Consumer of Data

Consumer of Data

In our introductory object oriented programming class, we have a discuss about the Graphical User Interface (GUI). In that discuss, we work to differentiate the distinction of the perspectives of the user versus the perspective of the programmer within the context of the usage of the GUI. Specifically, we express the following:

“The GUI from the User’s perspective is a window through which one enters or
receives data. The GUI from the programmer’s perspective is a Form onto which
one adds controls.”

Controls, of course, are anything that is placed on the form (e.g. labels, textboxes, images, buttons, etc.).

More than a differentiation of the roles of the user and the programmer as it applies to the GUI, this distinction also differentiates the roles of the consumer of the data with that of the provider of the data.

It would be a mistake for a consumer to think that because they are touching a technology, and they are a user, then all who touch a technology are equally users. In reality, while there may be an enormous number of user/consumers, there still needs to be a group who are the providers of the technology.

Who are the providers in technology? They are analysts, the programmers, the technicians, and the help desk supporters. They are all those who by their labors make the data available and in a useable fashion so that others may profit.

What is Health Informatics? And What Can We Do About It?

There is an old joke, I forget how it goes, or what the punchline was; but, apparently there were these three blind fellows who were trying to describe and elephant based upon what they could feel in front of them. As elephants go, Health Informatics is just such an elephant and may be not only one of the biggest, but it's definition is still not complete even to itself.

In academia, it our duty -- our responsibility -- to produce the relevant training necessary for individuals to be effective in a particular working environment. Health Informatics is a perfect example of our proverbial elephant and it is surrounded by quite a number of blind fellows (myself included) who are groping for a border, an awareness, or a shape to provide us with an understanding of what the rest of that beast must look like.

As a community college instructor, I must seek to define the part of the elephant which is before me. A university instructor will do the same for his/her part. And, a graduate school instructor must likewise do the same for theirs. And like the fellows in the example, each will form their own version of what is the "truth" of the elephant. Each will of course be entirely correct from their perspective; and each will also be entirely wrong. What is different here, is that on our part of the elephant, what we perceive can be appropriate for that part. And while another would discover something completely different, it, too is completely appropriate for that part.

In our first encounter with the beast, we discovered that it indeed has a foot. Not surprising since other systems (beasts) we have encountered also have feet. Some feet are different than others, but they are still feet. And while an elephant's foot may be unique in the Animal Kingdom, it is still a foot. Is it reasonable that we can in our capacity define and describe the feet of the beast and still be talking about the beast? Or in opposite words: is it appropriate to say that because you cannot define the whole of the elephant, then you are not allowed to describe the elephant's feet as "elephant feet"? Of course not. Perhaps we do not have a solid grasp on the elephant's hide or head or snout (snout?); however, we do know what the feet are and they are definitely the feet of an elephant.

In the community college, our job, our goal, our duty is to create individuals job ready to work in a particular career. In fact, within the current grant, it is indeed also our mandate. And we are mandated to begin this training by the third week of September -- seven weeks from today. The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has provided us with a fantastic start on a definition of HI; and, some of the strongest minds in America are providing input specifically to support us in producing quality training.

It is quite humbling.

And exciting. Consider, how often in a lifetime does one get the chance to encounter a new elephant?

Hellabytes? I Don't Like Where This Is Going.

In a previous post, we took a look at the zettabyte (ZB) as a legitimate concern for data creation, storage, and organization. And we described the size of the ZB with the example of a ridiculous number of hours of music one would have on a ZB iPod.

Not so ridiculous is the fact that the International System of Units (SI) puts a lot of thought into naming the different prefixes: mega (10E6), gigga (10E9), terra (10E12) up to yotta (10E24); and now a physics student is looking for a name for the next group of 10E27.

Check out this article posted on FoxNews on the issue.

The student is using the SocialNet (Facebook) to help create a new moniker. This can be something fun and admirable. Except...

