Design

I am happy that I used my background in website design for selection a topic for my papers. The papers were pretty good and I thought the knowledge could be applied to other things.

Here I am working on websites (each blog has its own url that is pretty much a website). I made changes recently that improved the look and feel. HTML is not required for making changes.

My websites have a certain look and feel much like my writing has a certain style. It should be easy to identify the designer/writer. I guess no one should question whether I wrote my papers. 

Real-Time Monitoring for Credit Card Fraud

For the paper on real-time business intelligence systems, I opted to review the systems at credit card companies that monitor account activity for fraud. I was reminded that credit card companies monitor account activity when a family member received a call from his company because they suspected fraud.
It is interesting that: for credit card fraud, the institutions contact the customer to ask whether their card was lost or stolen, while for real-time bus updates, customers contact the bus companies to request an update on wait times (when the next bus will arrive).

On other note, monitoring/checking for fraud is something auditors do. As a Financial Auditor at ODCA, I reviewed financial records - receipts, bank statements, and the like - to determine whether procedures were followed etc. Such reviews were designed to detect fraud if present. Fraud is interesting. My auditing experience aided my understanding of processes and my preparation of use cases for a fraud case management system later.

Recently, I was worried that I would receive a call from the bank after I entered an incorrect PIN for my debit card at a gas station. I ensured that I used the correct PIN for my card at an ATM a short while after. Maybe the rules are different for debit cards. 

Bus Updates

Real-time bus updates is in my backgound because I wrote a LinkedIn article on bus
updates provided by WMATA in the District/Maryland/Virginia (DMV) area. Here is the article:

Bus Updates Via Text Message/SMS

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bus-updates-via-text-messagesms-fahmeenaodetta-moore/

The bus stop referenced in the article is opposite the New Carrollton Library, which is close to my home.

 

Paper on Real-Time Systems

From the introduction of a paper on real-time business intelligence systems (shown here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BFKefjHmtZe/),  I saw that I selected industries to review based on my background and experiences. For the paper, I selected: (1) transit companies that provide real-time updates on the next bus or train, (2) credit card companies that take action based on suspected fraud (from monitoring of account activity), and (3) finance companies that need real-time market data updates. More on these selections will come later.

One of my Instagram posts (https://www.instagram.com/p/BFCKKeoiyIj/) reminded me that I worked on this assignment at Starbucks. I can see my notebook and pen in the picture. Sometimes I went low tech. That Starbucks is in Gainesville, FL. I prepared quite a few papers at that Starbucks. 

 

 

 

 

I also prepared a lot of papers in the computer lab at my apartment community in Gainesville, FL. The environment in the lab was a little like an office environment. I frequented there after a plumbing accident flooded my apartment. I found some Instagram posts that reminded me of the flood as well as papers I prepared in the lab:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Instagram posts on the flood:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFeMBSpCyEQ/
"At the main leasing office (in my apt community) waiting for an update on my apt. The carpeting needs to be dried. Don't think I could be in there today and maybe tomorrow.
#accidents"

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFjddO7CyMN/
"Waiting to "take possession" of my apartment...work should finish today...in the meantime, I am in the computer lab working on my assignment/paper..this one is interesting...it deals with website design and I will use or maybe reference an article I wrote in 2014."

Instagram posts on the computer lab:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BPI1gm9Bu2Y/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJoDTQhjAXk/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJjIzPHD3KM/
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJbn9KIDVpo/

Here is an amateur video of the lab:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8pisPmox8k
It shows the computers and video monitoring system.

 

 

 

 

 

 

BA experience

There is now a summary for my second LinkedIn profile. I worked on it yesterday. See it here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahmeenaodetta/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the subject of knowledge and skills from my Business Analyst experience (from my first LinkedIn profile) that I used in papers and presentations, I can say that I directly used my BA background in a presentation titled 'Data Mining: Acquiring Information and Intelligence From Data'. See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4crCeJegGY
In the presentation, I started with a discussion of organizations' need to obtain more knowledge and understanding from data and use more data from decision-making along with a discussion of the types of data stored by organizations. Then, I discussed that organizations directly use data stored in the databases of individual applications for analysis. This is followed by a discussion that the applications themselves may perform complex analysis for users. I provided an example of a system that automatically matched wire expectations with actual wire data - a complex process that would be tedious if performed manually. This is from my experience at Fannie Mae. Another example I provided was a recommender system that determined patterns in data. I learned of recommender systems while preparing my signature paper on online reviews. 

