How Ict has had an impact on employment opportunities

Emploment oppurtunites

Ict has created more jobs in a variety of different areas of jobs below are examples of some of the jobs that require ict.  Jobs in ICT divide into three main types: Jobs involving using ICT software and hardware to carry out other work. Jobs involving building or maintaining hardware (computers / printers etc.), Jobs involving developing or programming software.

Jobs where an interest in using ICT software (e.g. Word / Excel) is useful. Word Processor Data Inputter Secretary Office Administrator Hotel Receptionist Call Centre Assistant

Jobs where you will need high levels of skill in using software. You will usually need to go to college to develop these skills. Software Helpdesk Advisor ICT Trainer College Lecturer ICT Support Assistant

Jobs where you will be expected to use specialist software. You will usually need to go to university or take specialist training. CAD Draughtsman Database Operations Manager Graphic Designer Web Designer Medical Physicist Operational Researcher

Jobs in building or maintaining hardware need good technical skills. You will usually need to go to college or take long periods of training to develop these. ICT Technician Network Manager Maintenance Technician Computer Service Technician

Jobs in developing or programming software require good programming skills. You will need to know high level programming languages or specialist languages (e.g. HTML). You will usually need to go to college or university to develop these skills. Multimedia Designer Software Developer Systems Analyst Computer Programmer As computers have become mainstream appliances, they have found their way into virtually all aspects of human endeavors and medicine is no exception. Computers help physicians and medical researchers discover, test and apply medical techniques in virtually every hospital in the world. Furthermore, computer technology provides an infrastructure to allow for medical ideas and knowledge to be filed and shared globally with other medical professionals. X-rays and CT scans  X-rays and CT scans use radiation to produce images of a patient's internal structure to search for abnormalities. X-rays allow for viewing of the internal structure of the patient from one perspective. CT scanning on the other hand uses computer technology to take several X-ray images that are two-dimensional cross-sections and turn them into a multidimensional picture that doctors use to make a diagnosis. These single X-rays are combined using computer programs that precisely reconstruct the internal structure of the patient. Magnetic Resonance Imaging  Magnetic Resonance Imagining, more commonly known as MRI, is the process of using powerful magnetic fields to map the patient's internal structure and activity. According to Radiologyinfo.org, MRI is used to produce detailed images of soft tissue in the body without using radiation. The bio-electrical activity in the body is detected by the MRI machine and fed to a computer that interprets the structure of the area being scanned and presents a three-dimensional presentation of electrical activity in the region. This allows doctors to search for physical and operational defects in patients without invasive surgery. Spectroscopy  Spectroscopy is the process of irradiating a substance, such as biopsy tissue or suspected dangerous substances, and examining the reflected or transmitted radiation patterns. A number of different spectroscopy methods have been developed to measure different energy characteristics. All substances absorb and reflect only specific wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. The reflected or transmitted radiation is analyzed by a computer that determines which wavelengths are present or missing. This pattern, called a spectrum, is then compared to a database of known substances to find a match. This allows doctors to quickly determine if a poisonous substance is involved and decide appropriate treatment actions. Patient Monitoring  Patients admitted to a hospital are connected to machines that use vital statistics monitoring software to record blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen levels. These computers monitor a patient and are programmed to notify the staff in the event any of these statistics move outside of acceptable ranges. Surgery  Computerized robotics allow doctors to perform surgery on patients without even being in the same room. These computer-controlled surgeries allow doctors to save the lives of patients many miles away which may not have been possible otherwise. Video networking and real-time vital statistics monitoring allow for safe, precise surgeries that are observed by on-staff doctors or students.  Secure Data Storage  Prior to the use of computers, sensitive patient data was kept in filing cabinets that were bulky and easily broken into. Today, computer database technology allows medical professionals to maintain thorough patient files secured with encryption routines and even stored off site for extra security and backup capabilities. Internet Connectivity  Doctors and researchers commonly use personal computers for real-time consults and second opinions. This allows for the diagnosis procedure to take less time, which can equate to increased lab results or a life-saving treatment. Furthermore, the use of small computing devices, such as PDAs and smart phones, allow doctors to perform their work in less technologically advanced areas that do not have landline Internet connects. Diagnostic Databases  Medicine encompasses a vast field of knowledge that is expanding every day. Computer databases allow doctors to store diagnostic information and make that information searchable. This allows medical information from previous cases and peer-reviewed journals to be instantly available to medical professionals at any time and place. Medical Research  Currently, distributed computing platforms are used to run medical simulations in search of cures to diseases such as cancer, AIDS, and Alzheimer's disease. This computerized software lets millions of computers join together in a manner that exponentially increases the speed at which potential cures may be found. Medical Practice Software  Computer software is used to track and project virtually all aspects of a medical practice. Patient files, profit and loss statements, and billing and insurance forms are all handled using computer software that streamlines the office work of a medical practice and allows doctors more time to spend with their patients. Web Designer A web designer may or may not be a computer programmer, but most have at the least some programming skills. Many web designers are also web programmers, which means they not only are the architect of how a page will appear on the Internet but also implement their own designs through programming. One of the most important tasks of the web designer is the creative design of web pages, usually by working with a client who articulates certain needs or functions that the web page must fulfill. Designers tend to be excellent in working with graphics software, like Photoshop®, and many are also very good with programs like Java®, which can animate graphics. They frequently have experience working with a variety of media programs