Life In The Information Age

The amount of technology we use in our every day lives has dramatically changed when we think about how much technology there was 30 years ago. And because of the increased amount of technology it is hard to find a job which does not use the latest technology, so you would be unemployable unless you know how to use it.

Offices have changed dramatically within the last 30 years and the majority of the things you would have found within an office in 1980 has all become a piece of technology. What you'd of expected to see in an office 30 years ago would include: adding machines, type writers, filing cabinets and fax machines.




Whereas now a days you would expect to find the newest technology including computers which would store all of the documents and data so that you wouldn't have to print them. In fact all of the things you'd expect to see in 1980 would all be done using a computer as they are capable of almost everything. And because of the laptop being able to do pretty much everything there is less need for more staff.


Another case where the technology has changed the way in which people work would be a sales rep. The way in which they would travel before would include carrying a big address book, full of all the addresses he needs, an atlas so that he'd find his way, a catalogue, a calculator, paper work, and small coins for making phone calls.




Whereas now, a sales rep would only really need one piece of technology which would be a laptop, it would have all of the catalogue on it with a price list, it has a calculator on it, the addresses could be stored in a database. And instead of carrying around an atlas a sales rep now-a-days would invest in a satnav which tells you where to go once you type in the address. And they also wouldn't need to carry change to make phone calls as they would have a mobile phone which would normally be on contract and given to them.

Online Entertainment

There are many uses of IT now-a-day which are rapidly rising. These would include things like: YouTube, iPlayer, 4od and Spotify. Some are used more than others but within the next few years their amount of use will rise even further.

YouTube

Youtube is a video sharing website which was created in 2005 so it is reletively new to our entertainment variety. With this site you can create an account so that you can 'like' or 'dislike' other peoples videos and you can also comment on them, however you can view videos without having an account which can be seen as a great advantage as many other sites require you to be a user and have an account. This website uses Adobe Flash Video so in order to view the videos you will need to download this. Before YouTube to be able to view videos you would have to use napster.

advantages of YouTube:

• You can watch television channels, if you've missed them
• You can subscribe to your favourites
• You can use YouTube on your phone

disadvantages of YouTube:

• Some videos can take a while to load because they're high quality
• If you're watching previous tv shows then you'll be shown adverts
• Sometimes a video is not what it appears to be

In my opinion i think youTube is a great way of watching tv programmes which i have missed and i find that it will be at a decent quality and one that will load reletively fast. I have had a lot of experience with YouTube and i have used it to do things such as: listen to music, watch videos, and watch tv programs.

iPlayer

iPlayer is an internet television and radio service created in 2007, so again is a relitevly new way of using online entertainment. It shows you TV shows in which you may of missed so you have another chance to watch the programs you've missed. The channels that this site provides are all of the BBC channels such as: BBC Three etc.

advantages of iPlayer:

• You can catch up on programs you've missed
• It's at your convinience
• You can pause it
• You don't need a TV Licence

Disadvantages of iPlayer:

• If you have slow internet connection it will be slow
• You would need internet
• The programmes uploaded will have to be taken down after a patricular amount of days
• It could be bad quality

In my opinion i also think that iPlayer is a great way of catching up of programs i have missed and i find it very easy to use. However, because it is a high quality video i sometimes find that it takes a while to watch and so i would then be more likely to stop using iPlayer and use YouTube as it would be faster.

Itunes

Itunes is a media player computer program which is used for playing, downloading and organising music. This software is compatible with iPods, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPads as they sync via Itunes. In order to download music you use the Itunes Store where you can download music, videos, apps, books, podcasts and movies. You are able to connect to to the Istore through Itunes, which is done with great ease, however you always need to have internet.

advantages of itunes:

• It is a quick, easy and simple to use
• You can use it anywhere, if you have an internet connection
• Its full of files that you want

disadvantages of itunes:

• You'll need internet connection to download files

• Songs could be costly

Spotify

Spotify is a music straming service which provides the viewer with a range of different genres to chose from. It was lanched in 2008 spotify services are available in most counties including: France, Spain and the United States. You are now able to access spotify on your mobile phone, providing that you are a paying cusomer and pay the monthly bill which enables you to listen to the music 'offline'. When spotify had been around for about a year they introduced a method of joining up to spotify which you could only do if someone else who already had spotify sent you an invitation but that soon got axed. After this there is now a time limit on how long you can listen to music for which is 10hours and once you exceed this time limit you can no longer listen to music.

