click magazine march 2010 issue
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An interactive magazine powered by undergraduate women and minorities in the School of Informatics and Computing at Indiana UniversityTRANSCRIPT
M A G A Z I N E
March 2010
C L I C K
Attributions:image: Corinthe Harris
ContributorsHolly Beyerle
Wan Chun ChangShi Hui Lim
Amantha LottHalsey May
Taneesha ParkerStefanija PuacaMechel’le Saenz
Jill ScottAnna TondelJaimee Works
Stefania Marghitu - Journalism Liaison & Editor
Corinthe Harris - Graduate Advisor/Coordinator
Meet the Board
Grace Hopper
Barbie 2010
Barbie in the Millennium
Career Attire Guide
Inside the Career Fair
Jill’s Game of the Month
Iota Phi Theta to Aid Haiti
Technology Helps Haiti
Tech Talk
Capstone in 60 Seconds
Capstone Video
Web on the Run
Bridging the Gap
Cellphone Spotlight
InWic 2010
InWic E-Textiles
Why pay KBG, that is the Question?
uWIC Sleepover
Meet the Grad
iPad: The end of Kindle?
Importance of Internships
One Love
Contributors
inside the issue
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Looking for a particular article? Just click on the
page number and we’ll take you right to it!
Here are some examples of neat web apps and some tips for making your own. Mouse-over app info to view it!
One of the hottest developments in Information Technology es right now is mobile web applications. These special Web sites are designed and formatted especially for mobile devices and smartphones, and are becoming increasingly popular and wide-spread as more devices are portable and have Internet capability.
Mobile web apps are appealing for several reasons: They can be made quickly, require less programming knowl-edge than native apps and do not have to go through the lengthy process of being approved by an app store.
Most importantly, they can be used on any mobile de-vice. You can use them on your iPhone, iPod, Black-berry, Droid, or any other device with Internet access!
Web on the Run The Best of Mobile Web Applications
Holly Beyerle
Google App
Dropbox App
Flickr App
Mashable App
IU Mobile App
Attributions:CSSiPhone
iWebkitiUI
About.comApple Developer
Image source: iPhone screencapsImage sources: Screencap of Dashcode’s Simulator
Bridging the Gap Lead by Nina Onesti
A discussion between faculty, staff, and students celebrating and acknowledging our differences and similarities over lunch.
When: Tuesday March 9, 2010
Time: noon – 1:30pm
Where: Lobby of the Informatics East Building
Free pizza for all who attend!!
Attributions:Phone ArenaPhoto: Phone Arena
Info @ a Glance
Product Name:Blue EarthCompany:SamsungCarrier:T-Mobile
Oh the decisions! So many phones, so little time! What’s funny about the phone market? It’s that a large major-ity of the phones produced, we, as con-sumers, won’t see on American carriers like Verizon Wireless, AT&T, or Sprint. This really puts us as at a disadvantage because this large majority of phones have some really great features that we should be recognizing.
Fortunately, this month’s spotlight is a neat phone that has had the opportu-nity to grace us sheltered Americans—Samsung’s Blue Earth. Lately, there has been a lot of controversy about Global Warming, the ecosystem, and conser-vation of resources. There definitely should be debate about these topics because they are important and before it’s too late we need to find positive al-ternatives to these issues. This phone is a really great example of what innova-tive engineering can do.
Samsung’s Blue Earth, referred to as simply Blue Earth from this point on, is a cellular device that is created from recycled plastic—plastic bottles to be specific. If that wasn’t enough to make you Oooh and Ahhh then when I tell you the back panel of the device is ac-tually a solar panel to absorb energy to power the phone you’ll surely faint from excitement, as you should! This is fan-tastic technology at work here. At this point you’re probably overjoyed, but now starting to ask yourself, “What if it’s not sunny?” Well the device does come
with a battery for extended phone-life as well as an energy efficient charger for the battery.
It’s really hard to imagine that a solar panel, you know those big, bulky things on roofs in the ‘80s, are now being in-serted in phones. Just think how nice life would be if we never really needed chargers for our phones and to charge our phones we just had to have access to sunlight. I guess a cloudy day might put a damper on this, but it would still be better than trying to locate a plug in. So enough ranting about the wondrous technology that Samsung has put to-gether, let’s get to the meat of it all—the phone specs.
The Blue Earth weighs in at 4.20 ounc-es, only slightly above the average 3.7 ounces. It has a capacitive, touch screen, a 3 megapixel camera, and has a microSD slot for added memory. Some other great features include: 3G, Wi-Fi capable, Bluetooth, MP3 player, and GPS. According to the Editor’s at Phone Arena, they rated the Blue Earth a 7.5 out of 10 with a “Good” rating.
As a Verizon Wireless customer it sad-dens me that I do not have access to this device, however, if you’re a T-Mo-bile customer you’re in luck!
You can check out more photos and more detailed specifics about this de-vice as well as many others at Phone Arena .
