America is in the heart

David Bae

“I did not listen to them. I was too absorbed with my book. The other children taunted me in the school yard and threw stones at me, laughing at my long hair and bare feet. I sat attentively in the classroom, listening eagerly to my teacher. I knew that my schooldays would not last long. I tried to learn everything I could in a short time, because I knew I would soon have to stop and go back to work.”

Most of chapters in part I contain the tragic childhood stories of Carlos. What he also highlights is that he is like most of peasant children in Philippines. The part I is also very slow in terms of the storyline, because the story mostly portrays the sufferings and patience those Carlos and even his family had to go over. However, at the same time, the story is very rapid in terms of introducing the tragic events frequently changing and happening to his family. Specifically, this quote above from chapter IV implicates his childhood experience and his thoughts. Although each member of Carlos’ family is very unfortunate due to their class, poverty, job and other causes, Carlos is portrayed to be the unluckiest one in that he always has to wait, work, suffer, and act like the adults to support his family from young age. This part was also where Carlos had a short term of chance to go to school. Although he was not welcomed by anyone from school, he did not care but he was desperate about learning and getting a short chance or right he couldn’t achieve for a long time. After this quote, Carlos, again is rejected from his family when he tells them he wants to go to school. Later in the chapter, there are events like where Carlos sees his mom feeling envious about middle class woman, desperately desiring to read books, and when he decides to become a doctor and later a writer. These types of experience describe how he is different with his family member. While other family members feel envious and against the system and politics, (because the part I is from childhood of Carlos, the detail explanation about politics and events were not described) Carlos is youngest but accepts his status and try to deal with it to go over with it. From the childhood, he could observe that he is different and understand the system that he has to work with bare feet while other study with the shoes. Because this type of settings and childhood experience, “Abraham Lincoln”, shortly introduced later in the part I, could have meant a sweet temptation for him for his future.

Computer Science for ALL

President Obama planned a $4 billion funding for computer science education  from last year. Then why would the government and President Obama highlight on the computer science education? “New technology replaces any job where work can be automated.  Workers need more skills to get ahead.  These changes aren’t new, and they’re only going to accelerate.  So the question we have to ask ourselves is, “How can we make sure everyone has a fair shot at success in this new economy?” In South Korea, as president Park’s impeachment was decided, the presidential election is busily going on in the country. One of the candidates, Ahn, was the greatest founder of computer software vaccine program. So in his election pledge, he highlights the term “fourth industrial revolution”. As the fourth industrial revolution comes, he mentions how the education and K-12 curriculum will need a huge change for the economic growth and success in employment rate. But the challenges those schools and students will face are very similar in both countries. As the United States residence and education are very segregated in the wealth, opportunity, race, and others, it points out how the opportunity can be discriminated from the CS4ALL program.

“At the same time, the regional tech industry remains largely white and upwardly mobile. It’s 76% male, 88% White or Asian American. At the time of the resolution’s passing, only 5% of SFUSD high school students were enrolled in a computer science course.”

With this challenge of inequality, the curriculum of the computer science is another ongoing challenge for the schools. Similar to what Jason Bradbury said, the necessity of computer science education is one main reason for denying the mandatory education. Because the technology developed rapidly, some people argue that it is more important for students learn how to code than how to think creatively.

Therefore similar to the possible solution introduced from the article, it seems right to me that computer science program should be provided to all (institutions), but not all (students). Students who have interest in computer or has passion for computer will only be possible to attend the after class sessions. Then this solution will solve the inequality, segregation, and economical problems of CS4ALL.

One of the reasons I support this solution is also introduced in this article.:

“What if learning to code weren’t actually the most important thing? It turns out that rather than increasing the number of kids who can crank out thousands of lines of JavaScript, we first need to boost the number who understand what code can do. As the cities that have hosted Code for America teams will tell you, the greatest contribution the young programmers bring isn’t the software they write. It’s the way they think.”

Yes, it will not be helpful for students to know how to write some codes in JavaScript. This will be known from people, who have experience in programming before. It is not like a literacy. The elements of programming will not teach students how to find the one definite answer. Rather, it will teach what the problem is, how computer thinks, and how you are going to use this computer to solve this problem. So the computational thinking is more important. As the article below describes,

“It assumes that adding naive, novice, not-even-sure-they-like-this-whole-programming-thing coders to the workforce is a net positive for the world. I guess that’s true if you consider that one bad programmer can easily create two new jobs a year. And for that matter, most people who already call themselves programmers can’t even code, so please pardon my skepticism of the sentiment that “everyone can learn to code”.”

more coders or programmers do not mean the better work or better world. CS4ALL and K-12 curriculum share the same goal in that the society to educate the great thinking, knowledge and skills of children. And if CS4ALL is considered as a tool for this education, I believe that the computational thinking is the only thing that is effective sharing with all students. As I’ve learned how the computer works and how programming works, I could actually apply this logic to different fields of study. For example, when I had to write the philosophical reasoning paper, the logic I learned from the computing actually helped me to organize the philosophical paper and its problems step by step. As many programmers know “writing a code” is not a key to this field, most of programmers do not answer to the problems by exact codes, but comes with the architect design and logic building of the solution.

As the genetics also explain,  everyone could learn how to program. And writing codes is not a special thing as non-programmer imagines. However, finding a problem and interacting between a problem and solution is the special talent and necessary skills to become a programmer. However, I do not see CS4ALL is for all students to become greatest programmers. It is for students to eligible understanding IT fields and computer logic. If this step is available, then coding or programming is automatically eligible. As the media depicts, the fourth industrial revolution is about to happen, or it might already happened now. But most of programmers or even robot engineers mention that it is afraid for media to say “the fourth industrial revolution” too easily, because nothing special nor nothing “whole different” society would come fast as the media describes. If the education only follows to the industry and the talents they need, it will be even more risky for students in that they could waste time investing on skills those might not need in the future. Rather, the education will be designed to educate students, who can learn fast and adopt to new society easily in the future.

