Information Collection and Retention of sensitive information on Users Research Paper

Information Collection and Retention of sensitive information on Users - Research Paper Example he customers personal data for good reasons, such as understanding customer needs and preferences, there has been a growing concern among consumers who argue that it is unethical for companies to retain personal and private data of a consumer without the consent of a customer. This document will analyze the extent to which companies retain users sensitive information and the kind of information that companies hold and the reasons for holding such sensitive information. According to Martin (2014), data mining has been on the increase in the recent past. As the business environment increasingly becomes competitive, companies are looking for every little opportunity to enable them stay ahead of the park. Currently, most big companies are collecting and retaining personal data of their customers for organizational use. Experts say that the private data of most customers are currently being held by big companies. In fact, Martin (2014) notes that every time an individual surfs on the Internet and click on a website, use a mobile app, post something on social media or make a comment via an e-mail or call center, the information provided is retained by the companies for future use. Although most companies keep the customers personal data for good reasons, there has been a growing concern among consumers who note that it is unethical for companies to retain personal and private data of a consumer without the consent their consent. Additionally, consumers are concerned that keeping private data about a customer exposes a customer at risk because the data may be hacked, thereby causing harm to a customer. This document will analyze the extent to which companies retain users sensitive information and the kind of information that companies hold and the reasons for holding such sensitive information. With the advancements in technology and the increased propagation and usage of the Internet, most big companies such as Google, Apple and Facebook are mining the data of

Rising seas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rising seas - Essay Example Currently, the trend of this rise has increased, compared to the past years. Beginning 1850, sea levels rose at a high rate because of high industrialization experienced during this period, which led to increase of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientific predictions show that global temperatures will continue to increase in future, thus further rise in sea levels (Milliman and Haq 11). The adverse effect of this phenomenon is that coastal towns, docks, and piers may be submerged if this trend continues. In addition, an increase in wave energy may be experienced. Therefore, a response to address this situation is imperative to avert the looming adversity. There are different ways in which this situation can be solved. However, preventing further global warming will serve to stop the rise in sea level. Nonetheless, the solutions require the expertise of engineers, including soft-engineering processes and hard-engineering processes. Since this problem is already here with us, the solutions will aim at controlling the risen sea level. However, prevention strategies may as well be employed to reduce global warming, which is core in this situation (Pilkey and Young 137-139). Directing seawater to different areas such as depressions, which are below sea level, will help to lower sea level. This could be achieved by digging canals directed to these depressions, where the seawater will drain. Most of depressions in the world have a higher rate of evaporation than other areas. Therefore, this is advantageous, as the seawater will be drained into these depressions continuously without filling up fast, due to the high evaporation (Milliman and Haq 11). By redirecting rivers and streams either partially or completely to drain their waters in a different place will also reduce the sea level, as the water draining into the oceans will be lower. The development of massive reservoirs for rivers and streams to drain in is costly but achievable. Alternatively, the rivers and streams

