Smallish Post 7

It is important for everyone, no matter what career or field of study they pursue, to have a standard to which they hold their work and lives. In the field of computer science the path into the future is both bright and unknown. New developments are constantly taking place, opening up great new potential. In fields that are evolving there is an inherent responsibility in all involved to make sure new advancements enhance life rather than harm it. I believe that it is also important for computer scientists to stay up to date in learning about new technology and software that is developed. This is a way to remain relevant in terms of employment opportunities. Also it helps ensure products are made with quality and aimed at benefiting others.

Position VLog

In today's world I think it is impossible for parents to try and shut out or remove technology from their lives and homes in an attempt to protect their children. It is true that many degrading and destructive things can be found online. However there are so many productive things made available because of technology that has become readily available to everyone without much effort. It is a parents responsibility to raise and teach their children. If a parent is able to understand the technology his children are using then he will be able to talk with them about its uses. Parents should not be shocked to learn their children have become exposed to bad things online or on their phones. It is going to happen, no matter how hard parents try to avoid it. However, parents can use these moments to talk with their children and teach them. But that only is possible they understand the technology their children use. Parents need to adjust to the world of ever changing technology, but that does not mean change the importance of talking with and teaching their children.

Smallish Blog Post 6

I have thought a lot about my own use of video and computer games. I have always liked playing them and have played many while growing up. I have played casually as well as getting very involved, spending significant amounts of time. There are many things found on computers and the internet that can be self destructive and addicting. This is the same as with anything else. And too much time spent on any one thing is bad. However this does not mean that it should be avoided all together. I think very simply put there needs to be moderation in all things. Whether it is how much time and attention we give to video games, sports, studies, work, or anything else, we cannot put too much focus on one area. I don't plan on avoiding video games any time soon. I enjoy playing them and with that comes the responsibility to make sure I don't let them cause my life to become unbalanced.

Book Post 2 - Here Comes Everybody

The example in the book of Evan using his online connections to find his friend's phone might have worked then but I don't necessarily think it would still work today. The internet has become flooded with everyone sharing articles, blogs, pictures, and so on. New social groups are formed everyday among people with shared interests. And so called amateurs are breaking down the distinction between themselves and those journalists and reporters with "professional status". I think it is a very good thing that anyone can share information about a developing story as quickly as they can. But I think it can also discredit a lot of the things that are shared. Since anyone can say anything there is the possibility for a story to be shown in a way other than how it really is. There is no way to guarantee the information being shared is valid. The reason the old style of reporting news worked, where agencies decided what was good enough to report and triple checked the story before it went out, is because viewers felt they could trust these sources. I think with this movement toward breaking down the barrier between professional and amateur journalists and reporters there comes a need for trust in what is being shared. Whether this is maintained through official news reporting agencies or some unwritten regulation that develops among the online social group of amateur journalists it does not matter. It just needs to happen.

Smallish Post 5

I have not had much experience with open source and it has all come in the last few years. I installed linux on an external drive for one of my computer science classes. At first it was difficult to learn how to work with linux. Now since I have learned quite a bit it has been a good experience. I think the main difference between the Cathedral and Bazaar concepts is the type of people who participate. In Linux those who use it are often involved in the open source movement and have a deep understanding of what is going on in the operating system. But you will very rarely find someone who doesn't know much about computers using a linux distribution. Whereas in the Cathedral idea the users aren't always aware of the underlying processes of the operating system. I do think that one idea is better than the other. It is good to have both because it provides options for both those familiar with the inner workings of an operating system and those who aren't.

Smallish Post 4

At one point or another I think everyone taking computer science classes has noticed that there are often significantly more guys than girls in the classes. I understand the idea that girls are less likely to pursue a degree in computer science because it is seen as a boys club. While growing up if I found myself in a situation that could be seen as not very manly I would be afraid of what my friends would say. I think just about every guy has experienced this. It is pretty similar to how girls might feel when deciding whether or not to pursue computer science. Why would they want to do something that is generally perceived as something women don't do. It can be very difficult to break from the mold and forge a new path in life. I agree with Stross, that in order to change this view there needs to be a change made much earlier. Opportunities to explore the hard sciences need to be seen as a good thing starting at a very young age and not only in the levels of higher education.