Project 3: Self – Reflection

Set up Guide for iRedMail

Stage 1: System Accommodation

To set up iRedMail on your computer, you need to firstly get the operating

accomodation ready for the server. The first item to check is uninstalling mail related

components such as MySQL, OpenLDAP, Postfix, Dovecot, Amavisd. Then, you

should prepare at least 2 GB of memory for running a low traffic production server.

For the iRedMail server, spam/virus scanning will be the most memory consuming

part. At last, make sure that no other users/group: 2000, 2001, 2002 are suing 3

UID/GID.

Stage 2: Preparation

For the second stage, you need to do some preparation work to make sure the system

works. Firstly, you need to set a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) host name by

checking current hostname [$ hostname -f ] : mx.example.com. But for

RHEL/CentOS/Scientific Linux 6 system, the hostname is defined in

/etc/sysconfig/network: HOSTNAME=mx.example.com. So you will need to using IP

address mapping : 127.0.0.1 mx.example.com mx localhost localhost.localdomain

change to the localhost. Then, make sure to verify the FQDN hostname.If it wasn’t

changed, please reboot server to make it work.

Stage 3 Download iRedMail

Visit the download page to get the latest stable release of iRedMail. You should copy

the link address to get it in the terminal. Then upload iRedMail to your mail server via

ftp or scp or whatever method you can use, login to the server to install iRedMail.

Further instruction will be abased on the assumption that  you uploaded it to

/root/iRedMail-x.y.z.tar.bz2. Next, you need to change the directory to the root, and

lastly use code above to uncompress the iRedMail tarball.

Stage 4: Installing iRedMail

After completing the former stages, you computer should be ready to install the

iRedMail. To start with, you will need to answer a few simple questions given by the

iRedMail installer. Answers will be given as Yes/No. And answering these questions

are mandatory for a complete setup of the iRedMail server.  We’ll now be ready to

start iRedMail installer, by putting the directory name and using the  code # cd

/root/iRedMail-x.y.z/ # bash iRedMail.sh.

The starting page of installation will be welcome and thank-you message. Click Yes to

continue. Then you will be asked to select the location where all mailboxes will be

stored. The default is

/var/vmail/.

Note that you should choose backend (the one you are most familiar with will be the

most recommended) for mail account storage. All mail accounts will be manageable

with iRedAdmin, our web-based iRedMail admin panel.

The second option for mail account storage will be the OpenLDAP. To use this option,

you will need to set the LDAP suffix.

And the third option is to store mail accounts in MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL. Upon

choosing this option, you will be given a randomly generated strong password by

iRedMail installer.

Then make sure to add your first mail domain name and set password of admin

account of your first mail domain. Lastly, you will need to choose optional

components.

After completing all of above questions, you will need to review and confirm the

answers before start the installation. You will need to do no more than typing y or Y

to initiate automatic installation and configuration of required packages.

Stage 5: After Installation

You should pay attention to the user’s password. A weak password is usually the most

common attacking spot for spammers. We strongly recommend you use a strong

password. Read the file /root/iRedMail-x.y.z/iRedMail.tips first, because it

contains:URLs, usernames and passwords of web-based applications and location of

mail service related software configuration files.  Setup DNS records for your mail

server and know how to configure your mail clients. It’s highly recommended to get a

SSL cert to avoid annoying warning message in web browser or mail clients when

accessing mailbox via HTTPS/IMAPS/POP3/SMTPS.  Let’s Encrypt offers FREE

SSL certificate. If you need to bulk create mail users, check our document for

OpenLDAP and MySQL/MariaDB/PostgreSQL. If you’re running a busy mail server,

we have some suggestions for better performance.

• After you post your artifact to a group member’s blog, each person should write a personal reflection that addresses the following questions:

  So the top three trade-offs from using iRedMail are privacy, security and its open source. Firstly, iRedMail could save all the emails, and personal information is local computer and can avoid inspections from the third party. Therefore, the privacy part is where I could justify on using iRedMail over emails from big companies or third companies, those inspect on my personal data and the content of all messages or conversation I had.

  Also in the security wise, because it let me have the individual server for email domain, I could easily secure the connections without much of knowledge in server handling or security handling. With the strong passwords and encrypted passwords, the email accounts are more secure than the third party email accounts, which can be easily accessed by others or hackers.

  And in third, because it is the open source, although it has more professional tools if I pay yearly licensed, it can easily get the updates manually and directly with the service. With the open source, it can easily inspect and fix the bugs from the Linux or Shells that I could trust.

  As I use the ND Gmail accounts for a long time, my data and personal information have collected too much at the account so that I am very afraid of its possibility of inspected, getting hacked by others or other harmful actions. And at the same time, I am having current experience in getting more spam emails as I use it. And finally, my past experience in Gmails taught me that my emails could be expired and difficult to find or organized in the future. However, from using iRedMail, it lets me organize the emails with SQL and databases, and also back up in my computers with encryption.    I actually do not have the moral standing to complain about encroachment in using third party services. Using the third party service is like living or borrowing rooms of others in real life, where I can be naturally insecure from the owner of the house. Specifically, when I borrow the room for free, I believe there is less possibility and guarantee that I will have more private space and be secured. Third party emails provide the email services mostly for free and borrow their own server for free also. Third party services and companies are not the types of donors who donate the best service to people for free. There is always a give and a take in the business. So I believe it is users’ responsibility to be more careful about containing their personal and important information in public services.