to add sound or film clips to web pages. Overall, the goal is to create pages with a specific design, a uniform graphic set, and eye grabbing details. Depending upon the needs of the client, a web designer may also write content for pages, though sometimes they merely edit and program content that clients provide. There can be a great difference to no difference between a web designer and a web programmer. Programmers may only implement designs by programming in HTML, XTML, and various other Internet languages. They may set up special functions like shopping cart software, and they may be responsible for maintenance of existing web pages and introduction of new data. A web designer, especially one with lots of programming talent may also do this. In fact many designers offer both design and programming services. At other times, designers are the graphic specialists, integrating the client’s requirements into artistically rendered pages that are easy to use for visitors. Web designers must keep abreast of current trends in the Internet industry. They must figure out what services are expected, what graphics are most likely to be received well and enjoyed, and how a page will rank high in search engines. By working with clients they get a sense of what basic functions the web page (or multiple ones) must serve, but they may also help clients formulate plans on how to keep web pages most approachable, and graphically interesting. Many are terrific artists who may have worked in other fields of graphic design prior to becoming web designers. A lot of debate exists on the qualifications needed to become a web designer. Some people are not college educated but have been navigating and programming pages for so long it doesn’t matter. A number of freelance web designers have at the least taken classes in art and design, and may have taken a few programming classes specific to different programs that can help them best create pages. Others have extensive programming or design background and hold undergraduate degrees. Law Basics Computer technology has been both a bane and a benefit to law enforcement. Computer technology has created an entire new realm of criminal activity for law enforcement to deal with--in the form of hackers and Internet predators. Those same technical advancements have increased the power and range of law enforcement to capture criminals. Most police forces, local sheriff departments and government agencies are computerized and employ some form of technology in their everyday crime-fighting efforts. From laptops in squad cars to community online services and accessible databases, law enforcement incorporates the latest technology when budgets allow. On Site  Law enforcement officers with notebook computers in their squad cars can easily access databases to check credentials of motorists and individuals they interview at crime scenes. They can write and send reports while the events are still fresh. Mobile electronics are used to catalog evidence at crime scenes and to manage the evidence once it's transferred to the police facility. Portable crime scene technology can help investigators identify fingerprints and other evidence on the site, allowing the officers to move quickly to apprehend the perpetrators. Communication  Agencies utilize encrypted emails to communicate across agency lines to work together to solve crimes. Missing person reports, fugitive alerts and unsolved crimes can be posted to secure law enforcement websites to allow international cooperation. Gang-related activity, sex offenders and terrorist activities can easily be broadcast to law enforcement agencies worldwide immediately, limiting the amount of time others need to respond to requests and to post the necessary alerts to their own officers. Digital radio frequencies are being used to coordinate first responders and other law enforcement agencies that need to communicate simultaneously in certain situations. Tracking Advanced global positioning satellite (GPS) technology and cell phone ubiquity has provided law enforcement officials with additional resources to track and investigate criminal activity. By incorporating tower triangulation, most cell phone users can be traced to a location that is relatively accurate. Emergency call systems and 911 operators can trace a cell phone call as quickly as they can trace a land line call. Vehicles equipped with GPS equipment can be tracked as long as the device remains activated. Small GPS tracking devices can be planted on suspects to track movements. Geographic information systems (GIS) are utilized to map the movements of criminals and their activities as well as to store the information for later use. Most wireless phones have GIS technology embedded, which further adds to the ease in which movements can be tracked. Below is a news article about how jobs have been impacted on by the use of ICT and advancemnets of technology. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has transformed society. It has had a major influence on the way we live, work and learn. Already 60% of existing and 90% of new jobs require some ICT skills. It is now normal on any train to see people using laptop computers. You can check your e-mail in many coffee bars using their wireless network or a mobile device. Thousands of people arrange their own international holidays using the World Wide Web and manage their finances online. You can also choose to study through technology when, where and how you prefer. In addition to these visible changes, technology has penetrated many familiar aspects of daily life. Digital television and radio, for example, has brought technology directly into the living room. These changes have undoubtedly contributed to the government's decision to declare ICT a new Skill for Life alongside literacy, numeracy and English for speakers of other languages. The need for ICT 'Skill for Life' is essentially the modern term for basic skills; that is, the skills that people need in order not to be seriously disadvantaged in their economic and social lives. Adults without ICT skills are going to have more difficulty getting employment, gaining promotion or even retaining their jobs. In their social lives they will be increasingly distanced from the many benefits, large and small, that come with being comfortable with technology. A national survey by the DFES in 2003 showed that 53% of adults have very limited ICT skills... They will be unable to access government services which are increasingly online, to help their children's education through ICT or simply to buy their groceries at a distance. A national survey by the DFES in 2003 showed that 53% of adults have very limited ICT practical skills indicating the scale of the task facing the new initiative. The Qualification and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has developed the ICT Skill for Life standard which defines the essential skills that you need to play an active part in society. It is based on the National Occupational Standard for users of ICT. The standard is presented in five levels from entry level 1, 2 and 3 to levels 1 and 2. A copy of the standard can be downloaded from the QCA website. It is accompanied by guidance which provides a range of examples of what people should be able to achieve through its use.

