.

Source: USAToday .com.

Date: Sept 16, 2011

Big problems arise when you employ illegal tactics, often referred to as “black hat SEO.” It’s usually masterminded by outside firms to lift your company to the top of the search results.

J.C. Penney was on the receiving end of a lot of bad publicity earlier this year when they were accused of black hat SEO. It wasn’t Google that exposed the alleged scheme but the New York Times, following an investigation.

How had JCPenney.com been able to show up as No. 1 in organic search rankings — meaning those that occur naturally — for hundreds of items ranging from dishes to dresses?

Read rest of story

Questions for discussion:

  1. How can you optimize your position in Google search?
  2. What are the benefits of employing a SEO strategy for an organization?