  Because until now, I mostly used the email accounts provided from institutions and communities, I haven’t thought of using the private cloud services. Among the personal cloud services, iRedMail had the best trade-offs from using it. However, one and only concern about using the personal server email is that, although I use iRedMail, there are most people who are using the third party emails. Because emails are mostly conversation with one another, I am worried there will be still a possibility of security, privacy, and other inspection issues in having conversations with others using the third- party emails. These issues will only be solved when everyone uses the own personal email server.

Artificial Intelligence

From the readings, what is artificial intelligence and how is it similar or different from what you consider to be human intelligence?

In the article, the textbook definition of artificial intelligence is a goal to enable computers to do things normally done by the people– more specifically, people when acting intelligently. Then the distinctions between AI are categorized in two ways. One way is divided into three: strong, weak, and in between. So strong AI is referred to the work that is aimed at simulating of human reasoning. However, there is yet to see the example of strong AI. The weak AI then refers to work that only works for finishing the task. Weak AI can only similarly work like what humans might behave, but nothing to do with the human reasonings. Then the last type refers to the system that is inspired by human behavior and thinkings. Therefore, in the result, there is yet to compare the artificial intelligence to the human intelligence. The most and frequently used AI currently runs by inspiring and learning through the human behaviors and patterns. In other words, unfortunately, humans can think, but AIs can only refer to how or what human ‘thought.’

AlphaGo, Deep Blue, and Watson have each of difference in the system. For Deep Blue in the chess, “The first was to build a function that incorporated lots of detailed chess knowledge to evaluate any given board position. The second was to use immense computing power to evaluate lots of possible positions, picking out the move that would force the best possible final board position.”However, AlphaGo was more detailed in studying how much the each board is good. And the new thing about AlphaGo was that its figuring on bottling intuitive senses. This was actually done by analyzing enormous numbers of games played by human players and by finding patterns from them using neural networks. However as AlphaGo isn’t actually learning something, but rather analyzing each position of the board from human data and patterns, in the real games, it was observed that AlphaGo doesn’t play as the human player does. Instead, it was taking random moves to take winning chances. A similar thing actually happens for Watsons. In this article, it shows how IBM cheats on people on cognitive learning, that Watsons actually cannot do.  ” Of course, what upsets me most is not Watson but what IBM actually says. From the quote above: Unlike traditionally programmed computers, cognitive systems such as Watson understand, reason, and learn” To do the cognitive learning or thinking like humans, it needs goal, plan, beliefs, and experiences in the past. However, AIs now are going around to be looked like “Artificial Intelligence,” while it is just a trick created and ordered by humans.

So after reading the articles, I believe that the Chinese Room is a better counter argument to the Turing test. The main reason for my decision is that most AIs and developers are missing the true purpose of the AI and the Turing test. “But more often than not, these fictional representations misrepresent the Turing Test, turning it into a measure of whether a robot can pass for human. The original Turing Test wasn’t intended for that, but rather, for deciding whether a machine can be considered to think in a manner indistinguishable from a human” Similar to this quote, current AIs are only trying to pass the result of the Turing test, where humans cannot aware whether whom they are talking is human or AI. However, it refuses the process that AIs to think and behave as humans do. Therefore, I believe the Chinese Room, which argues that a program cannot give a computer a “mind,” “understanding” or “consciousness,” regardless of how intelligently or human-like the program may make the computer behave.

To answer the last two questions, firstly, I believe that a computing system can never be considered a mind. As the computing’s original purpose, it is just to make easier to compute for humans and reduce the time for humans, but not becoming similar as humans. Like IBM Watsons, Deep Blue, and Google Deepmind, the AIs will help humans in the much more efficient way and provide better and precise resources for decision. Also, AIs will take over jobs those AIs could do better than humans do, such fields as collecting, analyzing data, calculating, computing, and others. In ethical ways, the AIs will be classified as “better” than humans for some fields, or most of the fields. In the interview of Elon Musk on AIs, he also mentioned how he fears about the world will actually change and most of the jobs will be replaced by machines and AIs. Although AIs cannot think or behave like humans do, it doesn’t mean they cannot work. Then what would humans do in the future? Humans will be priceless if Musk’s right. However, from this interview, there is a foreshadow of the positive future, where humans were only who thinks, so that it will be a more important task to plan and think about finding the purpose of life, the government’s distribution of wealth, and taking an advantage of machines for the better life of humans. To be like humans, AIs need experience, emotions, complicated purposes and most importantly ‘self’. As Descartes said, “I think therefore I am”. To exist, either humans or AIs must think. And not to become biological computers, humans must come for the purpose of life with the better AIs and computing systems in the future.

Fake News

” Fake news is a type of hoax or deliberate spread of misinformation, be it via the traditional news media or via social media, with the intent to mislead in order to gain financially or politically.” The articles about fake news during the election describes about the news like The Pope endorses Trump. Hillary Clinton bought $137 million in illegal arms. The Clintons bought a $200 million house in the Maldives. Also at the same time, the article highlights on Facebook and Google as the most important role of spreading the fake news. However as it also mentions, this is not the direct cause or the problems those Facebook and Google create. The most reason why most refer fake news to Facebook and Google are their influential numbers of people reached to the channel. Additionally, many of these unapproved articles got hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of shares, likes, and comments; enough people clicked through to the posts to generate significant profits for their creators.

As a Facebook user, who has about 1000 friends with half and half American and Korean users, I usually get half of the American news and half of the Korean news on FB feed. Most importantly, from October last year to recent weeks, there were two major events going on at my Facebook feed: U.S. presidential feeds and Korean President’s impeachment. Through go over two most important issues in two countries, many users all over the place was debating over the fake news and Facebook’s responsibility over them. My experience from the recent time also helped to analyze how social networks and internet are now the key to move the people, media, society and the country. As on the article, it describes how Facebook reached and influenced more to the population over the election, it is inevitable to avoid discussing the responsibility of SNS in terms of spreading the fake news in its channel. However as I experience the happening in Korea, I realized how it is important for SNS channel to be existed as it is and it rather needs the filter from users to identify the right news. I will start from describing the Korean president’s impeachment to describe.