Interestingly, and perhaps short-sightedly, the prefix "hella" is gaining some traction. It is short-sited because "hell" is a rather terminal concept. Mostly because using hell, as in "a hell of a lot of", would reflect a number as high as you can get. Eventually (and perhaps soon) you are going to need a name for 10E30. So what concept would be a magnitude one thousand times greater than hell? The idea is cute, but that's about it. At the risk of putting too fine a point on it: once you get to hella, there's nowhere else to go.

As a designer, one thing we need to keep in mind when naming things is that name will reflect on us forever either good or bad (think Apple iPad or Chevy Nova).

In this instance, rather than going for the gag, it would be better to think about the the value's place in the numbering schema -- that of, the set prior to 10E30 because it has 10 commas. Since "Yotta" is based on the Greek "octo" (see also Lamar for more detail), perhaps a name based on the Greek "nine" is in order.

One last link. Take a look at this Wikipedia post on naming long numbers. Consider the vastness of data groupings and then ask youself this: "Don't I have anything better to do?"

Job Hunting with the Social Web in a Down Economy

There is no question in my mind that one big key to finding work especially in a down economy is by networking. While the adage “it’s not what you know but who you know” is almost accurate, there seems to be a significant advantage to using the social web to find work. Google the phrase “using the social web to find work” and you will be provide a plethora of books, hints, and advice.

It makes sense as well. If you are in a particular social group, say computer programmers or web designers, and a position becomes available within the network, it will be the “friends of” who will hear about it first. That early knowledge could make a difference.

There is a downside to the social web, and a caveat is the subject of this blog. Take care in what you say. Be mindful who your friends are.

Be clear that when you submit a job application, you are often allowing the prospective employer to do a background check on you. Typically, if there are a large number of applications, the employer will not do a check on every single app. It would only be appropriate to “vet” the top x-number of candidates, or those who make it past the first or second screening. When you do make it to top, the checking begins.

In my experience, background checks such as credit checks, identification, citizenship, etc. are only done by HR and are never revealed to the hiring committee. This is and should be written policy.

However, there is nothing that would prevent a screener – who may already be on Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn – from doing a casual (or even explicit) search for your page. In fact, it has been revealed to me by some both inside academia and in the private sector that that is exactly what some screeners do.

Think of it like this: your resume is you in your “Sunday Best”; and it should be: formal, proper, clean.

Your Facebook page is you in your shorts, warts and all. And perhaps there is an appropriateness to that sort of social release as well.

The bottom line: you Facebook page will have as much influence as your interview answers – should you get the interview at all. Why?

What You Say?

A friend of mine is looking for a job and is having a tough time of it. He told me that he wrote on his MySpace that the economy “s----d” and that he was getting discouraged. Now, what do you think that a prospective employer could do with that information? It would not be difficult for that employer to think they could offer a lower starting wage, or perhaps a lesser position. Or worse “If no one else is hiring this guy, why should I?”

Your words, your jokes, your pictures, your tastes are all made available to the world. If you have any racial, political, sexist, or whatever, comments, jokes, postings, venting, you name it, on your page, those will be highlighted and used against you. On that you can depend.

Birds of a Feather

Let’s get back to the “it’s not what you know but who you know” conversation. Who you have on your friends list and who you allow to post on your page says a lot about you.

Now I get free speech and it’s not my words and all that. But, if you are looking to land a position, and a “friend” has a posting with risqué images, foul language, or that picture of you drunk at your birthday party, what do you think the screeners will think?

On my own site I have “friends” who are relatives, or friends-of-friends, or whatever and I do not have control over what they do or post or say. But, I do have control over what they place on my site. And if they get out of hand: Boom, they are gone.

Suppose that I have a “friend” who lives on the other side of the country. Suppose further that they have a friend who I may or may not know but have accepted their friend request for whatever reason. Follow on to the next dot and Facebook will tell me that friend 1 and friend 2 have a mutual friend 3. I do not know Friend 3. I have never met Friend 3. But, because of the association with friends 1 and 2, I accept the friend request for Messier 3.

