Three Things I Learned and Advice

Three most important things I learned this semester:
1) It is possible to improv on a presentation, you feel much better about yourself if you actually take the time to prepare.
2) A good resume is the key to getting an interview. Put the things that look the best for you in plain view.
3) When writing a paper, chose a topic that you're interested in, make a clear outline, and do not go overboard on writing.

One piece of advice for students next semester:
This class is not hard to pass if you actually take the time to try, it is best to do the assignments when they are due or you will forget and have twelve-ish blog posts to write the last day. I watched it happen, it is not pretty.

Final Class

This week marks the final week of classes and I could not be happier. That means my floor has 5 more opportunities to turn the lights off on my while I shower, which I was lucky enough to experience yet again not ten minutes ago.

But, on to the main topic. The final class period means the evaluation of class. It was both a blessing and a curse that Dr. Wilkes played off that he cared very little about the class. It meant that I could present without being nervous out of my skin. But it also meant that guidelines for things were often not well defined.

The assignments were not overall difficult, but they did allow for lots of presentation practice and even some chances to learn things about ourselves. The final paper was by far the most difficult assignment, as I am having trouble not making it fifteen pages. Mine is currently five pages and I have not covered even half of the topics I was hoping to cover, so it looks as if I will be cutting some things.

I was disappointed in the lack of farm stories. They are not related to class in the last but they were one of my favorite things about discrete math. I am from Creston, so seeing pictures and hearing stories of the things I grew up with brings back memories. Though, that is just a personal preference and probably would have cut into class time.

This class prompted me to get my first professional interview, which was both nerve-wracking and exciting in one. I am  highly disappointed that in my job search I realized that to get a good Computer Science job it looks as though I will have to move away. After moving at least fourteen times in my life I thought my most recent move was going to be the last, but on the up side.. if I get a bigger house, I can have more cats!


As a treat, here are my pets, who are all named after Pokemon.

Meowth, he has multiplied in size though.

My gender-confused kitty, Skitty.

Shuckle, the Red-Eared Slider.

Interview

Unfortunately, I missed class today to attend an interview at Eastman Chemical Company in Kingsport, Tn. It is not unfortunate that I had an interview, but it is unfortunate that I missed Casey Park's talk. 

But, while I was in Kingsport, I discovered something amazing that I did not know existed.. Eastman. I arrived right as it was getting dark on Sunday, to check into the Marriott and go have dinner with the other applicant and a host. My hotel room overlooked a golf course, which was not impressive in itself. But, as we carpooled to dinner, Eastman illuminated the near sky. It was truly a beautiful sight.

Bright and early the next morning, it was time for the interview. We started with breakfast, where my host was late. Then we rode over to the plant and as the other applicant interviewed my host showed me videos on the Eastman Innovation Lab portion of their site to showcase what Eastman really does. My favorite video was of the Eastman Titan plastic, a baseball team was shown hitting and breaking other types of drinking cups in one hit, when they hit the Eastman Titan cup the cup just bounced around and continued to bounce hit after hit.

One of the videos that stuck out to me was a partnership Eastman had with ASU where they gave ASU industrial design majors a chance to use Perennial Wood in ways other than just for decks and siding.

After the videos, it was my turn to interview. The interview consisted of a panel of four workers, who took turns asking me questions that were based on my resume. They were looking for things that displayed teamwork, motivation, and a drive to learn new things. At the end of the interview, they commented that I displayed all of the qualities of an IT employee that they were looking for. They also commented that my interview went well.

Before I arrived at Eastman, I was sure that I did not want the job. But, after seeing Eastman and learning what they do I changed my mind. 

Final Presentations

Today we watched half the class give final presentations. The one I found the most interesting was Ethics of Violent Video games. I am not as avid a gamer as most college students my age, but I do play my fair share of games. In fact, I was recently at the midnight release of Batman: Arkham Origins.. I have not had time to beat it yet.