Cellphone SpotlightGet the 411 on an Upcoming Mobile Device
Amantha [email protected]
Attributions:Personal Account: Mechel’le SaenzPhoto: InWIC Gallery
INWIC, INWIC, INWIC, is all I heard in the classroom of I-101, like when curiosity struck the cat; I wanted to know more about this conference. Who would have known on that one faithful day that that my life was going to changed forever? As being a freshman in I-101, I had no clue of what I was getting into. One day Professor Nina Onesti announced to the class that there is a conference coming for women call INWIC (Indiana Women in Computing) that would be held at Spencer, IN on February 5 through 6. Being me, a person that just want to go places, I prompted to go. Upon arrival at McCormick’s Creek State Park, Canyon Inn, I met some amazing women that I was shuttling with who where is Com-puter Science, while me major in Infor-matics. When I finally arrived at Canyon Inn, I was flabbergasted of I many wom-en where in Computing. There were a slew of graduates and undergraduates from different universities that filled the room. At that same time, there were also different companies, ready to recruit fu-ture employees, with resume in hand from the students. Once that was done, there was dinner, followed by a speech
from the key note speaker who was a former alumnus at IU. After that, there was a break. The last activity of the night of the first day really sparked my interest. The ladies were to ask to bring some type of cloth that can be sewed. What I did realize that I and many other ladies were going to sew a circuit that could light up. Sewing the circuit was difficult at first but many other pre-vailed other than I. Hence, the last day of the first day was done. I woke up the next day to eat breakfast and go onto the next activities. There was one activ-ity were me and other women and to find a solution to a problem if a woman asked a stereotypical question of quali-fication and other scenarios that wom-en faced in the workforce, which was fun. Going to closing, there was lunch and awards were awarded to individual women who did a poster so they can go to another women conference this fol-lowing year. I never thought I would get so much at a conference for woman in computing. At the end, we were women of different shaded of colors, from dif-ferent universities, coming to together because “We are technical women”.
InWIC 2010 My First Experience
Mechel’le [email protected]
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Attributions:Personal Account: Amantha Lott
E-Textile Workshop
InWIC 2010InWIC Workshop SpotlightAmantha [email protected]
Mouse over text to take a closer look!
Attributions: KgbCha Cha
WHY PAY kgb, THAT IS THE QUESTION?Free vs .99
We’ve all seen the commercials. Want to know the most obscure fact on earth? Just text kgb! And they’ll return your answer for a small fee of .99 cents per text message. But with an almost identical free service from Cha-Cha why would one ever choose to pay for the same thing?
So I decided to ask this very ques-tions, using ChaCha of course, not KGB. I’m not made of money. Ten seconds later I got my beliefs confirmed: “Not sure if there are any advantages, they both give text messaging services. kgb charges a fee and ChaCha is free. Thanks for doing the ChaCha!” Now some might say ChaCha is biased, but they guarantee the truth so could there really be a benefit to using kgb?
After doing some research, I’ve come to find out that there are no benefits to using kgb over ChaCha. In fact ChaCha may
even be a better option. Not only is ChaCha free, they also offer other methods for asking questions. For instance, did you know they have a 1-800 num-ber where you can call and leave your question on their voice-mail? Once the ChaCha guides have found your answer they return it to you through a text! ChaCha also prides themselves on their speed and accuracy and if they happen to get your ques-tion wrong just resend it and it will show that you’ve previously asked the same question, with-out getting the answer you were looking for.
So what’s the catch? The only snag in the system is that Cha-Cha limits you to five questions per day. So for those of you who happen to need more than five questions answered a day and don’t have access to Google, maybe then you can turn to kgb, Otherwise I say do the ChaCha!
Halsey [email protected]
thanks to everyone who came!
Attributions: image source: Corinthe Harris
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Attributions: May, Halsey. Personal Inverview with Kate Bordenkechervia email, 2.9.2010
IU Alumni finds fulfilling career and new academic pursuitsMeet the Grad
What made you decide to major in Infor-matics?
I have always enjoyed working with com-puters, electronics and other very techni-cal devices, yet also enjoy working face-to-face with people. When I enrolled at IU in 2002, they had just began the In-formatics degree and it appealed to me as it encourages the students to become more involved with the business aspect of Information Technology (IT) in addi-tion to the challenging technical aspects.
After I researched the program, I found that Informatics didn’t target specifically to the IT industry or the Computer Sci-ence industry, but focused more on the way computers and technology are used in business environments and allows the student to understand both important aspects of an industry; incorporating the best of both worlds - IT and Business. For me it was a win-win situation.
What was the hardest part about the In-formatics major?
The Informatics major allows you to fo-
cus on many different areas of expertise and learn about many different topics within the program. I found it was some-times difficult to shift my attention to each of the diverse topics, however that is also one of my favorite aspects of the program. It was refreshing to know that I wasn’t going to spend four years study-ing only the same topic and attending all of the same types of courses. Academi-cally, Statistics and Calculus were my least favorite courses, and I found them the most difficult.
What was your cognate and why?
As I mentioned previously, I find myself most comfortable interfacing with hu-mans rather than just computers. There-fore, I chose the “business” cognate so that I would have the ability to better understand how to communicate the technological needs to the business pro-fessionals.
Today’s business environment has fo-cused a lot of resources into the advance-ments of technology. However, without
individuals that are able to successfully communicate between the business needs and the IT aspects, there is no way to effectively meet the technological ad-vancements of the business.
Where do you work now and what do you do?
I currently work for Cummins Inc. located in Columbus, IN. I began working for Cummins in 2006 as a Systems Analyst in the Global Warranty and Administration organization. My current role now is a Functional Excellence Leader within the New & ReCon Parts organization.
The most intimidating part of the Infor-matics major to a lot of people is the Cap-stone project. What did you do for yours, and if you did an internship was it hard to find?
My Capstone project was a six-month internship with Cummins Inc. This was a very difficult task for me as I was still tak-ing 12 credit hours of courses (both on and off campus) as well as working 32 - 40 hours per week. In addition to the chal-lenging academic and professional work-load I was carrying, I was also commuting back and forth between Indianapolis and Columbus daily.