I have got a Spotify account and i have done since it first came out. I find it to be a good way of listening to music as you can select a specific genre however i find that because you need really good internet access it takes a while to stream so i would again, be more likely to use another way which would be either YouTube or Itunes. The time limit also put me off of using it as it wasn't only listening time that decreed the amount of time i had left to listen to music but even if i wasnt listening to music and simply just had spotify open it was doing so. However since then i have used it again and have found that my time is not being limited.

advantages of spotify:

• There is something for eveyone because of the wide range of genres
• You can make playlists which contain songs that you like
• You can listen anytime, if you have an internet connection

disadvantages of spotify:

• You need internet connection
• Play back time is limited
• The adverts interupt

Downloading Services

Now-a-day there is a variety of different things in which you can download. The ways that technology is being used for downloading purposes are increasing and have increased a great deal within recent years. There are many different types of downloading services too, such as: Add-ons, Upgrades, Torrents, Open Source and Patches.

Patches
A patch is a type of software that has specifically been designed to fix occurring problems. As well as fixing problems this software also updates programs that you have on your computer. With the patch you'd be able to fix any bugs or security issues. However if the patch is incorrectly designed then it won't be able to do these tasks and it could even cause more problems.

Advantages of having a patch:

• They can add new features and software
• They fix the software if there are any problems
• They can update any out of date software
• It automatically updates

Disadvantages of having a patch:

• Instead of fixing problems, it can cause them
• They take up memory on your computer
• dependent on the size of the patch it could take a while.

Personally i have never used a patch before and i don't think i would be likely to because of the risk of there being problems made rather than solved.

Bit Torrent

Bit Torrent is a peer-to-peer sharing protocol. It is used to share files that are of a large format, you share the files over Internet and where the Internet is concerned there are always risks that could occur so when you make the decision to use bit torrent you need to make sure you are secure. Bit torrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files. Bit Torrent has also on average has more active users than YouTube and facbook combined.


The only data that the torrent holds is information about the location of different pieces of target file. They work by all the information needed into smaller pieces which will be stored on different hosts. Because of the pieces of data being separated and broken up into smaller pieces the time it takes to download will be quicker than if the file were to be at its normal larger size. You are also given reviews by other people all that will reassure you that the download will be alright and wont harm your computer.


Advantages of using Bit Torrent:

• It's peer-to-peer so you can download your files from hosts that you trust
• Downloading will be a lot faster

Disadvantages of using Bit Torrent:

• Some people use it for illegal purposes
• There is a risk of getting a virus
• Not all downloads have been reviewed.

Personally i feel that the risks are too high and there is quite a big chance of receiving a virus so i don't think i would feel comfortable or safe using Bit Torrent.

Contemporary IT Issues

Blackberry Blackout

Recently there has been a number of issues that Blackberry users have encountered. This resulted in Blackberry users not being able to use their Blackberrys for simple tasks like BBM which is the free way of comunicating, Blackberry to Blackberry, and even affected how fast their Blackberrys worked, this "embarrassing" scenario lasted 36 hours.

Because of all the Blackberry users became outraged to say sorry Blackberry then gave a free £63 to all Blackberry users which they would be able to buy apps with, but only until December 31st. Because of this problem occurring and it not being the first time something like this there were even Blackberry users contemplating getting rid of their Blackberrys and because of the free £63 they were convinced to stay. This caused huge controversy and there were headlines in every newspaper and news site updating everyone on the latest news and on what was actually happening and was going to be done.

Hospitals Using IT

"Better use of information technology in England's hospitals could help prevent 16,000 deaths a year" was reported on the BBC website.

And The trust has said that they "saw 17% fall in deaths among emergency patients over 12 months which would equate to 16,000 deaths prevented across England"

Advantages of having a new IT system:

• Reminders - patients will be given reminders to take all of their needed medicines
• There will be a higher sivival rate in hospitals, because of the new IT system
• Medical History - the machines will have a history of all of the previous medicines their patients have had.
• Alarms - there is also an immediate alarm that will sound if the patient becomes ill and needs immediate help.

Disadvantages of having a new IT system:

• Cost - it would be very costly to have such high technology and this will be the main disadvantage to having the new IT system.

I believe that it would be worth paying a big amount of money for such technology as it will be beneficial and worth it in the long run as it will be saving millions of lives.

Six million people in UK have overpaid or underpaid tax

In recent news there have been 6 million people that have paid the wrong amount of money, whether that be too much or too little. There has roughly been £2billion worth of unpaid tax within the past 2 years and roughly £1.8billion of money that has been overpaid and because they have underpaid they will receive a bill for however much they underpaid. And for the people who have overpaid they will be repaid the money that they are owed.