Then Friend 3 posts something truly horrible.

Here’s the bad news: it was his posting and not yours, but he is your friend. The hiring screeners will not stop to wonder if Mr. 3 is a true friend or only an internet “friend”. It does not matter anyway. It’s too late. Like the saying goes “don’t get none on you”; well, Mr. 3 “got some on you”.

The bottom line is that if you are using the social web as a part of your work search, get your pages clean and get them clean now.

There is an old saying that goes “I cannot stop the birds from flying over my head, but I can stop them from building a nest in my hair”.

Working smarter not just harder

It is now the end of July and America has faced some of the worst economic conditions it has seen in generations. I have held off on contributing to this blog for a while because I wanted to see how things would develop in the short term. Economic stimuli notwithstanding, it seems at the very least we are past the “scared phase” and perhaps have begun to move into a sort of “acceptance phase”. My commitment to this blog is to focus on technology, training, and careers, and not politics; and, while the two may now be intertwined (it would be hard to argue against that), permit us to consider IT in hard times.

The thing is IT has seen hard times frequently in the past. Particularly in boom-and-bust industries it is common to see a company hire a huge number of people, work them hard, and then let them go once the whatever-it-is gets complete. I, personally, have witnessed the huge swings for technology in defense contracting, finance, chip manufacturing (a la Silicon Valley circa 1985), dot-com, and the like.

Typically when profits are down, one of the first places companies cut are in technology expansion. This is not to say that technology gets cut – au contrair – technology is a pillar to business. Rather, it is to say that spending in technological upgrades (computers, software, operating systems, and networks) does decrease as companies try to “make due”. The good news is that companies cannot make due indefinitely and when the new comes in, it is usually accompanied by new people with new training.

An interesting observation was made by Jim Brazell of Ventureramp, Inc. who recently spoke at the HITEC conference in Scottsdale, AZ. On his web site he writes:

“Responses from the Humanities, Liberal Arts and Fine Arts communities include concerns about the focus on training technicians rather than innovators, thinkers, designers and problem solvers. At the same time, many CTE teachers and administrators are working to integrate and partner with academic programs to increase rigor and relevance for “Millennial learners.” Closing the distance between CTE and academic disciplines represents a Renaissance in US education.” [link]

The well-taken point here is that for IT always, and especially during down times, we need “thinking techs”. Keep in mind that it is relatively easy to create techs. There are schools who specialize in doing nothing but. But, for a tech to rise to the top of the hiring list, that tech must also be an “innovator, thinker, designer and problem solver”. Anyone can pull wire. But why that wire and why in that location?

The admonition is to “work smarter, not just harder”.

It is for this very reason that in our CIS program at Mt Hood Community College, we train not just “what”, but “why”. This is the reason that we train toward certifications with CISCO, Oracle, and Microsoft; in our program, form accompanies function.

So, what’s ahead? Networking and database still look strong into the next decade. Information will have to be presented so GUIs and web interfaces will continue to be needed. New operating systems will drive the need for smart, local OS managers. We are also projecting significant demand for computer security people (especially in light of the recent attacks against US government web sites, the Pentagon, and the power grid).

Additionally, some significant coin is being put up for nationalized data technology for health care. The ARRA stimulus plan contributed heavily for the development of electronic health records (EHR) which can be standardized and shared between insurers and practitioners. It will be interesting to see how this last one shakes down.

Here’s the point: we are not talking about rearranging the deck chairs as the ship is sinking. It is more like we are sailing in a fog and the compass is broken. We know that we will arrive in port but are not sure exactly when. Perhaps it will be this year. Perhaps it may be in three. Now the only question is: will you be ready when we do?