I was very relieved and pleasantly sur-prised when I was able to graduate in May of 2006 and Cummins immediately offered me a position to become a mem-ber of their team.
What are your favorite hobbies?
I am a very active individual and like to spend as little time as possible “resting”. My favorite hobbies include photogra-phy, motorcycle riding, scenic road trips, enjoying the great outdoors, participat-ing in sporting events, and most impor-tantly spending time with my friends and family!
am also pursuing my Masters degree in Business Administration from Ball State. So, I suppose it’s safe to say there’s not a lot of “resting” time to spare between my graduate degree and my hobbies.
Age: 25
Graduated: North Central High School (2002), Indiana University (BS): 2006, Ball State University (MBA) 2010
Degree: Informatics (BA), Minor: Business (Kelley School of Business)
Kate Nicole Bordenkecher
Halsey [email protected]
http://www.apple.com/ipad/features/
iPad: The end of Kindle?
The release of the iPad has spawned a significant amount of speculation about the ways in which Apple’s newest tech-nology will revolutionize computers and the integration of technology into even more aspects of life. Though the Kindle has already taken the preliminary steps in making physical, paper books unnec-essary purchases, the iPad could eventu-ally render them obsolete.
In addition to its other features--includ-ing Internet access, iTunes, numerous applications, and all the functions of an iPhone--the iPad is Apple’s first technol-ogy to implement iBookstore--a ser-vice for reading ebooks. Contrastingly, Amazon’s Kindle functions primarily as an ebook reader; though it has a simple web browser, it can only access text. And though one can download games, they are extremely simple.
Despite these significant differences, the 9.7-inch Kindle DX costs around $489 while the new iPad of the same size is $499--a $10 increase for vastly increased functionality. Many speculate that this seemingly apparent superiority of the iPad spells the end of Kindle sales.
It is in the Kindle’s simplicity, however, that lie its own advantages that the iPad neglects. While the iPad has all the func-tionality of a larger iPhone, the Kindle may present a more practical option if you primarily seek an ebook reader, as
that is its sole function. If universities do begin to make the transition to electron-ic textbooks, it will take only a mildly re-sponsible college student to realize he or she will not accomplish nearly as much reading when access to a web browser, music, videos, and games are directly alongside the text. A Kindle allows the student to devote time to reading, as the temptation to surf the web is still some-what removed from the book, even if only in a nearby laptop.
Furthermore, the Kindle is much more practical for those who already have an iPhone or even a laptop and seek only an ebook-reader. Along a similar vein, the iPad may have simply too many func-tions for someone--dare I say Grandma or Grandpa--who is an avid reader, and willing enough to delve into technology to try out ebooks, but unwilling to deal with the excessive options and busy in-terface the iPad presents.
Overall, the iPad offers expansive func-tionality and is sure to please if you seek to take advantage of these functions with the iPad’s portability. However, to answer the question “iPad: The end of Kindle?” it seems like the answer is, “Not yet.” Still, Amazon could certainly help ensure the Kindle stays around for lon-ger in decreasing prices before consum-ers make the switch to the iPad simply to get more for their dollar.
Jill [email protected]
iPad: The end of Kindle? Questioning whether Apple’s new iPad will overtake Amazon’s Kindle
Attributions: http://www.apple.comhttp://www.amazon.comimage source: http://www.thirdwayblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/kindle-dx.jpgimage source: http://www.apple.com/ipad
Attributions:Video: Stefanija Puaca
Capstone in 60 SecondsSenior Projects in Informatics
On Thursday, February 4 almost every IU senior in Informatics gathered in a room for one single purpose: Capstone elevator pitches. Capstone is the cul-mination of everything learned in the four year Informatics undergraduate program. Seniors spend a year working with a team to develop and implement a plan for solving a problem with tech-nology.
At the Elevator Pitches, seniors describe the essence and goal of their projects in sixty seconds. The types of projects vary across all spectrums. Some stu-dents are working on new technologies and business models, such as a Web site for apartment landlords or an online media conversion software. Other proj-ects partnered with local companies, developing a new Web site or iPhone app for Delilah’s Pet Store or Btown Menus. Projects like iCycle have been done in previous years and continue to expand with the work of current Cap-stone students.
Capstone strives to give students the experience of working on a team proj-ect in the real world. Students are re-quired to have biweekly meetings with supervisors and to document their progress with status reports, but other-wise, students are largely independent. The success of their projects depends on effective organization, planning, and communication within their group. Of course, there are always a number of graduate students and professors avail-able to help with any questions or to propose ideas.
At the end of the spring semester, Cap-stone students gather in the Informatics building to proudly display their hard work in the annual Capstone Poster Session on April 30. This is a great time for students to present their projects to their families, faculty, and employers.
I will be covering the Poster Session in a future issue, but until then check out past projects here and watch some of the pitches from this year’s class!
My Capstone ExperienceiCycle is an annual project in Informatics, currently in its fourth year. Our project uses RFID technology to collect race times and stats from the riders in IU’s Little 500 bicycle race. RFID tags are at-tached to each rider’s helmet and their signals are received every time they pass over the starting line. This year we want to expand our audience through the use of social media with live updates to Twitter, Facebook, and our mobile web app. Our Web site will let users see a live update leaderboard and visualizations of the cur-rent race data. Be sure to check us out on race day!