From October 2016, one college community (Ewha Womens University) started to write about a student named Jeong Yoora, who was the daughter of Choi Soon sil, who also now identified as a shadow ruler of president Park. Jeong Yoora was one of the students in Ewha Women’s university and the community wrote how she illicitly admitted to the college and never showed up to the school but still getting the credits from school. Then this evidence and post got famous through spreading in SNS. People started to find who her mother is and how she was related to the president. Then like the butterfly effect, the prosecutor, senators, medias and people started to find other secrets of president Park like “bribes for jobs” “Samsung lobby on president park” and other corruptions. Similar to United States of America, South Korea also has the right side and the left-side of the political opinions. More honestly, South Korea is more extreme in that it is easy for medias, government, and the right-side of people to point on left-side as spy, and or even”fake news” from North Korea, which tries to attack by. Therefore, it was historically difficult for people to get the right news from newspaper, TV, and the media. Although there were many fake news on SNS during this happening in Korea, SNS helped Korean people to get the news that Koreans were never able to get from the media. The government without SNS were more easily control the media and consequently people until 1990’s. However, as the SNS gets more influential and people to hear about other views of news, it made citizens to become real owner of the country as the democracy’s original purpose, and later the citizens acted to impeach the president.

For me and my country, more scary thing than the Fake news is restriction of freedom of speech. Although Facebook and Google hold many unreliable resource and users easily spread them to others, it is even more dangerous for Facebook and Google to regulate the posts and people. Similar to the discussion about the corporation personalizing, Facebook and Google are also operated by people, however, if these people are the ones judging and regulating the news, information and the feeds, the manipulation of the channel will become easier. As they hold the most influential numbers of population and reach to people, its power could become the weapon to the democracy, if this regulations from one organization begins. Facebook especially now changed and mostly acted as the media, most of people get news. Then, this SNS should keep the fairness of the channel, so that everyone can still access to it and share different views of opinions. Although recently, Facebook blocks on ad from Fake news from website and Google regulates on the news, in my opinion, blocking fake news, regulating, or even punishing are the roles of law, but not by the channel itself. We have to admit that we are in the post-fact generation, where we get tons of information and news everyday and be able to filter the right information to avoid misleading effect of fake news. But in my opinion and from my experience, it is less dangerous than the past generation, where we were only accessible to the unified view of news.

 

IBM and the Holocaust

1. First, what exactly is the concept of Corporate Personhood and what are its legal, social, and ethical ramifications?

   The dictionary defines “corporation” as “a number of persons united in one body for a purpose. Although its official term implies the collection of people, the Corporate Personhood brings out the debate on whether the corporation also should be protected under the law as a person or not. Legal dilemma is that the law is not protecting the corporation as person so that there are many cases of people in corporations and companies are not protected. However, if also the corporation personhood is completed, the dilemma is still expected in a way that the innocence employees, workers, and related others would not be protected as an individual in that the corporation’s voice is extended to all individual. The social ramification is that there are different types of groups like corporation, association, churches, non-profits, and others that law is divided. So that it is difficult to judge and apply personhood to all type of group. Therefore when the corporation taking the public decision, announcement, or other actions, there are socially ethical problem created to individuals in corporation who may or may not agree to belonging corporation’s public action and it leads to avoid protecting the individual rights. ” The right is to protect the freedom of conscience, and only actualy human beings have a conscience.” Although it is difficult to define the corporation as the person, it is necessary to find the solution to protect individual in the corporation.

2. For the IBM and the Holocaust case study, do you believe IBM was ethical in doing business with Nazi Germany? Should corporations be responsible for immoral or unethical use of their products? Should corporations refrain from doing business with immoral or unethical organizations or persons?

   “story of IBM’s conscious involvement—directly and through its subsidiaries—in the Holocaust, as well as its involvement in the Nazi war machine that murdered millions of others throughout Europe.”                                                                                     IBM, the Nazi and the person who tries to expose this problem describe how IBM was involved and why it is unethical or not. The articles describe that IBM’s action was not unethical in that it was one of their business to participate in the Nazi government,. “Census was its business. But when IBM Germany formed its philosophical and technologic alliance with Nazi Germany, census and registration took on a new mission. IBM Germany invented the racial census—listing not just religious affiliation, but bloodline going back generations. This was the Nazi data lust. Not just to count the Jews—but to identify them.” There are other many reasons of IBM’s action as ethical in that there was Germany equity share, oppression, and IBM’s unawareness of the outcome. However, IBM’s action was unethical in that its product created the hazards and kills to people and human rights. Whether IBM was aware or not, the outcome is what IBM should take responsible for. Although the corporation represents the all the workers, the vision, mission, goal and the plan are sometimes represent the CEO, founder, and few special people’ thoughts. This is what I want the solution to be created to take care. Under the democracy, the corporation has the power to oppress and refuse the individual rights. Similar to the democracy’s first amendment,  ‘the nation exists for the citizens, and all the power belong to citizens’, if the corporation follows the democracy, the essential factor of the corporation should follow this idea. Corporations should therefore refrain from doing business with immoral or unethical organizations or person and take responsible for all of their products and actions. But most importantly, the corporation should represent the all members but not few of them. “And we are now winding up using constitutional rules to concentrate corporate power in a way that’s dangerous to democracy,” The corporations should take the same right as individual persons, and the obligations, because the corporations are also created to make the group voice of individuals. The corporation is under the nation, and the nation is under the citizens and individuals in democracy. Therefore, for example of IBM case, if the company does not or did not take the responsibility as the individual, the irresponsibility action and explanation are shown. Also most importantly, it harms the individual rights in the corporation, so that the members of the IBM are identified as totally unrelated to the Holocaust. The lack of individual rights and obligation of the corporation easily create the weapon to attack individual rights and the democracy.,

