Current Event #3: Microsoft vs NSA

Microsoft is trying to encrypt data more securely to disallow government snooping. They intend to be more transparent to show customers that there are no back-doors for the government to get through. However, seeing as how Windows is one of the most attacked OS, I doubt the government will have much of a problem getting in without them rewriting a majority of the OS from scratch.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/05/tech/web/microsoft-nsa-snooping/index.html?hpt=te_t1

General Conference Tweeting

Tweeting during Conference had mixed benefits. I was continually distracted but when I told myself to focus the tweeting actually helped because I only looked at it when I needed some clarification. There was also many people sharing with their friends and spreading the gospel which was nice to see.

Unlocking the Clubhouse

Women are lost when they enter computing. They come in with a disadvantage to men: the lack of other women. Growing up women have very few friends in computing because men are mostly involved in computing, not other women. Most males who are in CS have already had experience computing in their free time with their friends. The lack of women becomes a chicken and the egg issue: without more women in computer science, it is hard to get more women in computer science.

Honest and Trustworthy: Everyone, Everywhere, Every time

Honesty and trustworthiness are scarce these days. We must strive to be different than the norm, if not for our own sanity by not having to keep our lies straight, than for our economy. People want to do business with those who are trustworthy and those who can prove their worthiness, will have more business. When people abide by a code of ethics, everything runs more smoothly because everything can trust each other to do their part and therefore can focus on their own tasks. More can get done if everyone has the ability to trust each other.

Virtual or Reality?

Dreams are reality while sleeping. People take that principle while playing games: games are reality while playing. A terrible view on games, since what happens in role playing games doesn't stay in the game. Gamers have gone to jail over what has followed them from the virtual into reality. They decide to meet someone and have committed a felony because that person turned out to be a minor. In order for games to be played properly and kept fun, those playing must understand that virtual doesn't mean that it isn't real. It becomes a reality of its own.

Gender X in Science

Lack of women in the sciences is appalling; however, fingers can't be pointed at schools or judgmental coworkers, but at those women who declare their own path. As a women in Computer Science, which different than other majors, having most men in all my classes, but men haven't been unwelcoming or judgmental. For people to condemn others for making women not want to be in the sciences is hasty. Do women want to study science? That should be the question everyone is asking. Like all, I've heard stories of girls being judged, but they are few and far in between, certainly not enough for such a lack of women to be explained by them.

Building Rome

Imagine a world where only the elite build. The elite are unsure of what the customers want. In Rome, in was the common people who built. The same is true of open source software. If only the elite manufacture software, then we would have many niches unsatisfied. Open source developers improve upon projects that have already be utilized and admired, and they make them more useful to suit theirs - and usually other's - needs. Closed software is freedom lost. Users must adhere to standards that program imposes and cannot manipulate it for their own needs. They must wait until another long-awaited update.

The New Religion and New Technology

Everyone is behind their computers and phones almost 24/7 and now the LDS church is using that to enhance the spreading of the gospel. Instead of reading scriptures, now investigators of the church can connect directly to members and ask their questions to real people who have real life experiences similar to their own. Missionaries at the MTC are able to hold online chat sessions with investigators. This has unearthed some trolls looking to shake the faith of some of the faithful. These trolls are trying to provoke a response from the members of the church. There will always be pros and cons to every decision that the church makes, but we must hope that the good that utilizing new technologies provides will far outweigh the bad.

Parasites in the Legal System

People have become parasites. They piggy-back off the success of others and refuse to create their own success. When people create patents, but then never utilize them, that is a hint that they shouldn't have filed for the patent. Companies that need to utilize the patent to create jobs and innovate even further should have rights to the patent. There was a time when pride would prevent people from doing such a low handed, under the table deal. Pride would make people try to make something of themselves instead of sucking the life out of other companies. Where is that pride now? Will we ever get it back?

Cuckoo's Egg

When a cuckoo lays an egg, it lays it in another bird's nest and that bird takes care of the baby cuckoo. In The Cuckoo's Egg, the protagonist Cliff tried to warn everyone, but in the beginning, no one would help. They let Cliff take care of everything, just like a cuckoo. If everyone would have worked together, they could have caught the hacker swiftly.
People want to push responsibility onto others. Only when people all learn to accept responsibility will things work much more smoothly. The world needs to recognize when others need help and offer help. The world needs to recognize when something needs to be done and make sure it gets done. We all have a responsibility to do our best and hope for the best for ourselves.

Immersed in a Virtual World

Everyone is connected. Connected to their friends, email, TV shows and whatever else the internet has to offer. Only when the computer is shut down, do people experience reality. What if the computer was never shut off and was constantly in front of you? Many companies are competing with Google's new Google Glass with specialized versions of this immersive fashion statement. People will never have to disconnect from their artificial world; therefore, will they ever connect to the real one? It is a slippery slope, but I hope that people will use this new trend to their advantage when they need it and still engage in the physical world, but, like most new things, only time will tell.

Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/business/seeking-a-staredown-with-google-glass.html?ref=technology

The Internet: Reinventing Families

Family history gets swept under the rug in lieu of many other meaningless priorities. With the Internet, doing family history is much more productive than ever before. Now we can search for our families, and when we find them, we can easily connect with them to learn even more. We can get involved in the life of our second cousin twice removed by simply becoming friends with them on Facebook or following them on Twitter. By doing this, we aren't only reading about our extended families, we are becoming part of them. This was the original intent of doing family history, to be able to connect with our families. Thanks to modern technology, now we can do just that.

NSA Striping our Rights to Security

Who can you trust anymore? NIST changed the new SHA-3 algorithm to be less secure. When you know certain number, you can easily decrypt any message that is sent on a "secure connection". Why would someone who is setting the standards for security, allow for a less secure connection? The fingers are all pointing to the NSA. This is ludicrous because now, in order to protect us, the government is making our information more vulnerable to everyone, including those who wish us harm. Now we have to live with substandard security in order to maintain our "freedom".

https://www.cdt.org/blogs/joseph-lorenzo-hall/2409-nist-sha-3

A World without Consequences

Imagine a life with a "delete" button. Wouldn't that be awesome to hide all your past indiscretions? Then you can live without feeling the consequences of making any mistakes. California has just passed a law that does just that: by 2015, all sites that are gears toward minors, must have a "delete" button, which will erase all the data that they have posted*. No more will that drunken bachelor/bachelorette party haunt them.
But what lesson is this principle teaching the youth? We cannot delete our physical past as easily. The age that they are allowed online unsupervised, should be the age that they learn about consequences, and about how they cannot post anything that they don't want everyone to see. I fear too many people have missed this lesson.

*http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57604301-83/california-gives-teens-an-eraser-button-to-hide-online-skeletons/

Remember when people would return from work with bloodied hands and only a few cents to show for it? People asked for technology to help save them from that inevitable fate and now, some resent technology for taking away jobs. Having technology elevates the menial laborers to be forced to become something more, to improve instead of obey. This is what will drive our civilization into the future where robots become more than just machines; they become part of who we are. Many are apprehensive toward this new future, saying that machines will control us - the only way that a machine can control us, is if we tell it to control us. We should embrace our future with machines, because technology is only beginning to scratch the surface of ways that it can improve our lives.