Holly [email protected]
Attributions: Personal account: Holly BeyerleImage source: Holly Beyerle
Attributions: Personal account: Taneesha ParkerMake a Difference with IT
On Monday, February 15, Indiana Memo-rial Union’s Alumni Hall hosted the very first Make a Difference with IT event. The pro-gram brought over 40 alumni and dozens of students together to discuss booming trends in technology. Keynote speakers, discussion tables, and several breakout pan-els kept the program lively during the two-hour event. Couldn’t make it? Have no fear, “Click” was there to get you the scoop.
3:07 p.m. The program begins!
After a short video entitled “What is Infor-matics and Computing?” Jeremy Podany, the Director of Career Services from the School of Informatics and Computing (SoIC), opened up the program by answering a question people ask him a lot: what kind of jobs are out there for students involved with Informatics and Computing? Mr. Po-dany answered this question with a scenario about developing a new social networking site. He explained that you would need an extremely diverse workforce to make the site successful. Not only would you need someone to design the site, but someone to build, maintain, market, and manage it. Think that’s all? Think again. People are needed to troubleshoot, enhance, train, and hire. The bottom line: working in IT gives you a number of options for careers; the possibilities are both unexpected and un-limited.
3:16 p.m. Meet the Dean
Robert Schabel, the dean of SoIC, took the stage next. He opened with a discussion of how IU is one of the only universities with a School of Informatics and Computing, not just a department. But, the dean only praised SoIC for a couple minutes, then de-scribed how technology is contributing to the world of health care. A technological company developed a device that looks a lot like a cellular phone, but helps those with diabetes in underprivileged countries moni-tor their glucose levels. This information is then sent to a doctor who can prescribe the appropriate care and send instructions for
the patients—all by interacting with this technology. But, the main reason Dean Schabel was behind the micro-phone was to introduce the first key-note speaker, Mrs. Jane Niederberger.
3:29 p.m. “Not a technology bone in my body…”
Jane Niederberger told her story in titled segments, the first being “Betty Crocker” and the last being Fun.” When Jane first considered careers, she want-ed only a job that would allow her to be home often with children. She gradu-ated college with a degree in nutrition and began working at a nursing home. One day she was given the opportu-nity to pursue a career in technology, even though she had no technologi-cal background whatsoever. Jane de-scribed how she was not geeky and did not fit any stereotype that went with a technologist. She described herself as having “not a technology bone in [her] body.” But her mentor convinced her to take the job, and her world took off.
Jane moved up in the tech world by asking “every stupid question” about anything she felt she needed to know. By asking questions, Jane became knowledgeable about technology and is now a leading technologist in a healthcare company called My Health Care Manager Inc. Jane’s company helps individuals and families monitor their elderly loved ones from across the country. Technology has come a long way since Jane first got involved in the business, and it continues to change. A word of advice from Jane: Even if you don’t think you fit the stereotype, “Take some risks and try some new things”; you never know where you’ll end up.
3:52 p.m. Table Talk
One great thing about the event was that each table had one or more alumni present, which provided a great net-working opportunity! During this session of the program, the students conversed with the alumni about their companies, interests, how they got involved in computing, and more. A couple of alumni from the company De-loitte even shared tips on how to score a summer internship.
4:09 p.m. “Have passion in what it is you do.”
After the table discussions, Jeremy Podany introduced the next keynote speaker, Mr. Mark Hill. Mr. Hill began his speech stating that he originally wanted to own his own business, because after all, “if [his father] could do it, so could [he].” He then encour-aged the students present to consider work-ing for a small business or entrepreneur-ship. Working for a smaller company allows you to have a greater passion for what you do and makes you feel like you are part of something significant. He explained that many positions are needed in a business and the smaller the business, the more per-sonal the contribution feels. Mr. Hill ended his speech by mentioning examples of small businesses and once again, emphasizing the fact that having passion in what you do is the key to happiness.
4:32 p.m. Pick a team: Community, hu-mans, or healthcare
After Mr. Hill’s speech, Jeremy Podany an-nounced that it was time for the breakout sessions. The three Industry Professional Panels were: Serving a Community with Technology, The Human Side of Technology, and Transforming Healthcare with Technol-ogy. The first panel, Serving a Community with Technology, discussed how technology affects the community, with panelists Ron Walker, Craig Hickman, Megan Lewis, Chip Muston, and Mike Trotzke. The second pan-el, The Human Side of Technology discussed various ways in which HCI (Human Comput-er Interaction) is being implemented to en-hance technology, with panelists Christian Briggs, Jessica Falkenthal, Christy Page, and Gerry Bailey. The final panel, Transform-ing Healthcare with Technology, discussed how technology is changing healthcare to-day and in the future, with panelists Dennis Groth, Sarah Kreigh, Sherron Rogers, and Rob Vaughan.
5:00 p.m. Questions anyone?
Once the event ended, the panelists stayed to answer any questions the students still had.
Overall, the first Make a Difference with IT event successfully presented the reality that technology is becoming a main factor in the global economy. Learn more.
Tech Talk:The 411 on IU’s first Make a Difference with IT programTaneesha [email protected]
Attributions:image: Corinthe Harris
As you may know, a terrible disaster occurred on January 12. The small country of Haiti experienced a 7.0 mag-nitude earthquake. The Haiti crisis is devastating, but there are countless efforts around the world helping out. What’s unique about Haiti is that tech-nology is being used to help make a dif-ference. The Red Cross, celebrities and technologists are all getting involved and determined to help rebuild Haiti; there are more volunteers and relief ef-forts than ever. Here are just a few:
Red Cross: Text Haiti
Texting has become an integral part of daily life for almost everyone with a cell phone. Recognizing this, the Red Cross and Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean turned texting into a way to help. By texting “Haiti” to 90999, $10 can be charged to your cell phone bill, making donating to the Red Cross easier than ever. The Washington Post stated that within 48 hours of the earthquake, the Red Cross had raised “more than $5 mil-lion through text messages, an amount that eclipsed the previous total for a campaign using that technology,” while Wyclef’s “Yele Haiti Foundation…was receiving 10,000 texts an hour.” Visit http://www.redcross.org/ to see how you can get involved!