Banking and shopping

The effect of ICT on Banking and shopping

The information age has been sibtly changing the way that we conduct our lives as consumers. This enables users to carry out many different transactions, for example by shopping for goods nd the vast majority of services using the internet, this now allows you to purchase from the internet through your card details and be preccesed through your account.  

Banking has experienced many advantages from recent advances in Information

Technology.

Automated Teller Machines or ATM’s have been a significant advance which allows customers access to their accounts 24 hours a day and so offers a better customer service. The ATM also does not require a bank worker and so saves employment costs, as some one is only needed to fill the machine with cash and occasionally some one to program or service the machine.

Banks are the only users of the MICR system (Magnetic Ink Character Recognition). Banks print cheques with specially designed ink and characters which can be magnetised which then allows millions of cheques to be processed automatically every day.

The internet has helped banking considerably as it offers customers with bank accounts the option to conduct their financial affairs  in the comfort of their own home, 24 hours a day.   

 Shopping has experienced many advantages from recent advances in
Benefits of buying online:

• Generally lower prices - lower overheads have allowed retailers to sell products at a lower price, normally the better the competition the better buy the customer can find.
• Easier - It saves people alot of time and is alot more convient for people as they dont have to go to the shops to look around its all online and genreally more products will be online than instore. A disadvantage of this is that people arent able to try the clothes on, but most stores will allow people to send items back free of charge.



an article about plans to re-write its software applicationso they communicate easily using encryptions.



Information Technology.

One of the latest advances in the field of shopping has been the ability to buy products over the Internet from certain web sites. This allows people all over the world any good they want which would have been otherwise impossible to obtain. Internet shopping also benefits companies doing the selling as they can sell there product on a world wide scale and have potentially limitless customers.

Technology is used every single time you buy a product in a shop. When a scanner reads a bar code it relates the inputted data to database of products, a process is then carried out when the system searches for the product in the same database, the computer then gives an output of price and product name for instance.

These new processes help speed up considerably the time in which shopping transactions take place and also help to show a business what products they have and have not sold and so can work out what goods are profitable to buy and goods which  cause the company to loose money.    

