Cait's Blog

Final Post

domain@service.tld — Wed, 17 Nov 2021 14:57:09 -0500

This class has been a wild ride with a lot of random discussions in the area of computer science. To celebrate the end of the semester, I will share the three most interesting things I have learned and then offer advice to future students.

Privacy is very endangered

I already knew that privacy was fading away. I saw the Snowden leaks back when they first dropped and all the conspiracy theorists were bragging about being correct. As a direct result, I was already keeping myself well informed and secured my data as much as possible. Now that I realize that most people have almost no privacy, I have made several changes to my life. I started encrypting more documents, bought a hardware security key, and cut back on the websites that I use.

Final Topic Presentations

domain@service.tld — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 14:07:34 -0400

My favorite presentation was by Kevin Kamto. I like the idea of investigating why two capitalist countries with different governments have two different poverty rates. This is a major issue because identifying this relation can help explain how to address poverty in a way that is also beneficial to the economy.

This topic is also my favorite because it is very relevant in American politics. Everyone appears to have their own idea of how the country should be ran and if our government should be replaced with a new one. Finding this link to poverty means we should avoid a government where one person holds all the power.

Thoughts on Blockchain

domain@service.tld — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 16:09:16 -0400

My thoughts on blockchain are very difficult to convey. I see both pros and cons to using it. This extends from blockchain the data structure to blockchain the currency. I will present what I believe to be the pros and cons below.

Pros

I think blockchain has a lot of potential for federated tasks like voting and moderated content. For voting, I appreciate the way each node can “vote” for the correct chain if a bad block is injected into the chain. This validation was used in several states (and even countries) for voting in past elections. I also see other federated utilities like currency being a very likely path. Blockchain currency (called cryptocurrency) is making a lot of progress with rich investors and some countries starting to recognize and regulate it. This is huge for places where the official currency is inflated or the government is too invasive in their citizen’s activity.

Reflection on Privacy Discussions

domain@service.tld — Wed, 22 Sep 2021 16:19:40 -0400

Our privacy discussions were fascinating, but I did not hear anything new. I am well informed on online privacy and security. For the sake of simplicity, I will divide this reflection into two parts: the class discussion and the TED talk video.

Class Discussion

The class discussion did not surprise the class. At I looked at my fellow classmates, it was as if all of us were hearing the same exact words we are accustomed to hearing. If I learned anything completely new about privacy, it is that companies are willing to decorate their privacy policy with happy colors and images in order to steer the reader’s attention away from the text. I have heard about making the privacy policy vague or hard to find, but decorating the privacy policy is a new tactic that I have not seen before.

Reflection on Citizen Four

domain@service.tld — Tue, 21 Sep 2021 15:22:38 -0400

I discuss my opinions of the Citizen Four documentary

Reflection On Hive Tracks and Bee Informed Partnership Ethics Case Study

domain@service.tld — Thu, 02 Sep 2021 16:52:09 -0400

a reflection on an ethics case study

Reflection on Ethics Discussion

domain@service.tld — Thu, 26 Aug 2021 14:32:43 -0400

My personal thoughts about our in-class ethics discussion

Best Computing Experiences

domain@service.tld — Wed, 18 Aug 2021 19:41:31 -0400

Learn about what I consider to be my best computing experiences as an undergraduate student.

Contact

domain@service.tld — Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

My contact information.