Finally, I looked at the use of a data warehouse for data analysis, and the mining of data, specifically what is data mining and data mining techniques. I also looked at the limitations of data warehousing and data mining in the future. In the past, I worked on a data warehousing project at Grant Thornton for a short time. I learned some of those concepts there.

I liked the presentation. I received a good grade.

 

 

(From the YouTube video of presentation 'Data Mining: Acquiring Information and Intelligence From Data' prepared by Fahmeena Odetta Moore.)

Diagramming

One reason I started this blog was to practice writing. And I think my writing is improving.
However, I am thinking that I should practice diagramming in addition to writing because I have had much success with diagramming/modeling during my career. At the ICF/Lockheed Martin job, for instance, the FAA liked a diagram I prepared on a business process. At Fannie Mae, an activity diagram I prepared to explain/document a business process was well received by managers.

I did not prepare/create a lot of diagrams during my PhD studies. Only a few papers included diagrams. The diagrams I prepared included concept maps and a BPMN diagram.

One paper required modeling/documentation of a business process. The paper is no longer available online, but the diagrams are. If I remember correctly, I included a link to the online diagrams in the paper. Here is the link: https://fmoorereqprocessflow.blogspot.com/
The diagram documented the process I followed on a Requirements Team. It was close to a general requirements process so I was okay with sharing it.

I need to add diagramming to my LinkedIn profile somehow.

 

 

 

 

Credibility

Today, I am thinking of how and why others may view someone as believable or credible. In my research on online reviews for a PhD course (my first signature assignment), I looked at what would lead others to believe the information in an online review. The literature indicated that argument quality, whether the review was one-sided or two-sided (probably the perceived motivation for the review), review consistency, expertise of the reviewer, and so on impacted the credibility of a review.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at expertise -- 

It makes sense that the expertise of the reviewer determines how credible a review is viewed. If a person speaks intelligently about a topic, that person would be viewed as knowledgeable and therefore authentic and credible.  Everyone wants to be the expert of a particular topic or present a unique idea.

In social media, experts of a topic are generally influencers. These influencers are all about expertise or knowledge of a topic. There are other types of influencers - celebrities, musicians, athletes, and the like  - who are not experts in an academic field, but still drive action and influence consumers to purchase products.

I found an interesting journal article (Arora, Bansal et al, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0969698919300128) that developed an Influencer Index for social media. The use of the word 'index' caught my attention. It made me think of indices in finance such as the Dow Jones or S&P 500. The influencer index discovers influencers on social media networks. Will this lead to something?

I guess social media is growing in importance.

Background

I am still working on my second LinkedIn page (https://www.linkedin.com/in/fahmeenaodetta/). I pretty much dumped data in the profile and am working to organize it all.

I want to show that I used my background (education, jobs, articles etc.) in my PhD papers - information I showed in my other LinkedIn profile some time ago. In that profile, I showed a connection between past jobs and specific papers.

I think it is clear that I used my background in website design and social media to select topics and write papers that fall under the Social Media, Websites, and Blogging category/area. For example, I wrote a paper on how websites should be designed to meet consumer needs. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(From blog post https://moorefo1ncuresearchdesign.blogspot.com/2016/11/work-continues.html, Paper: Method and Design for a Website Improvement Study)

I determined which social media options/sites to use for LifeLessonsForAll/the Lessons Project. I used that knowledge in a paper on social media selections.

Truth

I've been thinking about truth. Truth is complicated. Sometimes, the intent is to deceive so there is little or no truth provided. Sometimes, the truth is withheld to protect the innocent. Sometimes, it is not clear what the truth is. The person may not have all the information or may be in the dark about certain details because of short-sightedness.

My research/papers touched on truth. My paper on online reviews showed that reviewers or raters of products/businesses may choose to be anonymous or may use a phony persona, which frees them from telling the truth. The reviewer may or may not have used the product. (Model at: http://fmooreconceptmap1.blogspot.com/2016/06/concept-map-domain-model-created-for.html)

Making comments/reviews online may be more dangerous than comments given face-to-face. Faces show emotion. Also, it takes a certain type of person to hurl hurtful words to others face-to-face. When online, it is a lot easier to make negative, hurtful comments.

Relationship With God

Christians aspire to have a personal relationship with God. DailyShePursues.com discusses this personal relationship with God.

For me, a relationship with God is different from all other relationships. God is Almighty and powerful and a 'being' to be respected. I place Him above all others.

