Wii Knows Innovation

Somebody who is innovative introduces new ideas and is a creative thinker. The Wii Fit is a great example of an innovative product.

The Wii was the first video game system that chose to combine video gaming with exercising and the Wii Fit is one of the ways they are doing this. The Wii Fit is not only fun and interactive, but also allows whoever is playing to get a good workout too. The Wii Fit makes it easy for people of all ages to workout, as it is affordable and can be done anywhere within a person's home. It also makes it harder for kids to come up with excuses as to why they can't workout, since they aren't able to use excuses like they would be able to if they were going to play outside, such as the temperature or the weather conditions.

SAP Distribution Game

1) After all 3 rounds of the game, my team ranked third, only behind the teachers group and one other group.The strategy our team employed was to start off by lowering all of our prices to where we were barely making a profit on them, and then would start raising the prices as we started selling the water. We would also barely advertise for the waters that were selling and advertise a lot for the ones that were barely selling in order to try and maximize our profit.
2) Profit is not the only thing to consider in a real business, it does have high importance though, as it helps keep companies afloat. A sales strategy is most important because it helps to maximize the other factors business. An effective sales strategy will effectively advertise and be able to sell to both genders, all races, and ages.
3) Things that went well in our SAP distribution game is that we were able to effectively sell our water and do so without putting much money into advertising. A couple things that we could have done better are ordering our new shipments more quickly and have been more on top of raising our prices to maximize our profit the best we could.
4)Two things that I took away from doing this activity were the thought processes that go into effective advertising and brief look at some of the different roles that go into effectively running a business.

Apple Firing

Based on how clear Apple had presented their stance on the use of social media to negatively talk about the company, I think that the firing of the employee was fair because he chose to try to get away with it anyway. If I was the employee in that situation, I would feel like I should be given another chance because being fired over one comment seems like a steep punishment. However, the employee would also have to give something back to the company so the company knows they are serious, such as deleting their Facebook account. On the other hand, from the company's perspective, I think the firing would be more than justified because they had warned their employees in the introduction process that they could not say anything negative about the company. It is only the fault of an employee if they chose to disregard the warning they were given in that process and try to get away with disrespecting the company anyway.

Gullnet

The software that I use most often in my decision making is Gullnet. Gullnet is what we all use here at Salisbury to pick what classes we are going to take the following semester and when we are going to take them. It is the reason that one dreaded day each semester we have to wake up at 7 am and register for the following semester. Along with choosing classes for future semesters, Gullnet also allows us to see what classes we have already taken, the grades we received in those classes, and how many credits we have. Gullnet is a quick and easy program to use, and is what all of us college students here at Salisbury use to advance our college careers.

http://www.salisbury.edu/gullnet/

Plagiarism

http://www.plagiarism.org/
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/citation/plagiarism

Technology has allowed plagiarism to become a more prevalent issue in recent years, as it is easy for students to find work that belongs to other people online. Once something is posted online, it can always be found and it is easy for students to find a paper on their topic online by going to a search engine and typing in what the paper is on. Students do this when they forgot about an assignment, have run out of time to do it, or are just lazy and don't think they will be caught. However, now colleges and universities are also using technology to prevent plagiarism which is supposed to discourage students from taking that route. Colleges are doing this by warning students that if they are caught for being guilty of plagiarism they will be kicked out of school to try and show them that it isn't worth the risk. Also, colleges are making students submit their papers online and then the papers are run through the web to see how much of the paper has come from alternative sources. While technology is enabling plagiarism, colleges are doing everything they can to get students to choose alternative routes.

