ite-magazine february 2015

IT e-Magazine

Issue 4, February 2015

The growth of Information Technology has been phenomenal since the middle of the 21 century. It has

affected all aspects of life in one way or another. So the objective of this magazine, which released by the

department of Information Technology – Lebanese French University (LFU), is to disseminate information on

the application of IT and to be a platform for discussing its benefits and its impact on society.

We welcome articles that cover and analyze the benefits and impacts of IT applications on the society and

which elaborate on their implementation issues. The criteria for selecting articles for the magazine include: the

subject area of the article; new ideas about applications and implementation techniques; how well the

information is presented; level of interest to other readers; and, the importance to the IT community. All articles

will be subject to a reviewing procedure.

Hopefully, contributions to this magazine will 'enhance readability for the general IT reader' and 'help direct

society towards a more beneficial use of IT'.

Editorial Committee

item @ lfu-erbil . net

1971, Project Gutenberg was created by Michael Hart

(inventor of the electronic book 'e-book') to be a first

project for make books freely available via the Internet

as a first e-library. Project Gutenberg began when Hart,

a student at the University of Illinois, was given an

operator's account on Materials Research Lab's

mainframe to digitize the 'United States Declaration of

Independence'. As of January 2015, Project Gutenberg

has over 48,000 items in its collection.

1 in 7 people More than 1.2 billion people use Office.

That’s 1 in 7 people on the planet.

ARMA 3

Arma company launched the new version of his famous

online fighting game (arma 3) which contains several

new armies (Peshmerga, ISIS and Iraqi Army) next to

the armies of the world superpowers, where each army

has a real recipes and special style to planning,

managing and running the battles.

This is a version of "arma 3" is an update to the original

3D and with interactive graphics version.

People who changed the Internet

Father of the Internet The Father of Internet 'Vint Cerf', together with 'Bob Kahn' created the TCP/IP suite of communication

protocols. A language used by computers to talk to each other in a network.

Vint Cerf once said that the internet is just a mirror of the population and spam is a side effect of a

free service.

ITeM Website: http://www.lfu-erbil.net/item

2

I T e M | I s s u e 4 , F e b r u a r y – 2 0 1 5

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Mohammad

Al-Hamami

Page 5

Are Mobile Apps Worth it?

Although mobile devices are developing in a very fast manner but if we compare mobile

devices with desktop computers, they are still suffering from limited resources such as

memory capacity, processor computational power, and battery power. That is

reasonable because mobiles should be in appropriate size and light weight. This will be

a challenge for the convenience of mobile use and its efficiency. So how that will affect

apps?

Apps that need limited resources will be successful products for mobiles, so apps

programmers should be creative on how building apps that have effective features with

limited resources, and this is a big challenge.

Who can read this article: IT, Educators, Computer Students and Parents

Mazin S

Al-Hakeem

Page 6

BYOD Policy in Education

BYOD (Bring your own device) refers to the policy of permitting employees, students

also, to bring personally owned mobile devices (laptops, tablets, and smart phones) to

their workplace, and to use those devices to access privileged information and

applications.

However, the proliferation of devices such as tablets and smartphones, which are now

used by many people in their daily lives, has led to a number of companies, such as Intel

and IBM, and universities such as MIT, to allow employees and students to bring their

own devices to work and classroom, due to perceived productivity gains and cost

savings.

Who can read this article: IT, Educators, Computer Students and Parents

Harith Abdullah

Page 8

Careful what you say: Your Samsung TV might be listening

Samsung has come under fire from privacy campaigners after it emerged the company’s

new smart TVs are capable of listening to your conversations.

Viewers hoping to take advantage of the voice activation feature have been warned by

Samsung not to disclose personal information because voice recordings can be captured

and transmitted to unidentified third parties!

Who can read this article: Any One

3


Ahmed

Abduladheem

Abdulwahid

Page 9

Content Management Systems When programmer wants to build a website, he should go and learn one of the most

popular website programming languages such as PHP, ASP.net, JavaScript, etc. All these

languages require a skilled a tremendous effort to be able to design and create a powerful

website (Dakhwe, 2006).

Who can read this article: Web Designers, Web Developers, & CS lecturers

Yahya Tariq

Hussaen

Page 10

Interactive Whiteboard

An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is a presentation device that interfaces with a

computer. The projector projects the content from a computer onto the surface of the

board, where they can be seen and manipulated. Users can control software both from

the computer and from the board. Participants can add notations, and emphasize by

using a pen and or highlighter tool.

Who can read this article: IT, Educational

Mohammad

Salim

Page 11

IT Curriculum of Undergraduate Programs

This article is short summary of curriculum guidelines of Information Technology which

prepared by Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE Computer Society.