CLOUD COMPUTING

LFrom the readings and in your experience, what exactly is Cloud Computing and what are some ethical issues or concerns regarding it? Considering the Internet meme that “There is no cloud. It’s just someone else’s computer”:

Cloud computing  is a type of Internet-based computing that provides shared computer processing resources and data to computers and other devices on demand by Wikipedia. From the reading, Cloud computing is described as an efficient way to manage data of computer servers. Clouding and cloud were already existed before the popular services begun, it was used to store and manage the lots of the computer by programmers, engineers, and others. However, as the smartphone industry grew, the cloud was generalized to the users and customers, who need a solution for the data storage mainly. With the pros and cons, the cloud service still used by most of smartphone or even developers as a solution to individual need.

As developer, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the Cloud? Describe any experiences you’ve had in using the Cloud as a development platform, what led you to use it, and if you plan on using it in the future.

Firstly as a developer, there are two types of advantages of using cloud service. First is the cost-efficient and time-saving. As before the cloud service was introduced, most of developers and groups had to spent much on purchasing the hard-drives and another computers as a storage. When I was in the start-up building up the mobile application, we could also save the money and time by manage the data and the thousands of codes safely into the cloud system. Because there are many types of solutions differed in service, concentration, cost, and companies, the cloud system could enable us to select the company and its product from many other deals and products. Therefore, the service or the promotion such as like free trial also additionally supported us to develop cost-efficiently.

Then the second advantage as a developer was accessibility of data. While the mobile application had to build up from many other devices and in a cooperated way for many developers, this cloud system enabled us to share and work effectively with others. Similar to the service Google Docs, it is a better solution when the cooperation is needed! Also this accessibility and simple/easy UI/UX led us to just focus on developing, but not to spend time on learning the methods to store and share the data.

However, as a developer, the security was the biggest concern of using cloud program. Because it was easily accessbile by entering passwords into the web service, the stored data of codes and programs in cloud seemed not secured enough. Similar to the “hacked databases of other apps” I introduced from the previous post, there were actual cases of hacking of databases on other mobile application cases, therefore, it was always important for us to back up the significant data even there was a cloud we used.

Our mobile application also used an AWS server and the cloud system to store the app usage data at the beginning. However, it had a difficulty and limitation of using the application, when AWS was on a test or an inspection. It stopped and limited the users and also us to operate the mobile application. Therefore after we realized that the inspection is quite often, we changed the whole system and created the back up solution for the data.

As a consumer, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the Cloud? Describe what sort of Cloud services you use on a regular basis.

As a consumer, specifically as a iphone 16gb user, the cloud programs provide a better solution and a cost-effective way to manage the data inside the smartphone. The most type of data I need in the smartphone is obviously the photos. Before the cloud system was introduced, I had to manually move the photos to the storage like USB or a hard drive to make up the space. But after I use the App Google Photo, the alert on overuse of data storage never shows up. Also it is cost-efficient, because I do not have to neither purchase extra hard drive nor 64GB smartphone to use the smartphone in a convenient way.

However, while I started to use the Google Photos with my personal gmail account from company’s domain. There was a shocking moment, when my personal photos were shown at the Google Drive that the company used. With the default settings those Google Photos provide, it was automatically shared to Google Drive. At that moment, I fortunately had small numbers of photos, but after I realized it, it was very important for me to check the default settings of cloud program before I use it. Naked celebrity hack: security experts focus on iCloud backup theory and What Jennifer Lawrence can teach you about cloud security describe how the security of Icloud was weak to be hacked and leaked to the public. I personally do not believe in ICloud, because the security alerts come out less than the other programs. While I switch the Itunes account with the company’s account to test the prototype of mobile app, it happened a lot to me, where my photos and the data were automatically shared to the ICloud and then moved to another member’s device without any notice or alerts. With simple clicks or even with out notice, the personal data is often too easily shared or automatically operated through the default system of cloud program.

Discuss the trade-offs are you making in utilizing these platforms as both a developer and a consumer. At the end of the day, do you trust the Cloud?

“But they run the risk of cannibalizing their existing hardware businesses. HP spent the last several years building a cloud operation. And just after the Dell-EMC deal was announced, it said this operation was no more. The company will focus on, well, the private cloud. That’s what it has to do. It can’t compete with cloud services from the likes of Amazon and Microsoft and Google. But the private cloud thing isn’t what it might seem. “

Cloud is now another platform or the service that the companies provide. If one has experience in developing or managing the service, one should know how it is unstable to manage the program with enormous size of the data. Not even the expert of the programmer would predict what problem would appear at the service. For example, last week, due to the AWS down server, the students weren’t able to check the material or the resources in Sakai and it caused a lot of problems in productivity of students.  Simplicity and easiness through the data management enables us to store and easily access to the data just by signing into the account. However, as there is always cons when there is pros, this simplicity also enables the security enemy better accessible than the past. If cloud is only discussed with the convenience and efficiency, the service will only hold the strong points. However, with the complexity of security, the debates will be continued to create better solution.

From the readings and in your opinion, is Edward Snowden a hero or a traitor? Should the US government pardon him for any possible crimes or should they pursue extradition and prosecution for treason?

• What exactly did he leak and how did he expose that information?
• Regardless of the legality of his actions, is what he did ethical and moral?
• Ultimately, is what Snowden did beneficial to the public or did he harm the security of the United States and its allies? Personally, how have these revelations impacted you (or not) and your views on government, national security, encryption, and technology in general?