I have been aware of video games negatively affecting children because they are easily influenced because they have not learned their own value system yet. It never occurred to me that they could affect adults that way. When I play a violent video game, like Call of Duty, I do not get the urge to go out and shoot people. I choose to play violent video games because they let me be in a place where I would never normally be, I try to avoid fights.. in video games, the fights are the major part.

I recently discovered Saints Row (pictured above). Which is a more laid-back, and less expensive, version of Grand Theft Auto. For me, the fun of the game is to go around and beat people with a giant purple dildo. Why? because it is funny. Would I ever do that in real life? Most definitely not.

In my opinion, given the opportunity to play an ethical game that forces you to think about your decisions would be less popular for those playing violent video games. Sims is a decision based game where you make your sims a life (and in my case, find creative ways to burn down their houses), ethical decisions could be built into a game like this. But you are missing out on what most violent games give, lots of action. Though I do believe ethical games would be successful for the market of gamers who play the reality games like the sims.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is defined as measures taken to protect a computer or computer system against unauthorized access or attack. It is also what I have spent this semester learning about. 


There are a lot of threats in the realm of cyberspace; ranging from small personal annoyances like spam emails to national-scale security threats. Though all protection starts at the same place, awareness. 

I have done several exercises in my Computer Security class that proves just how easy it is to pull off a cyber crime. I have made a spoofing website and learned how to send an anonymous email to get traffic to that website. I have also learned how to monitor traffic to and from a computer, as well as how to use a password cracker.

If you go and google "how to hack a computer", thousands of results and videos come up. People can also buy software that other people have written to hack into a computer. The realm of possibilities is nearly endless and very easy to access.

With all of these things readily at anyone's fingertips, the world needs to be more aware of what information they have available and how to better protect themselves from attackers.

Ethics

Kantianism is an ethical theory that focuses on the act and not the consequences when deciding if the act is ethical. The only inherently good thing in the world is good will.

Act Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that focuses on the consequences. Act Utilitarianism specifies that morality of an action has nothing to do with intent. To decide of an act is ethical, you add up change in happiness of all affected beings.

Rule Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that advocates the adoption of moral rules that, if followed by everyone, will lead to the greatest increase in total happiness.

Social Contract Theory is an ethical theory that states that in a society there is a social contract which is generally accepted. In Social Contract Theory the government is capable of enforcing said rules.

Even though these theories are clearly defined, our own personal interpretation on if a certain circumstance should be considered ethical by these theories was not the same in class. This could be due to a difference in our interpretation of the actual action, or our interpretation of the theories.

Kantianism seems to be the most lenient in saying an action is ethical because kantianism factors in the intent of the person who took the action. Social contract theory is most what our current society goes by for ethics. We have a set of generally accepted rules that people are supposed to follow, if they do not follow those rules they are punished.

People Search

Today we had to make a presentation about the research we conducted on another student. The student I had to research was not 'invisible' per-say, but I had to make a lot of assumptions. For my research I started where everyone else did, the appstate directory. Where I found his middle name, and email. From there I went to facebook, where I found his facebook.. but most information was private.

After a few google searches I found a man with the same last name, which had listed an address, phone number and people living in the household. On a hunch, I went back to facebook and went to my partners friends list. There were people with all of the names of the man I found by google search.

I remembered seeing my partner's profile picture, which had a dog that he identified as his sister's dog. After searching pictures of the people in that household I found the dog. I discerned that that girl was his sister, she had a picture of a man saying happy father's day. From there I had found his sister and father. I went to his father's facebook page and found his mother from that. From his mother's facebook page I found his other sister.

I also learned that I had a lot more on facebook than I had originally thought, most of it is now hidden of course. My life events and certain pictures were shown as public, even though most the rest of my profile was private. I went back and changed all of that to only show what I do not mind people seeing. Though I was not too upset about anything he found, other than my phone number which was not on facebook.

To my surprise, he was not able to find any of my family besides my fiance (which is openly listed on facebook) and the first name of my niece. So, if I had edited my facebook page better.. I would have been as well hidden as he was.

Most of all, I learned that I have some pretty impressive facebook stalking skills. Which is probably not a good thing.