Questioning My Ethics

Hey Everyone,

I'm sure many of you have been put in a similar situation, if not the same when I say that my ethics and behavior were questioned multiple times in high school, in regards to letting someone copy my work.  One of the last times my ethics and behavior was compromised in regards to high school was before a test during my senior year. A little while before the test one of my good friends came to talk to me and told me he hadn't gotten a chance to study much because he had other stuff going on and asked me if I would help him out during the test by letting him copy me. At the time, this was a tough decision because he was one of my good friends and I didn't want to let him down, but at the same time I had been raised to do my own work and my parents are very much against cheating. Also, I didn't like the thought of him doing as well as I was going to when I had worked hard to prepare and he hadn't put any time in. In the end, I told him I wasn't going to let him do it and he got mad at me, but then got over it a few weeks later when he too realized it wasn't a fair thing to ask me to do.

What Happened to our Education System?

Hey everyone,

The educational system in our country is falling behind and will continue to do so if changes don't start happening. There is no one certain problem that is causing this and think that blame should be equally distributed amongst teachers, environment at home, and students. The problem with teachers applies to only some, not all and that is the amount they care. This problem can be fixed by paying teachers more and that would allow schools/universities to find better teachers that want to get through to their students and care about how well their students do in their class. I am sure everyone has had at least one teacher that just didn't care and all that does is make it harder for the students to want to put the effort in. The next issue is the environment that students come home to. Students need to have their parents push them when they are home to work hard in school, get good grades, and remind them to take the time to do their homework. Parents supporting their kids and encouraging them to do well in school will push students to do better. This ties into students being one of the reasons our education system is falling behind. Students need to start putting more effort into school again and have to want to succeed. Without students wanting to succeed, our education system will continue to fall because learning can't happen if there is no effort. The education system in this country is falling further and further behind, and will only continue to fail if changes do not start taking place.

Link #1: http://www.studentsfirst.org/blog/entry/america-education-system-is-broken-today-we-release-our-plan-to-begin-fix#

Link #2: http://chronicle.com/article/America-Falling-Longtime-D/48683/

Technological Tools

Hey everyone,

As I have gotten into the later years in school, I have seen more and more technological tools used in school to advance the learning of students. Technological tools that I have used in class are youtube, calculators, and clickers. All of these tools help to further students education and are seen as more interactive. Other tools that I use for studying are google, wikipedia, and my cell phone. While none of the tools I use for studying provide strong sources of information, they provide background information which helps enhance a students knowledge about a subject. Technology in the classroom is more innovative and a better way to connect with students, especially moving forward. As technology continues to improve it will only enhance students abilities to learn even more.

Technology and Business go Hand-in-Hand

Hey Everyone,

For those of you who don't know me, I am a business management major. I was able to find a video that talked about how technology can improve a business. The video touched on points that will be very helpful to me in the future if I am fortunate to manage my own business. A couple of points that stood out to me were to know what factors are critical to a company's success and don't reinvent the wheel, or in other words, do what works. Technology can help to further a business if used in the right way and this video touched on how to get the most out of technology, which in the long run will only benefit a business.

My Favorite Sites

Hey Class,

I couldn't decide which website I consider my absolute favorite so I thought I would share two that are tied:
http://espn.go.com/: I check this site every time I get online to see what is going on in the sports world. I am a huge sports fan and espn provides me with all the latest scores and updates. The site is easy to use and always me to track my favorite teams, such as Washington Redskins and the Washington Capitals. If you are a true sports fan you should be on espn so you can be up to date on whats going on in the sports world too.
http://www.youtube.com/: I am on youtube most of the time I am online. It is a great site to listen to music on or watch funny videos. You can also look videos up that will walk you through how to do things and there are also educational videos that can help with school. Overall, it is a easy and helpful site to use.

Personal Introduction

Hey everyone,

My name is David Bloom and I grew up in Olney, Maryland. I have one younger sister, named Simone, and no pets. I attended Sherwood High School. My favorite sport to play is basketball and my favorite to watch is football. My favorite color is blue. The two best places I have traveled to are Hawaii and Jamaica. From this class I am hoping to obtain a better understanding of Microsoft Office and to just get more comfortable using Excel, Powerpoint, and Word.