This has been found out because of the new computer that has been introduced by HMRC, and as well as every other piece of technology there are advantages and disadvantage which would include. The advantages of this new technology would mainly be for the people that will be owed money as they will then be given the money that they are owed and the estimated amount that everyone will get is £1,500. The disadvantages however would be that they will receive a bill which they will have to pay as they owe tax money.

However, in my opinion i believe that there shouldn't be any rewards or bills being sent and they paid the amount that they paid was the amount that they were told to pay by the government so it wasn't their fault if they underpaid, so they shouldn't get punished.

Online Banking

Over recent years the way in which people check their bank account and transfer their money has become more reliant on the use of technology and  they are using online banking rather that physically going into a bank. And there is a multiple option which enables you to pick the one that is best suited to you.

• First Direct
• Egg
• ING Direct
• Rabo Direct

These would be the selection that you would be able to chose from, personally i have not used any of these but i would do a bit of research on each of them to find out which one is best suited to me and i would also take into consideration which one i think would be the most safe and the one i would trust the most.


There are advantages of doing your banking online, these would include:

• Convenience - You are able to do your banking at a time that suits you, and you don't have to have restricted times of when you do your banking.
• Efficiency - When you make the transactions online it is immediate whereas if you were do this by going to your bank physically it would not be as efficient and the transaction would not be made immediately.
• No travel cost - As you will be doing this from the comfort of your own home you wont have to spend money on travel or fuel cost.
• No queuing - As well as the above reasons this can be seen as a huge advantage as it can be done at an even quicker pace as you wont have to wait in a queue and multiple people can be doing the same thing as you.
• Easy to find information - You will also be able to find out specific information that you want more or less immediately as there will be a search bar and the answers to your question will appear without having to explain your question over and over to a member of staff.
• No language barrier - If English is not your first language it might become a better option to do banking online as it will be a big advantage for you.
• Check from abroard - As your bank details will be online you would be able to check your bank account even if you are in a different country which will be the most useful advantage if you find yourself traveling a lot.

However there are disadvantages to banking online which would include:

• Security issues - As you are online there are security issues and when dealing with such personal data and information and you might not be as safe as you would like to be especially not in comparison to doing your banking in the bank.
• Difficulty using site - There are some people that would prefer to do their banking in a physical bank rather that online as they are unable to use the site and find it difficult to do what other people may think to be simple tasks.
• Hackers - This can be seen as a huge disadvantage and can even be a common factor of why people do not want to do banking online as if your personal information gets into the wrong hands it may be extremely hard to rectify .
• Errors - As this is a relatively new way of using technology there are people who do not know quite how to use the site and because of this there is a high risk of making errors, especially when entereing data and when you make errors when using this online service the errors can be hard to rectify.   
• Digital Divide - Because of the digital divide there are people who just do not trust online banking as they are entering personal information that they would rather give face-to-face.

As well as there being advantages for the customers there are also ones for the bank itself which would consist of:

• Save money - As they are not in need of as many employees as more and more people are using the online bank more they will not have to spend so much on paying their workers.
• Wider customer base - As they are going online there will be an opportunity to appeal to a wider range of customers as there are people that prefer doing things online, whether it be because they don't like face-to-face communication or whether they physically cant get to the bank.
• Cut down on brick - As there are more and more people banking online instead there is a less need to have a physical building and they would be able to cut down, especially on the ones that are not as popular and just keep the ones that have more of a customer base.

Disadvantages for the bank would consist of:

• Errors - As well as online there are risks of error making in the bank and if these errors are to happen it is the banks fault and this could sway the customers opinion of the bank and they could then decide to do online banking instead or even take a more drastic action and transfer to another bank.
• Digital Divide - As well as being an disadvantage for the customers this is also a disadvantage for the bank as the bank will get fewer customers as they are unable to use the technology.
• No relationship with the customers - This can be seen as a huge disadvantage as you would not get a sense of loyalty.

In my opinion i think online banking is a great way of banking and a great use of technology as it appeals to a wider range of people and i would be more likely to use the online banking more as i'd prefer to not have to depend on a member of staff to enter my details. As well as this, i'd also prefer to do online banking as i would be able to do it whenever i wish and not have to worry about opening and closing times.