Other relationships are different but similar. The relationship with a boss, for example, requires work and respect. But I don't believe it should be as close or as trusting. Then there are issues such as personality of the boss and demands of the organization. Bosses are just not perfect. God is supposed to be perfect (with perfect knowledge and perfect judgment).

We know that there are a lot of bad bosses out there. This reminds me of the movie Horrible Bosses.
With God, all things work for good.

We know that bosses control compensation. A good relationship with the boss will likely mean a higher salary and/or higher bonuses. So there is motivation to make the relationship work.

"Managing up" is the term used for maintaining a good/effective relationship with the boss (see: https://hbr.org/2015/01/what-everyone-should-know-about-managing-up). I still have to learn a lot in this area.

 

Praise and Reward

 I am thinking of praise and reward because of a post I wrote yesterday. I am working on an online bible challenge (available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SnxQFmAo4YBtE7-o-RFGhUtRw1JcqvEbpAJgPTPMk9k/edit?usp=sharing) titled 'God The Greatest.' For the challenge/study, I review a verse each day and then post something about it. Yesterday's post was from the book of Job - Job 26:7-14 (Book: Job, Chapter: 26, Verse: 7 through 14). In those verses, Job magnified the name of God, boasting of God's power on Earth and in the universe. It is interesting that Job chose to praise God even though he was suffering so much. And God rewarded him for it.

Maybe Job was crying out to God, crying for assistance during his ordeal. God responded to his cries and he got his reward.

Isn't it good to have a reward? People should be rewarded for hard work, pain and suffering, and so on. 

 

IKEA Signature Assignment

One of my favorite signature assignments is the assignment where I selected appropriate theories to explain the operations of international furniture giant IKEA. This was called a conceptual model. However, this conceptual model was not in the form of a diagram like these conceptual models I prepared for other courses:
http://fmooreconceptmap1.blogspot.com/2016/06/concept-map-domain-model-created-for.html
http://fmooreconceptmapmonitoringperformance.blogspot.com/2017/12/updated-concept-map.html

It is interesting that I wanted to attach a diagram/picture in the IKEA signature assignment I submitted, but had trouble attaching it. I tried and tried to add the picture to the document but just could not. It is difficult to do some things on a phone. I wrote the paper entirely on my phone because my laptop was not working at the time.

I prepared the IKEA signature assignment from Guyana, South America, the country I am from originally. I traveled there after an ordeal in New York. In New York, I lost my bags, lost my charger for my laptop, and was stranded for quite a long time.

Talk about stress! I dealt with a lot of issues during that course and throughout my studies. Somehow, everything worked out for the best. My mother says I handle stress very well, maybe even perform better under stress. I agree.

I am dealing with a lot of stress right now. I am trusting that God provides an appropriate solution.

Signature assignments, Statistics

It is interesting that major assignments in my PhD program were called signature assignments. I liked the signature assignments. I tried to make each one significant/noteworthy. 

My first signature assignment was the paper on online reviews. I actually reused the knowledge in another signature assignment for the Statistics course that turned into a noteworthy paper too. 

Statistics....

That was quite a course. I enjoyed it immensely although times were tough. I have a long history in statistics. My best grade at A Levels was in Statistics, specifically Pure Mathematics With Statistics. I also took lots of Statistics courses in the Economics program at UGy.

I remember that I rented the textbook for the course. Purchasing the book would have been better. Here is a photo from Instagram of the textbook I used for Statistics. I was returning the rental.

 

 

(https://www.instagram.com/p/BFmiPiNiyIz/)

I also found a pic of the first page of the signature assignment for Statistics:

(https://www.instagram.com/p/BCn_xW0mtdw/)

Luck and Chance

There is a lot to think about....

I remember a post in Facebook about lots/land for sale that I found on Zillow that reminded me of my old address in Bowie, MD. That address reminded me of my name because it was full of doubles. Here is the post:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luck may have been involved. I wrote an article on luck years ago:

Are You Lucky? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140922223414-6733373-are-you-lucky

This all makes me think of timing, luck, chance and Almighty God. As I stated in the article, 

Some believe God controls our luck and determines how and when events occur. Some believe we make our own luck by making things happen. One thing is for sure: "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all." – Bible, Ecclesiastes 9:11.

Names

Still thinking about my blog names....

