Milestone #8 – Let’s Get Logical

Chapter 15 of the Snyder Text provided me with a genuine “Ah-ha” moment, and it was thanks in large part to my preparation for the FLAG assignment for last week.  I must admit that I had to read Chapter 15 a couple of times before I was able to completely absorb all of the material. The one concept that I was having difficulty grasping was the idea of physical and logical databases.  From what I understood, the logical database tables contain duplicate information, built from what is stored in the physical database.  However, as Snyder explains many times throughout Chapters 14 and 15, having redundant information in one’s database is not sound database management.  So how could you have information stored in logical tables and physical tables at the same time without that being considered redundancy?  Snyder goes on to explain that these logical database tables are created fresh every time we need them.  I had a sample Microsoft Access database open at the time, and I was struggling to find where I could create a “logical database” table.  Queries were also proving problematic, as I was having a hard time articulating what exactly they were.  Not only that, but I had to TEACH this stuff to the rest of the class. 

That was when two key sentences in Chapter 15 really sunk in.  “Views are the logical database tables constructed by database operations from the physical tables.  The operations that create views are called database queries.”  It literally felt like a light switch went on in the database comprehension portion of my brain.  The problem I was having was that what I thought were “Queries” were in fact “Views”.  Queries are actually the process or operation, while views are the result.  With this new knowledge, I felt more confident running the query operations, knowing that the resulting table would be a logical table or view of my design.  Really, my understanding of how to mechanically run a query had not changed, but my understanding of what I was doing had been enhanced greatly.  Again, the challenge is transferring the databases concepts and principles identified by Snyder in the text to our use of Microsoft Access or other database programs.  Furthermore, knowing the language or terminology of database programs, such as queries, views, tables, etc, enables us to more competently discuss these concepts with database experts, who can more readily provide assistance if they know what we are talking about.  During my various work experiences I have had to use database applications on occasion, and for the most part I had a set responsibility, such as data entry.  However, I now feel more confident that I could handle additional database responsibilities in the future.  I certainly would require additional training in running more advanced queries, as well as how to properly set up fields for new tables, but at least I now know what I have to learn. 

Milestone #7 Behind the Curtain of Databases

Chapter 14 of the Snyder text served as our introduction to database concepts and principles.  When I started reading this chapter, I must admit that I questioned the value and utility of such a method.  Rather than incorporating Microsoft Access, the accepted mainstream database application that is widely used in various organizations for database management, Snyder chose to use a more general approach in his discussion of databases.  However, as has occurred throughout my readings of previous Snyder chapters, I was surprised by the value of starting from the basics.  Not every organization uses Microsoft Access for their database needs, despite the program’s popularity. Many organizations and businesses use other commercially available programs, while others choose to develop their database programs in-house.  The point is that Chapter 14 is not intended to be a substitute for learning how to use the actual software, but is supposed to demonstrate how databases operate, what is going on “behind the curtain”.  Really, these are two distinct and separate topics.

In particular, I appreciated Snyder’s discussion of entities, and how they are distinguished from one another by their attributes.  Having read ahead to Chapter 15 first to prepare for my FLAG assignment, I sensed that Snyder placed a particular emphasis on avoiding redundancy in databases.  However, the basis for this argument is found in Chapter 14, which helped me to understand why this principle should always be followed.  Prior to reading Chapter 14, I questioned why one could not have two entities with exactly the same attributes in their database.  Suppose, for illustrative purposes, you had a list of university students, but you also had limited storage capabilities and therefore could only store a certain number of attributes.  Then suppose, for two of the students, every meaningful school-related attribute was the same, except for some trivial attribute such as hair color.  Such a circumstance seems unlikely, but it is possible.  So what can be done to avoid redundancy while also preventing the relatively unnecessary storage of hair color information for the thousands of other university students, who are already distinguished by some meaningful school-related attribute?  As Snyder explains, the school could issue a unique ID to each student, which would distinguish each student from one another.  Such a solution seems rather obvious, but in database construction, it can be essential.

