T 4.7

Multimedia is defined as text, graphics, video, animation, audio, and other media that can be used to help an organization efficiently achieve its goals. [1] All businesses use the multimedia text, graphics, and audio in one form or another. Text in business is used for websites, contracts, procedures, and more. Graphics are used in business to make sales presentations, persuasive charts, company logos, etc. Creating and altering audio is used in businesses to record sales calls, play music while working, and is used in almost all videos.  The focus of my article will be describing free software that any business can use to create and modify the multimedia text, graphics, and audio.

When I first heard about the open source Open Office, I thought it only was used as a word processor. However, Apache OpenOffice is an open-source office productivity software suite containing word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, graphics, formula editor, and database management application. [2] Open Office is great for small businesses who cannot afford multiple Microsoft Office licenses or who want to support open source projects. Most small businesses will use it with text and graphics multimedia. Businesses can use it to make reports, sales presentations, and view raw data in a spreadsheet. It can also open Word documents, and slowly more and more people are using Open Office. By analyzing website visitor’s ability to see certain fonts, a recent study of 20 countries found that 9% of people in the United States have Open Office installed, and Poland and the Czech Republic had the highest percentage of users with 22% usage. [3]

Graphics multimedia is a very important aspect of businesses.  Businesses who want an advanced, open source graphics editor turn to Gimp. I have never heard of Gimp, even though it is often cited as a replacement for Adobe Photoshop. [4] I can see small businesses using Gimp to make quick alterations to pictures such as cropping or reducing the image size. The simple editing of pictures and adjusting colors beyond the basic Microsoft Paint is essential for all businesses.

Audio multimedia is being used more and more on the internet by businesses. Once edited, audio files can also be used to enhance presentations, create music, develop audio books, record podcasts, and enhance video and animation. [5] I see even small businesses making Youtube videos now. Everyone hates watching videos that are hard to hear or understand. I found an open source program called Audacity which is a free digital audio editor and recording application that has over 75 million downloads. [6] You can just drag any audio file into Audacity and edit it. A feature I like is called “normalize” which makes the sound levels of the entire audio clip about the same volume.

In conclusion, multimedia which includes text, graphics, and audio are used in businesses daily. The open source software Open Office, Gimp, and Audacity can be used in a small business to create and edit all of their important multimedia for free.

Sources:

1. Page 334 of the book
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_office
3. http://ostatic.com/blog/openoffice-org-by-the-numbers
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GIMP
5. Page 336 of the book
6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audacity_%28audio_editor%29

T 4.8

My first SQL query shows what products have had a profit of over $1000 and their dates. The business could use this data to predict future sales of large profits.

SELECT "Date", "Region", "Product", "Profit"
FROM "Sales"
WHERE "Profit" > 1000


https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?OBJID=793985000000007016&STANDALONE=true&privatelink=bae35263930364126defb812f5bce81e&ZDB_THEME_NAME=blue&DATATYPESYMBOL=true&REMTOOLBAR=false&SEARCHBOX=true&SHOWHIDEOPT=true


Chart based on above query that shows the average product profit when the profit profit is over $1000.

<img width='400' height='300' src='https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBChartEmbed.png?OBJID=793985000000008016&STANDALONE=true&privatelink=70b79cb58d37aa61dcf1d11345ecd1bc&WIDTH=400&HEIGHT=300&ZDB_THEME_NAME=blue&TITLE=true&DESCRIPTION=true' />


This SQL query shows profits from Mondays only. This will help businesses see how profitable Mondays are.

SELECT "Date", "Product", "Profit"
FROM "Sales"
WHERE weekday("Date") = '0'

/* 0 is monday */

https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?OBJID=793985000000007110&STANDALONE=true&privatelink=a08fdd04b2565c8eeb3f0c03d5b24a1c&ZDB_THEME_NAME=blue&DATATYPESYMBOL=true&REMTOOLBAR=false&SEARCHBOX=true&SHOWHIDEOPT=true


I realized that this query could be better and added a where clause that shows Mondays where the profit is over $3000

SELECT "Date", "Product", "Profit"
FROM "Sales"
WHERE weekday("Date") = '0' AND "Profit" > '3000'

/* 0 for weekday is monday */

https://reports.zoho.com/ZDBDataSheetView.cc?OBJID=793985000000007197&STANDALONE=true&privatelink=2b280bc22d5cf2e82234f8e7ab67bfc8&ZDB_THEME_NAME=blue&DATATYPESYMBOL=true&REMTOOLBAR=false&SEARCHBOX=true&SHOWHIDEOPT=true

T 4.3

There are many different types and uses for decision support systems (DSS). A decision support system is a computer-based information system that supports business or organizational decision-making which may be rapidly changing and not easily specified in advance. [1] The focus of my article will be describing an institutional DSS software that was tested in hospitals called COMPETE III and discussing the complexities of having computer applications make medical decisions. Compete III was a real-time Clinical Data Repository (CDR) that consolidates data from a variety of clinical sources such as EMR and paper, and was developed to present a unified patient data view. This software includes “The Vascular Tracker” which gave the physician an at-a-glance updated, color-coded system highlighting the urgency of addressing each risk factor of a patient. [2]

The COMPETE III program accessed the patient’s medical history and intelligently guessed the risk factors of various medical conditions. I think having a computer program suggesting medical advice is a great idea, and I would definitely consider its suggestions. However, I don’t think that computers are intelligent enough yet to make highly accurate medical predictions. There are too many variables involved like the patient’s complete medical history and how that compares to other patients. This is a perfect example of “unstructured problems” which are complex problems in which the relationships among the pieces of data are not always clear, and the data is in a variety of formats. [3] Despite that complexity, the previous version of COMPETE III cost $483,699 to design and implement,  and it targeted patients with Type 2 diabetes. Over a one year period the software helped decrease patients’ risk of amputation by 14%, stroke by 12%, renal failure by 9%, and heart failure by 5%. [4] This is an obvious success and definitely justifies the cost in my opinion, and the making of COMPETE IV is currently being discussed.

After watching IBM’s supercomputer Watson beat the best Jeopardy players in the world, people were discussing its practical applications. Watson is so unique because it’s by far the best artificial intelligence computer system capable of answering questions posed in natural language with a hardcore cost of about $3 million. [5] IBM has announced that it will use Watson to improve patient care through the use of evidence-based medicine, which is designed to standardize patient treatments by identifying proven best practices such as suggesting an aspirin to someone leaving the hospital who suffered a heart attack. [6] Watson would fit in perfectly with any DSS, and would greatly enhance COMPETE IV or make it completely obsolete.

In conclusion, COMPETE III is a great example of a decision support system (DSS) being used in the medical industry, and it has been successful in suggesting medical advice despite the complexities of making such a program.

Sources:

1.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decision_support_system

2.       http://www.compete-study.com/C3_news.htm

3.       Page 290 of the Book

4.       http://www.ihealthbeat.org/articles/2011/11/14/study-clinical-decision-support-systems-do-not-generate-cost-savings.aspx

5.       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watson_%28artificial_intelligence_software%29

6.       https://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9219937/IBM_s_Watson_supercomputer_to_diagnose_patients