Final Paper

There were a variety of different final paper topics chosen and talked about today. I chose to do my final paper on cyberbullying, specifically the laws and legislation put into place to solve cyberbullying and possibly the cases that led to that legislation or law.

Cyberbullying is defined as "The act of harassing someone online by sending or posting mean messages, usually anonymously." Over half of adolescents have been victims of cyberbullying, almost the same have taken part in cyberbullying.

Cyberbullying can lead to violence, feelings of depression, and in some cases suicide. Cyberbullying is a growing problem, and with that growing problem laws and legislation soon follow.

Though this blog is going to take a slight change of topic to something that has been bothering me. Recently I was enlightened to an example of cyberbullying that is happened at ASU currently. But this time it is not children and teens, but adults. A site dedicated to bashing one of our professors with comments about another.

The point here is that no-one is immune to cyberbullying, not even adults. Even as a joke, sites like that are unacceptable and degrading. While teenagers are more susceptible to their emotions and less likely to seek help, the emotional effects of being bullied carry the same for adults as well.



Sources: http://www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/cyber-bullying-statistics.html

Network Communications

Yesterday the topic was Network Communications, where everyone in the class brought in an article and summarized it. As usual, I went last.

My topic was internet addiction. At this time, internet addiction is not classified as an actual illness. Studies show that 1 in 8 Americans are addicted to the internet. Though up to 30% of the population in China, Korea, and Taiwan are said to be addicted to the internet.

National surveys suggest that over 50% of the people who suffer from internet addiction also suffer form another addiction - drugs, alcohol, smoking, sex. Symptoms of internet addiction include; compulsive use of the Internet, a preoccupation with being online, lying or hiding the extent or nature of your online behavior, and an inability to control or curb your online behavior.

There are different types of internet addiction. Those types include: starting with the most common - cybersex and cyberporn at 60% of internet addicts, and multi-user online roleplaying games as the fastest growing group. There are treatment options for internet addiction, regardless of the type. These include inpatient, outpatient and after-care support as well as self-help groups.

Other topics that were brought to attention in class were: facebook likes being protected under the first amendment, china controlling blog content and making users register, facebook graph search, and child controls on youtube.


Sources: http://netaddiction.com/faqs/

Last Lecture

“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.” 
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture

Today in class we watched this phenomenal video of a lecture given by Randy Pausch, about achieving your childhood dreams. Randy Pausch was a Maryland born computer scientist, virtual reality specialist, and inspirational speaker. The video compelled me to find out more about Randy Pausch, which I was saddened to find that in great computer scientist fashion -for instance, Alan Turing-, he passed away in 2008 at the young age of 47.


Just from the hour and sixteen minute lecture we watched, you could tell Randy Pausch was an intellectually gifted and inspirational man. He led a group of students to win a zero gravity experience, worked as a Disney Imagineer, and co-founded Carnegie Mellon's Entertainment Technology Center.

He was also one of the developers who worked on Alice, a project designed to teach students the fundamentals of object-oriented programming in a way that is fun. What stuck out to me was the possibility that this could be a tool for interesting middle school girls in programming.

Getting and retaining female computer science students is a large problem. Last semester in junior seminar my final paper was about women in computer science. Studies have shown that to get women into computer science you must interest them at a younger age, most effectively through mother-daughter experiments and activities. Alice would be a great learning tool for both parents and students to learn, giving them both a bonding experience and a venue for young girls to express their creativity in a field that is not considered a woman's field.

Hiketracks

Hivetracks is a web application linked to a database that helps beekeepers keep track of their yards. When a beekeeper goes out to their yard, they can enter information such as the status of the hive and the weather into the website and store it for later use.

To further our ethics discussion, we focused on any ethic concerns this may have. A few stuck out to me as things I might be concerned about if I were a user of this site:

1) Hivetracks has a google maps option that can give images of your yard. First, someone could see the layout of your yard and steal your layout because it may work better than theirs. Your layout is your intellectual property. Second, the layout of the yard is highly visible, meaning if someone wanted to steal a hive they would already have a plan for how they would do it. Also, if your hive was in your backyard they would now be able to see where your house was in proximity to the yard to avoid being caught.