Advantages and disadvantages of online shopping

• There is the convenience of being able to shop 24 hours a day for any type of product imaginable.
•  The ability to shop from home allows many people who have trouble getting to real world shops such as elderly or disabled people or others with transport or mobility issues to still purchase the products and services they need. Many people also have trouble attending shops during their opening hours, such as those that work the same hours as shop opening times, mothers with young children and no one to mind them.
• There are several advantages to shopping online, the first one being the ability to shop at a time that is convenient to you, not just when the shops are open.
• Goods are often cheaper as the seller does not have the costs of running a shop and having to pay wages to salespeople, insurance and all of the other running costs of a real world business.
• Online shopping can also be a lot more comfortable than real world shopping, you do not have to deal with the weather - you won't get rained on for instance shopping online.
• A huge advantage of shopping online is that you have the opportunity to compare as many products and prices as you want without having to spend the time and money to travel between several different shops.
• You will also be able to read reviews that have been written by other people who have purchased the item you are considering; you will be able to find out about the item from a genuine user not just the salesperson.
• Finally you will be able to find and buy products all over the world not just in your local area - this makes purchasing hard to find items a lot easier.

Disadvantgaes of online shopping

• The main disadvantage of shopping online is that you have to pay shipping costs and have to wait for the items you purchased to be shipped and delivered. (This could take several weeks if you have purchased a product from overseas, and the costs of shipping may outweigh any savings you made on the purchase price.) You will not be able to purchase an item you need to use immediately online.
• Another disadvantage is that you have to buy the item relying purely on a photograph and description, you cannot feel or see the item you want to buy.
• It can sometimes be quite hard to judge the size or quality of some items purely from a photograph.
• The final disadvantage of shopping online is that it is much harder and takes longer to return faulty goods; you will have to repack it and pay to ship it back to the seller. It can literally take weeks to exchange a faulty product purchased online.

In summary, the main advantages of shopping online are convenience and cost savings, while the main disadvantage is that the item is not immediately available, and you cannot inspect it personally before you make your purchase.

   Banking:   

Barclays bank has introduced Internet banking but now because of this branching out into new technologies they have begun to close down some of their branches which have resulted in loss of jobs and many people not connected to the web no access to their accounts.

Shopping

The Internet shopping company Amazon have set up their business on the internet and offer products across the World. They have potentially limitless customers and have become an extremely large organisation which is well known across the world.   

The advantages of online banking

• First, online banking is convenient.
• It allows you to perform transactions, pay bills and check balances 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• The bank virtually never closes because it is as accessible as your PC or laptop computer.
•  No matter where you are in the country or in the world, you can visit your online bank and handle money matters. You can even schedule to pay several payees ahead of time rather than keeping up with paper bills or trying to remember when to visit a payee's web site to make an online payment.
• Your bank will automatically send the payments on your behalf in the amounts and on the dates you specify.
• Online banking is fast, efficient and effective.
•  Through the internet, transactions are typically performed and executed at a faster rate than ATM's. In addition, online banks give you the ability to handle several bank accounts (checking, savings, CDs, IRAs, etc.) from one site.
• The majority of banking sites are also compatible with programs like Quicken and Microsoft Money, so as to allow for more effective management of assets.

Disadvantages of online banking

• The main issue for most people is that of trust. They may wonder if their transaction went through successfully or if they clicked on the correct button. The best way to overcome this uneasiness is to make a habit of printing the transaction receipt. Keep this receipt until your bank statement or online account view confirms that you have successfully executed the transaction.

• Online banking sites can also take a while to start up and can be difficult to learn at first. Some banks require customers to provide some form of photo identification in addition to signing a form at one of their branches. Spouses may also have to sign a power of attorney if you both plan to access and handle your accounts together online.
• In addition to all of this, it may take a while to learn how to use your banking site. Most if not all banks will offer an online banking tutorial. Some even offer live customer support for online banking via chat, email, or phone.

Clearly, online banking has both advantages and disadvantages. It simplifies life for some people and for them it is frankly a better way to bank. For others it may be a little more complex and downright intimidating. In light of these two perceptions, more and more banks are offering online banking as a viable option for their customersas when they have got used to it its an easier process.


Tills

In shops tills have become alot more interactive from basic tills which only add numbers together, all of these are connected to a database, this will allow them to keep on top of how many items there are, this will help them when them to make orders as it makes them aware of when certain stock is low. The tills also need to be aware of which offers/deals are in within the shop. Also tills have scales in when paying for fruit or veg the system will automatically know which fruit/ veg is on. Tills will also tell you how much VAT there is on the total of shopping and how much money you have saved through offers throughout the shop. Although this is a big advancement of shopping there are some disadvantages aswell such as, people could see your personal information, the weights in a till are very sensitive so could be charged more for what you are actually getting.