I found some good information in my 'What's in a name' board on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/fahmeenaodetta/whats-in-a-name/). One pin led me to the website https://markosaric.com/blog-name/ that includes this information on how to choose a blog name:

Use your full name as your blog name

Think GaryVaynerchuk.com, KaylaItsines.com, AustinKleon.com, JamesAltucher.com…

Make it personal. Name your blog by your full name. This creates a more personal and warm presence.

It also helps you build a personal brand which could lead to conference talks and even book publishing deals.

It’s also a great method if you switch between different topics you focus on as your name will always fit any project that you’re doing.

It’s not for everyone though as some won’t be too comfortable about putting themselves in the spotlight that much.

And that’s it. That’s how to come up with a great blog name and the domain name.

Now that you have a list of ideas, imagine that you share your domain name to a person you meet at a conference.

 

I like that 'What's in a name' board. It collects very useful information on names, including the idea that one's name could affect one's chances of landing a job.

Isn't it interesting that I have a unique name? And, it is full of double letters too - fahmEEna odeTTa mOOre.

 

Plain language

Plain language is desirable.

Social media set up

#ThrowbackThursday 

 

Remembering my Lessons Project and the set up I had. I used several blogs, feedburner, Twitter, Facebook to broadcast lessons - quotes, commencement speeches, stories of struggles, and other life lessons. 

 

I created the first page in Facebook. It is still linked to my account (it is one of my pages). One of the last changes I made was to add a Blogspot blog to the mix. It was one of several blogs linked to my moorefo1 account. Feedburner recently made some changes. I haven't reviewed those. 

 

Maybe I should have used my name instead of Lessons Project. I like the URLs of my new blogs: 

 

Inside Fahmeena Odetta's Head  

https://fahmeenaodetta.blogspot.com/ 

https://fahmeenaodetta.wordpress.com/  

https://fahmeenaodetta.tumblr.com/ 

 

https://twitter.com/fahmeenaodetta 

https://www.facebook.com/fahmeenaodetta/  

 

#fahmeenaodetta #lessonsproject #lifelessons #twitter #facebook #blogger #blogspot

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changes to a social media account

One of my LinkedIn articles (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/separate-tracking-changes-social-media-account-fahmeenaodetta-moore/) reminded me that Facebook provides an Activity Log that provides details of changes to a Facebook account.  I like the Log. It provides valuable information such as details on each login to my Facebook account, the posts and comments I am tagged in, and the people who follow my account and when they started. 

There is still the need for additional change tracking. For example, I still see the need to track changes to a Pinterest account. I single out Pinterest because, a long time ago, I created a Change Tracker Document for my main Pinterest account - available at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EHEu8Zl4J35n0iOvC51z2V7B5SLC1a2yrdvMeEzItrk/edit. The information/history contained in the document is very valuable.

And, I still believe that tracking changes to a social media account could help to identify unauthorized posts and unauthorized edits (defacing of posts and so on). However, it seems that the changes need to be tracked in a separate document that is controlled by the user.

 

LINKS:

https://www.facebook.com/USERID/allactivity?activity_history=false&category_key=LOGINSLOGOUTS&manage_mode=false&should_load_landing_page=false
(Activity Log Home_Activity You're Tagged In_Logged Actions and Other Activity) 

https://www.facebook.com/USERID/allactivity?activity_history=false&category_key=MANAGEYOURTAGS&manage_mode=true&should_load_landing_page=false
(Activity Log Home_Activity You're Tagged In_Posts and comments you're tagged in) 

https://www.facebook.com/USERID/allactivity/?category_key=review&log_filter=review&manage_mode=false
(Activity Log Home_Timeline, Photo, and Tag Review_Review Posts You're Tagged In) 

https://www.facebook.com/USERID/allactivity?activity_history=false&category_key=FOLLOWERS&manage_mode=false&should_load_landing_page=false
(Activity Log Home_Connections_Followers)

 

Writing, Social media

Thoughts on social media options for collecting thoughts and ideas and to practice writing.... 

 

I am not sure what social media option is best for collecting thoughts and ideas. Blogs are one option. Articles are another. 

 

I found this Linkedin article that collected my thoughts on various topics. I was inspired by a beautiful lake in Maryland.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140819111220-6733373-inspiration-from-a-lake-in-maryland/  

 

#socialmedia #blogs #articles #writing #quotes

 

 

 

 

 

Writing, Online reviews

I decided that I need to practice writing to continue to improve my writing skills. I rather enjoyed the prompts on Wordpress (https://fahmeenaodetta1.wordpress.com/dailypostchallenges/). Linkedin articles were one way to practice. 