In this article, the sequence as the followings: IT definitions, broad goals of IT programs,

IT curricula focus area, and academic discipline of IT as the last subject of the article.

However, in academic environment, IT refers to undergraduate degree programs that

prepare students to meet the computer technology needs of business, government,

healthcare, schools, and other kinds of organizations. In some countries, other names

are used for such degree programs.

Who can read this article: IT Lecturers, IT Students and anyone interested in IT field

Ali Makki

Sagheer

Page 13

LED, LCD, Plasma and 3D TVs LED, LCD and plasma are the main types of TV available in stores, and they all have their

own strengths and weaknesses that should be factored into your buying decision.

Of the, LED TVs are the most recent introduction and, as such, are generally a bit more

expensive than comparable plasma and LCD models. For the money, though, you'll get a

super thin and energy-efficient TV. Although, as with most modern flat screen TVs, LED

sets often suffer from poor sound.

Who can read this article: IT Intendance

http://www.lfu-erbil.net/item/editors.php#Yahya_Tariq Hussaen (Ph.D)_

http://www.lfu-erbil.net/item/editors.php#Yahya_Tariq Hussaen (Ph.D)_

4


Ihsan Sayyid

Salman

Page 15

MCC-Education: Opportunities of Using Mobile Cloud Computing as ICT tool in Education

It is a new technological platform which has been emerged in the recent years through

development of mobile technology in the world known as Mobile Cloud Computing

(MCC). Mobile Cloud Computing can be defined as an integration of cloud computing into

mobile environment that refers to an infrastructure where both data storage and data

processing happened outside of mobile device.

Who can read this article: IT, Educational

Sarah Y Yosif

Page 17

The Statistics Software Package (SPSS): IBM Predictive Analytics Tool

IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) is a software package that used for

the analysis of statistical information programs is in sociology.

Today, SPSS is widely used by researchers in the field of marketing, finance, government,

education, and is also used to analyze the questionnaires, information management and

document information to achieve deeper understanding of people's attitudes,

preferences and opinions so that this valuable insight can be included in decision-making

processes.

Who can read this article: IT, Statisticians, Educators, Researchers

Biayrak Al-Taie

Page 18

Wireless Damage on the Health and how to Avoid Them Is Wi-Fi devices harmful to human health? This question imaginable by Internet /mobile

phones users from time to time, there is different views and research in this regard and

the truth is that it does not effect on the public health only but it effects on the

environment too, studies of Wageningen University have proven the negative impact of

the wireless on existing trees in civilized places in the Netherlands, The result was the

discovery of damage in the tissues of these trees and the differences in growth caused

by the electromagnetic field sent out from the Wifi networks.

Who can read this article: Every person using Wifi and Bluetooth devices

5


Are Mobile Apps Worth it?

Mohammad Alaa Al-Hamami (Ph.D)

Applied Science University - Bahrain

[email protected]

The development of mobile devices

leads them to be used in anytime and in

anyplace to communicate with others.

Due to the existence of wireless networks,

it becomes easy to deal with all

electronic applications by using mobile

devices. The use of mobiles in dealing

with business applications leads to large

impacts on communication networks

and applications from the information

integrity, security and responses to

queries point of view.

Mobiles became a main part in our life,

now days you could forget your wallet or

your watch but I don’t think you can

afford forgetting your mobile because

everything you need is there. Mobile

devices become smarter and their

objective uses had been changed.

You can do mostly everything by using

your mobile device such as calling,

browsing emails and the Internet, and

use Internet applications like social

networks, e-commerce and other

activities.

After the appearance of mobile apps,

mobile devices become much stronger

and these apps is now one of the most

important criteria for mobile operating

systems and devices; in other words the

success of the mobile brand depends on

the number of applications that it has.

Although mobile devices are developing

in a very fast manner but if we compare

mobile devices with desktop computers,

they are still suffering from limited

resources such as memory capacity,

processor computational power, and

battery power.

That is reasonable because mobiles

should be in appropriate size and light

weight. This will be a challenge for the

convenience of mobile use and its

efficiency. So how that will affect apps?

Apps that need limited resources will be

successful products for mobiles, so apps

programmers should be creative on how

building apps that have effective

features with limited resources, and this is

a big challenge.

Let us take Instagram as an example, it

becomes one of the most popular image

processing mobile applications because

it gives us flexible tools to edit images and

at the same time it doesn’t need much

memory space or processing time. But I

still believe that Instagram will be much

better if there is a desktop version,

because its features could be much

stronger, simpler, and better with the

available resources.