Snyder also provides some important discussion on database table operations.  Again, it provides a strong foundation for understanding what is happening behind the scenes in the query operations that Snyder describes in Chapter 15.  Understanding these table operations also helps one to comprehend the SQL topic of Chapter 15.  The principle of “no redundancy” is exemplified in the Project operation, which picks out certain columns from an original table to form a new table.  If the columns selected do not include the attributes necessary to distinguish two separate entities from the original table, then these entities will be combined into one entity in the new table in order to avoid redundant data.  Before reading this chapter, I was not aware of how important the “no redundancy” concept was to database management.  However, I now realize that it is essential to keep in mind no matter what you are doing, given how the databases operate.  If you do not remain cognizant of this principle, entities that you expect to appear in your new table could disappear as a result of the Project operation.    

Blogging Your Tour of Duty – Digital Nugget #9

I recently found this article from the Post-Gazette.  The U.S. Army has recently implemented a program to monitor blogging conducted by soldiers in the field. Apparently, there has been more than a few  instances where soldiers have revealed somewhat sensitive information in their blogs, such as patrol procedures and transportation routes.  The Army officials interviewed for the article claim that the program is not intended to constitute censorship, but is conducted in the interest of denying enemies the sensitive information in these blogs that could be used to harm U.S. interests.  I feel that that this is even further proof of how blogs have ascended in our society from a fringe activity to a mainstream form of expression that must be taken seriously. Given how prevalent blogs and blogging have become, it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility that those who wanted to harm U.S. forces abroad could exploit these blogs as valuable sources of information and intelligence.

Monitoring Cyberspace – Digital Nugget #8

Debating the effectiveness of e-government has been one of the main themes of this course.  Our discussion in class last week highlighted the IRS e-file service and usajobs.gov as some of the more successful e-government initiatives.  I thought I would use this nugget to call attention to how information technology has affected public policy and government in other ways as well.  One such phenomenon affecting public governance is the emergence of online government watchdog organizations.  One such website is nasawatch.com.  The editor of the site is Keith Cowing, a former NASA employee, who has made numerous appearances on television news programs and has testified to Congress on space-related matters because of his role with the site.  As a former intern with the agency, what I found really interesting is that many NASA employees and administrators value the website as a source of unbiased and current news on the agency.  

Milestone #6 – Spreadsheet Success

In all honesty, Chapter 13 of the Snyder text represents one of the reasons that I signed up for a course on Information Technology this semester. Before this course, I knew how to use Excel and spreadsheet programs in general. I used the program throughout my undergraduate experience, and I have continued to use it frequently as a graduate student.  Yet I am the first to admit that my use of Excel was terribly inefficient.  For example, I did not know how to enter a series of numbers (e.g. 1 through 100) in separate cells on an Excel spreadsheet in anything approaching an efficient manner.  I consider myself an above average user of technology, which is why I am embarrassed to admit that I would literally enter each number one at a time.  I knew that there was a shorter method for filling in a series of numbers, but I guess I never took the time to figure it out because as I saw it, by the time I figured it out I would have been able to finish the list manually anyway.

In terms of fluency with information technology, I believe that this Snyder Chapter has emphasized for me the importance of looking for links between what I know that can enhance my performance. So if I want to enter a series of numbers, 1 through 50 for example, into separate cells on an Excel spreadsheet, how could I go about this based on Excel techniques that I already know? Well, I understand how to use formulas, and in particular how to designate relative and absolute rows and columns with the ($) symbol. So I begin by entering 1 into cell A1. Now, before I would have followed this by entering 2 into cell A2, 3 into cell A3, and so on. However, that is not a particularly “Fluent” way of approaching the problem. Instead, I enter the formula, “=$A1+1” into the A2 cell. This gives me the number 2 in cell A2, but took more work than entering 2 manually into cell A2, which begs the question “What’s the point?”  Well, the power of spreadsheet programs is revealed when I grab the bottom right corner of cell A2 and drag it into the next 48 cells.  Instantly, the software fills cells A1 through A50 with the numbers 1 through 50.  While the time saved when attempting to fill 50 cells is relatively small, this shortcut becomes more significant when trying to fill hundreds or even thousands of cells with series of numbers.

