Author Archives: jl147074

I grow up in Shanghai. There are two things I want to mention about the technologies we use in daily life.

First, we have something like the metro card; it is called “YiKaTong”. But it could be used for more functions. Besides you can swipe it for your subway fare, you could also pay for your taxi fare. And you can refill it in all major 24hr convenience stores like 7-11, Lawson, FamilyMart, etc… You also can use it to pay for your electricity, gas and water bills. All you need to do is go to those 24hr convenience stores and pay with your “YiKaTong”.

Second, just like Americans have Paypal, we have something called Alipay, which it works the same function as Paypal, but with more functions and more convenience. Like Paypal, Alipay is connected with your credit card. You can use it to pay bills such as electricity, gas and water. Also, you can do wire transfer by using its transfer function. And Alipay is working with the largest online shopping website—Taobao—in China. But, do not be afraid. It secures your online shopping experience. How it works basically is when you place an order on Taobao, Alipay holds your money and it will not transfer the money to the sellers until you receive the products and confirm the quality of the goods you purchase. It is easy and simple to use. And it secures your money because it is tied with your cell phone number. For example, every time when you make a purchase or a transfer, it will send a text message with security code to the tied cell phone number. Then, you need to input the security code that is sent to your phone onto the webpage, otherwise, Alipay will not be able to process the payment.

• What can we do to prevent our smartphones from being hacked?

First, I think it is just better for us not to store any important information in the phones. Second, just like what we do with computers, do not open virus emails or links that seem to be a virus.

• Why would someone want to hack smartphones?  What information might they be after?

I personally store information regarding to addresses, important phone numbers, even credit card numbers, gift card numbers, etc… in the memo function of my phone. I assume that is what most people with smartphones do nowadays. I have been warned by so many people no to do that, but I still keep doing it just for my own convenience. Also, I think pretty much everyone sets password for his or her phones, but unfortunately, I do not. All these make others to get information on my phone easily. So, same situation comes to place with hacking. It means even though you do set passwords, once your phone gets hacked, all the information such as addresses, important phone numbers, even credit card numbers, gift card numbers, etc… will be used by others. Also, the mail function on the smartphones, once you have set up your account, you do not need a password to access the emails. I think this is one of the other reasons for people to hack others’ smartphones.

Since I work at a small office, my job could be described as either the secretary or the bookkeeper. When I first start working there, I am not used to working with Excel even though I know how to use it.

However, my boss really depends on using Excel. For example, when we are adding up the total amount for five checks that are received, it seems easier for us to use a calculator than using Excel because it takes time to just open up a spreadsheet. But he would rather use Excel to get the sum.

As working at the same office with the same boss for over two years, now I am used to use Excel as well. Because it helps to organize our office in a certain way such as if there are some invoices that I want my boss to review, I will create a spreadsheet to record them and the file will be saved in the share drive for him to access anytime even though I am not there.

Also, I took a statistics class last semester. It is required to use Excel’s formulas such as Chi-square, Normal, etc… when we were working on questions that are related to distributions.

Thus, I think knowing how to use Excel is really important in many ways. And it is not limited to one career; it could be used in different purposes such as listing, organizing, etc…

Jue Li

Here is the link to my profile.

/https://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/members/jl147074