Ethics for working AND living

This whole class we've been talking about how to be ethical in the workplace and how to use and approach technology in an ethical way. We've broached the subjects of ethical behavior in our field. However, the bottom line is that we must be ethical in everything we do, not just in regards to computer science. We must have charity and love for all men. We must not be hypocrites. We must try our best to do what is right be everyone we come into contact with. Our lives must be driven by good principles that we decide on and those principles must shape our actions, so that we can be honorable people in the workplace, as well as in our personal lives. That's what Christ taught. I believe that if we do this and live honorably, we will live fuller, happier lives and will be blessed temporally and spiritually.

Women In Computer Science Vlog

Gaming

Gaming is a big part of my life. It is how I unwind, have fun, and socialize. It is a field that I hope to work in in the future. That being said, I do recognize the dangers and the addictive aspects of gaming. I admit, I have been the victim of this addiction to some extent. Luckily, I never really took to MMORPGs like World Of Warcraft. If that had been a game type that I was into, I could seriously see myself spending way more time than is healthy on there. But I have put lots of time into other games that don't have quite the openness of WoW. I have seen in impact my studies and relationships and how my life has changed since cutting back. I feel much more productive and I have healthier and more relationships. I still do like my  gaming time, however. It is something that can be a good thing in the right amounts, just like movies or TV. In many ways, I think gaming is better than those things. The point is, these art forms are things that we can and should enjoy, just not at the expense of real relationships and our duties as God's children.

Outliers

I decided to read the book Outliers. My dad gave me this book a couple years ago and it put it on my shelf to gather dust. I made a huge mistake in that. I wish I had read it years ago. I totally agree with what Gladwell said about how uncontrollable factors contribute to peoples success and how hard work and perseverance does not ensure success. The tech industry is a perfect example of this. The person that springs to mind is Bill Gates. Yes he was smart and worked hard, but he was born at exactly the right time to make the impact he did. If he had been born at the time I was born, maybe he would have been successful, but not nearly as influential as he was because he got started at the cusp of the computer age. It is important for me as a person soon entering the professional world to identify outliers in myself, the economy, and my industry in order to best prepare for my future. I can't just rely on my natural intelligence, hard work, and perseverance. These qualities are of course important, but to really become successful, I must find a niche that most benefits me and exploit it.

Open source software

In our discussions about open source software, it has boggled my mind how people could think that open-source software is how the industry should go. I think there is a definite place for it and it is definitely beneficial to the industry as a whole. I think of it kind of as the printed word industry. Books, articles, and other printed forms of writing are copyrighted, so that other people can't take credit for the work. Even thinks that are loosely based on copyrighted material can be punished. That is how software should be. If a developer doesn't want their source code to be open, they shouldn't have to have it open. It is their property and they have the right to protect that. That being said, if people want to release their own stuff to the open, that's their prerogative.

Women and Computing

I think that if a woman wants to get a degree in Computer Science and work as a software engineer that is great and commendable. If they do choose this path, they should be treated fairly, promoted according to their capabilities, and be paid the same amount as a man of equal ability and value. Where I get a little leery about this topic is when people say, "We need more woman in technical fields. Let's go and campaign and promote these fields to women." They say this like it is a bad thing that women aren't going into technical fields. I don't think it's a bad thing or a good thing. It's just how it is. Why come up with ways to trick or convince people to enter these fields? That seems like a waste of resources. We had a speaker today in class that said that girls have already made up their mind in High School not to do these fields and that we need to into the elementary schools to tell girls they should look into these fields. It's not like in elementary schools now that they take all the boys and tell them to become Computer Scientists and that's why it's a male dominated field. So why do people feel the need to do that with girls? Maybe it's because of our biological differences that men generally are more attracted to this field. Why waste time and money trying to change that?

Technology and the Church

As someone who loves technology as well as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the words of the prophets in relation to technology is really exciting. The abilities that technological advancements give the church are really astounding and the fact that the church is actively investing in new technologies is really impressive. In the last few years, so many programs have been written for the church that have really widening the scope and scale of what members, missionaries, and church leaders can do. The leaders are getting more in touch with members, even though the church membership is growing rapidly. It is a great time to be a member of the church and especially for those who have a knack for technology. There is so much good to be done and it's only going to get better in coming years.

