Don't Care to Write a Title

Oh look, another blog about cyber security. Yay. I'm pretty sure we've spent 80% of the fall semester talking about it, and if we haven't, it sure feels like we have. Let's just say I probably won't take the time to focus on cyber security as a career choice in the future, so I refuse to take the subject too seriously.

So, what protections would I put in place?

Ha, you're funny. You think I was paying attention to all the cybersecurity mumbo jumbo we discussed! Next question:

How would I store my da- nope, not feeling this one. Next.

Let's skip to: how would I train my employees to spot malicious behavior?

So...you think I'd hire people who had no idea how to spot malicious behavior? That's your first mistake! I'd make sure my employees had some experience. It's cybersecurity. Error is one of those things you can't really accept with this job, though if this multinational corporation was dumb enough to hire me I guess I can't complain too much. Ugh, fine, I'll actually answer this one I guess. So if you ever have inexperienced people, it's best to train them by first giving them a programming test to see what they know. If they don't understand algorithms and overall can't program efficiently, I don't want their service. Next, I would divide my team into sections to search for different things. One group would look for malware, one for viruses, another for social engineering, etc. I believe being well-rounded is good, but I'd much rather give my employees a specific focus so things actually get done.

How would I protect against social engineering and other means of attack?

This may sound paranoid, but I'd make a point to have each call traced and recorded so that no one can get away with information. I will also tell my employees to mention NOTHING about the OS or the company in general. If the caller keeps trying to get this information, it will be a rule to hang up on them. Whether this will work, I dunno, but I'm pretty sure if social engineering was a huge concern and your employees are too trusting, it's best to let them go.

If someone attacked you, would you retaliate? Is it ethical, blah blah blah?

Yes. That would be my first thing to do. In life, you don't let people treat you or your things however they want. Yes, it's completely ethical. Don't ask me about ethics; cybersecurity and hacking arern't the most glamorous of computer science positions.

Hm...I'm debating on writing more. Nah, this will do. Probably my last blog I'll ever write, too. Have fun grading this!

Another blog yay!

Wait, you mean I was actually supposed to pay attention when we did these presentations in class? Oh boy, might as well give me a zero now.

Actually, no. I think I’ll put a little effort into this one. Sit there and read the next 370 words as I pull them out of the air and onto this lifeless computer.

What did I learn about crypto currency? Well, I learned that crypto currency exists, for one. I thought people did trades and such over the internet (I mean, duh), but I didn’t know there was a legit thing such as virtual money you could use. I’m sure that means some hacker has tried to exploit the heck out of this, but since the group didn’t cover that I’ll assume it’s not true.

How well I feel they blah, blah, blah. Yeah, they did fine covering the material. All five minutes of it that I remember. It did feel like there were a few parts where information was missing since some people didn’t really explain much of anything and instead mainly read off the powerpoint and added maybe a sentence or two of their own input (I’m sure I did that too, but I’m not critiquing my own presentation here).

I don’t really have any suggestions. I mean, the only thing I was curious about is why hackers haven’t really tried to exploit bitcoins to death. It just seems like there’s something about crypto currency that makes it much more inefficient than the group suggested. Or maybe it’s because I have a negative view of the universe, who knows?

Do I even need to say how well the presentation kept my attention? Only like a few people from the group talked with any sort of personality, while the rest of them sounded monotone as if what they were really trying to say was “I don’t want to be up here talking to you right now.” I probably did that too, but again, I’m not critiquing my own presentation. Even if you’re a respectful audience, it’s hard to care when the speaker doesn’t seem to. With that said, they did just fine. Next question.

No questions really came to mind. Like, at all. I don’t really care about crypto currency, so nothing popped into my mind. But I do admire this question for assuming I was interested in the topic.

Yep, I answered all the questions and got the word limit. Time to go do other homework. TTFN 

Will Robots be Smarter than Us Idiots?

Will AI surpass human intelligence?

Well, I must say I'm quite impressed that you think humans are capable of producing anything intelligent, since I've long been questioning how dumb our species really is. I mean really, go to a crosswalk on campus and see how low the IQ's are of the various drivers who completely ignore students/people crossing the street and almost get into collisions due to going one hundred over the speed limit.

So, do I feel it will happen?
Absolutely not. Since humans are so arrogant, I'd find it difficult to believe that we'd be willing to create something that can come close to matching our intelligence. I also find it more difficult to believe we'd be smart enough to create something so complex. It's essentially like creating a living species without any reproduction (hmm, guess that should take the weight off parent's shoulders and decrease the need for child support, however), and that's a bit silly to think about.

