Software Engineer Vs. Business Analyst

As a software engineer, their duties involve the applications of a systematic, disciplined and quantifiable approach to the software.  They also have to study these approaches.  As a business analyst, it is someone who analyzes the existing or future organization and the design systems.  It involves businesses, departments and organizations.  They also look at business models and their integration with technology.

In my opinion I would prefer to be a business analyst, only because I would prefer to analyze the software that already exists and examine the design and system.  I would not want to be part of the engineering. 

Network Intelligence

Network Intelligence

The part of network intelligence that scares me the most in how now days, everyone has access to everything.  With technology and information systems, things in life are handed to you through a screen.  Of course there are the benefits to the network intelligence, it isn’t “intelligent” for no reason. 

The thing I wouldn’t want the network to know about me and my family and friends is the association and private life I’m involved in.  As I said before, everything is accessible via the network, and that is uncomforting judging by hackers, or fraud.  It can also affect your reputation.  An example of this is Amanda Todd, her one mistake can haunt you for life once it is on the network.  She went viral on the network.

For me when I am on the network, I will always be sure of what I am doing and am aware of what to post in social media.

MAC VS. PC?

There is always the debate of which company is the one to go with.  Mac or PC?  They have competed and fought on television internationally.  It is a problem for businesses or any customer to decide which to purchase for their work or personal use.  There are multiple things that you have to look at when you are making the decision.  There is compatibility with your work, customer service, price and usability. 

Mac is becoming more compatible with more and more programs everyday and people are getting used to their own, however, there are still many restrictions compared to PC.  An example you would have to download parallels for Mac that PC offers easily, such as Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint etc.  With not as many programs compatible with Mac’s it makes it more difficult for students or businesses to access them and understand them. 

Usability is another way you can compare to help make your decision.  With operating systems constantly changing on Mac’s, they are constantly making it more attractive and a larger trend to users.  Mac’s operating system is great for the entertainment industry, creative work such as design and their simplistic image and design with their product makes it really appealing.  Mac’s have a more specific clientele compared to PC, who has usability for any one who either is working or just using it for personal use.  

With the customer service, there is an obvious one that has more strengths in my opinion.  Mac is known for their outstanding customer service.  They have “Apple Geniuses” working at their store for an instant “check-up” on your product.  They will ship it away or can replace the product in store if they are able to.  PC does not have this strong suit in this area. 

The price is the last thing we can compare.  PC is obviously more appealing with their price; as Mac can be significantly more expensive.  Their image and product reflect their price though but PC’s price gives them a more competitive advantage.

In the end, I feel PC is still the more used product and user friendly for businesses, even though I am a Mac user myself.  Windows is constantly reinventing itself to compete with Mac and doing a successful job, as they have a larger customer base.  

Carleton University Power Outage

As I am sitting here typing on my MacBook Pro, I take it for granted that the technology I am using is also using electricity.  There are multiple things that we use in our lives that use electricity, and most of them are technological.  Most people and by people I mean students are the most active on computer, mobiles, social networking, and the list goes on.  There are new technologies that shape our lives daily; students are the ones who have grown up with it and it only advances from here.  Since they have grown up with it, the world around us obviously has to update themselves and progress with technology.  It is brought into the workforce and education.  There is always a devils advocate with any subject, and people say technology is distracting to kids and students, giving them too many tasks to think about. Who is emailing me?  Who is texting me?  What did the professor say about that last slide?  Students are constantly on the go with technology and it’s constantly at their fingertips.  It always has its advantages though.  Students are able to communicate, collaborate and network more efficiently for school.  The classroom has a different teaching method now using PowerPoint.  Instead of the professor writing out his/her notes on the chalkboard, they can become more interactive by talking to students and letting the students engage.  The downfall with the technology in the classroom is our electricity may be out. Which brings me back to the point in the beginning.  Carleton University had a power outage last Wednesday causing classes to be cancelled.  At that moment, it probably meant freedom, no class!  However, the next class, it made students focus on an extra lesson. 

There are many options, given that as I said, most people are connected through technology, which gives the Teaching Assistants, and Professors options to fix the problem.   The professor or TA could easily create an email to students (as most of them have smartphones and get it on the spot) to explain the situation and direct them further what to do and maybe have screenshots of more difficult tasks on the program they were to be using in that class.  They could also ask certain students who understand the concept to create a peer-to-peer group and help each other out.   This would be beneficial for the students as they get to network and collaborate with their classmates. There could be an online segment to explain the class offered for students who could not make it to the different segments at the school.  With technology, the list goes on, and as most people know, there does not need to be person-to-person contact anymore. That is the beauty of technology; it always advances. 

Welcome!

Hi I'm Megan McLean!

I work in the Functional Area of PetGRO as administrative support.  I'm really looking forward to the upcoming work that is being done throughout the company.  I can't wait to start!