This issue is interesting because when you ask someone this question, you will basically find out what their stance is on downloading in general. You will find out whether that person thinks it’s okay to download music, movies, etc. I think that the artist has the right to decide whether he or she wants to share what they have just created. If someone wants to share a short movie they just made because they believe it helps society in general to share it, then why not? Of course, I would also understand if an artist just wants to be private and discreet, and not share anything.

My personal stance is that I am in favor of downloading. If people are so worried about their idea’s getting stolen, then they do not grasp the idea of artistic evolution. Basically, it is almost impossible for someone not to steal from you creatively, intellectually, or what not, in some shape or form at some point in your life. That is just the way things are. You also have the right to hear or see an idea that might inspire you to create something great as well. It’s a double-edged sword. But an awesome double-edged sword.

To elaborate more on what I think about downloading, let me a share a track that I produced. This is trance music. Basically, it’s mixing melodies and rythms in a 4/4 time signature. I feel like you can take it to a new level with chord progressions and constructing powerful build-ups. As well as having to compose these ideas if you are writing from scratch. One must have some knowledge of music theory and understand how to create melodies. To have some sort of structure to it, as well as to add excitement, you add a new element every 8 bars. It is a branch of EDM.

I made this on a macbook air.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/552395

Now, it has 1,014 plays and 67 downloads. You could look at it and say, well that’s 67 dollars I could have made if I was selling it on iTunes. But I don’t see it that way. They would never have heard the song if I hadn’t shared it, because I’m not famous yet. So I would rather let people hear it first and get some feedback on it, instead of withholding it from someone who might really like it. It’s free publicity. And even if someone did steal it from you and pass it as their own, you have the original file and would be able to win any lawsuit. So yeah, I’m all about sharing. Sharing is caring.

That’s basically how I feel about software piracy. You almost have to expect that people are going to steal and copy. That is just how it is. People use torrents all the time. If someone is skilful enough to turn a demo into the full program, or has the know how to download really well, then you won’t be able to stop them. It is almost like hacking and sort of a skill in some way. If the product is licensed then that company will still make money. People will still buy it from the stores. A few computer guys will be able to obtain it for free, but I think that is sort of expected already. They could impose sanctions or be strict but it is not really intimidating. That warning that comes on before every movie doesn’t scare anyone and people have been copying movies from beta, to vhs, to dvd, and so on for decades. So I don’t really blame someone who downloads something if it does cost them 2 months salary. People will always try to look for the best deal. It doesn’t mean that if they did have the money they wouldn’t buy it, because they probably would. It just all depends sometimes. This is just the evolution of IT at work.

KM refers to a multi-disciplined approach to achieving organizational objectives by making the best use of knowledge. An organization will absolutely benefit from knowledge management because KM can help you achieve your objectives. It also drives innovation and helps companies come up with new idea’s.

An organization obviously needs to maintain a competitive advantage and be continuously improving. The development of new products and services can be achieved more easily through KM. An employee can see and share valuable information and can add their own opinions or insights that could help streamline new breakthroughs in the company.

Some people may say that KM is a fad or strictly enthusiasm. This is pretty ridiculous, though. Technology is clearly the future and KM helps organizations grow exponentially. Without KM, a company could blossom and have success for maybe 5 years, but then collapse just as fast as they grew. Knowledge management is not a fad and can only help organizations.

“Knowledge is power but knowledge sharing is empowerment.”

It all comes back to that classic quote about fishing. Give a man a fish, he eats for a day… but teach a man to fish, and he eats for a lifetime. The knowledge of the man giving another man a fish is power, but only for the man who caught the fish. However, teaching a man to fish is an example of knowledge sharing. The man is empowering the other man by sharing his wisdom with him. The man who just received this great knowledge can then tell a third man about this and so forth. The idea doesn’t die with the original inventor and mankind benefits as a whole because the first guy decided to share his wisdom.

How can organizations encourage more effective use of business intelligence tools?

Well, first and foremost, businesses need to stay competitive. There is so much information out there, and the amount of data that’s being collected is growing exponentially. Businesses need tools that can help them analyze this data. They want to have long-term success and to be able to seize new opportunities that can help them. Business intelligence tools usually answer the questions: What happened? When? Who? And, how many? However, one must understand that no matter how much data you have, it’s useless if you can’t extract business insights from it.

Is a rewards program appropriate?

Absolutely. Let’s say you deal with sales. After analyzing the data, you could give the top 10% of your employees a reward. And maybe the top 1% could get this exclusive, all expenses paid trip, or something along those lines. Talk is cheap and you definitely need to reward employees and give them incentives.

Is a punitive program appropriate?

Yes. Although, you might need to tread carefully to not make your employees feel like you are some fear mongering, dictator of a manager, I can definitely see how you need to punish those who don’t make the cut. For example, when I was teenager, I worked as a cashier during a summer job. There indeed was a punitive program put in place. At the end of the day, if your register was short, it was noted. If you were short more than 3 times, regardless if you were just short a couple cents, you were fired. This seemed harsh, but I understand why these rules were put in place. It definitely made me count better and double check that I was giving the exact amount of change.

How about pay raises based on job performance that would require employees to make use of BI applications?

Yes. This relates to the rewards system. You definitely want to give your top 5% of employees recognition, especially if they have been performing at a high level for a couple of years already. You will then be able to keep an elite employee from going to a rival firm, as well as that employee feeling appreciated that you have been noticing their hard work.