The Cuckoo's Egg

Cyber security is becoming a bigger and bigger deal as our lives get more and more entwined with the internet. Over the last 5 years, we have been introduced to "The Cloud" and we are putting more and more information out there on it. There is also bank information, credit card information, and even locks and thermostats. Recently, there have been several breaches of information, where credit card numbers as well as scandalous photographs of high profile people were stolen. This breach of privacy and potential financial fraud could have been prevented. Often we think that such instances won't happen to us, so we become lazy and don't think about how were are protecting our vital information. This is what influenced me most about this book. It made me realize that I was one of the people that weren't overly concerned about the hacker. I have been lazy when it comes to protecting my online information. I am guilty when it comes to my own personal information. Lately I have been changing my passwords and been much more careful about where I put valuable information. It is something we all should be better at, so that we can prevent attacks and be more prepared when we are attacked.

Space Travel

http://aeon.co/magazine/technology/the-elon-musk-interview-on-mars/ (Pardon the Language)

This is an article about an interview with a very interesting man: Elon Musk. The article is mostly about space travel and how governments, as well as civilians, are writing it off as impossible, unnecessary, or at best a thing of the distant future, but not for us to worry about. Elon contends that space travel and space colonization is as noble a humanitarian goal as ending world hunger or disease. By colonizing other planets or solar systems, we would make humanity immortal and potentially becoming the first civilization to colonize other planets. The fact that there is absolutely no evidence of any other civilizations colonizing other planets is quite troubling. Earth is relatively new. It would take an advanced species only .01% of the universe's lifespan to spread throughout the galaxy and beyond. Statistically it should have happened at some point. Perhaps all the advanced civilizations didn't look to the stars until it was too late. We shouldn't let that happen to us.

FamilySearch

It's really astounding how much information is being processed by FamilySearch.org. Literally billions of records are being added or updated. The need for clever ways of processing and storing the amount of information to make the program effective is really remarkable and it is amazing what the church has been able to do with the program. It will be fascinating to see the innovation and capabilities of FamilySearch in the future. Learning about this program has actually really affected me. Recently I have been exposed to a couple companies that deal with large amounts of data and I think I am developing an interest in that. It might be an area I want to specialize in and even make a career out of. I don't really know what all goes into it or what I need to do to learn more about it, but it really does interest me. Maybe I can do something that will really help FamilySearch become even bigger than it already is.

Apple and Google literally can't hack their own phones

Article: Barret, Devlin, and Danny Yadron. "New Phone Protections Alarm Law Enforcement." Wall Street Journal 23 Sept. 2014: A1,A4. Print.

Privacy has been an issue that has really escalated in the last couple years. Especially since the Edward Snowden and the NSA incident, people are getting more and more worried about keeping their affairs private. People are trusting the government less and less, and tensions could never be higher with how the government has reacted to Ferguson. Companies are jumping on this opportunity to win some PR points with consumers. That is why Google and Apple have come out with these technologies that make it impossible for anyone, including law enforcement, to access information from phones. This, of course, does not include information saved to "the Cloud," including celebrities' risque photos, which always seem to be hacked and leaked onto the internet. This might give people a false sense of security, because it seems everything gets automatically synced with the "Cloud" anyway. This announcement is simply a way to get consumers to trust Apple and Google again, by riding the wave of public opinion about privacy.

Scottish Independence

The independence vote for Scotland is quite a historic event. Scotland has been a part of the United Kingdom for centuries and if this vote had been done back 300 years I think the results might have been a little bit different. I think that it is a good thing that Scotland is still part of the UK. An independent Scotland would have an uncertain future especially economically. It's possible that they could make it work, but with the economy in Europe like it is right now, it is a risky thing to change what isn't broken. Scotland already has a good amount of control over its own affairs and I do not believe that what they would gain would outweigh what they would lose if they were to stay tied to the rest of the UK.

Smallish Post 1

The article by Neil Postman made some very great points, but a couple of his opinions I found straight up incorrect. His first point states that culture always pays a price for technology. I strongly disagree. First, technology has made it possible to spread culture everywhere easily and readily. Normal, non-professional artists, musicians, poets, or creative writers can easily share their work with the world and their work actually gets seen. Websites like Deviantart, Reddit, YouTube, and many others make it possible for us to see truly talented people we wouldn't have before. Technology has also given our generation the most free time then any other time period, allowing us to become amateurs at whatever we want. Now it's not only the geniuses that rule the arts, but there are now many capable people. Technology has widened and diversified culture, not hurt it.