Nethope
Communication is key in natural disas-
ter relief and Nethope is working to re-build and restore Internet connectivity in Haiti. The Huffington Post states that a $50,000 cash donation was made by Microsoft to help Nethope and its ef-forts. By rebuilding communication paths, relief efforts can be more effi-cient in getting help to those who need it.
Social Media: Twitter & Facebook
With social networking sites becoming one of the most widely used communi-cation tools, it’s no surprise people are using them to raise awareness about Haiti. Many celebrities involved in the Tweeting craze took the time to give a shout-out to Haiti. Katy Perry tweeted “You can text “HAITI” to 90999 to do-nate $10 to @RedCross relief efforts in #Haiti.” CNN reports that other celebri-ties broadcasting the Red Cross effort include Shaquille O’Neal, Chelsea Han-dler and Randy Jackson. Not a celebri-ty? Doesn’t matter. Putting a message about Haiti on Twitter or Facebook can raise awareness and thus help relief ef-forts.
Healing Hands for Haiti
Healing Hands for Haiti is a not-for-profit and non-governmental institu-tion committed to helping those in Hai-ti. The areas that Healing Hands mainly focuses on are rehabilitation education, clinical treatment, disability preven-
tion, and increasing public awareness of disabilities and rehabilitation. Their goal is to help with rehabilitation “in spirit of self-determination.” Healing Hands for Haiti was established before the disaster, but the earthquake dam-aged their location in Haiti. However, it is swiftly making a recovery while the organization continues to help those in serious medical condition. Healing Hands is an international organization
Mobile Giving Foundation
The Mobile Giving Foundation, operat-ing in the United States and Canada, also makes use of the texting trend. Five and ten dollar amounts can be do-nated to Haiti relief efforts as well as other organizations.
Haiti Hospital Capacity Finder
“Members of the Haitian community have requested an application or tool where there is real time data regarding capacities of local hospitals. There are many hospitals outside of PaP who are under capacity and could be used.” -Cri-sisCamp
Family Links
“Following the earthquake, thousands of people in Haiti and abroad are with out news of their loved ones. The pur-
O N e L O v eT e C H N O L O G y b R I N G S R e L I e F e F F O R T S
A R O U N D T H e w O R L D T O G e T H e R T O A I D H A I T I
Taneesha [email protected]
Attributions:Red Cross NethopeHealing Hands For Haiti Mobile GivingWorld VisionWashington Post
Huffington PostCNNCrisisCamp Haiti GadgetWise CNNTechSoupICRC
tion, and increasing public awareness of disabilities and rehabilitation. Their goal is to help with rehabilitation “in spirit of self-determination.” Healing Hands for Haiti was established before the disaster, but the earthquake dam-aged their location in Haiti. However, it is swiftly making a recovery while the organization continues to help those in serious medical condition. Healing Hands is an international organization
Mobile Giving Foundation
The Mobile Giving Foundation, operat-ing in the United States and Canada, also makes use of the texting trend. Five and ten dollar amounts can be do-nated to Haiti relief efforts as well as other organizations.
Haiti Hospital Capacity Finder
“Members of the Haitian community have requested an application or tool where there is real time data regarding capacities of local hospitals. There are many hospitals outside of PaP who are under capacity and could be used.” -Cri-sisCamp
Family Links
“Following the earthquake, thousands of people in Haiti and abroad are with out news of their loved ones. The pur-
pose of the “Family Links” website is to restore contact between separated family members. The ICRC, in coopera-tion with the Haitian Red Cross and the National Societies of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies around the world, manages this website. The “Family Links” website offers earthquake survivors the possibility to publish their names, ad-dresses and contact numbers. It also allows people to publish the names of their missing family members.” =ICRC
The extraordinaries
“Organizations can set up missions and volunteers can complete them from the web interface or iPhone. Since most of the missions are simple, bite-sized tasks, it’s a way to get volunteers in-volved without requiring a substantial time commitment. The Extraordinaries has set up a Haiti Earthquake Support Center for identifying photos of missing people in Haiti.” -TechSoup.com
Ushanhidi
“We’ve discussed Ushahidi several times here before. The organization’s mapping engine was originally used in 2008 to track reports of post-election violence in Kenya. Since then, several organizations around the world have used it to map violence, election fraud, human rights abuses, and more. Now, volunteers are using the site to track the
crisis in Haiti and help people find the aid they need. “ -TechSoup.com
CrisisCamp Haiti
“CrisisCamp Haiti gathers tech experts to look for ways to help Haiti earth-quake victims. Free-form meetings are set for Washington, Silicon Valley, Lon-don and elsewhere
# Volunteers come from tech compa-nies, universities, government agen-cies. Plans include interactive map of Haiti and a database to help families find missing loved ones.” -CNN
INSTeDD
“With collaborative tools, disaster-response teams and relief workers can identify risk zones and emerging threats more rapidly. Courtesy of a tech community “SitRep” (situational report) created and shared by Luke Beckman of the nonprofit group InSTEDD, we have some insight into how humanitarian organizations, aid groups and the mili-tary can tap information to help in the relief effort.”= Wired.com
Want to help? Help Now to contrib-ute to one of the countless other sites designated to donate to the relief efforts for Haiti.