Edward Snowden was a former officer for the CIA. As he gets the access of the ID to the U.S. classified security documents and data, he gets to know about the program called Prism, which was operated by NSA. After he moves his position from CIA to NSA, he starts to observe what this program does and what is it for. According to Snowden, the program Prism was the information collective tool of NSA, which can access to server computers of U.S. main IT companies like Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Skype, Youtube, Apple, ADL, MS, and others. Then this program was also available in collecting and analyzing user data. In other words, NSA’s Prism was able to identify and observe every individual’s data including email, videos, photos, voices, attachment file records, call records, and connection information. Then why such this critical program was developed? In fact, after the 911 and the George Bush government, the Prism was built to reduce the tension increasing in the U.S. Existing program FISA had some shortcomings while the operation, so that the Prism was built over the time. The intention of the program was fair enough, but it was not only collecting information from the U.S., but from the countries all over, so this big issue was observed from Edward Snowden.

In 2013, Edward Snowden prepares to announce this issue to all over the world and exile from U.S. Then he meets movie director and the reporter of Guardian to announce the information. As every country aware about this problem, U.S. was criticized all over the world. Then, U.S. government replies back by saying that they were all legally collected information and it actually prevented from 50 cases of terrors. However, the criticisms were never reduced.

I personally believe him as the hero of the world. The only thing I could say it was immoral and unethical would be on work ethics of him at the CIA and NSA. Although U.S. collected the personal information without any consent, Edward Snowden’s action was immoral in that he didn’t keep the security or the intelligence those were classified from the company. Actually, I also could add on his fallacy of hasty generalization. Because he took this action in hasty, he fallacies on the Prism by only understanding what it is but not how it will be used for.

However, I still support Edward Snowden for what he did. The debate of the Prism occasion can be identified with the purpose of NSA and CIA. I believe they are nothing different with U.S. Military. Then what are their purposes of existence? All these three groups have one same purpose as its mission of the group. To protect the citizen’s safety and individual asset from the crime, terrors, wars and others. It is actually on the mission described in the website. Then did the prism protect the mission? My answer is no, but they might have protected the society, but not the individual. Although Edward Snowden announced this problem very extremely, his action was worth for the government and units to aware on the importance of individual citizen, its rights, its intelligence and their mission on protecting individual assets. By his actions, other countries like Germany, U.K., and Brazil could come up with the better solution for their countries and citizens safety. Also, IT companies, which never realized on importance and error on user security, could come up with the better solution.

Like from Edward Snowden’s quote, One says that there is nothing wrong with collecting the data from himself because one has nothing to hide. But it is same with one saying that he or she has nothing to say, so one doesn’t need the freedom of expression. The society is created by and created for the individuals. If we are living in the society describing that there is no individual before the society, the society might have forgotten its reason of being.

 

 

Individual Reflection

1. From your experience, what are the most important parts of the guide your group constructed? What do you know now that you wished you new earlier? What is the best advice or guidance you’ve received?

    

   From my experience, it was nice to know about the interview process. Because I mostly had the interview with business & consulting firms, it is very helpful for me to know how to prepare, get resources, and tips for the interview with IT companies. As I look at my group’s guidance, I could take some great resources by myself and also great advice from teammates.                                                                                                        Our group’s guide mostly focused on how to be smart and practical in career process as ND CSE students. We tried to come up with the resource those can be used inside the campus, not the outside through extension. Because ND CSE career program is nicely constructed and resources related are mostly here in the campus, the guidance directed in a way that students could use them right after they read it. For example, we listed the sources for getting career tips and resources in ND and who they should discuss and get advice on their paths.                                                                  The best part of the guidance can be seen in negotiation parts. How to negotiate with existing accepted companies and how to be smart on the decisions are what is very important for choosing the career. 

1.  College traditionally has been viewed as a place of learning, not necessarily job training and yet students are spending more and more time preparing for the job interview process. Should colleges adjust their curriculum to face this reality?

   Because the current students in college take serious about their career, I believe it is important to sustain such program in ND CSE. I do not see it as a cause of college system. Because the tuitions are high and students find the career for their future after the college, I think the program is set up to fulfill students’ needs.

   Famous sociologist, Thorstein Veblen mentioned how U.S. universities are changed into the group type of companies, not just the instititions, where learning is the most important. He also critics on colleges in that they are doing what experts academy and junior colleges should do. I partially agree on his criticisms. Colleges are now getting the exceptional reputation by creating great graduates, getting a higher rank in the country, and others. And these values influence on students to choose to come to this college. I know how sad it is for students to highlights the career than the learning in college life. However, the society’s created system already has the great impact for students to be unavoidable.

   Obviously, there are still many students who has the academic as the first priority. Therefore, it is important for the college to support this type of students, so that the real nature of college can be sustained. For college or ND CSE, career programs should be only the extracurricular. The institutions should attempt to provide support in the career for students who take seriously about academics first.Similar to what Veblen explains, the college should not build the great future workers, but people who are passionate in learning. Although I hope for ND CSE to sustain the career program, I do not mean for the college to take a career as the first priority. Because the institution has the responsibility to fulfill students’ needs and curiosity in every field of learning, and because the students in current society has the curiosity in their paths, I believe supporting in career is also part of the responsibility that college should work on. 

The Interview Process for Dummies

the-interview-process-for-dummies

The Interview Process for Dummies

A (semi) foolproof guide to getting a job. For ND students, by ND students.

By Ben Kennel, David Bae, and Haowei Zhang

When should students start preparing for interviews?

Like the old saying goes, “early birds get worms”, we should get our hands on preparing for internships or interviews as early as possible.

