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Friday, July 10, 2009

MIS Case No. 4

Posted by fatima paclibar

Find three (3) URL's that talk's about "green campus computing" and suggest ways how the university can adopt this concept.

When we are talking about “green campus computing” we are talking about our responsibilities as an IT student towards our environment, our contribution on how to use our electronic resources wisely such as computer and how we can minimize electronic waste or the e-waste.

In this assignment, we were given a task to give three URL’s that talk’s regarding green campus computing and how can we adopt or implement it in our own university which is the University of Southeastern Philippines and most importantly it should all begin in ourselves.

The following are the URL’s which talks about green campus computing:

1. http://green.wikia.com/wiki/Green_Computing

The Following are their suggestions:

a) Turn off the monitor when the user will be away for a moment.
b) Set your PC’s on standby mode at a certain point of time.
c) Remove all unnecessary or unused drive.
d) Unplug the CD-ROM if this is not used most of the time.
e) Print wisely. Print only the pages you need and try to avoid print all if it’s not necessary.
f) Refill inkjet cartridges or laser toner rather than to replace it into a new one.
g) Turn off the router, cable modems and WIFI access point when not in used. Avoid turning it on overnight.

Planning to buy new PC? These are their suggestions.

a) Buy laptop than PC because laptops consume less power than desktop does.
b) Buy a computer according to your need.
c) Choose the latest Intel than AMD because it is more environmental friendly though not as powerful as the latter.
d) Consider the 80 plus energy efficient power supply.
e) Choose its parts carefully. Do not install the unnecessary parts when you’re not using them.
f) Choose Corded Keyboard and Mouse over wireless.
g) Inkjet printers use less energy than laser printer. Choose according to your need.

2. http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid80_gci1246959,00.html

In this site, it said that on earliest initiatives towards green computing the United States voluntarily labeling their program the Energy Star. On 1992, Environmental Protection Agency (EPC) was established to promote energy-efficiency on all hardware.

Here are some steps that promote green computing:

a) Power- down the CPU’s when not in used.
b) Try to do computer-related tasks during contiguous, intensive blocks of time, leaving hardware off at other times.
c) Power-up and power-down energy-intensive peripherals such as laser printers according to need.
d) Use liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors rather than cathode-ray-tube (CRT) monitors.
e) Use notebook computers rather than desktop computers whenever possible.
f) Use the power-management features to turn off hard drives and displays after several minutes of inactivity.
g) Minimize the use of paper and properly recycle waste paper.
h) Dispose of e-waste according to federal, state and local regulations.
i) Employ alternative energy sources for computing workstations, servers, networks and data centers.

3) http://www.p2000.umich.edu/energy_conservation/ec7.htm

Waste Minimization Procedure
Electrical Conservation Tips:

• Turn the computer off overnight and on weekends;
• Wait until ready to use the PC before turning it on;
• If the computer is going to be inactive for more than 16 minutes, consider turning it off. After this energy needed to run the computer outweighs the start-up energy;
• Do not turn on the printer until ready to print, even an idle printer consumes energy;
• Try to schedule computer-related activities to do them all at once, keeping the computer off at other times;
• If spending a large amount of time at the computer, consider reducing the light level in your office. This may improve cathode ray tube screen visibility as well as save energy.


Technology had given us many advantages that made our daily tasks easier. But as we all know that in all things there is an equal and opposite reaction and in this case, if technology brought us goodness well it have its disadvantages also. We belong to the IT world- the world of the new generation; we have an obligation to educate ourselves on how we can help to promote green campus computing in our university, as well as in our surroundings. Not just to promote and reinforce it but on how we can effectively implement this cause in our university. Knowing that these electronic wastes exist, and we are now informed what we can do to justify the means of green campus computing, thus our responsibility as an IT student does not end in this forum as we made our assignment, and the challenge to make this happens is in our hands.

MIS Case No. 3

Posted by fatima paclibar

Automated Election in the Philippines

The Comelec – Commission on Election in the Philippines have been very busy for the neither previous months nor years preparing for the near May 10, 2010 presidential election. An automated election was proposed by Senator Richard Gordon and officially amended by Republic Act 9369 or the amended Automated Election System. Its main goal is to assure the Filipino people to have a fair, honest and clean election thus, to regain the trust of its people to the electoral process and to its government.

What is this Automated Election?

This is a modern electoral process and also known as the Republic Act 9369 or the Automated Election System, authored by Senator Richard Gordon.