O N e L O v eT e C H N O L O G y b R I N G S R e L I e F e F F O R T S
A R O U N D T H e w O R L D T O G e T H e R T O A I D H A I T I
Iota Phi Theta hosts Madden tournament Raising money for the American Red Cross Haiti Relief Fund
Attributions:All photos courtesy of: Corinthe Harris
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Attributions:Personal Account: Jill Scott
Jill’s game of the monthA review of Dragon Age: Origins on Xbox 360
I hate to admit that I am drawn to role-playing-games like a developer to Code Red. But rarely have I found an RPG so immersive that I forget I can’t wield swords in real life--haven’t, in fact, since the Elder Scrolls. I’ve been looking for an RPG to give me that Car-pel Tunnel-inducing immersion again.
Unfortunately, “Dragon Age” is not that RPG. That is not to say it does not have its merits. The main story line is intrigu-ing, and I always appreciate that my de-cisions affect the outcome of the game. (“In Dragon Age,” for instance, the be-ginning of your story and the manner in which others treat you is directly de-termined by what character you choose to control). Whatever character you choose, the main story involves fight-ing off a horde of evil creatures called Darkspawn and unraveling the treach-ery of a powerful general. The dialogue is satisfactory, which is honestly as much as anyone can ask of an exten-sive RPG. It has incredible potential to be that immersive experience I seek.
I was disappointed, however, when the role-playing aspect so important to a role-playing-game began to strip away.
First, you do not directly control your attacks. You target an enemy and tell your character to attack him, but press-ing A does not equate to one sword swing, or anything of the like. Second, the graphics leave much to be de-sired; rooms are generally repetitive and not interactive. Last, you are able to control any character in your party; I thus do not feel as if I am my charac-ter, but rather a kind of commander
Jill [email protected]
My overall grade for “Dragon Age”
Three and a half Mario Stars out of five.
telling my troops what to do. (It’s kind of like playing “NFL Head Coach” when you really want “Madden”).
In all, “Dragon Age” is an entertain-ing game, though not as satisfying a game as I expected from BioWare. If all you want is a strategic game with a compelling story line, “Dragon Age” will more than do the job. But if you want to forget you can’t summon the undead for a few hour, you’re bet-ter off playing some more Oblivion.
Every semester the IU School of Infor-matics and Computing holds a career fair. About 20 companies attend the event, providing students interested in informatics the opportunity to get in-formation about IT-related careers and internships. This year’s fair was held on February 16.
One of the fair’s company representa-tives, Tracy Thelen, has worked as a re-cruiter for Cerner for eight years and has a lot of experience talking to student from different universities.
Tracy said that one of the first things she notices when talking to students is their knowledge of her company. She wants to know if the student is actually interested in the company and knows what the company does. “It [is] easy to tell when a student just walked into the career fair, grabbed a brochure, skimmed through it and started walking around,” says Tracy. “We’re not looking for extensive knowledge like a memorized mission statement, but knowing a little is always good.” Besides knowledge of the com-pany, Tracy mentioned other important characteristics for student to demon-strate at a fair. She said that communica-tions skills are key. Being able to present yourself in a coherent way is the only way to make a good impression on a recruiter. When presenting yourself it is important to highlight your characteristics that you know the company will value most.
It may be necessary to present yourself to a company. A presentation can be eas-ily given in what most call an “elevator speech,” a 15-30 second introduction of yourself that is well-prepared, contains valuable information, and interests the recruiter.
Even though elevator speeches vary from person to person, there are some valuable pieces of information that are always important to include. Mentioning goals for your future or for the company is a good way to start. It is also very im-
portant to mention any leadership roles that you have held and any teamwork that you have done. These positions do not necessarily have to correspond to what the company does because differ-ent areas of teamwork and leadership offer a varying skill set which is valuable. To make yourself stand out, it is good to mention your work outside the class-room. In IT this can be a vast area, includ-ing the following activities: volunteering in a way that involves technology, indi-vidual programming or game develop-ment, or even and playing around with technology.
Tracy mentioned that being able to take technology outside of the classroom not only grabs the attention of the recruiters but is also something that her company asks about during job interviews.
With all these positive tips and advice, Tracy also pointed out what is poorly received by a recruiter. Because commu-nication skills are very important, if you approach a recruiter and have nothing to say, you cannot do much to impress him or her. Tracy mentioned that she doesn’t enjoy when a student comes up to her, introduces himself and leaves the questions up to her. You should always have talking points and questions to ask the recruiter ready before you approach him. If you don’t, the recruiter can never learn things about you that make you stand out.
As a recruiter Tracy has seen a variety of students and knows what characteristics to look for. Most of the time, Tracy cor-responds with students through E-mail and therefore really enjoys career fairs because they give her an opportunity to meet students face-to-face.
It is especially important for juniors and seniors to attend the career fair, but ev-eryone will greatly benefit from this ex-perience. For more information about upcoming career fairs, company infor-mation and other helpful links visit the Informatics Careers page!
Cerner is a company focusing in health-care information technology. To find out more about Cerner and their career and internship opportunities visit www.cernercareers.com
Interviews can be very stressful interac-tions. Not only do we have to make our resumes impressive, but we also have to look impressive. Knock out the stress of making an outstanding first impres-sion and allow yourself to focus on ev-erything else with the following tips.
The chart on the next page helps you take your outfit apart and see if every-thing is the best it can be.
Remember, your goal during an inter-view is to make the potential employer listen to what you’re saying, so wear clothes that make the stunning first impression and then give no reason to be critiqued throughout the rest inter-view.