Let’s look at internships first. When exactly should we start applying for internships? Keep in mind that more working experience is always better than less. So you should better start looking for internships or other job opportunities as soon as you have acquired basic computer science knowledge that is required for technical interviews. However, as students, we may not have enough time for internships during semesters. To make up this disadvantage, we should definitely take a wise use of our long breaks. And summer is usually our best choice.

To get a summer intern, first of all, we should know that most tech and IT companies collect applications for summer interns in September and March (MIT UPOP, n.d.). This means, if we want to get an internship that starts in June, we should start preparing during the fall semester. By this way, if we failed at the first attempt, we could gain experience, and be able to have another shot in March.

             Similarly, we should get ourselves plenty of time to get fully prepared for both general and technical interviews. For computer science internships, there are usually three types of interviews — the general interview that looks at the student’s overall information and working or practicing experiences; the technical interview, which tests the student’s practical level of coding, algorithms and data structuring skills; and additionally, language interviews, which is set up to quiz about the student’s proficiency in certain languages (Smallman, n.d.). Moreover, companies like Google and Facebook also conduct a team-matching after basic interviews. Even if you have passed all the other interviews, you could still fail at the last stage if you didn’t perform well during this process. Each one of these interviews requires a large amount of advanced efforts and dedication. The earlier we start preparing and planning, the better we will be able to perform, and the more likely we are to get the internship we want.

      How should students prepare or plan for these interviews?

             “Practice makes perfect.” For all interviews, the best way to prepare is to practice over and over again.  But since the aims of the interviews mentioned above are different, here are some tips for each one exclusively.

             To prepare and plan for a successful general interview, the first step we should take is to learn about the position we plan to apply for, and the background of the company we will apply with. This helps us understand and figure out what is required for us and what we can provide to satisfy that requirement.

Then, we need to prepare a decent resume that clearly demonstrates our capabilities as an eligible and qualified candidate for the job. The resume gives interviewers a preview, and likely, helps them gain a first impression on us even before meet us in person. Generally, a good resume should include the candidate’s name, contact information, education history, work experience, activities or accomplishments and technical/language skills (UNLV Career Service, 2016). Be careful that we may need several versions of resumes highlighting specific work experiences or skills when applying for different jobs.

Next, get prepared for interview questions. In most cases, interviewers will ask questions based on your resume information, and also intend to learn about your strengths and weaknesses, as well as why and how you think you would fit the position or the company. Moreover, for computer science students, interviewers may want to know details about projects you have done. Questions about what the projects were about, and how did you participate in those projects might be asked. Making sure to answer these questions clearly and properly is the basis of a successful interview.

Lastly, prepare questions for the interviewer. This is the chance for you to learn more about the company. But it may not be appropriate to ask about things like salaries. Good questions may be ones like “could you describe a typical day of the position?” Or “what draws you to the company?”.

             As to technical or language interviews, they evaluate your abilities to tackle practical problems, and how familiar or professional you are with your knowledge. Easier questions for such interviews may include problems about loops, lists or strings, while harder questions may focus more on specific data structures.

According to particular professional arena, Linux Engineer questions, .NET questions and OOP design type questions may be tested (Hein, 2013). So it is important and necessary to get familiar with the job description. Items listed on the description can give you a navigation for what aspect of knowledge you should focus on, and how should you present your ability to fit the needs of the position (Hein, 2013).

In addition, be clear and familiar with core principles and basics. Also, understand aspects of prospective programming languages. Do not satisfy with fundamental knowledge. Dig deeper and acquire more expansive skills. Because questions may vary from giving simple broad stroke to more advanced tasks (Hein, 2013). An easy but efficient way to practice is to find sample technical questions, and practice coding or other related skills with them. They will definitely prepare you better with the interview.

      Anything else you wish you knew before you went through the whole process?

The first extra note is that, despite the fact that our job is dealing with computers and codes, we should do well in interpersonal communication as well. Because this is, at least, important for interviews, where you are selling yourself to the company.

Secondly, get comfortable with coding on a whiteboard. Although this is not required at all companies, but it is indeed a common practice asked during technical interviews.

Thirdly, behave in a good manner and dress properly. Interviewers would appreciate it if you initiate the greeting, and introduce your name, with a firm handshake, as soon as you get the chance to speak to them. Also, although we do not need to be in suit-and-tie for all the time while working, we are expected to look formal for interviews. A professional-look outfit shows your attitude and proficiency. This can of course vary between companies; it can be weird to wear a suit to an interview at a company where the programmers wear jeans every day. So if you can get an idea about what company culture is like before, you may have a better idea of what people wear at the office, and dress accordingly for your interview.

Last but not the least, bring extra copies of your resume. You never know what situations you may encounter and whom you may meet. Getting ready to introduce and present yourself at all time will give you more chances to success

What resources should students consider? Books? Career Services? Student groups?

Students should consider visiting the career center at Notre Dame. Specifically, there is a career advisor concentrate advising careers in Engineering. He introduces many companies and small ventures, where ND alumnus are currently working. Although there are many internship opportunities with no pay, the advisor helps a student to get funded from the university while doing the internship. Because career in computer science can be varied such as software, hardware, IT security, IT business, consulting, and others, it will be nice to know what your interest is, and ask an advisor to introduce companies that match your interest. Also networking or getting a mentor of CSE alumni will be helpful for your career. Because the career center has all the contact information and company information of graduates, they also connect graduates to us so that we could ask them directly about the job environment, interview, application review, or other support. Especially for students who are interested in working in startups, it will be beneficial to get the contact information of alumni in startups, because start-up and venture companies are often more selective when hiring or providing internships.