From the other hand, typing using mobile

devices is still a big pain, although mobile

vendors try to fix this problem by

enhancing input buttons, touch screens,

mailto:[email protected]

6


and using pens, but it still not

comfortable. I think most people agree

about writing using a pen on glass feels

freaky!

So writing programs or typing a lot of text

pages using mobile devices will be a bad

idea.

From the previous we can conclude that

mobile apps are very important and it

worth to be developed due to the large

use of the mobile devices.

BYOD Policy in Education

Mazin S. Al-Hakeem

Department of Information Technology, Lebanese French University - Erbil

[email protected]

BYOD (Bring your own device) refers to

the policy of permitting employees,

students also, to bring personally owned

mobile devices (laptops, tablets, and

smart phones) to their workplace, and to

use those devices to access privileged

information and applications.

However, the proliferation of devices

such as tablets and smartphones, which

are now used by many people in their

daily lives, has led to a number of

companies, such as Intel and IBM, and

universities such as MIT, to allow

employees and students to bring their

own devices to work and classroom, due

to perceived productivity gains and cost

savings.

Some researchers believe that BYOD

may help students be more interactive

and productive as it allows for the ability

to easily take the device home and

classroom; and it increases student

morale and convenience by using their

own devices.

The study by Aruba Networks found that

high rate of enterprises and universities

allowed some form access from personal

devices. The amount of enterprises and

universities endorsing BYOD varied

significantly in different countries and

regions. Here’s the rate of BYOD

acceptance.

In 2009, the term BYOD first entered

common use, courtesy of Intel when it

allows to his employees to bring their own

devices (i.e., smartphones, tablets and

laptop computers) to work and connect

them to the corporate network.

However, in early 2011, Unisys (IT services

provider) and Citrix Systems (software

vendor) companies was achieved the

real prominence when based on BYOD

philosophy.

7


In 2012, the USA Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission adopted a

BYOD policy; and in August 2014, a

California court ruled that companies

must now reimburse any work calls done

on any employee's personal phone in the

state.

Apple has been a major force in the

BYOD movement, it ignited the BYOD

flame with the release of the iPhone and

iPad.

In addition to the financial

considerations, another major

advantage is the educational benefits of

mobile devices, which were tested

during pilot programmes in several states,

these are:

Students can for example attend lectures

via podcasts they can consult online at

home for their homework, leaving them

free during class to ask the teacher

questions and discuss and solve problems

as a group. The same advantages apply

to teachers: they can deliver their pre-

recorded lessons and be free to interact

with students and offer individual help

and coaching to those with difficulties.

From a purely practical vantage,

students using their own devices will

already be familiar with the technology.

Having connected devices also means

that students have fewer text books to

carry (and potentially leave at home),

and such devices offer access to online

resources, either on the school’s

dedicated platform or stored on the hard

drive or in the cloud.

Another practical consideration, the

colleges who took part in pilot

programmes observed that students

tend to take better care of their own

hardware than of equipment lent by the

college.

References

1. http://www.mobilitybriefing.com

2. http://www.arubanetworks.com/ne

ws-releases/byod-adoption-is-

growing

8


Careful what you say: Your Samsung TV might be listening

Harith A. Hussein


[email protected]

Samsung has come under fire from

privacy campaigners after it emerged

the company’s new smart TVs are

capable of listening to your

conversations.

Viewers hoping to take advantage of the

voice activation feature have been

warned by Samsung not to disclose

personal information because voice

recordings can be captured and

transmitted to unidentified third parties!

Electronic Frontier Foundation activist

Park Higgins compared Samsung’s

privacy policy to the famous book in a

tweet on Sunday. It has already received

14,000 retweets.

Samsung insists it takes consumer privacy

seriously, but did not name the third party

which translates speech to text.

The issue was first highlighted by the Daily

Beast, which warned readers not to talk

about incriminating matters such as “tax

evasion” and “drug use” in front their TV

sets.

Hidden away in Samsung’s privacy policy

is a single sentence which may change

the way you behave in front of your TV:

“Please be aware that if your spoken

words include personal or other sensitive

information, that information will be

among the data captured and

transmitted to a third party.”

Even viewers who do not activate the

voice recognition feature are still at risk of

being snooped on, as the machine

continues to collect data through its

microphones. The only way to stop a

Samsung smart TV from eavesdropping

on your conversation is to disable voice

recognition data collection in the settings

menu.

Samsung claims it collects transcribed

voice data in order to improve the

technology’s features.