Needs and Critical Aspects of Small and Medium Enterprises Essay

Needs and Critical Aspects of Small and Medium Enterprises - Essay Example On the other hand, marketing is also a key element. Although it is easy to market an innovative idea, it doesn't usually happen. Many novel ideas are only found practicable when someone faces problem years later, only to find that the solution had been there years ago. Other inputs that are crucial is the entrepreneur's ability to take measured risks, how adaptable he is, ability to identify a need in the market as well as find a niche or a universal selling proposition in order to make this product appealing to the consumer in the marketplace. We as humanity have come a long way, progressed from the stone ages into the new millennia via information superhighway. But time doesn't end here and nor will the need of mankind to prosper, thrive and flourish! Discuss the relationships among entrepreneurship, innovation, and marketing in the SME new venture context. It is important to use both academic theory and research to support your arguments. You should include up-to-date research from journals; however, you must not just quote the research, as you are expected at a university to show that you can also analyze and comment on the implications of the research. Include in your assignment good examples from business (and personal experience if possible) of this relationship, remembering to give examples of notable successes as well as failures, and the lessons that can be learned from them both academically and entrepreneurially. Since ages, man has always wanted to engage in new endeavors and look for innovative ways to prosper. This is how; he usually tries to maximize profit by investing his intellectual capital. This urge has always brought novel accomplishments for themselves as well as their countries. However, this has not always been a successful activity. And this is the point that brings us to our discussion regarding 'Relationship among entrepreneurship, innovation, and marketing in SME new venture context.' SMEs are an essential driving force that keeps economies operating; they play a crucial role in the generation of employment. However, in order to secure such a position a minimum level of innovativeness within these companies needs to be maintained. A research on factors for winning innovations can give a much efficient strategy from these organizations as well as the public sector in developing motivating surroundings. Since the fall of Rome to the eighteenth century, there was 'no' escalation in per capita wealth creation in the west. However, with the start of entrepreneurship, per capita, wealth generation and earnings in the West rose interestingly by 20 percent in the 1700s and kept on increasing to 740 percent in the1900s (Drayton, 2004). This was some exemplary growth. All through this time, entrepreneurial thinking has evolved by random twist and turns and reflective developments offering new conceptualizations of what it means for something to be entrepreneurial. It is now widely accepted by both Academy and in business schools globally that the management field has changed its vision and perspective on entrepreneurship. In past 5 years, the Academy of Management's Entrepreneurship Division has "dramatically outpaced the growth of every other division" by 77 percent (Shaver, 2004).

Rising seas Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Rising seas - Essay Example Currently, the trend of this rise has increased, compared to the past years. Beginning 1850, sea levels rose at a high rate because of high industrialization experienced during this period, which led to increase of greenhouse gas emissions. Scientific predictions show that global temperatures will continue to increase in future, thus further rise in sea levels (Milliman and Haq 11). The adverse effect of this phenomenon is that coastal towns, docks, and piers may be submerged if this trend continues. In addition, an increase in wave energy may be experienced. Therefore, a response to address this situation is imperative to avert the looming adversity. There are different ways in which this situation can be solved. However, preventing further global warming will serve to stop the rise in sea level. Nonetheless, the solutions require the expertise of engineers, including soft-engineering processes and hard-engineering processes. Since this problem is already here with us, the solutions will aim at controlling the risen sea level. However, prevention strategies may as well be employed to reduce global warming, which is core in this situation (Pilkey and Young 137-139). Directing seawater to different areas such as depressions, which are below sea level, will help to lower sea level. This could be achieved by digging canals directed to these depressions, where the seawater will drain. Most of depressions in the world have a higher rate of evaporation than other areas. Therefore, this is advantageous, as the seawater will be drained into these depressions continuously without filling up fast, due to the high evaporation (Milliman and Haq 11). By redirecting rivers and streams either partially or completely to drain their waters in a different place will also reduce the sea level, as the water draining into the oceans will be lower. The development of massive reservoirs for rivers and streams to drain in is costly but achievable. Alternatively, the rivers and streams

A Brief History of Environmental Movements Assignment

A Brief History of Environmental Movements - Assignment Example Climate change was experienced way back during colonial period. Destructive human activities practiced long ago, has continued to the contemporary times. People nowadays continue to practice Deforestation, poor fishing methods, water pollution and has lead to adverse climate change. There is shortage of food, reduction in aquatic and wild life species as well as depletion of soil formation. It has however come to be felt throughout the world by its effects and that is why environmental movements are continuously formed worldwide to address the situation. Women environmental heroes and die hards like Amrita Devi who formed a strong revolution to protect the trees. She was just a woman with an unbelievable passion and courage that not even many men could possess. She fought through pain and blood just to protect the trees which they believed was sacred. The group encircled the trees and was killed in huge numbers one after the other before the government intervened. After the brutality, three hundred and sixty two lives were lost inclusive of the matriarch. This was a phenomenon effort to protect the environment. Industrial revolution was a major transition of events which brought about the modern agriculture farming, infrastructure, technology, modern heath care, commerce and civilization. This revolution however came with a lot of demerits. Some of the problems included water and land pollution from the steamship, slavery, nuclear radiation as well as pollution of the air due to the smoke. Industrialization is the mother of modernization across the world. It brought about machinery, chemicals like pesticides as well as insecticides. These chemicals have greatly affected human and animal life through the food chain. Numerous heath complications have been brought about by the consumption of chemically processed foods. Climate change is a major issue throughout the globe. It is caused by