Banks are always making improvements that they think will be a hit with their forever expanding customer base. One of the most improvement being: the PINsentry which is a dedicated entry level to your bank account which gives you a unique pin number to enter upon inserting your barclays bank card into a small numeric keypad. This is part of a dedicated teams effort into being it out solutions for a lot of people concern in computer hacking. this was introduced by barclays but other banks have adopted this idea in improving their own customer security and peace of mind.

E Government

Direct Gov


with the help of technology the government can now supply us the information we need about a variety of different things that we would need in every day life, such as:

• taxes - inland revenue and car tax
• voting
• pensions
• employment
• crime and justice
• EAS (electronic application services)
• UCAS
• driving application
• online statistics
• environment

Crime and Justice

There are many different types of crime, these mostly consist of:

• buglary
• robbery
• domestic violence
• anti social behaviour
• rape and sexual assault
• knife crime
• gun crime
• identity fraud

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With the help of DirectGov.com you are able to find out important information about how you can stay safe in your environment. And as well as keeping yourself safe, you are given information about how to keep your personal information safe so that it doesn’t get into the wrong hands as you are the only person that should know your details.

You can also find out local crime information so it isn’t just general information, it becomes personal. And you are also given a number of how many different crimes has happened in that area, this can be very useful to know so that you know what precautions to take as there will be different ones suited to everyone as different areas will have different types of crime.

Through the DirecGov website you are able to report crime and anti-social behaviour. With the help of this site it tells you what the steps are of reporting a crime or anti-social behaviour.

Employment

Job seekers

There are plenty of ways in which the online government can help you and give you the information you need when you are seeking a job. The ways in which this site can help you are to do with: your CV, letters and job application forms, applying jobs online and even where to look for a job.

CV

When writing a CV it is imperative that you have done it correctly so having this online service can only have its advantages. You are told what type of font to use, and how long your roughly your CV should be. You are also told what you should include within your CV which would include such things as your basic details and what you have previously done that you think would be helpful for the job you want to do. And you are also given examples of CV’s so that if you’re still unsure of what it is you need to include you can get more of an idea, I have found this very helpful and I would use the information I have found out in later life when I have to fill out a CV for myself.

Letters and job application forms

As well as the CV information that can be found on the online government site you are also give the basic information that you would need to include when thinking about writing a letter or filling in a job application form. And you are also given another document file which will give you more help if you needed it, the advantages of using the directgov website to do things like these are:

• If you are unsure of what you need to include you are given a list
• If you are still unsure you are given old documents of the same nature
• The website is constantly being updated with the most recent changes

Education and Learning

this site also helps people who need information about education and learning and just so that the right information is there, there are multiple options to select from.

university and higher education

this includes student finance which is money that the government give you when you chose to go to university. By having this allowance you are able to afford the privilege of going to university, this is because you are able to borrow money from the government which they then pay for your course with. This is a huge advantage as instead of paying the huge sum of money for your course in one big payment you are able to pay back the government in small amounts which are suited to the individual person. The way in which you apply for this student load is through the website so it is done at your convenience and from the comfort of your own home which can be seen as a huge advantage for some people.

Education

The way in which we use the Internet for educational purposes has risen in recent years and is slowly becoming an essential skill that is needed in todays every day life. The ways in which we use the Internet for educational purposes are: for revision, research, VLE (virtual learning environment), my maths and e.mail.

Revision
This would include such websites as BBC Bitesize. This site can provide you with help for almost every subject such as: English, Maths, Geography, Spanish and ICT. As well as catering for every subject there is also a choice of what level to chose from which includes: KS3 and GCSE. This site can help you with revision as it offers a wide range of topics as well as a choice of "revise" "activity" or "test" as some would suit people better then others.

As well as BBC Bitesize there is another site purely for the benefit of revision which is My Maths. this site allows you to do log onto your own account and do your homework online which will then get logged, you are given help before you actually start answering questions so that you would hopefully then be able to understand what it is that you need to do in order to answer the questions correctly. This site also allows you to find out what your strengths and weaknesses are and then will enable you to focus on the topics that you struggle with.

VLE
This would include the virtual learning environment called Frog, you have your own account which you are able to log into and then use for a number of different reasons including: to check your time table, this enables you to know what lesson you have that day, who with and what room. Another way of using frog is to set homework which will appear in "my set tasks" as well as this you are able to access your school documents which is a huge advantage as you will be able to do this all from the comfort of your own home.

E-Mail
E.Mail has become a very important part of online education as if you do not attend a lesson you can e.mail your teacher and ask them what they did in class, this is important because if you do not keep up to date with your work you will fall behind. As well as this you could also use e.mail to ask your teacher for help if you don't understand the homework that has been set.