This is an example of an offer that barclaycard are doing for customers.

These are the results i gathered from asking 7 people aged between 16-17 years old. My results above showed that 2 out of the 7 of peope owned a credit card and and 5 out of the 7 didnt. Although therer was a few people that didnt own a credit card all 7 owned a debit card and a bank account.

Crime and Crime Prevention

The effect of ICT on crime and the law

ICT has developed crime prevention in a variety of different ways, this has benfited the society as it's helping police forces to find the criminals.One of the biggest impacts its used on is the internet, this has helped discover internet criminals that are trying to plant viruses etc.
The police service has seen ICT as a major driving force to improve differnt methods and efficeny. Numerous officers have been trained or being trained effectivly to use ICT at all the levels in order to ensure police service takes advantage of all the benfits that can be gained from its use. ICT now affects every job within a policing force, for example: a community street officer can now type up reports using a vareity of different softwars. Clear, sercure, digitial radio systems have had a huge impact as it allows polices officers to communicate between mobile officers and officers that are at the headquaters.
At a higher policing level biometric databases have been used, this allows the police force to take a finger print and storing it on this database, for a long period of time. This helps police forces link crimes as they can attach a criminals fingerprint to previous crimes where they may have not been caught but would now be fined and put in prision for. 
Another key feature the police force gather a vast amount of information from is Digital video and CCTV, as well as more sophisticated computerised forensic analysis.
Speed cameras are very similar to traffic cameras in the way that the  monitor what is on the roads and the way in which the work. However speed cameras are completely automatic. If they detect someone speeding over the set speed limit in the particular area, a picture of the license plate is taken. A computer then works out what the registration number is and is automatically sent to the computer database on the main server and finds the address that corresponds with the licence. The appropriate fine is then sent to the address.
This is very beneficial to the police as it means that the officers can spend time doing other work instead of watching for speeders. Also a computer works a lot faster than a human when dealing with data. This process is all done by the computer so also allows the officer to not worry about any problems of speeding infront of cameras. This means that while a human could fall behind in issuing the fines the computer will always stay up to date. Also computers make mistakes a lot more rarely than human, provided they have been programmed properly. Traffic and speed cameras both work well because there is not a known way of obscuring the license plates while still making it readable for a human.

Video of a way that police are trying to reduce crime via the internet.

 

This is a screenshot of the homepage of the metropolitan police website. They have a key section of crime prevention as they are trying to reduce the amount of crime. This shows the vareity of differenet crimes they are ready to prevent and this is an effective online way that people from the public can report crimes. This will help reduce the amount of crimes that occur as people will be informing police of more crimes as the police aren't inhumane and cant be aware of all crimes, this helps them be aware of them all and develop new ways to get witnesses from the scene oh just a general report.

Although the internet has been beneficial in many ways of stopping crime it has also resulted in more crimes being performed.  A primary example of this is people posting information on social networks such as facebook and twitter.  This causes problems as people post status’s such as ‘going on holiday for two weeks see you soon’ or ‘going out for the day’, This is a prime time for burglaries to occur as people sometimes have their address on facebook etc from his the burglar will be able to come round knowing that you’re not there.

Another disadvantage that the internet has led to in reference with crime is that its made it easier for hackers to access restricted files. This would be done a person who is going to hack into the secure network and take important files that allow them access to certain information. This could cause some major issues in the worst case it could have an impact on national security and put the nation at risk, to solve this it can take alot of money and time to restore this files and find the person who is trying to hack the system. Hackers are becoming a big problem to general public users and causing serious problems to their computers by sending viruses etc.
. Most computer crime is conducted by "insiders", especially computer security types who are very familiar with the weaknesses of computer systems.

So THE most important computer crime prevention measure is a strong internal controls policy, including background investigations, disclosure of income sources, personal observations of spending habits, etc.

You can also log employee computer use for unusual patterns (this nabs many low level types).


2. Passwords are the primary means of enforcing computer security and the most effective. And using another person's password is still the best way to breach computer security.

Make sure people know they should NEVER reveal their password to anybody. System administrators can "reset" a password to a new password, but even they cannot read a user's password on a computer system.