Control immigration Essay Example for Free

Control immigration Essay Every now and then, especially in periods of crisis, the argument of restricting the access of immigrants to ones own country resurfaces. Whether a country is flourishing or struggling, there is never enough for all: theres always someone else which is too many and comes to steal your air, particularly if he is poor, dirty, not speaking well your language, and so different from you. The fear and suspicion toward the immigrants is the easiest instinct an unscrupulous leader could incite in an ignorant undiscerning crowd. The grounds proposed to restrict immigration, and persecute or throw out foreigners, are the most selfish, vile and oblique, or specious and exploitable are its supports in any case. It is said that immigration policies must be tightened because many â€Å"illegal† immigrants enter the country day by day, but there does not exist a man or woman which is â€Å"illegal† outside a human artifice: a person can not be â€Å"illegal†. It is a universal right for people to stand and inhabit the land they want when doing no harm; men and women have no other home than the one that they choose. The nationalists (and the like) want to believe or make believe that the country has reached its limit of reception, but a land, unlike a field, it is not a private property: you cannot claim its possess just because you arrived first and declare who could come in and who cannot. Nation are fictitious, borders are drawn. It is being said that the immigrants come into the country to â€Å"steal† jobs and resources to the natural citizens, and profit from their welfare system, but the vast majority of newcomers come with the hope and the intent of building a living and keep themselves with fatigue, contributing to the wealth of their new country all along, whereas they undertake all the sort of jobs the so-called natural citizens dont want to do anymore. There is no â€Å"natural† citizen (especially in the case of Americans): everybody came from somewhere, and all have always moved, and always will. There is no right of  first-class people with precedence over second-class ones; the class is one: the humankind. The fear gets spread professing that the immigrants bring crime with them, but the crime level they raise it is the one caused by the laws that consider them â€Å"illegal† from the beginning, simply because they are considered undesired by an authority that doesnt grant them the right to stand where they have arrived with great difficulties and fatigue: instead of pursuing the duty of integration the states fill up their jails with whom escaped the toils of the rejections relegating these people to the fringe of society, where the crime is a means to survive, and the worst tendencies find the worst companies. Anti-immigration laws create illegality. Nearly every emigrant flees from backgrounds of intense poverty, maladies, scarcity, violence, persecutions, hopelessness and wars (or they are simply trying to achieve a better life), and trying to stem with force an inevitable social process, byproduct of that same globalization system promoted by who opposes to fluxes of migrants, can just produce a climate of terrorism. In the meantime, the dread and the hate toward the foreign and the diverse, and the battle of the poor against the poor(er), keep a population distracted from the real causes and persons responsible for its penalties. Beware of a society where goods and financial capitals have more freedom of the people themselves.