I understand that this does not appear to be particularly astounding to even a novice Excel user.  Yet the lessons drawn from this exercise are important no matter what software or computer technology one uses.  If you want to perform a particular operation with a software program, but do not know exactly how to go about it, consider the operations that you DO know.  Combining these may reveal the insight necessary to perform the operation that you desire, as demonstrated in my exercise above.  I did not know how to list a series of numbers efficiently.  However, I did know how to use formulas, and how to perform the fill operation, so it was only a matter of combining these two operations that allowed me to perform my desired task. 

Tripping Over The Digital Divide – Digital Nugget #7

I found this article from msn.com to be particularly interesting and in many ways troubling.  The article is on the security risks involved in using unsecured wireless internet connections and public terminals.  Now I use public computer terminals quite frequently, both in the campus computer labs and at public libraries, where I frequently access email accounts and conduct other online activities (although not online banking or online shopping).  The article cites a security incident of a few years ago, where someone left a keylogging device on a Kinko’s public terminal, and recorded keystokes. The article also includes a link to a cnet article on the same topic, which referenced a security breach at Boston College, where a student used keylogging techniques to steal credit card information, social security numbers, and other personal information from thousands of students and faculty through the campus computing labs.  This really worries me in terms of the digital divide that we talk about in class.  If some people are only able to access the internet through public terminals, such as those at the public library, are we exposing these individuals to security risks that we who have the option to use private connections need not face?  Until we can come up with solutions to some of these types of security issues, is it really fair to encourage or even mandate everyone’s participation in a digital society?

Milestone #5 – C is for Cookie

In order to better grasp some of the computer security concepts identified in Snyder’s Chapter 17, I decided to experiment with cookies.  Now prior to reading Chapter 17, I understood what cookies were, where you could find them on your computer, and how to delete them.  Websites that I visit leave cookies on my computer, and they track information regarding my internet habits.  I understood that much, but I thought I could learn a little more about whether I was encountering third-party cookies in some of my day-to-day internet activities.  I went to my Internet Options and the privacy tab, and began to play with my cookies settings, as Snyder recommended.  To start, I chose to block all cookies, something that I had never done before.  With all of the cookies blocked I still had no problems logging on to one of my favorite sites, espn.com, and cnn.com did not present any problems either.  So I decided to check my aol.com email account, and there it was:  “We are sorry, but you will need to enable cookies and Javascript to use your Screen Name with this site.”  Myspace.com produced similar results, refusing to allow me to log on with all of my cookies blocked.  Interestingly enough, when I set my cookie settings to High the warning disappeared, but I still could not log on to check my AOL mail.  I checked what the High setting entails, and it claims to block cookies that do not have a compact privacy policy and cookies that use personally identifiable information without my explicit consent.  So apparently, accepting these types of cookies is the cost associated with having an email account with AOL.  Fortunately, AOL does not force me to accept third party cookies in order to use their service, so I can leave my settings at Medium High and access my AOL mail.  I considered this an interesting little exercise in cookie acceptance. 

I also found Snyder’s Chapter 17 particularly useful in the way that he described the fundamentals of encryption.  Encryption had always been a rather vague concept to me.  Usually when encryption is first described, the basic example consists of replacing letters with numbers, or switching the order of the letters in the alphabet.  Obviously, secure encryption is more complex than this, but I feel that Snyder presented complex encryption in an understandable way.  Snyder also helped me to appreciate the power of encryption with his section on the RSA challenge.  While it is true that the code was cracked, the fact that it took eight months and thousands of computers demonstrated how effective the code can be.  However, the code was cracked in 1994.  I wonder what effect the speed of computers today would have on one’s ability to crack the code.  Does the speed of today’s computers also enable the RSA code to be made more complex simultaneously?  I guess the sign of a good chapter is that it makes one want to learn more.