The system involves machines to be deploy in every precincts nationwide that helps to minimized the allotted time for counting of votes, secure the votes of each Filipinos, minimized or totally eliminate cheating or election frauds and regain the trust of every Filipino to the government in terms of electoral process.

The government allotted 11.3 billion supplemental budgets for the said project. The winning bidder will provide 80,200 machines, two of these machines will be deploy on every precincts.

Instead of writing the names of the candidates in the ballot, voters will shade their chosen candidate names. So, it means there is still manual action occurs during the election proper however, the process does not end there. After the voting proper, every ballot will be scan by the Precinct Counting Optical Scan (PCOS) which records and stores the votes and hopefully it neither reduce nor minimize instances of fraud and cheating. The said ballots also feature security codes or markings to safeguard the votes of the people. Thus, this will reduce complaints for this system promises to be fast, accurate and reliable.

The system promises to give fast results in a matter of more or less two (2) days. Even though the actual voting will be manual but the counting and transmissions of votes will be fully automated thus, Comelec is confident that this automation of election will be a success one.

Automated Election Vs Manual Election.

For the recent years, the Philippines have had implemented the manual electoral process. From the word itself “manual” it literally means that every actions occur on the said election is between man to man, those who are involve in the said issue which are the voters and the election officers. From the election preparation, voting proper, vote counting, vote canvassing, result transmission to result generation it is facilitated, administered and the results are manually computed by people. In the manual scenario of election it is prone to fraud and cheating. Filipino voters had experienced to witness this kind of scheme thus; they have loss their trust to our election system. Some example to these election irregularities are vote buying, cheating in vote counting, flying voters, and harassment of voters.

As the technology evolves, Comelec sees that there is a need of a change in our electoral process. And this change leads to the amendment of automation of our election system. In this connection, the realization of the quest of the Filipino people to have a reliable, clean, honest and fair election results to the approval of Republic Act 9369 or the amended Automated Election System.

May 10, 2010 election is the target date of the first nationwide automated election to take place. The said automation had been tested on the Autonomous Region in Muslim Minadanao (ARMM) election on August 2008. That said election was made to be an experiment to test if the proposed automation of election process in this country would be applicable, effective and credible. In result, according to survey conducted by Social Weather Station (SWS) in the ARMM August 2008 election it said to be a successful one and it satisfy the voters in the ARMM.

The following statements is based on the survey conducted by the SWS:
Among ARMM people, 75 percent said that the automated voting in their regional election the previous August gave them “much more” or “somewhat more” confidence that the election was free and fair. In the national survey, on the other hand, only 40 percent said that the automation of the ARMM elections in August 2008 gave them added confidence that the ARMM elections were free and fair. In other words, actual participants became more assured of the fairness of the election process, while mere onlookers mostly stayed skeptical.
Unsurprisingly, the great majority (69 percent) of ARMM voters agreed with the proposal to implement automated voting in the 2010 presidential elections. Only 8 percent disagreed; 24 percent were undecided. (This question was not asked in the October national survey.)
Directly from the people who have actually experienced the automated election, in this case it shows that it is in favor to the automation of 2010 election.
To automate or not to automate the 2010 election.
As an Information Technology student in the University of Southeastern Philippines I would suggest or I will stand in the side of the automation of our electoral process. As mention above it is more advantageous for our government and most importantly to us – the people of the Philippines. The said modern system or the modernization of our election system is not just a mere accessory on our government that we are embracing the high technology around us but this system offer us a secure, reliable, fast, time saving, free, honest and clean election. We all need a change. We all need to hear our voices in this matter. We all need a government that we can trust. And we have the power to make it all come true. To safeguard our votes with this system, to put in position the people that we think best suited for the given positions. All we need is to trust this change; this automation of election will bring good to all of us. With this system, we can guarantee that are votes are safe, accurately recorded, securely stored and will give us accurate and fast results. Why stop the change, when it brings development to our nation? Come to think of it. We want an honest, free and a clean government, why not starts it now? Let us support the 2010 Automated Election System.

COMDAP 2009

Posted by fatima paclibar

, ReflectionCOMDDAP means computer manufacturers distributors and dealers association of the Philippines. This association, had their exhibition here in Davao last July 2-4. IT was held on the Apo View Hotel. By the way, for some who does not know about COMDDAP, this is their brief information about the association:


“COMDDAP is an association of the country's top information technology businesses. Its primary objective is to promote the sustainable development of the of the country's information technology industry through voluntary collaboration of its member companies. It is the goal of COMDDAP to be able to provide its members general views and updates from different sectors - private and government, and highly regarded individuals to further uplift the morale and knowledge of its organization.

