Programmers and Forensic Analyses: Accusers Under the Confrontation Clause

Recent Supreme Court cases involving the Confrontation Clause have strengthened defendants’ right to face their accusers. Bullcoming v. New Mexico explored the question of whether the testimony of the technician who performs a forensic analysis may be substituted by that of another analyst, and the Court held that producing a surrogate witness who was not sufficiently involved in the analysis violates the confrontation right. The presumption of infallible technology is fading, and courts may soon realize programmers have greater influence over the ultimate outcome of forensic tests than do the technicians who rely on such analytical tools. The confrontation right, so bolstered by recent cases, may encompass defendants’ right to demand testimony from the programmers of machines performing forensic analyses. The Bullcoming decision is certain to affect whether the right to confront the programmer will be recognized

Integrating theory and practice in education with business games

The meaningful integration of theoretical knowledge and industrial practice in Masters level programmes is now more than ever vital to ensure that graduates have the required competence in IT and that they are ready to contribute to the organisations that hired them within a short timeframe. It is also crucial in ensuring ongoing industrial support for academia because Information technology (IT) is regarded as a fundamental component in the success of organisations. This has led to a growing demand for IT specialists, sometimes with hybrid skills, to design, develop, implement, and support IT infrastructures in both the public and private sectors. However, in recent years there has been a shortfall of IT graduates, with essential experience entering the job market. In order to keep up with demand, educational institutions must adopt innovative programmes to increase the skill-set and knowledge base of their IT graduates. One such programme, under the auspices of University College Cork, is a Masters course in Management Information and Managerial Accounting Systems (MIMAS). The programme focuses on IT to suit the needs of industry while also combining IT with other theoretical subjects like managerial accounting and the design of management control systems. One key element of the teaching experience is a business simulation where students create software companies and bid for a large scale development project. As part of this, they experience of broad range of tasks and problems inherent in commercial software development. The business game is designed to encourage students to make use of as much of the theoretical elements taught in the degree as possible and is mediated by the teaching staff through the intermediary of a purpose-designed computer system. Our experience indicates the immense value of such practical components in an IT oriented degree programme. It also shows that the application of new technology in training and education will only truly benefit students when it is associated with high quality material and a high degree of student motivation

Usability in the Pika discovery layer: an academic and public library case study

The Online Public Access Catalog is often a patron’s first introduction to a library and, in some cases, may be their only interaction with the library. Library catalogs have traditionally been clunky, dated, and not particularly easy to use. Discovery layers entered the library market heavily in the late-2000s as a tool to seamlessly display and provide access to library resources. With new offerings from vendors and a number of open source options, libraries now have many options to provide a better interface. Different library types have different needs, and may, therefore, choose different catalogs for their patrons. One discovery layer stands out, however, both for its innovative features and for its ability to be customized to meet the needs of multiple types of libraries. Pika is the open source discovery layer developed by the Marmot Library Network. This paper will look at the experiences of an academic library and a public library and demonstrate how Pika has met the needs of both institutions.

A Teaching Case Exploring The Development & Value Of A Retail Dashboard

This teaching case reports the development of a Dashboard designed to build a comprehensive picture (view) of an organization’s customer-base. After more than 40 years of research focused on enhancing managerial support for decision-making through technology, the observation that, developing IT applications that are truly useful for top management is a highly complex and uncertain task, is still as valid as ever. The resulting Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing system supports the delegation and decentralization of decision-making and control in the organization as top managers have guarantees that their subordinates have access to reliable and timely information. This case demonstrates the utilization of IT (Data warehousing and On-Line Analysis Processing) to aid organizational decision-making through trend analysis, resulting in competitive advantage. Therefore, as a result, closer relationships with customers are developed. Additionally, this case can and is actively used to support teaching in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes undertaking Data Warehouse and Business Intelligence development, IT infrastructure and Networking (for connectivity)

Risk communication : climate change as a human-health threat, a survey of public perceptions in Malta

Background: Scientific evidence shows that climate change is very likely the product of human behaviour and lifestyle. The effects of climate change on human health are diverse in nature and range from direct effects due to extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods and storms, to indirect effects such as those caused by water and food shortages. Methods: A telephone survey was conducted between January and February 2009, on a stratified representative random sample of the Maltese population over the age of 18 years (N= 310 819). Results: Five hundred and forty-three individuals successfully participated in the survey giving a response rate of 92.7%. The respondent sample was very similar to the target population by gender ( P = 0.977), age (P = 0.767) and district (P = 0.812). The results of the study demonstrate a very strong relationship between the perception of climate change as a threat to health and well-being, support for climate change mitigation policy and a willingness to implement measures to address climate change. Conclusion: The findings of this study show that the perception that climate change may claim lives, cause disease, reduce the standard of living and worsen water shortages, may be the strongest driver behind support for climate change mitigation policy and a willingness to act. It is recommended that, in order to gain more public support, climate change campaigns and risk communication strategies should frame climate change as a threat to human health and general well-being.peer-reviewe

Combining Website Search Engine Optimization with Advanced Web Log Analysis

This paper provides a clear guideline to the development of an online decision-making tool. The importance of ranking for an organizations virtual presence through search engines is also discussed. The system described illustrates the complexity of the competition between organizations to be highly ranked by leading search engines. The system not only reports the rankings of the owners but compares an organization with its competitors and enables it to decisively formulate an online development strategy in improving its ranking and therefore increasing its audience or critical mass. The system (Googalyser) utilizes Web logs and content analysis to provide decisive information to Web developers in order to improve the cases ranking through for example www.Google.com