Joshua Walker

Prof. Jensen

IST 1100

28 February 2014

I believe that some countries and some regions are better than other countries at certain things is because of where some countries are located. For example places that are close to bodies of water usually specialize in things such as fishing and boating. They specialize more so than other places when it also comes to shipping because they are so close to the ocean so you can rely on them to get the shipping done and done rather swiftly. They have the advantage over other countries and they would be first in being contacted when it comes to shipping or maybe when it comes to seafood. Other places that have a comparative advantage in farming would be more heavily relied on more so than like as mentioned before the countries closer to any body of water. It all comes down to where the countries or regions are located.

Self-directed consumers I think are consumers who are self directed by themselves by the things that they need or want. I think that I am a self-directed consumer as I don’t let really anything directed me for getting something that I may want or even need. I am directed by my own desires and needs. I feel like everyone is to a certain point as more so of the things that we obtain is because we were directed either by a need or want for something. Most of America is made up of self-directed consumers. I can probably say the same for other countries but then again I can’t since I don’t live in the other countries even though I did live in Germany for 9 years and the feeling that I got from being there it is the same as it is for people in America. Consumers are directed by their own needs and wants and I am one of them.

I feel like globalization does in a way mean Americanization. From what you see everyday that other countries are influenced by some of the things that America does and also vice versa. Everyone has had some sort of influence on the things that are done or look. It may not be as major as other places like in regions that aren’t as big as America since they don’t get exposed to the things that America or other places do. More and more places are becoming more similar. Someone may see something good that one may do and get an idea from that and base something off of that thing. So I believe that globalization does mean Americanization but it doesn’t specifically come down to just America as it happens globally.

Joshua Walker

Prof. Jensen

IST 1100

18 February 2015

Free trade is a policy in international markets in which governments do not restrict imports or exports. Free trade is exemplified by the European Union/ European Economic Area and the North American Trade Agreement, which have established open markets. I personally believe that free trade is important because it allows countries to be able to trade for materials or things that one may need. It is a way in which other countries can help one another and trade for such things. It’s not where one country will necessarily get an edge but they are trying to keep up. I do not see anything wrong with free trade. I believe it helps many countries obtain the things that they need to thrive. You trade with countries that have a comparative advantage in an area that you may not excel in and make the trade and obtain the items that you may need. It is great and it should be here to stay for ages to come.

There are quite a bit of skills and personality that make up a “new middler”. They are divided into different categories. The first one is someone who is a great collaborator and orchestrator. That is someone who works together very well with others as well as someone who can orchestrate something and make something happen. The second category is the great synthesizer. That is someone who I would describe as thinking outside of the box in order to be successful in a certain aspect of what you may be doing. Third category is great explainers. This one is rather self explanatory, someone who is very great at explaining things, such as how something should be done or explaining the right way to do a certain task. Me myself I would believe that I fall into this category as I can explain things rather well. I can admit it may not be for good reasons but for the most part is something that I can do rather well for good reasons.Those are just some of the traits that could be called the “new middler”.

CQ+PQ>IQ is basically the curiosity quotient. It is believed to be important because curiosity quotient (CQ) and the passion quotient (PQ) matter more in the flat world than the intelligence quotient (IQ). I feel that all three are important as you would need them all to be successful. You do need a certain level of curiosity as that is what gets you involved in something. It gets you wanting to know more. And with you wanting to know more, you can gain a passion from that. You become very passionate about whatever that may be and you base your life off of that thing that became a passion and it drives you. That is where your IQ does come in handy. You have to be smart with all of these things and don’t let it distract you from the things that are important. Balance all of them out. I do not believe that one is more important than the other as you would need all three.

