Guest Speaker– Joel Larson: Databases

In class I had the privilege to be lectured by our guest speaker, Joel Larson, on the topic of databases. 

Here is what I learned from him:

·      There are three levels of orderliness of data

1.     Unstructured ex: text

2.     Semi-structured ex: documents

3.     Structured ex: databases

·      The definition of a database is a way to store data in a structured way

·      Databases have many applications such as studying and researching at university, finding library resources, collecting information about credit card purchases, organizing inventory data in stores, etc.

·      One important case that he mentioned during the lecture was about grocery stores. Originally, the suppliers and manufactures controlled the information going both ways and were the deciders of how much of their product a store needed. The stores themselves were unknowing of what quantities of items they sold, which made it difficult to understand customers’ demands. Finally stores were able to keep track with the invention of the national cash register, a register that had a laser to scan barcodes on products. The result was a transfer of power from the manufacturer to the retailer.

Overall, I think I received some important basic understanding about databases. However it seems as though the topic of databases is a complex one in which I would have to intensely study in order to grasp the specific concepts, so I did not have the expectation that I would leave class as an expert on databases.

The creation of databases is truly revolutionary to our lives as they help us find the important information that we are looking for in a sea of data­– whether it being an article, a person, product, or a numerical value.

Industries Taken Over By Technology

What do you do when you’re looking for a date, a new pair of shoes, plane tickets, or nearly anything else? You probably search online or have a convenient App for it. But, before E-commerce became apart of everyday life in the world, many more jobs existed in industries such as banking, libraries, traveling agencies, matchmaking, etc. Since the Internet offers a large variety of products and services, it made finding jobs in many industries more difficult or obsolete.  So– where did all of those people go?

Essentially, I believe that either they stayed in their industry but adjusted to a new position of being a customer support employee for the website. Another possible case could be that they switched industries completely; perhaps moving to an industry that is currently in need such as something in technology like advertising, internet technician, computer engineering, etc. And retail and restaurant always are in demand as well. Getting a job at a place where many people physically visit is a good idea if you’d rather not be sitting at a computer all day. And I have not had a robot serve me at a restaurant yet, so snagging jobs like that is still an option. Also, many people prefer trying clothes on to see if it flatters them or if the quality is nice before purchasing it, that’s why I think retail will always be a physical industry in addition to the e-tail industry.

Despite the fact that E-commerce may be the cause of extinct jobs in several industries, I think that its vastness of options benefit the world economy overall.

3 Things You Should Avoid Buying Online

Today we use the Internet to buy things constantly at the snap of the fingers. E-commerce has become a part of our convenience-craving lives, but some things are better off purchased offline.

Three things that I would avoid buying online are used designer items, fragrance, and pets.

If you ever wanted a luxurious pair of Louboutin red bottom heels or a Louis Vuitton handbag but wanted to avoid the heavy price tag, you may consider searching about on eBay to see if you can find them used.  However, they may not be genuine which could be hard to distinguish through looking at photos of them online. So there’s always the potential that you are purchasing counterfeit designer items that will be poor quality and are likely still way overpriced. If you want designer items, the best thing would be to save up for the real deal or wait to see if they go on sale and then snatch them up at the department store.

I would also advise buying fragrance online. Even if you found a sample of cologne or perfume in a magazine strip that you found pleasant, it’s always a good idea to just go to a cosmetic place like Sephora and try it on yourself. Fragrance mixes with your body odor and smells different from person to person. So even if it smells good in the magazine sample, you might not like it so much after it mixes with your own scent at the end of the day.

The last thing that you should avoid buying on the Internet is a pet. Yes, usually owners or shelters can include little biographies about the animal for you to get to know about their personality, but the only way you’ll know that they get along with you is by interacting with them in person. In addition, if you already have a pet, perhaps you could bring it along with you to see if they do well with the new pet before you buy it.

Overall, the Internet seems usually safe enough to purchase most things, but being cautious sometimes is best.