Still don’t think we’re right?
Check out what style experts Stacy and Clinton from “What Not To Wear” think!
Here are some other tips that can make your interview even more of a success:
-Stay away from chewing gum
-Remember to turn off your cell phone. Or even better, don’t bring it.
-Leave your i-pod in the car or at home
-Do not bring soda or coffee
-Try your complete outfit on before the interview, preferably a few days in ad-vance or at least the night before.
-Take your clothes to the dry cleaner right after an interview so you’re ready for another one.
-Chew a mint before entering the building
Attributions:Personal Account: Anna TondelInformatics Career ServicesWhat Not to Wear
Anna [email protected]
Inside the Career FairAn inside look at what to expect and how to prepare
Attributions:www.barbie.comwww.barbiemedia.com http://www.helpstartshere.org/mind-and-spirit/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-real-life-story.html
Since Barbie made her debut in 1959, she has become a household name.
With her rise in popularity came an at-tack on what she represents. Does Bar-bie have the potential to be a positive influence on young girls? Could she be helping girls realize and fulfill their dreams? Could she inspire young girls to pursue degrees and careers in IT? The answer is Yes.
“I Can Be” is a Barbie campaign whose goal is to empower and inspire young girls to become what their dreams are made of. The campaign allows girls to “try-on” different career paths and strives to show the strength of woman.
This year the makers of the doll gave the opportunity to pick Barbie’s next career, and the results are in.
Computer Engineer Barbie won the popular vote based on online polling at Barbie.com/vote, while News Anchor Barbie also won based on a Global Ca-reer Survey conducted for girls in 2009.
To get the authentic look of Barbie Com-puter Engineer just right, the designers worked closely the Society of Women Engineers and the National Academy of Engineering. Computer Engineer Barbie wears a binary code patterned tee and equipped with all the latest gadgets in-cluding a smart phone, Bluetooth head-set, and laptop travel bag. “Computer Engineer Barbie is geek chic” say the de-signers. “As a computer engineer, Barbie will show girls that women can design products that have an important and
positive impact on people’s everyday lives,” said Nora Lin, president of the So-ciety of Women Engineers.
With her new stylish spin on Computer Engineer, can Barbie make young girls more interested in computer engineer-ing? It is not uncommon to hear that an IT girl is perceived as a geek or a nerd working behind a computer all day. With Barbie’s glamorous appeal and new career, the hope is that this stereo-type will be broken.
With her latest developments, Barbie has become more high-tech. Since 1963, Barbie has held over 120 careers. These careers span a very large area of perspective dreams ranging from Olympic Gold medalist, to astronaut, to doctor. Barbie has done it all.
With her own interactive website, young girls are constantly around tech-nology. Now with a new career in tech-nology, Barbie can inspire girls to pur-sue their developing passions.
Current statistics from www.barbie.com show that more than 90% of girls all around the world, ages 3-10 own at least one Barbie doll. Each of these girls incorporates Barbie into her life. With Barbie’s astounding popularity, the ef-fect of Barbie on girls has been strongly debated. Is she a positive or negative influence?
When she was first introduced, Barbie was nothing more than fashion and beauty. She was made to represent the ideal woman. But is this really true?
South Shore Eating Disorder Collabora-tive took Barbie’s measurements and created a life size doll. This model was 5 feet 9 inches tall and weighed 110 pounds. Her bust measured 39 inches, her waist only 18 inches and her hips 33 inches. Along with her size three feet, it would be physically impossible for this woman to stand.
People like Cathy Knipper from the Easton Journal make the claim that her un-proportionally skinny body has led girls into dissatisfaction with their own bodies, and some even go as far as say-ing that Barbie has led girls straight into eating disorders.
Those who argue that Barbie has pro-vided young girls with a non-realistic image of women also claim that the doll makes girls focus on the wrong things in life. They believe that girls should not be taught that all they are supposed to care about is their beauty, their clothes, and their romantic relationships. Young girls should be inspired to follow their dreams and expand their minds. Al-though these claims may carry signifi-cant truth, since her creation Barbie’s makers have strived to make her a positive role model for young girls all around the world.
With Barbie’s large influence, this new career can only mean positive things for the future of women in technology. There is almost no better way to get to girls interested in computers than plac-ing a beautiful computer engineer role-play doll in their lives.
Barbie in the new millennium
The popular doll makes another bold career move
Anna Tondel [email protected]
Attributions:www.barbie.comwww.barbiemedia.com http://www.helpstartshere.org/mind-and-spirit/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-real-life-story.htmlimage courtesy of : http://consumerist.com/2010/02/computer-engineer-barbie-thinks-math-is-awesome-and-lucrative.html
Barbie through the decades
Most popular Barbie careers from each decade:
1960s- Astronaut Barbie
1970s- Olympic Gold medalist Barbie
1980s- CEO Barbie
1990’s- Presidential Candidate Barbie
2000s-Veterinarian
Want to hear about “I can be” from the makers…check out the video.
Want to know more about Bar-bie? Check it out
Computer Engineer Barbie 2010!
Popular Vote Winner!
Colleen’s experience as told by Wan Chun Chang:
I am a junior at IU-Bloomington. I began my major in informatics when I was a sophomore; my minor is entrepreneur-ship. In the summer of 2009, during my sophomore year in informatics, I began my internship experience, working in a business analysis post for 12 weeks. I worked at a hospital in a general train-ing program. I learned how to work a large range of printers, and I helped explain to new doctors how to use their PDAs to access their patient lists. This work involved very simple problem-solving, but I loved it, since it involved a little bit of consulting skill. This pro-gram let me learn and experience the differences in IT departments in the hospital. While working in the business analysis department, I found it is the most attractive department for me. So after the 12 weeks of summer interning, I was offered the same internship the following year. And this summer I will work for the same company but it will be in a more specific area.