An investigation last year by consumer

magazine ,Which found that smart TVs

made by LG, Samsung, Sony, Panasonic,

and Toshiba track people’s viewing

habits – something consumers agree to

when they accept the TV’s terms and

conditions.

Users who choose not to accept their TV’s

terms and conditions may end up

reverting to a not-so-smart television.

While Toshiba and LG block internet

access and apps, Samsung reportedly

stops customers from using the TV at all.

Sony is the only manufacturer which

blocks the tracking of television usage

without restricting other functions.

Finally, Samsung has responded to the

public backlash against its privacy policy,

claiming it takes such concerns “very

seriously.”

“If a consumer consents and uses the

voice recognition feature, voice data is

provided to a third party during a

requested voice command search. At

that time, the voice data is sent to a

server, which searches for the requested

content then returns the desired content

to the TV,” the company said.

9


Content Management Systems

Ahmed Abduladheem Abdulwahid

Master of Computer Science, University of Central Missouri, USA

[email protected]

Introduction

When programmer wants to build a

website, he should go and learn one of

the most popular website programming

languages such as PHP, ASP.net,

JavaScript, etc. All these languages

require a skilled a tremendous effort to be

able to design and create a powerful

website (Dakhwe, 2006). However, these

languages require some particular server

platforms to be able to implement them

easily and with flexibility. These

procedures spend time, money and

effort to achieve the particular

requirements .

Nowadays, several collections of open

source software allow any developer or

programmer to work with them much

more easily than writing program code.

Content Management System (CMS) is

the solution of spending less time, money,

and effort.

It is defined as a software system that

allows any developer to organize,

develop, design, manage, publish, and

collaborate tools with little knowledge of

web programming languages (Esparza,

2011).

CMS Advantages

Moreover, Content Management System

deals with the relational database that

makes the connection between the

system and the database very flexible

and easy. Several advantages support

using CMS in these days widely. Many

CMSs are free open source software that

can find online with a lot of kinds of

modules, themes, and other web

applications. CMSs have very high levels

of security (Jain, 2010).

The most popular CMSs

Currently, there are several types of

Content Management Systems (CMS),

but the most popular CMSs are

WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. These

are widely used CMSs in these days, and

they are free open source software

written in PHP that use MySQL as the

database (Jain, 2010).

References

1. Dakhwe, A. (2006). A Dynamic, Cost-

Effective and Efficient Information

Portal Solution Using the Mambo

Content Management System

(Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University).

2. Esparza, P. (2011). A web site-level

implementation of OWL Same As

predicate in Drupal.

3. Jain, C. G. (2010). The study of open

source CMSs, (Rutgers the State

University of New Jersey - New

Brunswick).

01


Interactive whiteboard (IWB)

Dr. Yahya Tareq Hussein


[email protected]

As a part of the ICT integration process,

the interactive whiteboard (IWB) has

been one technology most invested in

especially by European countries such as

England, Spain, and Turkey.

As of 2010, England has the highest IWB

penetration rate (73%) in the world and

many countries including Denmark (50%)

and the USA (35%) have substantially

increased IWB rates in classrooms;

however, the average rate for Asia is still

lower than 2%.

An interactive whiteboard (IWB) is a

presentation device that interfaces with

a computer.

The projector projects the content from a

computer onto the surface of the board,

where they can be seen and

manipulated.

Users can control software both from the

computer and from the board.

Participants can add notations, and

emphasize by using a pen and or

highlighter tool.

By using his finger as a mouse, the

teacher or student can run applications

directly from the board. Another user at

the computer can also have input.

Any notes or drawings can then be saved

or printed out and distributed to group

members. The board is typically mounted

to a wall or floor stand.

It offers a way to manage learning

information on a large scale.

Use of the interactive whiteboard (IWB)

Optimal use of an interactive whiteboard

involves both teacher and student use. It

can, for example, be used to:

• Allow presentation of student work in

a more interactive and collaborative

way

• Show video clips that present and

explain difficult concepts (in any

curricular area)

• Demonstrate how an educational

software program works, e.g., an art

program with students using their

fingers or pen to draw rather than

using a mouse

• serve more effectively for visually

impaired students and other students

with special needs

• Display Internet resources in a

teacher‐directed manner

• Allow students to work creatively

through learning activities in whole‐

class mode or in small groups and to

present their work in multi‐media form

for class viewing and discussion

00


• Provide new opportunities for

individualized learning experiences

• Create handwritten drawings, notes

and concept maps during class time,

all of which can be saved for future

reference

Conclusions

Interactive whiteboards present

educational resources in a new and

impressive way. They are suitable for both

whole class and in small group settings.