2) What kind of database security is in play? Some people may have opted to have their information not shown and would prefer if someone could not get it from the database freely. If someone were to gain access to the database, through various methods, they could have access to potentially sensitive information.

3) Who does the code and subsequently the data collected belong to? It would be the USDA, Appalachian state, the university of Maryland or the person who actually wrote the code. Over the course of the operation many people have written code or contributed data to the project. Do they all know that they are forfeiting ownership of anything they submit to another entity?

Today I learned that a lot more goes into beekeeping than I ever thought about. You have to make sure they are somewhere that they can get the right food, make sure they have a queen, and try to keep them alive during the winter. Not to mention recording everything you do to the hive and it's condition so you can monitor changes and remember what you are supposed to be doing to the hive on your next visit.

Ethics

Throughout the world there are many views on what is ethical and what is not. For instance; take two cultures who are both experiencing a drought, one culture might perform a rain dance or pray for rain, while another culture might make a human sacrifice to the rain gods. While not as extreme, today I learned that even in the same classroom there can be a variety of different ways people view ethics.

To add to the discussions today I would have liked to have had us all analyze a scenario and using our own personal ethics, explain how we would come up with a decision on what to do and what we would do. For instance:

"Tony, a data analyst for a major casino, is working after normal business hours to finish an important project. He realizes that he is missing data that had been sent to his coworker Robert.Tony had inadvertently observed Robert typing his password several days ago and decides to log into Robert’s computer and resend the data to himself. Upon doing so, Tony sees an open email regarding gambling bets Robert placed over the last several days with a local sports book. All employees of the casino are forbidden to engage in gambling activities to avoid any hint of conflict of interest.

Tony knows he should report this but would have to admit to violating the company’s information technology regulations by logging into Robert’s computer. If he warns Robert to stop his betting, he would also have to reveal the source of his information. What does Tony do in this situation?"

This would be a difficult decisions. Tony would have to choose between saving himself trouble and knowing that he is letting his coworker do something wrong, or getting in trouble to correct a wrong that his coworker is doing. If I was in this same situation, I would keep to myself the information I found about Robert and inform Robert that I accidentally observed him typing in his password and that he would probably change it. It was morally wrong of me to log into Robert's computer; therefor, information I found by doing something wrong should not be used to call someone else out on their wrong. If I later overheard Robert talking about his gambling or found out a legitimate way, I would report it then.

The beauty of ethics is that no two people have the exact same personal ethics. While I would not tell on Robert and myself, some people would tell on themselves to get Robert in trouble, and others may tell on Robert but try to clear themselves. A culture may have a set or ethics that they think should be followed, but people have the free will to believe whatever they feel. Even if those people have to follow laws governed on the ethics of the society that they may not believe in.

Resumes and the job world

After watching the presentation in class today by Angel Wood about resumes, cover letters and jobs. A few fundamental worries have arisen: my interview track record, the quality of my resume, and my public speaking skills.

Good thing they're not outside.

My interview track record has been quite embarrassing. My first interview was rescheduled, throwing me off guard and leaving me ill prepared in the face of my first job. Luckily for me, it was only a fast food job and my best friend talked the manager into hiring me. My second interview was a group interview that was more of a "get to know you" session than an actual interview. Though my social skills nearly cost me that one too. Interviews make me feel small and unintelligent, rendering my speech as complete gibberish.

Up until recently my resume was filled with projects I worked on but no one really understood as well as five years at a fast food restaurant. My past job left me the option to remove some projects or remove my non-relevant work experience. I decided it was time to leave KFC in the past. I still feel like in the job world there will be tons of people with more impressive resumes than I have. Which is why I plan to go to graduate school. Education cannot beat out real-world experience, but it can prove that I have specialized in something.

"I'm a sexy beast!"