3. "Trojan Horse" attacks bypass all computer security measures, since the victim actively participates in the breach of security. It works as effectively today as it did in the Greek siege of Troy thousands of years ago.

A good one is to send a message saying the victim has lots of money in an account, and needs to provide information to access it. This plays on the greed of the victim, and encourages them to keep their mouth shut out of embarassment when they get scammed.

To mitigate this attack, computer security education is utilized within government. Just circulating a list of computer crime scams can be very effective.


The absolute most egregious computer crimes are never reported outside the victimized agency, because it would alert copy cats how to pull off the scam, and destroy all confidence anyone has in that particular company or agency.

 

The prisoners causing trouble on Facebook

Like many of its 350 million users worldwide, jailed underworld boss Colin Gunn used his Facebook account to let his friends know what was on his mind.

Gunn, a big-time Nottingham gangster who ordered the revenge killings of John and Joan Stirland, threatened: "I will be home one day and I can't wait to look into certain people's eyes and see the fear of me being there."

An inquest opened this week to determine whether police corruption contributed to the Stirlands' death. They were gunned down at their bungalow in Lincolnshire in 2004.
Gunn had set up his Facebook profile in November, claiming prison authorities had relaxed their attitude towards him after he had served part of his sentence in Whitemoor jail, Cambridgeshire, the Sunday Times reported at the weekend.
The Ministry of Justice says prisoners are banned from using social networking sites, and his page was closed by Facebook for violating its policies.
But Gunn is the latest in a line of convicted criminals who have used social networking sites to abuse victims and boast about life in prison.
Taunting victims
Last month, Jade Braithwaite, jailed for knifing to death Ben Kinsella, 16, used the site to taunt his victim's family.
The 20-year-old boasted he was "down but not out" and wanted a remote control so he could "mute or delete people when I need to".

Manchester gangster Domenyk Noonan, also known as Lattlay-Fottfoy, 45, was believed to have used a smuggled mobile telephone to add photos and comments to his webpage.

And prolific burglar Roy Boodle, 28, taunted detectives on Facebook for 18 months saying that he could not be caught. But he was and was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Earlier this month, relatives of victims of violent crime called for the introduction of electronic anti-social behaviour orders, or "e-Asbos" to stop convicted killers bragging online.

Braithwaite was jailed for life for killing Ben Kinsella

A group including Mr Kinsella's sister, actress Brooke, plus relatives of murdered teenagers Jimmy Mizen and Rob Knox revealed how they had been tormented online.
They have posted their petition on the Downing Street website and attracted 742 signatures.
Ben's father George told ITV: "Ben's sisters, younger sisters, look at Facebook regularly and my wife found it very distressing to read some of the comments that were being put on there on virtually a daily basis."
The Mizens said they saw a message posted on Twitter which said altar boy Jimmy was a "pathetic loser".

Barry Mizen, whose son Jimmy died when he was attacked in a bakery in Lee, south-east London, said the family were also "bullied" via Facebook.

He told the programme: "We're basically being intimidated, we're being bullied by this site, by the things that were being said. I found it very distressful - our children, my wife etc, all put in complaints directly to Facebook. There is an option on there to do that. And nothing."
Censoring letters
David Wilson, professor of criminology at Birmingham City University, said there has always been concern about prisoners gaining access to the outside world.

"When I first worked in the prison service in 1984 there was concern about letters. We were still censoring prisoners' letters, someone would go through every single letter with a black felt-tip pen," he said.

"Then it was giving prisoners access to phones, with anxiety about who they were talking to and what they were saying. Now there's the same issue with mobiles and the internet."
He said there should not be a "knee-jerk reaction" to these incidents, as it was important to allow prisoners to communicate.

Scanner: Now used in every prison in England and Wales

"We get a lot of intelligence about crime from prisoners. The amount gathered through phone calls being monitored is staggering. There's a real benefit from monitoring what they're saying," he said.
He said there were also social and educational reasons for giving prisoners access to the outside world.

"Whether you like it or not, every single prisoner, with the exception of 34 (serving whole life terms), are going to come back into the community and when they come out they should be better trained and educated with more skills. We do this so that by having these skills they are less likely to reoffend."

So what can be done? It's thought that in all of these cases, prisoners were using mobile phones illicitly smuggled into prisons, which is an issue the prison service has been attempting to tackle for many years.