IWBs allow pupils to explore ideas, carry

out assignments and follow‐through on

learning activities in new and interactive

ways. The boards are highly motivational

and elicit strong responses and

participation within the classroom.

References

1. Türel, Y. K., & Johnson, T. E. /

Teachers' Belief and Use of

Interactive Whiteboards for

Teaching and Learning.

Educational Technology & Society,

15 (1), 381–394

2. NCTE Advice Sheet – Interactive

Whiteboards

http://www.pdsttechnologyineduc

ation.ie/en/Technology/Advice-

Sheets/

3. Mary Ann Bell/ Why Use an

Interactive Whiteboard?

http://www.teachers.net/gazette/J

AN02/mabell.html

IT Curriculum of Undergraduate Programs

Mohammad Salim Abdulrahman


[email protected]

Introduction

This article is short summary of curriculum

guidelines of Information Technology

which prepared by Association for

Computing Machinery (ACM) and IEEE

Computer Society. In this article, the

sequence as the followings: IT definitions,

broad goals of IT programs, IT curricula

focus area, and academic discipline of IT

as the last subject of the article.

Definition of Information Technology

To define IT as an academic discipline, in

its widest sense IT includes all aspects of

computing technology. IT, as an

academic discipline, is concerned with

issues related to supporting users and

meeting their needs within an

organizational and social context

through the selection, creation,

application, integration & administration

of computing technologies. Figure 1

shows the processes of IT to support users'

needs.

However, in academic environment, IT

refers to undergraduate degree

programs that prepare students to meet

the computer technology needs of

business, government, healthcare,

schools, and other kinds of organizations.

In some countries, other names are used

for such degree programs.

Fig 1: IT Processes

02


Broad goals of an IT program

IT programs aim to provide IT graduates

with the skills and knowledge to take an

appropriate professional positions in

Information Technology and grow into

leadership positions or pursue research or

graduate studies. Specifically a student

should be able to:

1. Explain and apply appropriate

information technologies and

employ appropriate methodologies

to help an individual or organization

achieve its goals and objectives.

2. Function as a user advocate.

3. Manage the information technology

resources of an individual or

organization.

4. Anticipate the trend of information

technology and evaluate and

communicate the likely utility of new

technologies to an individual or

organization.

5. Understand and, in some cases,

contribute to the scientific,

mathematical and theoretical

foundations on which information

technologies are built.

6. Live and work as a contributing, well-

rounded member of society.

IT'S Curricula Focus Area

Fig 1: IT Curricula focus area

Figure 2 is a graphical description of IT.

The shaded area of the diagram

represents the focus of typical

information technology curricula.

This area extends down most of the right

edge, encompassing the application,

deployment, and configuration needs of

organizations and people over a wide

spectrum of contexts.

Across this range (from organizational

information systems, to application

technologies, and down to systems

infrastructure), their role has some

overlap with Information Systems, but IT

people have a special focus on satisfying

human needs that arise from computing

technology.

In addition, IT’s shaded area goes

leftwards, from application towards

theory and innovation, especially in the

area of application technologies.

This is because IT people often develop

the web-enabled digital technologies

that organizations use for a broad mix of

informational purposes, and this implies

an appropriate conceptual foundation

in relevant principles and theory.

Academic discipline of Information

Technology

Fig 2: The Information Technology Discipline

Figure 3 shows the academic discipline of

Information Technology. The pillars of IT

include programming, networking,

human-computer interaction,

databases, and web systems, built on a

foundation of knowledge of the

fundamentals of IT.

03


Overarching the entire foundation and

pillars are information assurance and

security, and professionalism.

While this figure does not depict all

aspects of the IT discipline, it does help to

describe the relation of the key

components.

References

1. Association for Computing Machinery

(ACM) and IEEE Computer Society

Curriculum Guidelines for

Undergraduate Degree Programs in

Information Technology, 2008.

2. http://www.acm.org/education/curri

cula-recommendations.

LED, LCD, Plasma and 3D TVs

Ali Makki


[email protected]

LED vs LCD vs Plasma

LED, LCD and plasma are the main types

of TV available in stores, and they all have

their own strengths and weaknesses that

should be factored into your buying

decision. Of the, LED TVs are the most

recent introduction and, as such, are

generally a bit more expensive than

comparable plasma and LCD models.

For the money, though, you'll get a super

thin and energy-efficient TV. Although, as

with most modern flat screen TVs, LED sets

often suffer from poor sound.

Plasma TVs, meanwhile, offer arguably

deeper and more detailed black areas

on screen, but are hit by a higher energy

consumption rate. LCD TVs are often the

cheapest sets available, but they're now

on the decline as LED technology comes

to the fore.

