Do You Work Harder When Someone Is Watching?

I do work harder when someone else is watching, but I don't think I work as well. When other people watch me, especially people of importance, I start to stress out. This results in a lot of work being done, but it is often not to the caliber my employers/school/parents have come to expect from me. The increased stress makes me more worried about who is watching and less worried about what I am doing.

I do agree with the research about the Hawthorne Effect. If someone important is watching, people generally tend to work harder for one of two reasons in my opinion. One reason is so that they don't get in trouble for slacking off, etc. The other, is to make themselves look better to whoever is observing them.

I do not see how such observation is unethical, however I believe in the long run it could cause a lot of undue stress. This increased work-place stress could lead to more burn-outs and an increased employee turnover. Used in short time spans, however, this could be a very efficient method at increasing productivity without overly stressing employees.

I do not believe this is a good data gathering method. The results are essentially buffered because this is not necessarily an employee's actual productivity on a given day; instead, it is his/her productivity while being watched.

Search Sleuth

1) The most commonly used passwords are: 123456, 12345, 123456789, Password, and I Love You. Password

2)I am guessing that this is often used as a spam subject line, I could not find it online, however.

3)T'ai Chi, Yoga, and the Alexander technique are commonly used to provide relief to repetitive strain injuries. RSI

4)A gas discharge arrestor is a kind of surge protector which uses Ionized gases in order to conduct the electric charge. Gas Discharge Arrestor

5)I cannot find this answer online. All I find is peoples guesses and how to install an antivirus program.

RFID Technology

RFID technology has the ability of being one of the biggest technological advances in my opinion. Radio Frequency Identification uses radio waves to transmit information between an electronic tag and a reader. It is quicker and easier than scanning barcodes and can be used for multiple jobs.

RFID technology has a real future in Law Enforcement. By having RFID chips in peoples license plates, and eventually built right into the cars, Law Enforcement will be able to gain a lot of information about who a car belongs to before ever approaching it, making there job far safer. Some cities have talked about the benefits of using RFID red light "cameras" claiming that they would help to reduce the number of false tickets. This process would use a series of readers placed through the intersection to rule out false crosses which often confuse the cameras.
Europe Develops RFID License Plate Technology

Some people fear that being able to track someone using RFID is a negative thing and in invasion of privacy. They claim that it makes it so the government can know our every move. My answer to this is that if the Government wants to know your every move....it isn't that hard for them. Anyone who believes that is the ultimate intention is naive in my opinion.

Breaking the Book

I selected "Breaking the book" as my trend for 2011. Being an avid reader, I think eBooks are fantastic. They are cheap, almost 2/3's the cost of the printed book; easy to read; and the file size is tiny. I have an Amazon Kindle and it was the best purchase I have ever made. I love that I can take any book, anywhere.

While this may not be the BIGGEST trend, I do believe it will be one of the most important in years to come. Just like most movies are becoming 3D, most books are now available as eBooks, often weeks before their release dates. Entire chapters are available as "Samples", letting you decide whether you like a book before paying for it. Authors like James Patterson often release entire sections for free. In his new book, Tick Tock, he released all of part 1...that is almost 180 pages. Also, eBooks make it easier for the novice author to write a book and spread it to the world. Amazon uses what they refer to as "Singles", which are often just short stories and cost nothing. However, it could truly help to generate interest in an author people may not know. I believe that the only thing holding this trend back in the United States is the decline in the number of people who read for fun. The majority of my friends only read when they need to, which saddens me because they honestly have no idea of all that they are missing. Only time can tell what will happen with eBooks, but I believe they are the future for written materials.

Censorship

I do not believe in censorship when it comes to the internet. I strongly believe that ALL knowledge is good knowledge as long as it is in moderation. If you object to something, such as pornography, violence, etc..., than DON'T look at it. No one forces you to go to certain sites. For some people, these things are there careers, and whether you disagree with what they are doing, no person has the right to tell someone else they "can't" do it because they don't want to see it.

Also, once you start censorship, than where do you draw the line? What is considered porn, and what is considered art?

For example, what makes this very famous Botticelli painting ART and not soft core pornography? Censorship belongs to closed-minded individuals, not to those who think. This is clearly art, but some have tried to say that it is more. I for one, do not want someone else doing my thinking for me and telling me what is acceptable for my eyes. I have my own brain, I can decide for myself.

"What I hope to get out of CSI 112 this semester'

What I look forward to learning most in this course is how to do more complex skills with the different Microsoft programs. I was very good with older versions of word, powerpoint, etc..., but I am not as familiar with the newer versions. I also look forward to learning any tricks or tips which will allow me to maximize my Windows 7 experience.