However, on the crazy notion that it will happen, let's think about it for a moment. If AI surpassed human intelligence, I don't really understand why people think they'll think humans are worthless (well, they're right, but that's beside the point) and just decide to kill us all. It could be like Futurama and they could coexist with us without any issues. Then again, if robots somehow had emotions that would make most of what I just said irrelevant.

Moving on now.

Wanna know why I feel this way? I don't remember what we talked about in class so I'll make this up as I go along. Anywho, my main reason is simply this: WE DON'T HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY FOR IT YET! People can barely program video games right without bugs, so programming a fully operational system capable of thinking on its own is quite ludicrous. However, technology is much more advanced than you may think I believe, mind you. No, I don't mean we're all in loincloths and so far behind we'll never get there, but I'd assume at the rate we're going that to create an AI with human intelligence, first of all, that it would have to go through SERIOUSLY EXTENSIVE testing so it doesn't blow up the earth in one shot. Second, you'd have to implement the system so that it does NOT rely on what humans input into it, and that's extremely hard to do (from what I heard, haven't actually tried it.) Thirdly, people are already shaking in their boots witnessing robots behave like humans nowadays (walking, talking, hugging, etc.) and we've all seen Terminator and know exactly what that could lead into (yes, this goes against what I said earlier, but as I said I'm making this up as I go along. If you actually read these, I'm sure you've noticed I haven't put much information on this blog anyway. Meh.)

I believe that's more than 400 words so I'll stop abruptly. Ta ta for now.

Video Games Blah

Can Video Games Teach? Yes.

Oh, I guess you want more information than that. Well, I need 400 more words, so here we go. While I do think that video games can teach, I do not in any way shape or form think that all video games do good, nor do I believe that video games teach good things necessarily.

And before I go any further, I am not going to be one to say "video games can help teach because of >insert dumb reason here that obviously has nothing to do with anything<" or "video games help save people from boredom, and without video games we would all be stuck doing other boring things and" yada yada yada see, I'm already bored just typing this nonsense. And I'm especially not going to go on about "video games teach absolutely nothing" because I'm so sick of hearing that from people who hate video games. You know what else sucks? Hearing "video games help promote violence in young people because >insert dumb reason that really doesn't mean anything whatsoever."

Anyways, onto what I think. So, video games can teach because of they sometimes have puzzles and other strategies that players use to advance through them. While not many video games have very obvious ones, even games like Call of Duty allow a player a chance to take cover, switch weapons, and use a knife for quick thinking if they are low on ammo or performing a sneak attack. The player isn't simply sitting there shooting mindlessly and hoping that their bullets hit something. I'm sure that's what many parents think happens, and it's just not right. With all that said, there are other games that are pure strategy, such as League of Legends (a wonderful game full of idiots and ragers who complain about anyone who may be slightly less skilled than they are. Good ol' internet for ya) Yes, there's violence in the game. Sue Riot Games. But on top of that, players have to actually have an IQ above 50 and the thought process of a human being if they wish to not die foolishly repeatedly and have any hope of winning the game. Know how to play? You're put in a team with 4 other players and as a team of five your goal is to take the enemy's base. You can kill enemies for more gold for items and take turrets to make it easier to actually get to the freakin' base.

With that said, I also think that video games can teach by having people pay more attention to minor detail. For instance, in call of Duty a player may have to target an enemy which is many yards away in the game for any hope of killing htem. While this may not seem like much, this can help increase a player's focus and attention to small details.

We are too reliant on technology (not that anyone cares)

Are we too reliant on technology?

Yes.

I suppose I need 380 more words, so I guess I’ll elaborate more on this. You see, I’m using technology right now to type this blog, and I’m pretty sure you used technology to type the prompt for this assignment as well. You could’ve written it on the board and have us write it down and turn it in, but because we are so dependent on technology neither of those things happened.

Last time I went 24 hours without technology? Hm. Must’ve been when I was like 5, 6, 7 or some young age when I could barely speak English and only cared about play-doh and butterflies. I’ve used technology for most of my life and I don’t plan on changing it. Or maybe it was when I had my wisdom teeth pulled and couldn’t do crap and felt like crap for an overall crappy experience. Probably not, since I usually played video games and drank my tears since I couldn’t open my mouth very much and it was much easier than getting up for water. Needless to say, technology is important in my life and my life sucks without it.

First thing I did that involved technology this morning? Well, I turned off my phone’s annoying alarm then checked the time. I then managed to get on my laptop for no reason whatsoever and do something I already forgot. How early? If you really want to know, it was around seven or six or eight or something like that. I don’t really make it a habit to check the time whenever I wake up unless I’m late to class or decide to eat my dining hall’s nasty breakfast.