Pay to Play

Not bragging, just a fact. Game development is quickly becoming an important career strategy for tech-minded students. Further, when you consider the purist perspective of programmers needing to know conditional programming, looping structures, sorts, and arrays, the reality is that if you can write a game, then you truly understand the software.

Our fledgling game development program at Mt Hood Community College was featured in The Seattle Times. Check it out:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008617055_paidtoplay12.html

The State of the Art

There is some new career data for Information Technology.

If you are in college or thinking about college, you have to put your mind out about 3 to 5 years into the future and try to predict where the needs are going to be; very difficult for IT. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2008-2009 Edition provides an excellent starting point for identifying the direction in which this economy is heading. When you are there, check out Chart 7 “Percent change in employment in occupations projected to grow fastest, 2006-16”. These are the new projections for USA careers reaching out for the next 8 years.

The BLS research indicates that the hottest career path deep into the next decade is in IT and specifically in Networking. Fourth on the list is computer software engineers, and coming in a very respectable 17th is forensic science technicians.

This is great news; and, even though we have followed the BLS research for a number of years, it is sometimes easy to get caught up in the statistics. It begs the question: who else is talking about hot careers and what are they saying? Let’s take a broad sweep of some recent news articles and postings.

If you are going to drop a wad of cash on an education, wouldn’t it be great to know if you were going to train for a career that will at least provide a living wage income? What are the degrees that will provide you the best value for your money? We call it “return on investment” (ROI) and the key word here is Value. Clare Kaufman listed on Yahoo! Education the top 5 degrees which offer the best ROI for your education dollar. The five include one MBA, 2 BS degrees, and 2 two-year degrees of which one is in IT. She writes, “Two years in school can afford techies with a wealth of applied skills in network, database, and systems administration; computer programming, Web design, and more. An IT specialist makes an average salary of $62,521…”

CNN posted an article by Anthony Balderrama on the “Ten best jobs for two-year degrees” where he lists the 10 hottest careers and the degrees behind them. Number one on his list is Computer Specialist where he notes median average wages at $71,510 and a 15% projected increase in employment. It is also valuable to note that his #10 choice degree is Computer support specialist with median wages at $42,400, which is about what the entry-level general technical graduate can expect (depending on your location).

A big part of the reason behind the high demand for IT people has to do with the incredible slump in CS and CIS enrollments in colleges since ’01. Many have written about this phenom including myself; so rather than reiterate old material, take a look at some new reports. Phillip Reese writes in the Sacrament Bee,

“In the past five years, Sacramento companies added about 4,100 computer science jobs – about 800 new jobs a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The median annual salary for computer science jobs – including programming, Web development and help desk support – is around $70,000…. During the same period, the number of information technology degrees issued by the Los Rios and Sierra community college systems fell 65 percent, from 614 in 2002 to 213 during 2007.”

Supply low + Demand high = great paying careers

But just how high is the demand going to be? Plenty. David Pitt, an AP writer published in Boston.com reports, “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 854,000 professional IT jobs will be added between 2006 and 2016, an increase of about 24 percent. When replacement jobs are added in, total IT job openings in the 10-year period is estimated at 1.6 million…. The bureau estimates that one in 19 new jobs created in the 10-year period will be professional IT positions.” That’s 1.6 million new IT jobs needing 1.6 million new workers.

So, what’s hot in IT? Probably the best people to ask would be the ones looking forward. Eric Chabrow blogged on CIO Insight where the hottest IT jobs are, and unsurprisingly, the hottest two are networking and computer support with systems analysts in a close third. Deb Perelman’s BLS analysis in eweek.com points squarely at security as the next hot niche.

All of this is exciting news, and we have not even begun to talk about other hot items such as the new Health Informatics (HI) industry which is so new and so strong that we cannot even yet see its boundaries, nor IT management such as Database (DBM) which has to get hot if only because there are so few in the pipeline.

So while many believe that 2008 is the year, we in IT academia must have our focus out to 2012 thru 2016 by preparing you to be relevant in that job market.

Snap!