15-7
(a) (i) A beta test is a test that is done after system development and the alpha test. Beta testing uses a group of testers with different versions of software to help identify bugs and test the software off of applicable conditions. (ii) The SDLC analysis stage includes determining product goals. The goals show where each department will work to develop components. (b) Capability Maturity Model Integration describes an organization based on a scale of five levels of maturity. It includes past successes and failures to best improve a system. (c) An agile model is better than the waterfall model because it is so much more adaptable and breaks down processes into more manageable sizes. This allows for a more in-depth analysis of each component and keeps the whole project efficient. 15-8 (a) (i) Technical documentation is the paperwork that describes how a product is operated, (ii) Direct and phased crossover can be used in this system. A direct crossover would instantaneously switch the system to a new one, while a phased crossover would implement the new system gradually. (b) When developing a custom software, there are often many issues. A major challenge is the long period of time that development takes. This is because the product is so customized it must all be done from the ground up. These projects also typically require more funding due to the long period of development and extensive testing that needs to be completed. (c) It is always appropriate to develop a new system to replace a legacy system. Legacy systems operate on old, outdated hardware and do not meet the needs for the expansion. A new system will ensure that the expansion will be feasible, as well as allowing the company to have security in the reliability of its system. 15-9 (a) (i) Legacy systems are computer systems that are no longer for sale or supported by the original manufacturer. (ii) The client is the person who commissioned the project, the end user is the person who will use the completed system. (b) One typical way to train new users for a system is user documentation, which provides instructions on how to use the system on a basic level. Another form of training could be through lessons or lectures, this would involve another employee, well versed in the system, to train the new user. (c) Off the shelf software will typically have more support that custom software. This is because the software has more users and is more widespread allowing it to be compatible with many other systems. Custom software is usually too specialized to work with many other systems and because of its specialization highly increases its cost.
0 Comments
1. (a) Identify the two functions used in this spreadsheet.
The two functions used in the spreadsheet are the SUM and VLOOKUP functions. (b) (i) Cell D12 contains the expression (D2:D10). Describe the meaning of the information in this expression. Cell D12 expresses the range of contents in all cells, starting in cell D2 and going through cell D10. It is using this range of values as the input to the SUM function. (ii) Cell D13 contains an absolute and a relative cell reference. Define the term absolute cell reference. An absolute cell reference is a cell reference that does not change regardless of if the cell is copied or the contents are moved. (c) Explain how features of a spreadsheet can be used in order to investigate "what-if" questions. "What-if" questions are based off of scenarios that may occur or may not. It is not possible to know for sure if these situations occur so it is best to have plans of action for multiple scenarios. Spreadsheets can be used to investigate these questions by modeling the scenarios, they can predict the consequences of choices/actions and instantly recalculate the outcome based on the change. The use of formulas with variables in spreadsheets is also helpful for easily changing information or modeling a new situation. 2. (a) HTTP stands for Hypter Text Transfer Protocol. Define the term protocol in this context. In this context, protocol is a set of standards that determines how the data being sent is transmitted with the server. (b) Describe how the search engine determines relevant advertisements to display on this or other web sites. Search engines use algorithms that scan the content of the website, words used in the search, and databases of advertisements to determine which advertisements would be most relevant for the type of person that would be visiting that site/making those searches. (c) Explain two ways in which the number of visitors to this or other web sites can be increased. The number of visitors to a web site can be increased by making it easier to find. Using meta tags and relevant key search words can make a website more likely to come up from a search engine. The website can also pay the search engine provider to improve their ranking so that they appear at the top of a search. Finally, making sure that the website has good, valuable content will encourage more users to use the website. 3. (a) The RFID readers have a short range of 0-8 centimeters. Identify two reasons why the range needs to be short. The range of the RFID readers needs to be short so that the readers don't accidentally read the cards of people passing by and end up charging them. (b) Identify four possible tasks the Oyster software would need to preform when an Oyster card is used at a station. When an Oyster card is used at a station the software would need to scan the card, make sure that there is enough balance on the card to purchase a trip, record the time of entry, journey details, and then record when the card owner exits. (c) Explain one benefit and one drawback of extending the use of the Oyster card nationally. Using the Oyster card nationally would make it much easier and flexible to travel across the United Kingdom. This would increase sales and the number of citizens that travel. However, drawbacks of extending the Oyster card nationally would be that it would expensive to implement the technology and software and there would be a much higher risk of fraud. 