Aspects And Subcultures Of Digital Culture Media Essay

Aspects And Subcultures Of Digital Culture Media Essay Today digital trends are increasingly connected with the world of culture and arts, involving different aspects of culture, media and information technologies, and influencing new forms of communication. This course paper will review 3 fundamental aspects and particular subcultures of the digital culture. The term digital culture includes 3 main aspects digital culture in videogames, in music and in the Internet. It also includes the vast array of subcultures that have grown up in the last years around these aspects. These new trends have deeply modified all of our day to day activities. In the Digital culture: pragmatic and philosophical challenges Marcelo Dascal speaks about the changes that are transforming the nature of international communication and are modifying the way in which we carry out research, engage in study, keep our accounts, plan our travel, and so on. This article depicts the changes in todays digital culture and that is why it is the article this course paper st arts with. The relevance of the issue is explained by the pace of technological evolution which is much more rapid than the cultural one. No one controls the direction that technological development is taking, it is directing us (Dascal, 2006) This phenomenon of the digital culture influences all the spheres of our life. Today people cannot imagine their lives without digital culture. In the work Youth culture, music, and cell phone branding in China (2005), Jing Wang admits that nowadays music, Internet and video games are all connected with each other. The article examines the place of music in an emerging youth culture. As for the games culture, this course paper will refer to Live in your world, play in ours (by Sheila Murphy and What is video game culture? Cultural studies and game studies by Adrienne Shaw. Besides, the course paper also relies on the work by J.A. McArthur A geek meaning of style (2008) that considers the culture today should be understood as an open and dynamic process that is based on interactive communication. It changes every minute. This means that digital culture is a living system that always changes. That is why it is interesting to discuss the so-called geek subcultures. The present research is a brief review of the articles and an attempt to define how the digital culture and subcultures are reflected in academic studies. This paper summarizes various aspects of digital culture in two steps. It defines three key aspects of the digital culture and demonstrates three main subcultures of digital culture. Aspects of digital culture In the study of digital culture one thing can be pointed out is the sociological aspect. Digital culture is considered to be a socio-cultural phenomenon. There are three main aspects in digital culture. These are video games, music, and the Internet. Video games It is possible to say that computer and man communicate. To the question How will man and computer work together? there is an answer: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦through speech. (Dascal, 2006) Today there is a tendency for the newspaper articles to point out that video gamers are not necessarily who we think they are. As one article asserts, the stereotype of the gamer as a glaze, incoherent teenage boy is wrong (Shaw, A. 2010) What is video game culture? Cultural studies and game studies, p407). In the culture the gamer identity is defined by technical proficiency, geek cultural capital and maleness. While the games that they play make up a wide range of genres there is little diversity among the gamers themselves. According to the data, released by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA), 62% of PC gamers are male and 60% of those gamers are under 36 years old (Murphy, 2004). Dovey and Kennedy (2006) define video games culture by the way of the major discourses used by members of th e video game development industry. Games culture isà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a critical site, where discourses around technology, technological innovation, and technological competence converge with dominant conceptions of gender and race (cited in Shaw, 2010, p405) 1.2. Music Music is definitely an aspect of digital culture J. Wang claims according to a BRANDchild study nearly 50% of wired urban teenagers frequently download music from the Internet.(2005, p 187) Basing on this statistic data, no doubt it is important for the youth. We can even say that it has become a new way of communication communication through music. Today people all over the world buy music from iTunes and it is a major part of digital culture that is growing form year to year. The changes happen in music sphere extremely fast and the reason for that is the computerization of the modern world. Almost everybody has a computer and an Internet access, and therefore has unlimited (free or paid) access to music. Such an access is very convenient although uncontrolled. Besides, music has become mobile with the wide spread of portable phones and other gadgets. Mobile music is said to be the panacea that cuts across cultural borders, able to attract global cool youth. (Wang, 2005, p 188) Actually, the world youth prefer music, which is well-known in many countries, therefore music becomes international, no matter what language it uses. Gadgets are developing very rapidly, new mobile means and new opportunities for listening to music arrive. Music has become a field in which tastes and preferences have become more eclectic than ever before (McArthur, 2008) Transnational marketers consider music as the fastest way into the mind and soul of todays youths (Wang, 2005) It rarely needs to be argued that music is the global language of the Now Generation. Internet Of course, it goes without saying that Internet has changed the world we used to know. Today it is one of the main parts in digital culture. Such a global phenomenon as Internet culture