LCD TVs

Liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs come to

life when light from behind the screen is

shone through a matrix of tiny, colored

liquid crystal cells. Signals control each

cell, letting varying amounts of color

through to build up the picture.

LCD has, however, been eclipsed by LED

as the most popular TV technology. You

might still find LCD TVs available in smaller

screen sizes at the budget end of the

market, but most manufacturers are now

focused on LED.

LED TVs

LEDs (light-emitting diodes) have been

around for decades, but their

introduction into TV design is a fairly

recent development.

LED televisions employ standard LCD

technology but with one crucial

difference – the handful of backlight

lamps that traditionally illuminate the LCD

screen are replaced by a larger number

of tiny LEDs. This enables LED TVs to be

much slimmer than their LCD

counterparts.

These are the two types of LED TV,

although most sets nowadays are edge-

lit LEDs.

Edge-lit models: have LED lamps just

around the edge of the screen,

enabling them to super-slim. Early

edge-lit models had problems with

04


inconsistent lighting of the screen, and

patchy colours. While you can still find

a bad one, the technology behind

edge-lit panels has improved

significantly in recent years.

Back-lit models: (also referred to as

direct-lit) have LED lamps spread

across the entire rear of the screen.

They aren't as slim as edge-lit LEDs, but

the consistency of lighting should be

much better.

Dimming - backlit LED TVs were previously

known for a technique called 'local

dimming', which varies the backlight in

different parts of the screen to give

darker, richer blacks and brighter whites

where needed. TV manufacturers have

now found ways to incorporate similar

technology into their edge-lit models,

meaning you're not missing out by buying

one - and they're usually cheaper.

Plasma TVs

Plasma TVs use completely different

technology and principles to LCD and

LED sets. A plasma display is an array of

tiny gas cells sandwiched between two

sheets of glass. Each cell acts like a mini

fluorescent tube, emitting ultraviolet light

which then strikes red, green and blue

spots on the screen. These spots glow to

build up the picture.

Home-cinema enthusiasts would claim

that the best plasma TVs still boast better

blacks and more natural colors than the

market-leading LED TVs, making them a

better choice if you want spectacular

picture quality. However, in recent years

the difference between LED and plasma

is not so marked, while the poor energy

efficiency of plasma TVs means they can

be costly to run.

The big manufacturers, such as

Panasonic, are now scaling back their

plasma TV production (or stopping it

entirely) in favor of LED and even newer

screen types - so plasma is definitely on

the decline

3D TVs

A 3D TV, or three-dimensional television,

displays three-dimensional content with

the aid of 3D glasses and a 3D source.

You’re probably most familiar with this

technology through 3D movies that have

hit theaters throughout the years. Today,

most higher-end plasma, LED, and LCD

TVs made since 2010 are actually 3D

compatible when used with the

accompanying glasses and 3D source,

and a 3D TV will still display 2D, or

“regular” content. That means you can

consider 3D to be a special feature on a

television, rather than an entirely different

class of television.

References

1. ANDREW LAUGHLIN, LED vs LCD vs

plasma TV, which? Web site

available at

http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/televisio

ns/article/advice/led-vs-lcd-vs-plasma-tv-

2. TechFemina web site available at

http://www.techfemina.com/advantages-

disadvantages-3d-tvs/

http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/televisions/article/advice/led-vs-lcd-vs-plasma-tv-

http://www.which.co.uk/reviews/televisions/article/advice/led-vs-lcd-vs-plasma-tv-

http://www.techfemina.com/advantages-disadvantages-3d-tvs/

http://www.techfemina.com/advantages-disadvantages-3d-tvs/

05


MCC-Education:

Opportunities of Using Mobile Cloud Computing as ICT tool in Education

Ihsan Sayyid Salman

Northumbria University, [email protected]

Introduction

It is a new technological platform which

has been emerged in the recent years

through development of mobile

technology in the world known as Mobile

Cloud Computing (MCC). Mobile Cloud

Computing can be defined as an

integration of cloud computing into

mobile environment that refers to an

infrastructure where both data storage

and data processing happened outside

of mobile devices (Davcev and Kitanov,

2012; Kovachev et. al., 2011). It has been

considered a powerful tool to address

most of the challenges in terms of

environment perspective (such as

heterogeneity, scalability and

availability), performance perspective

(such as bandwidth, battery life and

storage) and security perspective (such

as reliability and privacy) when

implementing mobile learning in

education. This essay will discuss

opportunities of using mobile cloud

computing in higher education.