4. (a) Define the term artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a computer system that perceives its environment and simulates human level intelligence. However, it does not simulate human thought or self-awareness. (b) Describe how tests can be used to determine whether a computer system is an example of artificial intelligence. The most common/well-known to test if a computer system is an example of AI is the Turing test. However, it can also be determined that a computer is an example of AI is if it pretends to be or act like a human, attempts to convince a human, or you could compare the response of the machine with the response of an actual person. (c) The teacher marking this assignment was suspicious that the poem was not the student's work. The student admitted that it was generated by a computer. Explain how a computer program could gave generated this poem. A computer program could have generated this poem by accessing a database of preexisting poems and broken them apart. It would then use an algorithm with randomness built in to create a new poem that contains entirely new content using the data from existing poems. CPU - Sale Price $94.89
Motherboard - $129.60 RAM - $51.15 SSD - $54 Graphics Card - $189.99 Case - $29.99 Power Supply - Sale Price & 10 Dollar Rebate $36.89 Total: $586.51 Partner: Elizabeth Howard Criterion A A major ethical concern in regards to the biometric system being used relates to personal privacy. When images are captured of customers shopping at Budgens stores their faces are all compiled into a central database. This massive amount of data can be easily stolen along with any other information stored alongside the facial constructions. For example, if ID is stored with the face then a person's identity could easily be stolen. One of the primary stakeholders in this technologies implication is the software company, Charlton LTD, which produces the software. They are responsible for providing the software as well as storing the data. This makes them accountable for keeping the information safe and protected. They have a high level of interest in the success of their product because it will create high amounts of revenue for the company if implemented. Criterion B The biometric recognition software is primarily based off of cameras and points on the face. The camera takes a picture of the person’s face and maps specific points and distances. They key points that the cameras often target are the centers of the eyes, the corners of the lips, the tip of the nose, and the person’s chin. The distance between these points is then calculated and this information is stored as the initial picture in a database. When the person goes into a store to purchase alcohol another picture is taken and compared to the database pictures. If a match is made then the person’s identity will be verified and they will be able to purchase the product. A more advanced version of this software creates a mesh that overlays onto the face to recognize the faces. Criterion C The issue of privacy will heavily affect company policy when handling their product in use. The concern of information being stolen and public opinion of the company will cause them to handle the information with extreme care. This will cause the company to implement heavy security measures so that the data is not stolen. This would include creating firewalls and encrypting the data. Criterion D
One of the possible solutions to an issue identified in criterion C would to use high level encryption to protect the publics data. Encryption puts the data under a lock that can only be accessed by a specific key number that can be changed after every certain number of minutes. This makes the data inaccessible even if it is stolen so the amount of protection on the data itself can be lessened. CPU (Central Processing Unit) - a CPU interprets information being input into the computer and processes it to carry out tasks and make the computer run
Power Supply - a power supply stores energy the computer needs to run, it converts the electricity from a high voltage to a lower voltage that the computer can use RAM (Random Access Memory) - RAM is a small amount of memory the computer uses to quickly open applications and files so it doesn't always have to pull from the hard drive, this data is wiped when the computer shuts down Hard Drive HDD - The hard drive stores all of the information on the computer. It is stored on a magnetized disk allowing for massive amounts of information but the disk has to spin up making it slower than RAM Mother Board - The main component of the computer containing the main hardware components and can hold disks Video/Graphics Card - The video/graphics card processes images on the computer and is typically integrated with the motherboard, unless the computer is used for intense gaming or imaging Optical Drive - an optical drive is a physical receptacle for reading and burning compact disks, it spins the disk and reads the information off of it. As technology becomes increasingly advanced, Humans are becoming more dependent on machines in order to survive. There are things that people are no longer capable of doing because of their high level of complexity. These actions are often done