has appeared thanks to development of the net and has become a social event in human history. The Internet today is not only huge quantity of computers, but also the improbable quantity of the people, for which network is an essentially new way of dialogue almost not having of analogues in the material world. (Silver, 2004, p 57) The Internet gave everybody a chance of self-realization in this vast space: digital youth subcultures can not be centered round musical preference. (McArthur, 2008) The Internet may be a new resource for the affiliation and expression of sub-cultural identity. It may serve as a place for sub-cultural development. Moreover, it is a place where some subcultures (such as hackers) are born. The use of the Internet as a resource for subcultures suggests that subcultures today are able to affiliate across location and time constraints. It is no doubt effective across time and space.(McArthur, 2008) Subcultures Gamers Video games have produced a variety of subcultures. Some authors look at games as a social practice. For example, T. Taylor (2006) describes an outline gaming culture as a social practice and a shared identity created in the game space. (cited in Shaw, 2010). In the gamers culture, subcultures are marked by their look, specific linguistic jargon, and a sense of solidarity. Gamers often wear clothing that reference specific games, comics, television shows, or movies that are not widely known outside of a small following (Shaw, 2010) One of the biggest subculture of video gamers in the world is the World of Warcraft Community. As Hackeleman (2011) claims: As game developers have strived to create engaging environments and immersive stories for players to experience, independent machine producers have taken an unofficial and sometimes controversial role by expanding the game universe from a different perspective: tinkering with the game engine itself. The demand for this type of user generated content has risen as the addictive qualities of games like World of Warcraft have stimulated the creation of vast social networks and thriving online communities that provide gamers with the ability to stay connected while outside the virtual space. (2011, p 2) To understand the size of the community one can look at its Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/warcraft) where 1,430,549 people (assessed on April 26 2011) claimed their affiliation with the game by following the games group page. According to the official website, more than 11 mln people play World of Warcraft around the world (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com) That is a size of a big city and if we bear in mind that they meet offline, buy different objects form each other and have their own language, they are a real culture, which is only one example of the video game culture. Many other communities of video gamers (such as Second Life, Sims Online, Grand Thief Auto Online) have their own subcultures which include almost 300 mln people playing online (based on estimate provided in Yahoo Answers). In different countries people have different attitudes to this. According to my observations, in Russia most of these players are thought to be computer geeks because they are different non-gamers and communicate with other gamers much easier. But when looking at the worlds most advanced video game culture South Korea à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it is stressed that Koreans are very different from Americans because they treat pro-gamers as heroes, unlike U.S. sports culture that values real athletes. (Shaw, 2010) Music fans The next digital subculture which is considered is connected with the aspect of music. Studies of youth subcultures during the past 30 years have typically coincided with studies of popular music preferences. (Bennet, 1999, cited in McArthur, 2008. p. 58) There are many different music genres, which vary respectively to the style of music. For example, there are widely known rappers and rockers, but in modern world we commonly associate them more with their look and outfit, than the music genre. Those features, which show belonging to certain music style, allow to identify the typical representatives of different music subcultures. That means that there is not only music it is backed up with the different types of culture. One of the most influential musical subcultures existing nowadays is punk. From the Wangs point of view there are 2 types of punk-lovers: originals and wannabes. First group focuses generally on the punk music itself, while the other is more concerned about the fa shion code, and punk music is simply part of their lifestyle. This process went further so much that it has become common to treat punk as a sociological rather than a musical phenomenon from start. Punk is often considered as implementation of youths rebellious moods, but often their interest in punk culture symbolizes the search of band that will help them [students] say I am unique without making them look weird or socially unacceptable. According to Jing Wang, there is a so-called punk syndrome, which refers to the mentality, culture, lifestyle of punk-lovers. The typical representatives of this subculture are angry young high school kids, and the music is their way to show disobedience or the way to cope with the pressure they receive at school. In his article Jing Wang talks about several high school kids, who managed to pull through their entrance exams with the help of punk music. The anger of music, played with drums, bass guitars and songs performed in the aggressive or even shouting ways affects enormously peoples emotions. Online communities An online culture has developed as online social relationships have deepened and matured (Silver, 2004) The net is an accessible and user-friendly area in which subcultures can form, meet, and interact both in online and offline mode. Different groups of users appeared: anime geeks, hackers, flooders and etc. The Internet provides an opportunity for would-be members of