Opportunities of Using Mobile Cloud

Computing in Education

Mobile Cloud Computing (MCC) can be

seen as a powerful tool in higher

education. It has several benefits. The

main benefit is that MCC plays a vital role

in minimising and overcoming different

obstacles that related to mobile learning

such as high costs of smartphones, low

network transudation rate, battery life

and low storage capacity (Li, 2010). The

flexibility and convenient of mobile cloud

computing allows students for learning

and studying anywhere, at any time

without needing the costly software and

hardware because they are run by

cloud.

In addition, mobile cloud computing

helps learners to access to their

academic materials, videos, libraries and

assignments or exams over the cloud via

their mobile devices. It suitable and

cheaper to the universities for building

mobile cloud services without spending a

lot of money for infrastructure and they

do not need to update and

maintenance their services because all

the storage, computing and updates

have accomplished on the cloud side

(Davcev and Kitanov, 2012). Learners just

have used their smartphones devices as

a display to the contents on the cloud.

The figure below shows the architecture

of mobile cloud computing. According

to Palmer and Dodson (2011) mobile

cloud computing enables learners who

live in isolated areas and they have no

access to the high internet speed

connection for accessing to their training

materials through using these services at

cloud data center (Wang, Chen and

Khan, 2014).

Finally, two of the major benefits of using

mobile cloud computing are to extend a

battery lifetime for mobile devices and to

improve data capacity with processing

power through enabling learners to

access to the large data on the cloud.

06


Mobile Cloud Computing Architecture (Khan et. al., 2012)

Conclusion

In conclusion, Mobile Cloud Computing

(MCC) has becoming one of effective

tools for minimising and improving various

challenges that related to mobile

learning in terms of deliver resources on –

demand, flexible to use in different

devices, reduce high cost of

implementing mobile cloud facility and

no require to have high IT professionals.

References

1. Davcev, D. & Kitanov, S. (2012)

'Mobile Cloud Computing

Environment as a Support for Mobile

Learning', the 3rd International

Conference on Cloud Computing,

GRIDs, and Virtualization.

2. Kovachev, D. & Cao, Y. & Klamma, R.

(2011) 'Mobile Cloud Computing: A

Comparison of Application Models'.

3. Li, J. (2010). Study on the

development of mobile learning

promoted by cloud computing. In

IEEE 2010 2nd International

Conference on Information

Engineering and Computer Science

(ICIECS), 1-4.

4. Khan, A. N., Mat Kiah, M. L., Khan, S.

U., & Madani, S. A. (2012). Towards

secure mobile cloud computing: A

survey. Future Generation Computer

Systems, 29, 1278-1299.

5. Wang, M. & Chen, Y. & Khan, M.J.

(2014) 'Mobile Cloud Learning for

Higher Education: A Case Study of

Moodle in the Cloud'.

07


The Statistics Software Package (SPSS)

IBM Predictive Analytics Tool

Sarah Y. Yousif

Directory of QA, Lebanese French University - Erbil

[email protected]

IBM SPSS (Statistical Package for the

Social Sciences) is a software package

that used for the analysis of statistical

information programs is in sociology.

Today, SPSS is widely used by researchers

in the field of marketing, finance,

government, education, and is also used

to analyze the questionnaires,

information management and

document information to achieve

deeper understanding of people's

attitudes, preferences and opinions so

that this valuable insight can be included

in decision-making processes.

With SPSS predictive analytics software,

you can predict with confidence what

will happen next so that you can make

smarter decisions, solve problems and

improve outcomes.

There are three basic windows for the

Package

Data view: it is a data window which

displays the data.

Variable view: it is a window Shaw the

properties for each variable in the

dataset.

SPSS Viewer: the results from

statistical procedures is an

independent and displays the results

(tables - fees - the results of statistical

analyzes).

The highlight history of SPSS

In 1968, the first version of the

software was appeared as the

Statistical Package for the Social

Sciences (SPSS) after being

developed by (Norman H. Nie, Dale

H. Bent, and C. Hadlai Hull) in 1970.

In 1975 Early versions of SPSS Statistics

were designed for batch processing

on mainframes, including for

example IBM and ICL versions,

originally using punched cards for

input.

From version 10 (SPSS-X) in 1983, data

files could contain multiple record

types.

SPSS Statistics version 13.0 for Mac OS

X was not compatible with Intel-

based Macintosh computers, due to

the Rosetta emulation software

causing errors in calculations.

SPSS Statistics 15.0 for Windows

needed a downloadable hotfix to be

installed in order to be compatible

with Windows Vista.

SPSS Statistics versions 16.0 and later

run under Windows, Mac, and Linux.