using machines because they can be much more efficient or capable. This hands over the control of the situation to technology. I believe that this is okay as long as humans maintain control over the technology in some capacity. Technology must be able to control some situations in order for human society to continue to progress; however, it should not go unchecked. This means that technology should be given control of human situations when there is a way for humans to remain safe if the technology malfunctions or needs to be shut off. If technology were to malfunction the owner of the technology shuld be held liable. When comapnies sell technology such as self-driving cars they should not be liable because the new owner of the car may tamper or change the machine. The manufacturers of goods and companies should not be liable because the customer is choosing to use that product, it is not forced upon them. If it became required to have self-driving cars or other technology then the liability of the devices should switch to either the manufacturer or government. Technology is going to eventually reach a level of extreme intelligence, and possibly sentience. The difference is that intelligence is a measure of the machines knowledge and ability; while sentience is the machine being aware of its high level of intelligence. One method for testing this intelligence is the Turing Test that tests intelligence based on a human level. This does not mean that the technology is sentient, but it has achieved human levels of intelligence. If a machine achieves sentience it will be able to become much more intellectually powerful than humans. Machines this powerfuls should not be allowed to exist or must be under control of a fail proof shut off. If these machines were to be considered living and given inalienable rights than they could easily be attacked or corrupted turning on the creators. I believe the difference between active and passive identification is the amount of time the device is active. In a passive identification system, I believe that a video camera, for facial recognition, may only be recording video when someone passes in front of the camera. This may be caused by a remote operator or a sensor. An active system would constantly be recording faces and entering them into databases regardless of who or what is in front of the camera. Video surveillance, in my opinion, breaches our privacy rights when video is being recorded of you without any knowledge being given to you of the recording. This could be in a public or private space; however, if going to a privately sponsored event your rights against video surveillance should be somewhat controlled by the events owner.
Companies must adopt the open source way because of the limitless opportunities it allows them. Open source projects can be accessed by thousands of people allowing companies to more quickly develop information. Thousands of users are creating new code based on the same logic that can all be mixed together due to this shared origin. Open source also allows companies to cut costs in their projects. They no longer need to turn their engineering departments in a certain way in order to get the base they need because open source allows them to specialize to what they specifically need. Overall, open source allows companies to create larger amounts of better software for much less cost. This is ultimately why companies must adopt the open source way.
Radio Frequency Identification Tags or RFIDs are typically very small devices that use three basic components to identify and communicate information about objects. It has been debated whether these devices should be implemented into people for tracking purposes or even control. These uses of RFID in humans could be very beneficial; however, they should not be implemented for use on people. RFID tags should not be implemented because this would create a very large gap in personal security. There are devices that can easily scan RFID tags and retrieve the information stored within. Someone could easily use this scanning technology in order to find out where people have been, or personal information stored within their tag. Another major reason that RFID should not be used in humans is RF radiation. An independent study at the University of Texas at Arlington determined that the amount of radiation from 2 RFID antennas will additively create a level of RF radiation that is above the level of radiation allowed by the FCC.
RFID technology could be incredibly useful if implemented for human use. RFID tracking could save lives. If a child was kidnapped or went missing using this technology they would be able to be located and rescued. This is just one example of the many different ways RFID would steer society to become safer and more productive. This technology could easily be used to alleviate our major problems that often occur when there is no monitoring. RFID could also be very helpful logistically. Instead of having to continue to use paper documents to track attendance or transfers of items it would all be automatically recorded. This shows that RFID trackers would easily transform society into a more stable and effective machine for progress. RFID tags are relatively basic devices. They are about the size of a grain of rice with three major components; the antenna, receiver, and reading/writing device to store information. RFID tags come in two main forms, passive and active. Passive tags have no power source and are activated by a frequency from the scanner. Active tags have an onboard power source allowing them to be used from further distances as well as store much more information. |