The vision of promoting and elevating the standards of Information technology (IT) in the Philippines fueled a group of prominent computer companies to form the Computer Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines or COMDDAP. Its initial member-companies represent the world's leading makers and providers of computer products, solutions and peripherals.

In 1997, the manufacturing sector - represented by industry leaders Hewlett Packard, Epson and Compaq, among others - was integrated into the COMDDAP membership, making the association a more diverse representation of the IT sector and thus the new name, COMPUTER MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND DEALERS ASSOCIATION OF THE PHILIPPINES.”

This was of course taken from their site, http://www.comddap.org/.


So much for that, I will be talking about my experience on the COMDDAP exhibition on the Apo View Hotel. I arrived on the Hotel most likely around 1:40 or 2:00 pm. There was a sign showing where the exhibition is being held so it was easy finding the venue of the event. But when I saw the façade of the exhibition, I was primarily confused on where to sign up so that I can enter the said exhibition. That was a funny experience since I was not able to see the booth where students are
suppose to go and get there sticker for the exhibition. Good thing I noticed that the people that were signing forms are the people that will be taking the Adobe seminar. I did not went to that seminar since there will be a payment for each seminars, namely for the Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Flash, Adobe Fireworks and Adobe Contribute. I have a sufficient knowledge about what the seminars except for the Adobe Contribute. Well then, after much confusion, I got the sticker
for the student pass. I was amazed when I entered the exhibition. There were a lot of these things for techy guys from different brands. There were also other booths that showcases their service instead of their products. I saw our facilitator talking to some people in the exhibition. I tried looking for the place where the seminar will be held, which was my main purpose of coming in the first place. As I was looking for it, I saw some fellow USePians looking for the seminar also. We asked a personnel where the seminar is being held and he pointed us to the back of a booth where we can see a door. To make it short, we arrived at the registration confirmation table, where we asked if it was the room that the seminar is taking place. Good thing we are right but the bad thing is, we are told that we cannot go in anymore… the room is packed and we will have to wait for the next session, which will be the HP thin Client session. Well, since it was our fault then, we waited for the first session to finish. But we didn’t wasted time doing nothing there. We looked around at some numerous booths. There was this one booth that took my undivided attention (that was an exaggeration, hehehe). They were showing on the new graphic manipulation software. I think it was the new version of Corel Draw. I was amazed on the way it was presented and also, the new Acrobat reader presentation was nice. We toured the entire exhibition and after that, we went back to the place where the seminar is being held. We were a bit early so we had to wait for a few minutes for the first session to finish. We verified if our name was listed on the participants of the next session. After that, the first session finished but it seems like the people are not piling out. So as we went in, it was understandable. Most of the people on the first session was from USeP. We were able to find a seat just before the session started. The session is all about the HP thin client. The thin client is a computing device similar to the system unit of a personal computer. This is an exerpt from the site of the HP thin client, http://www.hp.com/sbso/solutions/pc_expertise/article/thinclients_consider.html:


“Thin clients are computing devices that function as an access device on a network. These solid-state devices connect over a network to a server where the bulk of the processing takes place. Thin clients have no hard drive, allowing for more secure storage of data and applications on the server. In fact, keystrokes, mouse events and screen images are all that is sent between the client and server. This makes the device much more secure than a standard desktop or notebook computer. With no hard drive, fan or other moving parts, thin clients have a much longer lifespan than standard computers and use significantly less power. Lower maintenance costs are another benefit as software application updates, virus scanning and patches can be executed on the server. Deployment costs are also reduced as thin clients can be remotely configured and do not need to be set up individually. Break-fix simply requires replacing the thin client. “


Basically, the thin client is more of a business tool rather than for personal use. Based on what I have understood on the session, The TCO of the Hp thin client is lesser than buying desktops. They have this certain features that are really nice to have especially for business and medium enterprises. After the presentation, there was a question and answer portion where prizes were given to those who can answer correctly. I was a fun session, not the type that makes you yawn. Hehehe.. After that, the next session was a proprietary system session and it was for only those who received an invitation. So sadly, we went out. But on the following day, we went back to the exhibition to join the sessions that we missed during the first day of exhibition.