The last of my worries, in reality the biggest worry, is my lack of public speaking skills. For years I have tried to gain some communication skills by presenting in class, communicating with friends, and even going to group counseling. But nothing has seems to counteract the feeling of a thousand eyes judging me as I speak. The key to all good speakers is confidence, but confidence is not easy to fake. 

In a health lecture a few semesters ago, the professor stood in front of the class and declared that the key to confidence is looking in the mirror every morning and telling yourself that "I'm a sexy beast!". I have yet to prove or disprove this theory.

Resumes and cover letters is a hard topic to really have fun with. The presentation had good quality, but most of the things in it I already knew. To better improve the lecture, I would bring in past CS students who have gotten real-world jobs and have them show their resume and explain the process they went through to get their jobs. It would be a large help to get tips from someone who has graduated and gotten a job using the same techniques we have to.

Ideal Workplace

As of recently, my main concern has not been what I want to do after graduation but where I would live after graduation. Now that I part own a little run-down trailer in Marion, I can think about what I want to do after graduation.

Due to the lack of major computer companies in Marion, after graduation I plan to further my education by going to an online grad school for cyber security. While I am in grad school I would like to work part time remotely as a software developer. I have always liked the idea of working at home where I can make my own office. I tend to work best in environments without a lot of other people around. I like quiet spaces where I can let my mind flow and have my desk in an organized mess.

My ideal company would be a company that is working for a greater cause or a company that I use their services a lot. I would like to work for a company that is flexible in the way they let you work, like google, but also has deadlines and rules to follow. I would prefer to work in a company that has other women in my department, for nothing other than moral support.

I feel that any job I get right out of college would only be a temporary one, as I would like to switch into a career that involves computer security after graduation from my masters degree. I dealt with a fast food job for five years; therefor, I feel that any job I get to get me through two years of grad school would be one I could deal with. 

Technology Saving Endangered Species

"The biggest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it." - Robert Swan

Technology affects aspects of our lives as well as the lives of other species all over the world. Most people have heard about the use of microchips to help reunite owners with their lost pets. However; technology is also used to help other less domestic species of animal.

Wild animals that are in close contact with humans become a nuisance by destroying crops and eating other animals. These animals are often killed to avoid further confrontation. Scientists are working to reduce the number of killings by studying the patterns of different species. This smart collar tracks every movement of the animal; whether it is hunting, roaming or just sleeping. Studying the movements of the animal can help better determine when it is most likely to get in contact with humans and how best to avoid it. These collars could also tell by GPS when a dangerous animal is in the area and allow citizens to protect themselves by staying inside.

A book company that most programmers will recognize has started a campaign to raise access of endangered species. O'Reilly animals gives detailed information about the animals they use on their book covers. This information includes a description, threats, as well as related species. Also on the website are ways for technology related people like myself to get involved to save these animals. These include donation of your time, expertise, or money or to organizations who are working to save endangered species.

Sharks are frequently featured as the bad guy in horror movies, but they too are getting evasive measures to save their lives. These SMART hooks are designed to use the sharks high sensitivity to electric fields in the water to protect it. The hooks are magnetic and coated in a special metal coating that produces a voltage in seawater. This voltage is supposed to keep the sharks from getting hooks that are intended for other fish.

As the quote at the beginning says; the biggest threat to our planet is thinking that someone else will save it. If we sit around and do nothing while thousands of animals and species die off we will be left with nothing, and soon there-after I believe we would die off as well. With the advances in technology seemingly anything is possible, we need to put it to good use saving our planet and the species that inhabit it.

Technology, the downfall of romance?

The Information Age began around 1837 with the vision of the first computer with Charles Babbage's Analytical Engine. Since that day there have been major advances in technology; such as, the Kenbak-1 known as the world's first personal computer. Now people are more readily in touch than ever, but has this taken a toll on true old-school romance?

Since the dawn of technology generations have became increasingly lazy. The inventions of text messaging and video chatting services like skype have made it easy to stay in contact with people from the comfort of your home or where ever you happen to be. Why take the time to write and send a love letter like Beethoven's heartfelt letter to an unknown woman when you can quickly send a text to your loved one expressing the same idea in a reduced form?

