Japan Technology http://www.ibcjapan.org Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:45:20 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 The Value of Good Technical Support http://www.ibcjapan.org/the-value-of-good-technical-support.html http://www.ibcjapan.org/the-value-of-good-technical-support.html#comments Wed, 28 Mar 2012 02:45:20 +0000 admin http://www.ibcjapan.org/?p=1844 Individuals who either purchase technical equipment such as laptops, computers, high-tech television sets, projectors and the like; or subscribe to technical services such as cable television, mobile phone and internet connections, and web hosting – should have access to good technical support. Technical support is very important because once something goes wrong with the equipment or if the service is not functioning as expected, they are the people that would try to sort things out.

Technical support is usually offered as a free service by equipment manufacturers of service providers, although some do charge a fee for their service, but this would usually depend on factors such as warranty coverage and the scope and scale of assistance required. A company’s technical support team is usually contacted by phone or by email. In some cases, queries can be logged through an internet portal – whichever way it is, consumers can usually expect a reply from the technical support team within a few hours of logging in the complaint.

For those looking for good web hosts, the quality of a host provider’s technical support team can be verified by reading the comments and evaluating the star ratings on web hosting user reviews. Host reviews, such as Host Monster Review, are independently run web sites that publish impartial ratings and feedback on the services provided by host companies. Ratings and feedback cover a wide range of categories, and this includes the quality and efficiency of the host’s technical support team. Host reviews are readily available on the internet and can be viewed by anybody at any time.

]]> http://www.ibcjapan.org/the-value-of-good-technical-support.html/feed 0 Science, Technology, and Intellectual Property http://www.ibcjapan.org/science-technology-and-intellectual-property.html http://www.ibcjapan.org/science-technology-and-intellectual-property.html#comments Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000 admin http://localhost/?p=1739

Science and technology provide many societal benefits, such as the enhancement of economic growth or quality of life. They also can produce negative, unintended consequences. Most societies promote science and technology, but this can be costly. Establishment of IPRs that protect new works and give innovators the right to profit from their creations provides incentives for expensive innovation without the need for direct government subsidies (Posner 2004). At the same time, IPRs may maintain or aggravate wealth inequities.

Rights have little meaning unless they can be enforced and modern technology has made IPRs enforcement increasingly difficult. Photocopiers make it possible for anyone with access to a machine to reproduce works entitled to copyright protection and the Internet allows anyone to make literary or musical works available to the world.

Science and technology challenge intellectual property systems, particularly patent laws. New fields such as information technology and genetic engineering force courts to decide how to apply laws made before such technologies were contemplated. As knowledge itself becomes more valuable, people and institutions seek additional protection for control of the knowledge and its profits. At the same time, society has an increasing need for access to some kinds of knowledge and protection from the use of others.

Abstract ideas cannot be patented but their applications can qualify for patent protection. For example, “Einstein could not patent his celebrated law that E MC2; nor could Newton have patented the law of gravity. Such discoveries are ‘manifestations of Nature, free to all men and reserved exclusively to none.”‘ (Diamond v. Chakrabarty, p. 309, quoting Funk Brothers Seed Co. v. Kalo Inoculant Co., 333 U.S. 127, 130, 1948). General ideas remain in the public domain but their applications may be privatized through the patenting process.

Biotechnology, perhaps more than any other field, has challenged courts and lawmakers to reconsider intellectual property laws. In 1972 Ananda Chakrabarty, a microbiologist, sought a U.S. patent for a genetically engineered bacterium. The U.S. Patent Office denied the application because bacteria are products of nature, and living things cannot be patented under U.S. law. The case was appealed and eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court restated the principle that natural phenomena cannot be patented, but found that Chakrabarty’s bacterium was “a product of human ingenuity,” and therefore was patentable under U.S. law.

So many biotechnology patents have been issued for such small innovations that some fear the creation of a tragedy of the anti-commons in which new innovations involve so many existing patents that innovation is discouraged. At least one study has found the anti-commons is not yet a significant deterrent to innovation, but that the situation should be monitored.