Joshua Walker

Prof. Jensen

IST 1100

1/17/2015

The difference between globalization 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 is that with globalization 1.0 was from 1492 or Columbus to the 1800's. This caused the world to change from large to medium because countries were globalizing. For example Spain to America and Britain to India. Globalization 2.0 was from 1800's to 2000 and it brought the world from medium to small because companies were going global. Globalization 3.0 changed the world from small to tiny. This change was caused by individuals going global. The internet was a large part of how individuals and communicate with one another. Since at the beginning when Columbus thought the world was flat when he was sailing, everyone believed him. No one could deny the fact since he was the one who sailed and saw with his own eyes and felt that the world was flat. As we know now the world is not flat. Also with globalization i think it has to trading on a global standpoint. I felt that in terms of what Friedman meant by the world being flat is that we were limited until the rise of globalization and everything expanded. Like mentioned before communication as far as trading with other countries and technology expanded globalization.

The fall of the Berlin Wall to Friedman had a big impact on his life, as well as many others obviously. It made a huge impact on the economy and the technology in Europe as well in Germany obviously the site of where the fall of the Berlin Wall took place. Germany was impacted directly since we knew the why the Berlin Wall was even up. It was dividing German up and the fall basically united all of Germany all over again. As stated in the previous I felt it opened up trading and communication up with other countries and a rise in technology started.

The story of Netscape is important because following a theme here another form of communication expanded and came to power. It was best known Netscape Navigator as it was a browser. It opened up many forms of communication with other people but the more impactful thing I felt like it did was open up communication with other countries expanding the ways of trade and making it useful to get things from one place to the other.

Joshua Walker

Prof. Jensen

IST 1100

14 February 2015

The Triple Convergence explains why the world is flat, how we used it to our advantage,and how this together changed the playing field. There are three theories that try to explain how and why the world is flat. The first Convergence states that the combination of the ten world flatteners created a new global platform. It was said that the flattening of the world allowed new and different ways to communicate like with other countries. The second Convergence states this new platform would not be useful if we did not change the way we did business. I think what this is saying is that since they felt the world was flat there we should be able to accommodate for the world being flat and take advantage of the perception of the world and its shape.The third Convergence was that before the flattening of the world the economy consisted of of about 2.5 billion people. All of this was important as people felt that the world being flat would actually be more beneficial to everyone. It would be much better than now we know the world to be round and not flat so now this kind of thoughts and theories don’t apply to us anymore.

The story behind India and Indiana was that the Indian tribes that were currently residing in Indiana due to a treaty. I would classify the Indians who were currently there in Indiana as the the exploited party. They were the ones who were there to begin with and had to end up leaving a place that they had already currently inhabited. I would also say that the exploiter would be the state of Indiana.

Intellectual property is a legal term that refers to the creations of the mind. There are many of examples of intellectual property such as music, literature, and other artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. I believe that intellectual property is important because without the protection ideas that people themselves came up with, those individuals would not be able to reap the benefits of their inventions and would focus less on research and development. With whatever that individual did they would not be able to take the credit for the great thing or things that they were able to do.

Joshua Walker

Prof. Jensen

IST 1100

7 February 2015

I did an interview with my dad who actually does work on computers and networking as his job. He was in the Air Force but retired 7 years ago and he is a civilian but works with the Air Force and does computers and network. Whenever I have an issue with my laptop or something as far as the internet I always go to my dad to help and he always knows what to do so it is really great that he does things with those things.

First question I asked my dad how did he get into the computing and networking. He got into networking and computing from his days when he was a first sergeant when we were stationed in Germany before he eventually retired and we moved to Las Vegas.

Next I asked what are the kinds of people that you work with. He works with many Americans but also works with the British Air Force. There are a lot of britians actually more so than Americans but he very much enjoys working with them as he learns a lot from them and they are very entertaining to him.  

Next I asked how long did he know that this was what he wanted to do. He wanted to do this from the very beginning, from the first time he entered the Air Force. There are some things about his job that he can’t disclose to me or other people but for the most part he tells me all the things he does and enjoys about his job. The pay, actually doing something he enjoys doing.

Next I asked what exactly does he do at his job. Like stated before there are some things he cant tell me about what actually goes on during a typical day of work. He has told us some stories of how he and his fellow co-workers have watched videos of soldiers taking out evil men in Iraq or Afghanistan. He also fixes any internet computer issues that may come up around the workplace or anywhere that he can help.