I strongly suggest that every student that studies informatics have an intern-ship experience and start to consider applying to one while he/she is a soph-omore. Internships are just like work ex-perience; they will build up your leader-ship qualities and will be a great plus on your resume.
Attributions:Personal Interview: Chang, Wan Chun. Colleen McMahon. February 2010.Photo: Images Photographic
The importance of internshipsTwo IT students describe their internship experiences
Name: Colleen McMahonYear: JuniorMajor: InformaticsMinor: EntrepreneurshipFuture Plan: Graduate school (MBA)
Colleen’s tips for finding an internship:
-Find an internship that matches your interests; otherwise you will just feel bored.
-Go to IU’s career fair to gather information and meet with company rep-resentatives.
-During the meetings, be yourself and be positive.
-Act professionally, and try to make the representatives fond of you.
Wan Chun [email protected]
Attributions:Personal Interview: Chang, Wan Chun. Nick Baker. February 2010.Photo: Wan Chun Chang
Nick’s experience as told by Wan Chun Chang:
I am a senior at IU, and I am in the school of informatics, also pursuing a minor in computer science. My internships in-volved the use of computer languages and web-developing skills. I had sev-eral internships during the past few summers. I have done internships for Exact Target and Discover Financial Ser-vice, and I will be working for the Ab-bot Laboratory this summer. I believe that internships are a great experience for students studying IT or computer science. During these internships I learned some computer languages that school does not even teach anymore, and I have used the skills that I learned in school. The memory of these experi-ences amazes me when I consider how many interesting things I have done.
During my summer 2009 internship, I worked for Discover Financial Service for 12 weeks. During this internship I did an interesting project in which I marked the geographical location of the company’s customers. One black dot represented one customer, so the more customers in one location, the darker the place would be. This provid-ed a visual representation of the com-pany’s geographical span. In all, the in-ternship proved to be a very interesting experience for me, because if I had not taken the internship, how would I have know that I was able to do something as significant as I did with this project? So I would encourage students to apply for internship during summer or winter because it not only improves your tech-nological skills but also gives you the opportunity to learn new things that you would not learn during a semester of class.
Internships are great opportunities for students to practice what they have learned during school. Also, they are great places for students to get their jobs when they graduate.
Name: Nick BakerMajor: InformaticsYear: Senior Future Plan: Master Degree in Informatics
Nick’s tips for attending a career fair:
-Absolutely go to the IU IT career fair.
-Always be nice, and bring a folder or portfolio with your cover letter and resume.
-If you have already designed a web site to show to the representatives, print it out so it is easy carry and glance through quickly.
-During the career fair, talk to the representatives and get their business cards. Keep in touch with these representatives and keep track of the available intern-ship opportunities.
Attributions:Microsoft
When you go to purchase your new laptop or cell phone do you ever stop to think, “Who decided to create this software or device?” Perhaps you’ve wondered, “Why is the Droid on Verizon Wireless or iPhone on AT&T?” Well these decisions aren’t decided based on the opinions of the sales associate who sold you your iPhone or Droid, they’re made at the executive level and executives such as Steve Ballmer begin this chain of decision making. Sometimes we as consumers can lose sight of who is truly behind the logo of large corporate com-panies.
To start this off right, we’ve got to start with the CEO of CEO’s—Steve Ballmer. Steve is the CEO of Microsoft, the world’s largest software manufacturer for home and office computing. Steve joined Mi-crosoft in 1980. He was the first busi-ness manager that founder Bill Gates hired. Since then Ballmer has become a self-made billionaire with a net worth of $12.4 billion says Forbes.
Ballmer was born on March 24, 1956 and grew up Farmington Hills, Michigan. He later graduated from Detroit Country Day School, a college prep school in Beverly Hills, Michigan in 1973. Upon graduation he attended Harvard Uni-versity where he majored in Math-ematics and Economics. He graduated magna cum lade from Harvard Univer-
sity in 1973. After his graduation from Harvard, Ballmer worked for Proctor & Gamble for two years as an Assistant Product Manager before dropping out of Stanford University Graduate School of Business to join Microsoft.
Steve married Connie Snyder in 1990 and had three children. Since then Ballmer’s had deep goals in Microsoft including heading various divisions within Microsoft like Operations, Oper-ating Systems Development, and Sales and Support. Many describe Steve as funny, passionate, and focused among other things. He brings a unique vibe into the company which helps contrib-ute to Microsoft’s success.
As a Windows Mobile user I know how important a good phone is, but some-times the very individuals who create these excellent devices are overlooked. Hopefully now, with this extra insight, you can begin to see where the innova-tive ideas trickle down into consumer markets. The very beliefs that men like Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer have had are what created this company from the ground up. Maybe your ideas today, could be for the Microsoft of tomorrow.
So, when you have your next phone up-grade, ask yourself, “I wonder if Steve helped plan this device?”.
Meet the BoardLearn More about the Executive
Board Members behind the Decisions
Info @ a Glance
Name:Steve BallmerCompany:MicrosoftPosition:Chief Executive Officer
Amantha [email protected]
Attributions: Grace Hopper
Don’t forget to register for the Grace Hopper Conference!
Attributions:image: Corinthe Harris
CLICK MAGAZINE MARCH 2010