The Polls Are Now Open – Digital Nugget #6

While searching the internet for information for our debate on e-democracy during last week’s class, I came across this article from Wired News on e-voting.  I believe that everyone from class still remembers the video we watched on the Princeton University study of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machines.  Australian election officials, concerned about maintaining the integrity of their election process, have decided to make the code behind their voting machine software open-source.  This move enables the public to study the code for bugs or security risks and offer suggestions for improvement.  In addition, an independent company also audited the code, which was designed by a private Australian firm.  Apparently, Australian election officials were motivated by a desire to add greater transparency and more public participation to the Australian elections, believing that this enhanced the legitimacy of the process.  So to Australians, the solution to the problems with electronic voting machines is not less e-democracy, but in fact more of it.

Milestone #4 – Curiously Strong Research

Snyder appropriately followed up his chapter on search engines with a step by step exercise in online research.  I found this Chapter particularly relevant in my own life as I have enrolled in one independent study this term, which is essentially a semester long instance of “curiosity-driven research”.  Obviously, every person’s online research will take them to different corners of the internet in the search for relevant, accurate, and up-to-date information on their particular topic.  However, Snyder makes some important points summarized at the end of the Chapter, which are applicable regardless of one’s topic of interest. 

Usually, I simply open a Word document and cut and past links of interest or relevance into the document.  I then include a brief note below the link explaining what site the link is for, and what information in particular the site can provide for my research or report.  Without these brief descriptions or notes, the summary file ends up being nothing more than a page of links (not unlike the page of results that a Google search would provide you).  Such a summary file provides limited utility.  Writing brief descriptions of your internet sources saves you from sorting through each link again and again wondering, “Ok, I know this link is important, but why?”  I believe that these summary files are actually vital to conducting effective and efficient research, regardless of whether the research is internet-based or the culmination of hours of sorting through old archived documents.  

I also appreciated the way in which Snyder addressed researching controversial topics using online resources when he examined the relationship between Buckminster Fuller and Ken Snelson.  Our graduate-level courses often require that we research hotly contested topics, and sorting through biases in potential sources is often an arduous task, particularly online.  Snyder uses sound judgment in assessing Snelson’s claims, drawing upon previous impressions and additional resources to paint a complete picture of the life of Buckminster Fuller.  This is a challenge of research that Snyder does not hesitate to confront in his text.  Allowing one source to overshadow the totality of our research prevents us from seeing “the forest for the trees”.  In research, it is important to preserve a balance between giving appropriate consideration to dissenting views and maintaining perspective on the broader scope of our particular study.

Monday Morning Quarterback – Digital Nugget #5

An article in the Baltimore Business Journal addressed the corporate ramifications of a rapidly growing industry and sports-related phenomenon – fantasy football.  According to the article, which cites a Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. study, the millions of fantasy football players cost employers as much as $1.1 billion in lost productivity per week during the football season.

Many of the required fantasty football operations (setting rosters, adding players, checking statistics, etc.) can be done over the computer.  This makes the office environment an attractive place to conduct fantasy-related activities, as employees have frequent access to their own office computers with often faster internet connections than at home.  Moreover, many fantasy football players belong to office leagues, making fantasy-related discussion among employees another opportunity for lost productivity.

While the prevalence of information technology has been associated with a rapid rise in productivity, there are clearly other aspects of this phenomenon that work against an employee’s total output.  So does this mean that corporations should do everything that they can to put a stop to fantasy-related activities in the office?  Not necessarily.  The article cites other important intagibles, such as fantasy football’s impact on morale and camaraderie, which makes the activity a beneficial addition to the office experience.