Cool Web Tool - Enlide IDE

Cool Web Tool http://www.go2web20.net/app/?a=Enlide
With Integrated Development Environment (IDE) the Developers create, share and reuse code for faster application development. This allows them to deploy on many different platforms much faster. IDE allows virtual teams to work together as companies optimize their existing computer systems and network infrastructure for group and personal collaboration. These fully-featured environments combine the best features of web-based conferencing and collaboration, desktop videoconferencing, and instant messaging into an user friendly intuitive environment. Documentation is standardized and code is peer tested, therefore more stable. The down side of this cool tool is that all the code should be shared with the Enlide community. Security becomes a concern. But how many times do we use Custom Off the Shelf (COTS) applications? If this application does not access sensitive data and has the proper authentication mechanisms, it is a go.

How Brains Make Moral Judgements

http://www.ted.com/talks/rebecca_saxe_how_brains_make_moral_judgments.html

Animoto .......

http://animoto.com/play/1obJalmKVsVMY1wULtbYDQ

Animoto, the Robot and the House

Video is one of the most powerful learning tools because it engages multiple senses like the eyes, ears, emotion. It can captivate and hold your audiences' attention for much longer time spans than text books or other literature. Most people are visual and are less likely to forget a video as opposed to literature. Video is appreciated by all generations world wide so the impact of the research would be much wider in comparision to other forms of literature or media.

http://animoto.com/play/1obJalmKVsVMY1wULtbYDQ

With the help of Robots we would have a well maintained house with a central digital repository of all major and minor house hold records and the recommended frequency of their related activities. Minor records would be regular house clean ups, shopping and automated payment of utilities.

Major activities would be professionally painting the house, repairing roofs, ensure the water, heat and airconditiong systems function properly. Winterize the house and conduct repairs when needed, remove carpeting and replace with wood floors with a faster turn around. It is easy to let these activities slip because they can be daunting. The robot, with no fear would repair that roof and etc which most definately increase the value of your house.

Forecast: Automated Highways

A few weeks back my brother and I were discussing the possibility of working in Los Angeles. My main concern was traffic congestion because being stuck in it tends to bring out the worst in me. Then I read this chapter about “Automated Highways” by William Halal in his book Technology’s Promise. Halal proposes this faster, affordable way to travel by equipping cars with sensors and wireless communications to control the steering, speed and braking on electronic lanes. The cars would be spaced at close intervals, almost bumper to bumper, like convoys. This would double or triple the current highway capacity, improve safety from collisions, reduce fuel consumption and emissions.
Although this forecast is about 10 years ahead, we already have some provisions to support this automation. Japan is introducing a system that automatically returns rented cars and smart taxis. In the United States, Ford confirms that technologies to automate systems to reduce collisions adapt cruise control, maintain spacing between cars is in place. These cars are referred to as “intelligent cars”. The younger generation would be more likely to yield control of their driving to these systems to read a book or play a game, so the market is ready.

Apprehending the Future by Bryan Alexander

I agree with the author about the ever changing trends in Technology. It is almost as though your newly implemented technologies become obsolete as soon as the organization has learned to adapt to them. This constant change creates instabilities in the organization. The Standish Group conducted four subsequent surveys in the United States during the years 1995, 1998, 2004 and 2009. The interviewed executive managers reported the alarming success rate of Information Technology investment projects at sixteen percent, twenty six percent, twenty eight percent and thirty two percent respectively. Success was defined as completing the Information Technology implementation projects within the planned time and budget (Standish Reports: Chaos, 1996, 1998, 2005, 2009). Fortunately we see an improvement in project management, but we still have a long way to declare mastery of Information Technology implementations.
Despite this, Executive Management must constantly keep an eye out for new technologies that will improve their internal efficiencies and hence competitive advantage. To improve the success rate and ROI of their Information Technology projects, management must have a deep understanding of the technical, political and cultural environments in which their new Information Technology investment(s) will be implemented. These technical, political and cultural forces are ubiquitous and powerful. If ignored, these forces impose challenges that may eventually suffocate the life out of the IT investment project, and the people involved. On the other hand if these forces are examined, understood and strategically accommodated during the project planning, the project will most likely succeed (PMBoK, 2004, Mulcahy, 2005, Tichy, 1983, Fombrun et al, 1984). In a nutshell, the technical, political and cultural environments are the waters that investment projects sink or swim, all depending on the management’s expertise in strategically maneuvering through these powerful environments to align them for equilibrium.

Robotics and The Delphi process

I predict that robotics will gain popularity in the average house hold within the next 5-10 years. This is if the pace at which people live their lives today does not slow down. Like many working adults, keeping up with work and life can be a big challenge for me, let alone the family obligations.

Robotic help with the mundane house hold chores would be a great stress releiver as coming back to a clean house and a freshly cooked healthy meal is priceless. It would improve our immune systems which would in turn reduce the related medical bills. Additionally, our time would be freed up to focus on the more important things in life, a purpose driven life.

Discuss the Delphi process and how we can modify it to collaborate and gain consensus. Some of the modifications to the process are anonymous, but anonymity takes time.
The Delphi process dates back to 1944 when General Arnold was forcasting the technological capabilities of interest to the militay. This technique allows the experts to explore ideas or produce relevant information for decision making. The most critical issue is that all participants must be well informed and undertand the goal of the Delphi process so that they do not answer questions inappropriately. The ten most common steps that must be included in the Delphi Method are:
a) Formation of the team of experts to undertake and to monitor the Delphi on the specified subject.
b) Select the panel(s) of participants in the exercise. The panels are the experts in the area to be investigated. Number of participants is dependent on the study design, minimum required is 4.
c) Develop the first round of the Delphi questionnaire.
d) Test the questionaire for proper wording, remove ambiguities.
e) Present this initial questionaire to the panelists.
f) Analyze their first responses.
g) Make the necessary modifications and retest.
h) Present this new version to the panelists.
i) Analyze their responses. Iterate (f) through (i) to achieve reliable and cerdible results.
j) The analysis team prepares a conclusive report of the opinions obtained. The panel view point is statistically summarized.
Other important factors to consider for a successful Delphi process are the communication process, location of the participants, available tools and techniques and a high level idea of the results to be expected from their application.
How can we hasten the process?
We can expedite this process by providing the agenda before hand so that the participants can research for more thorough and informed responses.
Creating templates where applicable from past Delphi techniques would save execution time.
A weighting system based on votes would speed up the evaluations.
How does open or closed collaboration affect the results?
Open collaboration encourages brain storming and group creativity which generates a large quantity of ideas. The closed collaboration and anonymity promotes individual creativity and quality ideas with depth. It prevents group think where individuals try to minimize conflict within the group by reaching a consensus without critically testing, analyzing or evaluating the ideas.
Some concerns about using the Delphi process is the evaluation criteria of the experts ability to forcast, some experts may be poor forecasters, example is forecasting future events without taking into consideration the the holistic view or context of these future events. This makes the forcast less relaible and applicable to the future.
Secondly, the Delphi process can be executed in an unsystematic manner which makes the process and subsequent results questionable. The iterations can also be repeated with the hopes of manipulating the responses in the desired direction.