 

Here is an article I enjoyed writing: 

Abuse of Power In Online Reviews  

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/abuse-power-online-reviews-fahmeenaodetta-moore/ 

 

It led to selection of the topic (online reviews) for my literature review class at NCU. 

 

Related idea: Maybe we should use online reviews in the workplace for performance reviews and other feedback. There could be feedback on project failures/successes, management styles, and so on. 

 

#writing #onlinereviews #performancereview #feedback #lessonslearned #knowledgemanagement #projectfailure

 

 

 

 

 

Transferring to a new career

More thoughts on my education and background… 

Training and experience in performance auditing provided skills that transferred well to testing computer systems/applications. Here is an example of a performance auditing report:  

https://www.osc.state.ny.us/state-agencies/audits/2018/05/04/compliance-payment-card-industry-standards-follow 

It determined the extent to which recommendations were followed. 

Testing compares actual to expected - looking for defects or unexpected/undesirable system behavior. 

 

A friend once told me more attention needs to be paid to transferable skills. I think she is right. https://www.macslist.org/career-happiness/how-to-leverage-transferable-skills-to-advance-your-career

 

School projects

I went looking for my projects/assignments from the MS in Information Systems program at UMBC. My web page was: https://userpages.umbc.edu/~mooref1/. It included projects like the online magazine subscription store, completing a shopping cart program, and a blosxom blog (http://blosxom.sourceforge.net/). 

 

That was a good program! 

https://onlinems.umbc.edu/courses.php

 

 

IT vs Business

Further thoughts on my education..... 

I started my career in finance and somehow ended up in the IT (information technology) field. Who would have thought? Maybe I should have selected a technical undergraduate degree. I am happy that I decided to study computer studies at O Level even though I was a business student. And, I am happy that I enrolled in many computer studies courses later on. 

I found this old blog post on the project/coursework I completed for the O Level examination: https://moorefo1.blogspot.com/2014/02/this-past-week-was-my-feel-good-week.html (from blog: https://moorefo1.blogspot.com/) 

This is an interesting video on the decision to study computer science at A Levels: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHTSRSzgb4E

 

 

 

Reflections

I was out at the nearby soccer/football field working on a signature assignment. 

 I don't go outdoors as much these days. 

 

I found a post that reminded me of this.... 

 

"I was out on the nearby field thinking" 

- https://qualresearchdesignmoorefo1.blogspot.com/2017/03/currently-working.html 

(blog: https://qualresearchdesignmoorefo1.blogspot.com/) 

 

I also found the matching video....  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPWK1-m9EL8&t=2s

 

Internships

Remembering the work study/internship I did at NIS many years ago in Guyana. I got that internship through the school. Years later, at the university level, I got an internship at USPTO through the school. Internships can make a difference.

Higher education

Shoutout to the universities I attended over the years. I enjoyed the courses I took and learned so much. I am much wiser because of my education.

Music

Music moves me to laugh or sing or cry....

It was fun reading posts on music in Linkedin:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/MUSIC/

 

 

Technology and productivity

I found an interesting article on 12 Ways Technology Can Increase Workplace Productivity: https://www.tinypulse.com/blog/12-ways-technology-can-increase-workplace-productivity. I like this topic. This reminds me of a paper I prepared on the performance impacts of technology (on hand hygiene compliance). Some of the research questions include: 

 

RQ1: Do technology solutions that monitor hand hygiene compliance result in improved employee performance in the short-term because employees develop the habit of cleaning/washing their hands (i.e. is there a steady increase in performance that peaks at a certain level – performance follows an asymptotic curve)? 

RQ2. What is the longer-term performance impact of implementing a technology solution that monitors hand hygiene compliance, i.e. the performance impact after 1 year and beyond (after 3, 4, 5 years etc.)? RQ3. Would employee job satisfaction and retention increase, decrease or remain unchanged following the implementation of the technology solution that monitors hand hygiene compliance? 

 

The paper is available here: https://w.taskstream.com/ts/moore783/SignatureAssignmentProposalMonitoring.html/acf5e6eq00akfcfkf7e8edfefl 

(from blog on Completing the PhD-level Research Methods course at NCU: https://fmooresignatureassignment3.blogspot.com/)

 

 

Signature assignment on online reviews

Remembering the work involved in preparing one of my first signature assignments on online reviews. I enjoyed working on the concept map which helped to connect concepts from several papers for the literature review.  

http://fmooreconceptmap1.blogspot.com/?m=0