>ignoring third question<

Using technology for medical reasons? I’m pretty sure doctors use their technology for medical reasons, but knowing how incompetent and useless most of them are, it probably doesn’t mean much of anything. Sometimes I google symptoms they have and end up with ridiculous results like “you have brain cancer” if I’m just sneezing. It’s amazing how much the symptoms of the common cold resemble every disastrous disease and virus out there, geez.  I guess if you want a serious answer, my grandpa has a breathing machine so he doesn’t die and my cousin uses a back massage giving device to soothe her scoliosis. I don’t know of anyone else who uses technology for any useful purposes whatsoever so let’s just leave it at that.

Rereading this garbage, I didn’t talk at all about why we’re too reliant on technology. People use cell phones and don’t really talk to each face-to-face, lots of classes are switching to technology to teach, it’s making us lazy by having google to answer everything (have you ever seen someone google something stupid like “is asia a country?” Ugh.) and I’m already bored of typing this so that’s the best you’re gonna get outta me.

There’s my 400+ words read ‘em and give me a good grade, please.

Autonomous

"Should countries possessing the technology to build drones and other “killer robots“ that are fully autonomous, and can kill without direct orders or remote control, place limits on their development and use?"

What kind of question is that? Ok, it gets even better with this line:

"What are the consequences if participating nations find that non-signatory countries or rogue states have started or continued to employ such weapons?" 

Seriously?! What good would come from autonomous weapons? And I thought I was the joker in this relationship, pal. You just gave me two reasons to want nothing to do with them. It's like saying, "Which would you like better? Having your flesh slowly ripped open with a butter knife or having rats eat your face off?" Neither of those things sound pleasant, mind you, nor would I be stupid enough to actually pick one. 

If autonomous weapons are so dangerous why would countries even make them? If I created something that could kill anything without me telling it what to do that would sound freakin' awesome, but tell me one, and I mean ONE smart decision any government has made with any weapons. I can imagine something like this getting out in the streets and killing random people daily. Sure, it would certainly help deal with hunger and poverty and such by shredding down the population, but I guess that's highly unethical and blah blah blah since human lives are apparently worth something. I could also imagine some fool somewhere going "oh look, I just created this awesome machine that can kill people without me telling to, everyone should totally give me money!" and right before they continue they get blasted by the same device. And then the machine destroys all of humanity and then you have the movie "9" (which was a fantastic movie, by the way I suggest you watch it after you think up another blog for me to answer sarcastically." 

So, I don't really see the point of autonomous weapons. I really, really don't. I mean, it's much more efficient to train humans than create some machine to create the "terminator effect" and we all know how paranoid people became after the Terminator series. Sigh. Onto the next blog. 

Well, there's my answer. 

How the Internet Influenced Me?

How has the internet influenced me? I have a better question: how has it NOT influenced me? I’m pretty sure 90% of my day consists of internet, and the other 10% is the unimportant necessities of life, such as food, sleep, bathroom breaks, etc. Notice how I didn’t mention class and work, as those things aren’t as necessary as internet.

            How would my life be without technology? I suppose I’d be in a loincloth hunting with rocks and eating grass. More specifically, without internet life would be a lot harder and much more annoying. People say the internet is making us antisocial because most people are wrapped up in their smartphones and such. Well, they’re right, but can you actually imagine sitting down and talking to another human being? Like, who does that anymore? I guess that’s why I don’t do well in social groups, but that’s another story for another blog I won’t take very seriously like this one, I’m sure.

            Now, let me tell you online gaming is where it’s at! Playing games has really helped me cope with anxiety and sadness, cause I’m human like everyone else. It’s fun to be an awesome character in a game and pretend you were that person, or complete quests and become an amazing superhero you’ll never be in real life. That’s the real joy of gaming, right there. It’s also fun hearing from other people who play the same video games you do. And no, I don’t mean the people you play with online directly, cause being social is overrated as I mentioned before, which is precisely why 99.239874923874298374% of people on the internet are stupid and angry for absolutely no reason. I mean watching reviews on YouTube and stuff, cause that requires a lot less effort and social interaction.

            As for Wikipedia, I’m quite glad it’s around. It decreases the brain power and learning capability of most individuals by having all the questionable and probably wrong questions answered in the universe, which is good for lazy people like me who often don’t use their brain for much of anything besides typing and eating. Even then my intelligence is questionable, as I made around 234 errors typing this blog.

