Toothpaste Company – ER Modeling

As part of project for course in Advanced Database Modeling in Masters in Science (IT) from Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati under Prof. Umanath

Revisiting

Course required us to develop an industry driven case on database modeling. The idea was to design and implement business model of any fictitious organization. The project offered first-hand experience developing concepts like ER modeling, physical database design, representation of business using conceptual model etc.

Story

We developed a fictitious story. The story involved gathering requirements and then developing a database model for a FMCG company (fast moving consumer goods). In a gist, the company planned to integrate its sales, marketing, research and manufacturing departments under one single system. Building a single database was one of the challenges towards this goal.

Designing a Model in Arena® Simulation Software

As part of Simulation Modeling course work for Masters of Science (IT) from Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati under Prof. David Kelton

Revisiting

The model was desired to simulate multiple tasks taken up by front desk representatives in a regular patient-care clinic. The person at front desk greets the patients and answers phone calls. Also, performs some scheduled tasks, over the course of the week, like bill preparation, credentialing, Laundry etc. The design goal of the project was to build a model which is able to handle scheduled tasks for the day and also incoming random patient walk-ins and phone calls. Also, one of the other secondary goals were to allow for model to adjust itself to new tasks or resources. All this required applying concepts of programming in a different paradigm.

Internet – Ubiquitousness – its ability and inability

I really have to appreciate this person for what he is doing and then of course to what he said –

“can’t hammer a nail over the internet, you cannot be butcher of the internet, you cannot be barber over the internet, you cannot be bike mechanic over the internet, and it is something that can never be replaced..”

Joe of 718 cyclery shop (http://www.718c.com/)

These words have hit a cord which I keep referring to every time about business on Internet. They are not really game changers unless they would have been had internet wasn’t around. The idea to great business still lies in its core strategy and internet is very well the enabler – one of the greatest ever invented!

Throw in some torch light on your laptop screen!

My parents have this old laptop. It recently lost its back-light illumination. The screen was lit up enough to know the laptop’s running all fine. However, it was too dark to perform any task on it. I thought of simple idea – why not throw some torch-light on it. And immediately I knew – damn stupid I am. This made me think – why not? Is our technology there to dynamically manipulate display screens such a way that the objects in it are real enough to reflect colors of the natural room light? Exploring wasn’t difficult – and I landed up on what we call Kindle!

Electro-phoretic Displays or Electronic Paper Display call them whatever. They are revolutionary plastic paper with small miniature globes packed in. They contain even smaller black and white ink pigments. These pigments need one time electric discharge making them settle either on front or back of the display. This is how kindle runs for 2 to 3 weeks non-stop. The idea is unique and technology enabling it is amazing.

So is this enough? Apart from video streaming and high quality animation, this technology will should serve our next generation of electronic magazines, document writers, discussion boards, writing tablets, mobile phones, wrist watches, metro signs (current listing)

Following up .. touch devices are they touch really?

following up to the idea after posting this few months back. Here’s a concept. In the recent CEATEC event Kyocera demonstrated a touch with tactile feedback. Then in another news story from way back in May 2010 – we have Toshiba taking up Senseg’s haptic feedback touch-screen technology into their own devices – link . The concept of creating sensations using vibrations is similar to this demonstrated by OnlyGizmos. They all respond to finger touch by giving back electric vibrations of varying wave-length.   Find the videos at the end of post.

Algorithms marking its domain

this is fascinating talk. There is definitely a point where reality makes more sense than what speaker is pointing to. Nevertheless, the claim is fascinating – bothersome – metaphorically significant. So are we allowing algorithms to take up our place in determining market and beyond. A very interesting talk by Kevin Slavin

REST/Linked Data

It wasn’t hard to think about RESTful concepts when you hear Tim talking about linked data…

and a quick search and bang .. people are already talking about it here and here. The first link is exactly in lines of what I thought – huh isn’t he talking about REST? . Then the second link attempts a nose dive into conceptual paradigm.

iPhone and others – are those touch really?

One of the few things I use to charm others with was my ability to send out a fully worded text message without even looking at my phone. Can I do that on any of the touch phones? There is no reference point to start if you are not looking directly at your touch screen. Saying that, its no easy task if we are using a phone with no t9 support though but its achievable nevertheless.

So aren’t we losing a sense-full ability in our phones or any such devices for matter. My phone I believe has to meet more than my eyes. It has to appeal to me and talk back in one or more ways. It does that by ringing and vibrating for one. May be it could do more. The idea of touch with a tactile feedback is making rounds for sometime, for a technology enthusiast like me this is next big thing. I started thinking about it when a simple survey on an iPad made my index finger sour.

Leonard Kleinrock – continued

my tweet –

Leonard klienrock. Nikola tesla. Idea since?ARPA1958.1969.Queuing.NCP.BBN.EMAIL.hawai.robert morris.al gore.grokster.future.nomadic.embeddedtech.ubiquitouscomp.softagents.

twt prt#7 Brief history of Protocols – NCP, TCP, TCP/IP
Network Communication Protocol(NCP) was deployed on December of 1970. Some 15 institutes in United States of America (including NASA, Stanford Research Institute, Harvard, UCLA etc) brought themselves together. NCP was the connection-oriented big brother of our generation’s Transmission Control Protocol(TCP). TCP does maintain connection context but lets Internet Protocol (IP), a connection-less protocol, to work on sending the message across. TCP was the refined protocol to ensure that data delivery is guaranteed – reliability, acceptable transmission octets size between sender and receiver – flow control, connection sharing across multiple processes by using ports – multiplexing, date delivery precedence and security.

Leonard Kleinrock – 112 Lindner

Lecturer – Leonard Kleinrock
Venue – 112 Lindner / College of Business, University of Cincinnati

I, in my own excursion, had been catching upon Threat to Internet, Tim Berners Lee’s first WWW, Ted Nelson’s idea of this. I had this lecture as upcoming since last year spring. I liked it all coming together yesterday (05/05/2011). The community of people who were bent to foster a new language through a new medium. The were bent to bend the world.

So what did Leonard Kleinrock talk about? I tweeted –

Leonard klienrock. Nikola tesla. Idea since?ARPA1958.1969.Queuing.NCP.BBN.EMAIL.hawai.robert morris.al gore.grokster.future.nomadic.embeddedtech.ubiquitouscomp.softagents.

so that I can come back to it later ..