As ND is mostly known for business and many students are interested in getting jobs at business or consulting fields, there are actually not as many engineering jobs on Go Irish compared to business job positions. Therefore, what the career center recommends students to get resources is going into websites like ‘LinkedIn’. If students want to focus on engineering jobs or technology companies, angel.co is another option that is recommended. It is very simple. If you upload your resume and desired career option, the website generates your information and provide contacts or job positions that are matched to them. Angel.co is specifically known for providing engineering jobs from small startup industries to big companies like Airbnb, Uber, and Fitbit.

As the career center describes, using the ND networks will be the most efficient way to be successful in career, especially with CSE major students. Therefore, visiting the career center and getting networks with graduates will be the best option. But before that, it is always recommended to research on many companies and fields, so that students could know where they want to start. To get this type of resource, students should often visit IT news websites or blogs, campus recruiting, and contacting with the HR department of companies.

What extracurricular activities should students consider?

Extracurricular activities are differently recommended to the student’s field of interest. For students interested in software engineering, students can join the computer club in campus. Because the purpose of the club is to promote the interest in computer science, students and staff share information and provide tutorials for students to enhance their engineering skills. By practicing and discussing about computer engineering and skills, students will get advantages both in academics and in careers. The computer club and other clubs often feature talks by people in the tech industry, which are helpful for learning about opportunities and networking.

For students interested in IT management, there is also an IT management club in campus. Students here also share information on IT industry, career, case studies and news, so that students can prepare for their careers outside the class. Students who are interested in case competition or IT start-up competition, are also welcome to join the club and they can create the teams for challenges.

Other than joining clubs in ND campus, it is helpful for students to participate in school events, companies’ events, and events in major department, such as app challenge, Accenture case competition, and McCloskey business plan competition. In this way, students will have more opportunities to meet new people, make great experience, and get new skills directly for their careers.

             Especially if you don’t do any of these things, it is extremely helpful to code in your free time. Many interviewers will ask you about your “side project” referring to any coding you’re doing that is not required by class. Companies want to see that you’re interested in programming outside of class requirements, so it is good to have some side project to talk about. It doesn’t have to be a technically complex project; interviewers aren’t expecting you to solve world hunger with code in your free time. Even if you’re just making a simple game, it is helpful to be able to talk about it in an interview.

How can students take advantage of networking and alumni relationships?

             You may have heard people talk about Notre Dame’s strong alumni network and how helpful it is in finding job opportunities and making connections. Indeed, Notre Dame has an extensive alumni base spread across cities all around the U.S. You may be surprised to find that your dream company is full of Domers! Although the alumni network is not quite as significant for computer science students as it is for business majors, it can still be very helpful in getting a job.

             Networking is a helpful skill that some people are naturally good at, while others are not. For some people, conversation comes easily, and they have no trouble making meaningful conversation with someone they just me. For others (like me), networking was an awkward process in which I had to force myself to talk to someone I didn’t know and act way more interested in their company or job position than I actually was. If you are of the second group, I’m sorry to say that you’re still going to have to do it in the future whether you like it or not. But don’t worry, although it may be uncomfortable, it isn’t too hard.

             When talking to a recruiter or employee, the main thing you want is to be memorable. At a career fair or recruiting event, the employee will be talking to tons of students in succession, and when all the students are computer science majors who are taking all the same questions, it can be tough to effectively stand out. In my experience, one of the best way to do this is to ask interesting questions. Don’t just ask the generic questions everyone asks like “What kinds of projects do you work on?” Actually, you should ask these questions, because you’re probably interested in the answers, but ask some more specific questions about the job too. Then, it’ll be easier for them to remember you later if you bring up the conversation. After you talk to them, be sure to get their contact information, and email them later that day. It may seem like you’re being annoying, but you come off as way more interested, and it’s better to stand out for being a little annoying than to not stand out at all.

How should students approach negotiations or contracts?

             So, you got an offer. Congratulations! Many students are just happy to get to this point, as they should be, and immediately accept the offer. However, especially for full-time offers, it is important to evaluate all parts of the offer before making a decision. Don’t just think about the pay, too; consider healthcare, stock options, and other benefits. If you have another offer on the table, compare all aspects of both offers and determine which you prefer.

             Though it’s not the only thing, the pay rate is very important, which brings us to negotiation. Regarding this, it’s important to remember: you can always ask for more money. You might not get it, but the worst thing that could happen is that the hiring company says no, and you could work your way into a better package. Negotiation can be difficult, because you don’t want to come off as arrogant or selfish. So it’s important to ask in the right way and use polite language. Make sure to state clearly your reasons for wanting more money, whether they are because you think you’re qualified, because you have a comparative offer for more money, or because you believe the offer is lower than comparative offers in the same city. If you do have an outstanding offer from someone else, it may be good to mention that. It gives you some negotiation leverage, and if the company wants you badly enough, they’ll make you a better offer. One tip I’ve been told is to never start off by naming an exact number for the pay you want. It is better to just ask if it is possible for more money, and have the company throw out the first number. Sometimes, their number may be higher than what you wanted anyway, and you got yourself more money for doing essentially nothing.

             Some companies won’t allow you to negotiate your offer. That’s okay, don’t get discouraged by this. If you still want to work for the company anyway, you can accept your offer, or if you have a better one elsewhere (or think you can get one), you can decline it.

References

Career Handbook. (2016). Las Vegas, NV: UNLV Career Service.

FAQs for Employers. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from https://upop.mit.edu/faqs-employers

Hein, R. (2013, August 27). How to Prepare for (and Ace) the Technical Interview. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.cio.com/article/2383000/careers-staffing/how-to-prepare-for–and-ace–the-technical-interview.html

Prepare for Interviews. (n.d.). Retrieved February 22, 2017, from https://careerservices.princeton.edu/undergraduate-students/interviews-offers/preparing-interviews

Smallman, E. (n.d.). Interviewing Technique for Computer Science Majors [PDF].

Coordinator of Career Development Department of Computer Science.