            Lastly, it’s great the media is online now. I’m sure it decreased the number of needless paper cuts many innocent Americans suffered each day. Have you seen a poor little child rolling around in a wheelchair because of a bandage on his thumb? I have, it’s very heartbreaking stuff, man. It also makes learning about the world a lot easier to do, though. Who actually wants to know what’s going on anymore? The world is a scary place, and the news consists of 80% murder/rape/violence of any kind, 15% “the government is doing >insert dumb and ridiculous thing here that will surely lead to an unnecessary war or people dying needlessly<” and 5% good stories that embody the well-being of the human soul. So, the bottom line is media is stupid and everyone should avoid it.

I’m sure this blog is over 400 words, and if it isn’t well it should be cause I spent a solid 50 seconds thinking of what to type, and I believe I should get credit for all 50 of those brain tiring seconds.

What I Thought About The Book

Ok, before I type my random sarcasticness, do you honestly think I read this book all the way through? Not that I didn’t find it interesting, but let’s look at some of the gibberish and Asian/Greek/Alien language plastered everywhere in it:

>Sighs< I don’t know what’s up with this book, but at times I did find these mysterious symbols much more captivating than the text. Anyway, let’s pretend I read this thing as I make up the next 380 words required for this blog.

            To be honest, a lot of the book wasn’t really new. Sure, it had concepts that were really cool, but I learned most of it already. Chapters one and two dealt with aspects of computer engineering, which I’m more familiar with as I’m taking the class right now. I knew what he meant by DeMorgan’s Theorem, Boolean algebra, and logic gates, so much of that wasn’t new to me. I did find a few of the diagrams interesting, such as figures 5 and 6, as I didn’t really imagine computers having literal nuts and bolts early on. Chapter 3 reminded me of scratch and some other program from my earlier years I used that involved moving a turtle from place to place. Notice how I didn’t mention chapters 4 and 5? I really didn’t like either of those chapters. It just seemed really repetitive and I found it quite hard to understand. Maybe cause I’m stupid >shrugs< who knows.

            Would I recommend this book to a friend? Let’s define “friend” here. Do you mean someone I care for as a human being, or some random stranger I say “hi” to before hurrying off to wherever I’m going? If it’s the latter, then totally. I could just chuck the book at them and continue on with my day. If I were to give this book to a friend, I’d probably have to bribe them with candy or money. Probably both. Not to say that I hated the book, but I don’t really see any of my friends reading it, especially since most of them barely know how to turn on a computer and the words in it will probably look similar to the gibberish crap written everywhere in my book in the pictures above.

            Hm, since I need a few more words, I guess I can tell you how I felt while reading this book.

            Bored? Engaged? Interested? All of the above.

            That’s it for this blog. Tune in for next week’s installment.

           

Computer systems and whatnot

We use computers everyday for tasks ranging from simple to complex. We use computers because we’re too lazy to find out the answers to anything on our own, and since computers are able to process information much faster than a normal human being. Computers are important because they revolutionize the world and make everything better and (yawns), okay, this boring me already. So here’s the deal: I use my ipod everyday to listen to music. Why? Because I like music. And no, I don’t mean an iphone, I mean a legitimate, living, breathing, ipod. Cause those totally exist.

Anyways, this system is very common and not unique since it’s so common. Surely every good American citizen knows what an ipod is, and if they don’t I’d like to know what rock they’re living under so I can join them. It gets scary up here on the surface. I’m just kidding, don’t look so offended over there! To be more specific about what I’m talking about exactly, I will be discussing the ipod nano, 2008 model.

So, you want to be a millionaire? Well, this is the wrong place for you, my friend. Instead I’ll tell you all about the ipod and why you should mortgage your home to buy these expensive and awesome devices!

How did the magical ipod first come to be? Many believe that Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple, created the ipod. They’re what we call “wrong.” According to a somewhat reliable article I read, the idea of an mp3 player first came from Kane Kramer, a British inventor who first thought of a portable music playing device way back in 1979. That means the ipod has been around for about >grabs calculator< 35 years. Unfortunately for Kramer, his business wasn’t very successful and he couldn’t afford to keep the patent on his invention. As for the ipod nano  specifically, the device was constructed by inventor Tony Fadell, who had the help of Steve Jobs and other engineers to make his idea come to life.

How difficult would life be without this system? A hard question to answer, really. I don’t know about you, but listening to music is one of the few things that keep me sane. With that said, not much would change aside from concerts would become much more popular and more people would be inclined to learn how to play an instrument to have music more readily available.

That's it for this blog. 

Here's my sources:

http://ipod.about.com/od/understandingipodmodels/a/invented-ipod.htm 

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/ipod-faq/ipod-inventor-designer-font-used-where-to-buy.html