Technology has taken the mystery out of dating. Today finding out about a person is as easy as finding a profile on a dating site or a simple facebook search (strictly educational purposes, no offense intended). With those you can see pictures, interests, status updates, and other information. Before technology you would have had to engage in an actual conversation to find out these things. Technology also adds a barrier between you and the other person, making it easy to avoid confrontation but also making it easy to pretend to be something entirely different.

It is my belief that people are inherently nosy beings. When you suspect that your significant other is cheating on you it seems the logical thing to do is look for an answer. With technology it is increasingly easy to search for that answer, though doing so is not morally sound. You check their browser history to see what kind of suspicious websites they have been visiting, you check to see if they left their email or social media site logged on and 'browse' their messages, or you snoop through their phone when they walk out of the room. Doing so is a blatant violation of trust, and will likely put added stress on your relationship if they were innocent.

While there are disadvantages that technology has brought to the dating world there are also advantages. Dating sites allow you to meet people from all over the world. In Greek mythology it is said that humans were originally combined but Zeus feared their power and split them apart, leaving you to spend your life searching for your other half. Why not have access to the whole world to search? Technology has also made long-distance relationships more feasible. With the invention of video chat women/men can video chat with their husband/wife who are deployed This is the closest thing to being face-to-face that has been invented to date.

We live in an ever-changing world that adapts to what people invent. Technology has not ruined romance, instead romance has shaped into a new form. Technology has given us a wide range of ways to keep in contact and broaden our social connections romantically and otherwise. While I have not met an adult who would scoff at a well-written love letter; emails and text messages have became applicable substitutes.

Are stereotypes keeping women out of Computer Science?

(I think my Dad took fashion advice from this man.)

Three years ago as I was setting with my fellow future computer scientists during orientation week I realized something disheartening. As I was setting waiting for more people to arrive, one by one about twenty male students entered the room. One lone female walked in, but to my dismay she took a quick look around and promptly made her exit.

Today, after having lost a scholarship on the grounds that we were not doing enough to entice women to major in computer science, I wonder why women do not choose computer science.

As we all should know, the pristine credit of the world's first computer programmer goes to a woman by the name of Ada Lovelace. The work that brought her this title was in the notes of her translation of Luigi Menebrea's account of the Analytical Engine, where she wrote a computer program describing how to use it. How is it that as our society grew we went from the pioneer of computer science being a woman to struggling to get women interested in computer science? A common answer I have found is stereotypes.

A common stereotype is that men have a technical brain, while women simply do not. Which theoretically leaves women behind in the technology and mathematics fields. The question of why women do not choose computer science is a common topic for applications. That question prompted one student to survey her classmates to find out why. Common generalizations she found include, women enjoy jobs where they interact with people and women have smaller brains.

The real answer may lie with an idea called stereotype threat. This occurs when a person knows that a stereotype is present and by doing or failing to do a certain thing they could be judged based on this stereotype. A study performed on female students taking a math exam showed that those who were asked their gender before the exam performed worse than those who were asked their gender after the exam.

Another study was performed on female students on their interest in computer science. One group of students was surveyed in a room that was decorated with star trek posters, soda cans, and sci-fy books. The other group was surveyed in a room that was decorated in a neutral fashion, with nature posters on the wall. The students that were surveyed in the nature room were more likely to indicate that they were interested in computer science classes.

Knowing that these stereotypes exist and that we may be judged by them can take a huge toll on a persons self-confidence. This causes them to over-think what they are saying and may lead to them feeling so out of place and discriminated against that they leave all-together. The absence of women in computer science makes women feel like they cannot fit in and they cannot succeed so they instead turn to a career where they feel more accepted.

Coming into college as one of the few female computer science students in my class I felt that I did not fit in, and I still feel like maybe I would be more suited to a major where the atmosphere is more geared towards women. I have found through experience though that my rate of success is on par or higher than my male classmates, leaving me to believe that the only hindrance for women in computer science is that of stereotype threat and not intellectual ability.