CSMN601

The Grand Finale

2006-12-19T08:44:00.000-08:00

Finally the much awaited end of semester is coming. The course went really fast with the very exciting well planned group project, research paper and weekly discussion conference, mini project and blog, not to forget the weekly news buzzing around.

The best thing I liked about this course is the active interaction and participation of the class keeping all of us up to date of assignment due deadline and helping us to deliver on time and not missing any assignments. Also the topics choosen stimulated in thinking and analyzing usage and application of technology in real life and organization, making the assignment very interesting.

Thanks to Professor Leslie and all my class mates for the wonderful interactive learning experience this semester . Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2007.

Session 15

2006-12-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

This week was really hectic with too many course related activities happening. I had to give exam for the other course (Program and Project Management) and complete the assignment for this course. Not to mention, I hadn't enicipated the unplanned happy hour and parties at work place. This made me realize that I need to add more buffer time in my plan for such unexpected last minute plans. All in all, everything went on quite well :)

The discussion for this week was interesting, especially the discussion on delaying IT investments to cut costs. The thread on the critique on Nicholas Carr's article "IT Doesn't matter" was really interesting to read with many of my classmate commenting bluntly.

I just have the final exam to give and that's IT for this semester !!! Yipeeeeeeee !!

Sharing a photo taken by my younger brother Manoranjan Ingudam. I love this flower, reminds me of Home.

Session 14

2006-12-04T11:42:00.000-08:00

It was a good read and research on Intellectual Property Protection. From my read up, I would summarize that the law define and protect intellectual property by patent, copyright and trademark.

The read up on teleworking is really interesting. Given a choice, I still want to go for work in a workplace though don't mind teleworking for couple of days in a month (thinking of the traffic I get stuck in I-495 practically everyday :) I like the face to face interaction and discussion and don't want to miss it.

Mini Project on website impacting society was a good one. I did survey many website but finally decided on heath care.

I am trying to complete all my pending assignment much ahead of due date, so that I can concentrate in my pending research paper and exam preparation. It is really nice that these conferences are open.

Session 13

2006-12-01T10:43:00.000-08:00

I had to share this cute picture, it's so cute, brought a smile on my face when I saw this and am sure you will too.Thanks to my friend (whose name is also Monica) for sharing this picture :)

It was really interesting to read about "Offshore Outsourcing". India seems to be the most popular outsourced location from many of the articles I have read. It was interesting to know that customer dissatisfaction is a main problem in case of outsourcing for call centre.

"The techs I had the privilege of dealing with were unintelligible due to heavy East Indian accents compounded by speaking much too quickly for me to understand," says one unhappy Dell customer who posted complaints on PlanetFeedback.com

Discussion thread on following standards for implementing computing technologies is really interesting. I am all for following standards. Following Standards helps in inteoperability of various products.

Coming up with the Job description of CIO using WIKIS (http://csmn601fall06.wikispaces.com/CIO+Job+Vacancy+Announcement) was great. Ummmm waiting to be in a position to hire a CIO for my future company :)

It's friday, and I have completed all my assignment due :) This will give me time to focus on my Bluetooth Research.

Session 12

2006-11-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

Yipee !!! I am so happy, only 3 more session to go to complete this course :)

The most interesting topic for this session is the Data Flow Diagrams (DFD), I had to read it 2 times to understand and go through the whole thread of discussion & DFD submitted. I had to get it right as I was submitting on the last day and I had seen many rejection from Prof. Leslie.

I liked the read up and discussion on alternatives od SDLC. I have seen that Managers are so focus on following SDLC for some projects where alternatives can be used and the alternative will be more effective and efficient. It is good to see the conclusion write up by Prof. Leslie that it depends on the type of project to follow SDLC.

Group project is almost done, looking out for an appropriate diagram but haven't got anything as yet. Need to focus on Research paper. FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS !!! Getting a bit drifted with holiday plans & sales going around.

PS: Photo coming soon :)

Session 11

2006-11-27T12:25:00.000-08:00

I had completed session 11 long back but forgot to blog about it :) Sharing a beautiful flower photograph taken by my brother, looks like a painting.

It was interesting to read the disussion thread on competitive advantages on using IT and improving organization. I had to break my head on coming up with the mini project, in search of a novel enterprise.

Secret to Success and Dot com failure were good reading too.

Group Project going on full swing :) Looking forward for the end presentation.

Session 10

2006-11-14T05:10:00.000-08:00

View of Loktak Lake in Manipur

Yipeeee !! Managed to clear many of my pending task. But I need to keep my focus for this week and complete all pending task. Overall a very good productive week.

Data Mining, data warehouse and GPS topic technology discussion thread was really interesting. Presentation for Group Project too is coming up pretty well with everyone's input. Chatting with Alice , the robot was a funny experience. I really thought her to be dumb , though appreciate the concept. Maybe these concept can be used as online chat help for online e-commerce business with FAQ programmed.

Looking forward to complete all pending task for next week :) rather this week.

Session 9

2006-11-07T06:32:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Fall colors at Skyline drive, Shenadoah , VA.

This week, I panicked seeing all my pending "TO DO" list for my classes, felt like I am lagging behind. I am going to put an extra effort for my class related task to complete all pending task and be ahead of schedule to have a good thanksgiving weekend without worrying about submitting any assignment.

Pending List:

1st powerpoint draft of group project. ***
Read up the text book.
Read up, update on my research paper, come up with draft of the paper. ***
Complete Session 10 assignment.

To top this list are my other course task too. I found that having my mailbox and orkut opened is distracting and have decided on closing them and having ONLY my study related windows opened :) This helps !!!