According to Ministry of Justice figures, prison officers found 3,910 mobiles and 4,189 sim cards during 2008. In 2006, they came across 2,272 mobile phones.

Strict rules

Every prison in England and Wales is using a special body scanning device to search visitors and inmates for concealed sim cards.

The Prison Service says it is also testing a system to block the signals of mobile phones it cannot uncover, without disrupting the signals of phones used by ordinary people beyond prison walls.

Facebook says it takes the safety of its users very seriously and content which is intimidating, hateful or threatening is not tolerated and is removed.

We will not hesitate to refer to the police any published material that appears to breach the law Jack Straw Justice Secretary

"If anyone has concerns about the way an individual is using Facebook and believes this poses a threat to others, we strongly encourage them to report this to us for investigation by our dedicated user support team," a spokeswoman said.

The Ministry of Justice said it was "extremely concerned" prisoners were able to update Facebook and other social networking sites either through illicit technology or via outside contacts.

It said serving prisoners do not have access to the internet, except for educational purposes, when access is closely monitored by staff.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced a clampdown on prisoners accessing the sites, following the revelation of Gunn's comments.

"I am also hoping to meet with Ofcom, Facebook, victims' representatives and other government departments with an interest in this area to identify a solution to what is an issue of considerable concern to myself, victims and their families, and many members of the public.

"We will not hesitate to refer to the police any published material that appears to breach the law."

This article tells us how facebook can cause problems and lead to serious issues and gets out of proportion easily.

How ICT has had an impact on the way we communicate

The effect of ICT on the way we Communicate


ICT has had a big impact on the way that people are communicating in everyday life. It is had the biggest impact on business people and the way can they can now efficiently communicate with others, although it has had a big impact on business workers it has has always impacted the way the youths/teenagers are communicating. This is now done in a variety of different ways now such as Email, sms, chat, digital voice, video calling this allows people to do a wider variety of calls. Because of these vast improvements it has allowed people to do this from wherever they are and work and play where they are.

ICT has had the biggest impact in the phone industry which is allowing to still develop with every phone they make. Mobile Phones have now advanced to letting anyone send sms text or mms texts wherever they are, or even call people wherever they are. Phones also allow people to take photos or videos the cameras are developing in each phone to become better. Some of the latest phones such as the iPhone4 have touch screen technology this is very popular to the public as its a very advanced piece of technology. With certain phones now they allow you to connect to the internet this allows people to stay on top of emails or even to search things online whilst out and about. With the internet people will also download apps such as skype an IM this allows them to communicate with people other the world for free, there may be a price to download some apps but this 1 instalment.

1. Video Calls

The most touted feature of the iPhone 4 is a video calling mode called FaceTime. Just one tap on the screen will connect you with any other iPhone 4 user for a virtual face-to-face conversation using the device’s new front-facing camera — provided you’re both connected to Wi-Fi hotspots.

3G calling capability is expected next year, though it’s not clear whether or not you’ll have to buy a new model to do that. We’re guessing you won’t; it should just be a software update once AT&T’s cellular data network is up to the task.

Talking to clients or partners face-to-face instead of just hearing one another’s voices can be a major boon if you’re trying to build and maintain strong relationships, especially over long distances. Sure, you could do video calls on services like Skype before, but it just got a lot easier with the new iPhone.

2. Unified E-mail Inbox

Depending on what kind of business you’re trying to run, you might end up with multiple e-mail addresses to check. Even if it’s just your personal and your work account, it’s hard to keep it all straight sometimes. Previously the iPhone wasn’t very helpful on this front, because it wouldn’t display e-mails from different accounts in the same inbox.

That’s changed with iOS 4, the new operating system software freely available for the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. Now you can view your account inboxes individually or all together in one.

Additionally, e-mail conversations are sorted by “thread.” That means that when you receive 20 replies to a single e-mail, your inbox will have a link to a thread of messages in the conversation instead of throwing all 20 out in front, drowning out other e-mails.

Both new e-mail features are welcome additions for business users who deal with a lot of e-mail coming in from many different places.

3. Better Battery Life

The iPhone 4’s battery life is significantly better than that of the iPhone 3GS or either of its predecessors. The 3GS would run out of juice after a long day of flights, layovers and meetings. Not so with the iPhone 4, which gets an astounding 300 hours of life when on standby, and 9 hours of 3G talk time.