Smallish Post 3

The past few years several General Conference talks have focused on sharing the Gospel through social media. I often struggle between wanting to share the Gospel and doing so in a way that feels natural. I don't have Instagram, Pintrest, or SnapChat. I use Facebook pretty infrequently and that is it for social media. When I do go on Facebook I don't actually post anything, rather I look at the messages I have received. I feel like if I were to suddenly post things about my testimony and the church it would be very out of place. From my own experience I don't really pay attention to most of the things posted by people, especially if they are trying to make a direct statement on some issue. Each person needs to identify how they can share the Gospel over social media in a way that fits naturally in with who they are. One example of this for me is when I go somewhere fun with my friends we will take a picture of all of us. I can also do this for things like temple trips.

Book Post 1 - The Cuckoo's Egg

I wonder if a story similar to the one in the Cuckoos Egg would be possible today. Technology has improved greatly since that story took place. These advances make it both easier to track people as well as to hide. I can think of two reasons why it is not likely to happen again. First, Cliff Stoll received a lot of help from individuals at the network companies that probably wouldn't be available today. He called them at unusual hours. They performed call traces because they were interested in what was happening. These people had extra time to help Stoll on his hunt. In today's world I don't think a company would allow one of their employees to waste time on a wild goose chase. Second, the job of searching for a cyber hacker would not be pushed onto one of the individual victims. Federal agencies, such as the FBI, CIA, and NSA, have taken a greater interest in cyber security after incidents like this, and now react quickly to threats of this nature. These agencies are more formal and take proper legal action in conducting their investigations. Any significant work done by a regular person would most likely be discredited because they did not have legal jurisdiction.
This does not mean that we no longer have a responsibility to keep track of things happened on our networks. Every network administrator is charged with ensuring privacy is secured and if a problem is found it should be reported to the proper agencies with jurisdiction to further investigate.

Smallish Post 9/30

It was very interesting to see the progression of family history work and technology in the articles read. Something I find interesting about this community created on family search is that it is completely regulated by the users in terms of what information and names are put on the site. When adding a new name or making a new connection, users are always encouraged to provide documents or pictures to clearly identify the person and it is. This is then verified by other users. But who is to say whether or not it is accurate? The users of family search really become the experts in this field of determining whether they have found the person they are looking for. There isn't any higher authority that can give the final say on this. I think it is very interesting because it is different from other fields of research that typically have a small group of people who are very knowledgeable and can be relied upon to settle any disputes.

Current Event 2

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140924006503/en/Samsung-Starts-Producing-3.2-Terabyte-NVMe-SSD-Based#.VCOYgRb_TUc

It seems the amount of memory we fit into a single drive and the processing that can by done by a single chip increases every year. I often think about the new potential with so much available to everyone. A large company will have many uses for extra storage space and processing speed. They can store and analyze larger amounts of data even faster than before. But at some point I wonder how much data they actually need. People are becoming more aware of information that companies gather about them through software use and web interactions. The availability of larger memory drives is not the reason that companies keep track of personal information but it is certainly making it easier. I am not saying that we should limit the amount of memory allowed in a single drive. I do think we should look at what this never ending expansion of storage space is allowing companies to do. And we should decide if it is right or not.

Current Event 1

http://www.cnet.com/news/silicon-valley-talent-wars-engineers-come-get-your-250k-salary/

I found this article to be a very interesting change in the world of engineering that has the potential to gain some traction. In the triumph of the nerds series someone made the comment that during the computer revolution it was all the young people, who didn't already have steady jobs at big companies, that were leading the movement to personal computers. I think this concept is true for any field, it is always the people who feel like they don't have much to lose that innovate new things. The people who already had steady well paying jobs at IBM would not likely leave a secure place to take  a risk on something new. In this article the company, Weeby, is going to pay engineers much more than the current market rate. They hope to draw in many engineers and be able to take the brightest young minds. I think offering to pay this higher wage is their way of bringing more of these younger minds that haven't yet settled into a large steady corporation.

9/10/2014

In Neil Postman's article, the second idea he presents is that there are winners and losers when new technology is created. He suggests that the winners of the computer revolution, large corporations and computer companies, are trying to convince everyday people, the losers, of their need for computers. I believe that in today's world the large corporations and computer companies are not the only winners. Through open source projects we are no longer required to simply buy whatever the large corporations want us to use. We have the option to choose and this takes some power away from the computer companies and large corporations and gives it to ordinary people. Thereby making everyday people winners as well.