Playing around with "Wiki" was FUN and interesting. Collaborative technologies, teamwork tools and organizational memory were interesting topics and though used for my work, never sat back and thought about the importance of it.

Session 8

2006-11-01T05:42:00.000-08:00

Mini-Project - E-Business Venture was the most head breaking session. During my drive back from NC, I was breaking my head to come up with new ideas. It was really interesting to read all the post. Since all topics of this session was website related, I had fun reading up all the post. During my unemployment phase here :) I had played around with setting up website, advertising etc. and it was FUN and exciting.

Thanks to "Sanjay Mukherjee" for sharing this beautiful photograph capturing my favourite white lotus. I associate lotus with temples and festive thoughts as those were the times I get to see and offer this beautiful flower.

Session 7

2006-10-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

I found Enterprise Integration read up to be a bit complex. I am going to read it again and go through the discussion threads again. I still haven't got a good article or read up on understanding comparision between BPM and ERP.

I need to work on getting the 1st draft of ppt. for the group project and also continue on reading up for my research project. Also I need to start working on session 8 as I have plans to go to NC next weekend.

Would love to a have a tree house ;)

Session 6

2006-10-17T06:53:00.000-07:00

Let's start with a picture "Food for thought" :) This is a photograph of manipuri food (all vegetarian) served in festive/religious occasions call "Ushop" and is my fav.

This week's session was very educative. I really liked the identity theft discussion and after reading the thread and other articles related to it, I learnt on steps/tips on how I can protect myself.

The chapter read up was good too. Initially I use to dread reading up the chapters but now I do it religiously and am finding the reading really useful.

I am really glad that I know where I stand in terms of feedback and grades for this course. I am struggling for my other course, I have only one of my assignment graded so far :( and the session is not as interactive as expected. I did learn really interesting things on PERT/CPM and using Crystal Ball tool for simulation. I took 2 course this semester and both management course which may not be really effective/efficient as I had perceived. I need to weigh on choosing a good combination of courses for next semester, maybe a management course & a technical course like last semester.

Session 5

2006-10-10T06:30:00.000-07:00

This was a pretty interesting session and I had completed all my read up and assignment much much ahead of time that I had so much of free time at the end of the week :)

The read up on chapter 5 on "Computer Security" was really smooth. Discussion on the group project are also moving forward. I have started reading up on my research paper. And for a change I don't have "Mid-Term" exam this semester :) Looking forward for session 6, I saw some interesting topic posted already.

Sharing a photograph from "Ingocha Lukram" of an old traditional manipuri home (you can still see this type of house in the village)

Session 4

2006-10-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

I am really excited that I got the research topic "Bluetooth". I am looking forward to start researching and reading about it.

Critically assessing Zillow website was really nice. It made me think in a different perspective on the implementation and data storage of the website. I will think about this whenever I will browse some other website ;)

Security issues related to DB systems conference is interesting but I wish it could be extended to solutions available, which I did touch on what I have posted.

It was interesting to read the conference thread on "Radio Frequency Identification tags" This is something new to me.

Reading up and researching on the group project is going on pretty well and I hope to have something written up by this week to share with my Kaleidoscope group.

Overall a pretty hectic week with work and assignment for the other course I am taking this semester.

Sharing a picture of "Kabo-kung" grown mostly in dirty drainage in manipur and considered a weed and yet so beautiful and pleasing to look at.

Session 3

2006-09-22T17:38:00.000-07:00

This week, I have completed all my assignment before time. I know what to expect and how much time I need to give myself for this couse per week.

The VOIP topic is really interesting and I love any discussion realted to VOIP as I have spent lot of my time in VOIP related projects. Also I like to discussion on IPv6. I am still waiting to read all the post/comments from the rest of the class and I am looking forward to it. Creative work next generation telecom device is awesome. Made me really think on what I need and want to see in future.

Overall a very productive week.

Sharing a photograph of a stall which shows some handicraft products from manipur, including a manipuri doll and fancy hand bags.

Session 2

2006-09-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

This week went really smoothly and I have settled with the flow for this semester :)

I really liked mini project diary entry for preparing a fictional diary entry for a day 10 years from now and describing my typical day with references to information technologies which a project will be common a decade from now. It was interesting to read all the post related to it. Also I liked the discussion topic about computer improving/reducing productivity in particular.

I am looking forward to start working on the group project.

Overall it was a very productive week and who says studies are NOT FUN ? I am really having FUN in this class. Many of my colleagues at work have commented why do I need MS for ???

Would like to go for the mist ride below the fall (guess which ?), it was awesome !!!

Session 1

2006-09-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

The week was pretty slow for me. I had put lot of time reading and researching but it was not as productive as it generally is :( I guess it is just the 1st week of the the semester.

I did prepare my course folder and schedule calendar for both the course I am taking this semester. This will help me in scheduling my assignment due date so that I will not miss anything.

I am really happy to see that Leslie has given 3 topics to choose from for the conferences. That gives variety and all the students are not repeating the same point again and again in the post. In my previous semester, the Prof. gave only 1 topic and with 20 students it was difficult to come up with that many different point of view or points.

This is the 1st time I am involved in an online group project. I am looking forward to it but at the same time I am a bit nervous about it.

I love orchid ;) And here is a picture for all.

Manipur - My native place

2006-09-03T13:19:00.000-07:00

I am from Manipur, India. Above is the picture of me and my friends in manipuri traditional dresses and below is the picture of the Ras Leela dance.

CSMN601-Week01

2006-09-03T10:42:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
I am doing MS in Computer System Management. This will be my 2nd semester at UMUC. This course seems to be very interesting with many activities planned out. I am looking forward to working with everyone. I live in Rockville, Maryland.

Wishing everyone Good Luck ;)
Monica