Apple accomplished this despite added features and increased performance by installing a much larger battery in the device. It won’t be a night-and-day difference, but you’ll still be happy with it on long trips.

4. Better Enterprise Support

Apple has updated the iPhone operating system with improved enterprise features that its customers in the business world have requested time and again.

Those updates include features like wireless app distribution and mobile device management, along with SSL VPN support. Further, data protection of business-critical information is improved by protecting e-mails and attachments stored on the phone by using the device passcode as an encryption key.

Perhaps most notably, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 is now supported, and the phone can handle multiple Exchange accounts, which quite a few executives and medium business owners use.

It’s still not a BlackBerry, but the iPhone is closer than it has ever been. Note that these enterprise features will also work on the iPhone 3GS or 3G if you upgrade them to iOS 4.

These new features have certainly enhanced the iPhone’s appeal to business owners. Will these new offerings persuade you to purchase an iPhone 4 for your business needs? Let us know in the comments below.

The diagram above shows the development of phones since 2000 - 2010.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8401064.stm

This article is about how blackberrys have been introduced to some smaller firms for them to be used within the uk aswell as china.

How ICT has helped laptops change the world

One of the first laptops created. 

The modern day computers have revolutionized the way we had been looking at the computers. Now there is no more sitting behind desks as it used to be. Personal computers have been shrinked to small and portable units that can do everything a normal office-computer does. So, now you can just pack up your system and carry it wherever you wish to carry it. All thanks to Toshiba. Toshiba along with Sony computers have set the first wave of this revolution. They have actually brought the computers to your laps, making it portable.

The term “laptops” started from here because these mini computers could be used, apart from one’s desk, by simply putting it on one’s lap. The laptop was then used to refer to smaller portable computers as opposed to “desktops” which were the regular computers that sit on desks in many offices and homes.

A laptop is manufactured with some usual components of personal computers. No sooner had it launched in than some major computer companies such as Dell, Toshiba, Sony, HP-Compaq and others like Acer, Lenovo etc. made a huge profit.

This was a welcome relief because it equipped buys with the power to choose exactly what they wanted to be included in their new computer in terms of memory size, hard-drive size, processor speed and more. All this could be done right from the Dell company website. Other companies followed suit and the era of customization was here.

Customization was initially brought in so that the users can select components to increase their system’s performance, but now the customization concept has been extended to change the appearance of the system as well.

While most computers come in black and grey, the top computer manufactures have began to crank out laptops that come in different colors. One of the colors is pink and this is one of the most popular laptop colors now in the open market.

Today laptops are not only confined in business domain or education. Computer is much used by Researchers projects or to any other educational system. This is because of the one and only fact that computers are day by day becoming cheaper and cheaper. Today, a computer penetrating in almost any industrial field you think of is quite certain.

An example of how laptops have developed to recent times.

In the initial phase of the computers they were created mainly for work-related purposes, for researchers, businessmen, etc. But today these notebooks, as the laptops are popularly called these days, have become multimedia centered with increased processor speeds, more RAM and more storage. They are also used for various multimedia purposes.

 

How Email has had an impact on the way we communicate

The most significant development of the recent technological advancements, as many business managers have recognized it as the single most important part of today’s information technology (Currid, 1993). It is more convenient that the old methods of face-to-face meetings, “snail mail”, and telephone calls. It allows more precise communication, as well as allowing for various attachments to drive that message home. E-mail allows us to reduce our use of paper, thus being environmentally friendly. Most importantly, there is a tremendous time savings with proper e-mail use, which is a big factor for any manager. You take all these facts together, and the picture becomes very clear about how e-mail has changed business communications.
      All businesses depend on communication. This communication can be across the room, across the country, and even across the world. There was a time when it would take costly measures to overcome the distance barrier. Now it’s as easy as logging on to your Lotus Notes, typing up what comes to mind, and pressing “send”. Do you need to send a message to Jim down the hall, or Hans out in Europe? E-mail has allowed us to traverse these distances without thought. Not only can you send each one a note almost instantaneously, you can also send them the exact same message, and anyone else in your phone book, all at the same time. This type of communication wasn’t even dreamed of 100 years ago, but now has become a standard that businesses have come to depend on.
      E-mail has also come to be a very convenient tool for businesses. No longer does the sender and receiver need to have the same time available on their schedules, like with a phone call. The sender will get his message out when he has the time, and the receiver can read that message at his leisure