IPRs can be attached to writings or products regarded as dangerous or immoral, and IPRs tend to legitimize such works by implying social approval. Societies must decide whether to provide protection for harmful or otherwise objectionable work. New technologies, particularly those that create or replicate life, often trigger debate over whether the work should be done at all, much less be protected by law. IPRs also establish ownership of particular innovations, which may help to determine liability if a product causes harm. This raises questions of whether innovators should be held responsible for their products, particularly when the products are used in unintended ways.

Public funding for science and technology further complicate intellectual property issues. Who should benefit from works developed under public funding, the creator or the public? What balance of public/private benefits best serves societal goals?

Academics build their reputations by producing intellectual works. They seek recognition for their accomplishments, control over any economic benefits, and protection against plagiarism. IPRs promote release of information to the public by assuring the author of protection for the work, even after it is made public. IPRs protect authors from possible appropriation of ideas by others, including peer reviewers, before the work has actually been published.

Ownership can be a major IPRs issue. Who owns the product of collaborative work? At what point does a contribution by a supervisor, graduate student, or coworker deserve coauthorship? When the creator works for a corporation or a university, does ownership lie with the creator or the institution? What about funding agencies? In many cases, ownership or authorship is established by disciplinary customs or by agreements among the parties (Kennedy 1997).

Plagiarism is professionally unacceptable and sometimes illegal, but timing is critical to determining whether plagiarism has occurred. According to Donald Kennedy, “To take someone else’s idea and use it before it has been placed in the public domain is a form of theft … [t]o make further use of someone else’s idea after it has been published is scholarship” (1997, p. 212). Of course attribution is critical even, or especially, in scholarship, whether or not a work is protected.

]]> http://www.ibcjapan.org/science-technology-and-intellectual-property.html/feed 0 The Relationship Between Science, Technology, and Society http://www.ibcjapan.org/the-relationship-between-science-technology-and-society.html http://www.ibcjapan.org/the-relationship-between-science-technology-and-society.html#comments Fri, 16 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000 admin http://localhost/?p=1740

Science and technology is the best thing society could ever ask for. Since the industrial revolution in the 18th century science has been in progress. Some sectors that have been boosted by science and technology are energy, physical sciences, information and communication. The society has greatly gained with the invention of technology.

Infrastructure in the society has grown with the help of science and technology. Modes of transport like electronic railway lines were realized and these actually benefited the society by offering them a better means of transport. In the past, almost everything was analog but thanks to the science and technology we are now being digitalized by the day. The invention of the telephone and radio services has broadened human communication.

Without society then there would be no science and technology and that is why the invention of certain tools and equipment have helped achieve big things. Society can not do without the industries we have today. The society needs science and technology. The creation of computers is work of art by individuals was a milestone that would come a long way in helping the society. A computer helps us to leverage ourselves by gaining valuable information that we can use to enrich our lives. The impact of science and technology can seriously be recognized. Many people around the world take for example scholars in colleges and universities have taken the lead examining the relationship between science and technology.

The evaluation of this relationship has emerged as an important area of research. Public interest groups and academic organizations throughout the world are recognizing the importance of STS. The reason is that people need to recognize that there are people who are affected by the science and technology. Controversies such as modified foods, stem cell research are the issues that have brought policy makers and scientists together to have a way forward on this.

Science and technology has actually largely contributed to the vision of man about himself. Science has been modified the opinion about the origin of man and place of origin too. Through the results of scientific discoveries the perception of man about his behavior and his place of origin has been modified diversly. Experiments in science today are in one way or another affecting the society.Take for example the experiment on cloning a human being. The experiment brought a lot of controversy since the society was skeptical about it.

How is science and technology related to society: The developing world has a long tradition of participatory action research, popular education and community organization joining up to solve some science and technology issues that affect the society. How is science and technology related to the society is something that is calling even for the government intervention. Science and technology related issues are actually been discussed worldwide today. Progress in this has resulted to the ability to produce diverse types of material items. Answering the question how science and technology is related to society.

]]> http://www.ibcjapan.org/the-relationship-between-science-technology-and-society.html/feed 0