cultural groups to seek out people who have similar thoughts to them. As Parker (1989) claimed computers have become a part of the genesis of a new crime from that has added computer programmers, computer operators, and electronic engineers to the traditional categories of criminals. (cited Turgeman-Goldschmidt, 2005). Hacking is a widespread international phenomenon, and hackers actions occasionally reach the media headlines. They are one of the most interesting subcultures that appeared on the Internet. According to Turgeman-Goldschmidt (2005, p 8) the hacker community is clearly male dominated and hackers are typically young adults. Moreover most hackers have no previous criminal record, are White and nonviolent, and come from middle- to upper-class backgrounds. The subculture can be divided in several communities of different type hackers. First ones hack the computer system to achieve fame jokers. Not likely to cause serious harm to the system, and express themselves making various humorous captions, viruses with different visual and sound effects (music, shaking or turning the screen, drawing all sorts of images, etc.) Next community type is professional crackers they carry out hacking a computer system to steal or substitute information stored there. They are characterized by systematic and organized action. The last ones are called vandals they carry out hacking a computer system to its destruction: delete data, create viruses or Trojan horses. But no matter what their type of hacker community is according to Taylor (1999, cited in Turgeman-Goldschmidt, 2005) there are six motivators for hackers : feelings of addiction, urge of curiosity, boredom with educational system, enjoyment of feelings of power, peer recognition and political acts. During his research Turgeman-Goldschmidt (2005) gives an explanation to each motivator in the hacker subculture. First of all, he says is the feeling for addiction to anarchy and anarchy is extremely entertaining. Secondly, their curiosity for hackers lies in the desire to learn and know as much as possible. Overall, it is stated that original hackers mostly do it not for revenue, but for the idea of free knowledge. They fight against Microsoft and help Linux in any way they find. They are trying to change the world the way the can, fighting with globalization, starting wars against the multinationals, and just by helping to find bugs in the anti-virus software. The considerable group of hackers regularly organizes hacker conventions. It operates a conference in Las Vegas which is annually visited by several thousand participants from all over the world from the U.S. to Australia. Each year the World Congress takes place in Germany is the of hackers, under the auspices Computer Chaos Club. CCC is a three-day conference on technology, society and the future of mankind. (Coleman, 2008) During these meetings hackers even manage to create their own outlook, own language, and made their own bible. For the hackers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ hacking is a new form of entertainment based on the play-like quality that characterizes the use of digital technology and is a new form of social activity. Hacking can be considered a new form of entertainment that could not have existed before the development of an adequate technology. (Turgeman-Goldschmidt, 2005) Today hackers became a wide dangerous subculture. Conclusion Digital culture is a largely modern phenomenon. It should be understood primarily as part of general culture, one of the most important aspects of cultural activity in general. There are many other subcultures in the digital culture, but my research is focused primarily on three most popular ones. These three subcultures demonstrate aspects, which are more or less typical for other subcultures, associated with digital culture. As for my experience, during the research I have found out a lot of new about aspects and subcultures in general to particular differences inside different type of subcultures. In general, it was unexpected to learn that every subculture consists of those who are original and those who are posers. Every subculture does have a group of people that are a part of it only because they adore how people of this subculture look like not even understanding the main idea of it. This can be proved by a subculture I have analyzed in my course paper punks. I did not know that there are so many posers that just like the outlook, not knowing the history, nor understanding the main idea of the subculture. Besides, I have never heard of the attitude towards pro gamers in South Korea. They are thought to be almost national heroes there. The interesting fact is that every year they have a championship, in which anyone can participate. It is as popular as watching the hockey matches in Russia. Special TV channels translate news for gamers and computer geeks, youths and aged watch the championship matches together. In result the winner gets a major gift from the sponsor (which reaches $500,000) and incredible respect. The amount of money for winning the tournament motivates people to play professionally from early childhood. As a result, different kind of gamers all together are a tremendous size subculture in South Korea. In Russia digital subcultures are just getting born because our Internet and technology evolution is several steps back from the United States of America or South Korea. But I am sure that in several years we are going to have our own specific subcultures that would be interesting to analyze. Drawing to the conclusion, it is necessary to remember that this issue is extremely complicated and it worth more research. It is always interesting to analyze people, there communications, and new subcultures that reflect current situation in the country. That is the reason why I plan to keep on my research work in a slightly different way after I finish this course paper to analyze the digital subcultures in Russia and their influence on businesses for the next course paper.