The graphical user interface is written

in Java. The Mac OS version is

provided as a Universal binary,

making it fully compatible with both

PowerPC and Intel-based Mac

hardware. Prior to SPSS 16.0, different

versions of SPSS were available for

Windows, Mac OS X and Unix. The

Windows version was updated more

frequently and had more features

08


than the versions for other operating

systems.

It was acquired by IBM on July 28,

2009 that it was being acquired by

IBM. Because of a dispute about

ownership of the name ‘SPSS’,

between 2009 and 2010, the product

was referred to as PASW (Predictive

Analytics Software).

As of January 2010, it became "SPSS:

An IBM Company".

Complete transfer of business to IBM

was done by October 1, 2010. By that

date, SPSS: An IBM Company ceased

to exist.

The current versions (2014) are

officially named (IBM SPSS) Statistics is

now fully integrated into the IBM

Corporation, and is one of the brands

under IBM Software Group's Business

Analytics Portfolio, together with IBM

Algorithmic and IBM Open Pages .

Nowadays, IBM SPSS is a comprehensive

and flexible statistical analysis and data

management solution. SPSS can take

data from almost any type of file and use

them to generate tabulated reports,

charts, and plots of distributions and

trends, descriptive statistics, and conduct

complex statistical analyses. SPSS is

available from several platforms;

Windows, Macintosh, and the UNIX

systems.

References

1. http://www-

01.ibm.com/software/analytics/spss/

2. http://www.spss.co.in/

Wireless damage on the health and how to avoid them

Biayrak-K-Hathat AlTaie


[email protected]

What is a wifi?

WiFi is shortly for Wireless Fidelity,

this meaning wireless transmission with

high precision and speed, it uses radio

waves to exchange information instead

of wires and they are able to break

through walls and barriers with high

speed in transfer and receive data up to

54 Mb ps.

Is Wi-Fi devices harmful to human

health?

This question imaginable by Internet

/mobile phones users from time to time,

there is different views and research in

this regard and the truth is that it does not

effect on the public health only but it

effects on the environment too, studies of

Wageningen University have proven the

negative impact of the wireless on

existing trees in civilized places in the

Netherlands, The result was the discovery

of damage in the tissues of these trees

and the differences in growth caused by

the electromagnetic field sent out from

the Wifi networks.

09


How do you determine the impact of

Wireless Networks on your health?

Risk resulting from wireless networks is

determined only by using these

technologies, you can conclude the

influence of electromagnetic waves by

only the answers to these questions:

• Do you use mobile phones more than

an hour a day?

• Are you using a mobile phone to your

ear directly?

• Do you use the Internet via the router

using wifi or wired?

• How many wireless devices in the

home?

• Where are you keeping wireless

devices inside the house?

• What is the range of your use of the

device Bluetooth?

As for the harmful effect on human

health, Too much exposure to

electromagnetic radiation from Wifi and

wireless networks leads to some health

problems, such as the effect on the brain

or memory.

Advices to avoid damage of radiation

from wireless networks

Technology is a double-edged weapon

in spite of the Massive advantages of the

uses of wireless networks, so we cannot

deny that there is some of the damage

to health and the environment and it is so

difficult to completely abandon them.

For this reason we must follow these tips

to protect our self from radiation caused

by:

1) For the best protection preferably

use the connection to the Internet

via the wire and not wireless.

2) If you have a device (wireless router)

in the house prefers keep it away

from sleeping areas.

3) You must turn off the Wifi completely

mobile device or router when you

are not using them.

4) Use only wired printer, also an

attached devices such as a

computer "mouse, keyboard…etc".

5) To reduce exposure to radiation

must disable wireless

communications device when not in

use, such as a Bluetooth device.

6) If not, use mobile phones and tablets

must be kept in a distant room at

home.

7) Remember mobile phones away

from children and pregnant women,

a new study has found that the child

can take in 10 times the amount of

radiation absorbed by an adult.

8) Use the speaker or headphones

instead of close Phone head for long

periods.

9) Try not to use mobile phones inside

the elevators or cars or trains or

planes, where the metal enclosed

places increases the impact of

radiation.

References

1. http://www.globalhealingcenter.co

m/natural-health/10-shocking-facts-

health-dangers-wifi/

2. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar

ticles/archive/2013/09/21/cell-

phone-wifi-radiation.aspx

Readers of IT e-magazine are invited to submit their articles that are consistent with the

objective of this magazine for publishing in the future issues, to ITeM’s editorial

committee at : [email protected] .

Deadlines:

- Submissions due: 8th of the Month

- Author notification: 10th of the Month

- Publish date: 15th of the Month

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ite-magazine february 2015

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