Shopping on the internet can be more convenient for consumers because they save so much time, money, and energy in general. You could wake up from a nap, sit down at your desk, make a few clicks, and voila! You have just made a purchase. All while wearing your pajamas. However, if you had to go to a store, you would have to figure out what clothes you were going to wear to look decent in public (a hassle). Then you would have to take a shower (increasing your water bill), drive your car to the store (wasting expensive gas and hurting the environment), deal with the possibility of running into someone you don’t want to see (annoying), and even the off chance that someone could rob you, and steal your items on your way home (frightening).

The only way it could be less convenient is if you wanted to try on a specific item, like shoes, for example. That’s something that you almost always need to try before you buy. Also, shipping can be difficult sometimes. Or worse, the fear of an uninformed consumer giving their credit card information to a not so reputable site that turns out to be a scam. But besides that, online shopping is as convenient as it gets.

Items I would not hesitate buying online would be snacks/treats that have a relatively long shelf life and low cost. Items like mints, beef jerky, gummy bears, etc. Even if they happened to be damaged during shipping, they probably only cost you a few dollars so it’s not really that big of a deal. Plus, some items are international products and can only be bought online. And of course, a long shelf life ensures that the product will be fresh to consume when it arrives to you.

Items I might hesitate buying would be things like food items. Gourmet frozen steaks, frozen salmon, frozen chicken, etc. You have no idea what will happen to the food on it’s long journey to your doorstep. What if the freezer in a large truck full of filet mignons breaks down? The steaks will spoil and you will be very annoyed when they get to your door. You might not even be able to get a refund, as you can’t prove that the manufacter was negligent or whether it was an accident.

Items I would never buy online would be luxury items like rare baseball cards, expensive art, luxury purses, etc. This is because fakes are everywhere and so many people are trying to rip people off just to make money. I would also not want to buy clothes, hats, shoes, etc. This is because you have no idea that it even fits you unless you try it on yourself at a store. A model on a website will almost always look better wearing something than an average person. So when a regular woman that’s not a fashion model tries on a dress that she bought online, it might not even fit her or look the way she thought it would.

I think an organization should definitely entertain the idea of outsourcing IT security. Obviously, it is very lucrative. You do not need to hire extra employees that would probably require you to pay higher salaries given that most have highly specialized skills. You would then be able to use the money saved from outsourcing an IT security company on another project or department. One could also argue that an outsourced IT security firm has a better understanding of the internet, since it probably witnesses many attacks on a daily basis. Because these attacks are so common to them, it is safe to assume that the employees have seen these attacks from hackers many times and are prepared to handle them.

It sounds like a win/win situation, right? Well, not necessarily. What if you have sensitive material that may even include confidential information about customers? You would definitely need to make sure that the security firm is a legitimate one. Reliable, safe and trusted. If sensitive information was given to the wrong hands (that possibly even included credit card numbers), it would be disastrous for a business.

However, once you get over that hump, it is usually smooth sailing from there. I think all you need to do is just keep local backups of some of your more important files just in case that security firm went out of business. I believe that the pros outweigh the cons, and outsourcing IT security is the way to go, since most organizations are all about cutting costs and increasing profits.

If I did outsource, the stipulations that I would make would be that the security firm is available to me 24 hours a day. I would also expect a level of confidentiality that comes with a solid IT security company. They need to be trustworthy and have integrity. I’m sure some businesses have collapsed just by making the mistake of hiring the wrong security company. So, of course, you need to be careful. As the last thing you would want is to be exploited.

Technology is such a great example of human ingenuity. Whether you are really into computers or not, information technology is very much a part of our lives. Every time you send an email, use Facebook, or search for things on Google, you are utilising information technology. When I was a small child, I was fascinated with the Macintosh computers I saw in 1991. I was in first grade back then. I remember being so amazed with the graphics of Kid Pix and the playability of games like Oregon Trail. Or even the archaic computers they showed in the 1987 film “Wall Street” – computers that are probably in a museum by now. Back then, though, that was a big deal. That was brand new technology at the time. It is amazing how far we have come to be honest.

Let me give an example of how IT is intertwined with my life. I love creating and listening to music. Without IT, I would not be able to share the music that I just created so easily. Someone would either have to watch me play an instrument in person, or I would have to go to an elaborate recording studio to record my music, and then distribute cd’s one by one to my friends. Not to mention the difficulty in trying to publish your music while dealing with shrewd music labels. But now, technological advances allow me to buy the necessary computer hardware and software, and begin making music without much difficulty.

I produce a variety of different music on my Macbook through a program called Logic Pro X. You utilise bits and pieces of music theory, sound engineering, and programming to create your own sounds. I can then export that track to iTunes or one of the many music sharing sites like Soundcloud or Newgrounds. And in minutes, people will be able to hear the music that I just created on my laptop. Those sites will then give you protection in the form of a free license. This license protects you from someone stealing your music, or using your music in a project without giving credit to you. Or if I wanted to send a demo to a record label, I could email my unmastered track to a mastering studio to master it. They will then email the mastered track back to me, and I can email the finished track to the record label. This, to me, is amazing. Without IT, I would never be able to create, share, and protect my music the way I’m accustomed to. It’s a new year coming up and I’m excited to see what new innovations lay ahead!