FACEBOOK DATA IS GREATER THAN SUM OF YOUR LIKES (2ND BIMESTER)

More Privacy Perils: Facebook Data Is Greater Than The Sum Of Your Likes

URL: http://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykosner/2013/03/12/more-privacy-perils-facebook-data-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-your-likes.

An app was developed by a research group of the University of Cambridge that is able to “stereotype” Facebook user based on their information and their different likes.

The IT system in this case is the app, which is called MyPersonality. The app works with an algorithm that tells you what kind of person you are -homosexual, nerd, sports person- by looking at your information and your likes on Facebook. Because of this type of performance, it affects all the Facebook users that use the app, because they are the ones that will have their privacy compromised, since the app will maybe know things about them nobody else knows.

The app has an impact on the ´privacy of the main stakeholder involve. The people that use this app may give the database information about them that nobody knows –not even them-.

Also, this has a legal impact and also a small psychological impact. It is illegal to affect the privacy of the people, since it is their right to have it. The psychological impact will go to the people who maybe are influenced by the results that the app shows, changing their way of living and the way they think.

In conclusion, these impacts are serious and they can have a huge effect on the way people think or behave. Also, this IT system shows discrimination, since it tells that you may be homosexual because you watch a specific show or like a specific page.

People should be careful on what applications they use and what information they give away, because they might learn something about themselves they don’t want to.

THOUGHT-POWERED BIONIC ARM (2ND BIMESTER)

Thought-powered bionic arm 'like something from space'

URL: http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/02/tech/innovation/bionic-robotic-arm-limb-amputee/index.html

This article talks about the creation and the implementation of the world’s most sophisticated bionic arm. It enables the amputee to move the arm just as a regular person.

This bionic arm consists of 100 sensors, 26 joints, 17 motors and a tiny computer built into the palm of the robotic hand. The bionic arm responds to electrical impulses sent form the brain to the residual limb, which means you only have to think of moving it. This arm has an effect on the people suffering from amputations, the doctors and the doctors.

Also, this IT system has an issue directly to the relationship between people and machines. It affects the relationship between people and machines because now some people may have a machine working as their body and this will help them to live a regular life.

Besides this, this It system has an impact in the health area. It affects this area because from now on people that is lacking a body part can have a robotic imitation that works almost as good as a regular body part.

To sum up, we can state that this new IT system will have a positive impact in the field specified above. People with this new mechanisms will have another opportunity to have a normal life, and that is something everybody deserves. I believe that right now we are still far away from the time when this kind of products will be available for everybody, but now we are a lot closer.

DATABASE CASE

Database Case For this case we had to do a database using Microsoft acces. First we did the tables for each of the variables specified in the case, such as the animals, the costumer, the health of the animal, the payment method, etc. After that we did the relationships between each table, putting together the different IDs of the different tables. For exapmple, in the table of costumer the payment method needed to be specified, so the payment ID was filled with the payment ID stablished in the table of payment methods. After doing this we only had to do the reports and the forms for each table.

TYPE OF NETWORKS

Networks Case

I recommend to the family to set up a WLAN. The reason is that is much easier to connect the devices via wireless than with a regular LAN cable.
To make the WLAN I suggest for them to buy a router (approximately $ 150). A router is a network hardware that is used to connect together two or more networks. A typical router will use a cable plugged into it to access the Internet and will have more cables to set up a LAN. In this specific case, I recommend only one cable connected to the desktop, while all other devices are connected wireless.
For the extra software to the network, I recommend an extra firewall between the LAN and the Internet for extra protection. The price of the router already includes the fire wall. Apart from the firewall, I believe that the family may want a filter. There are many filters on the market, I investigated one called Net Nanny (approximately $ 40 for one year license) that provided everything the family may want to block, from pornography to some social networks.

The network will be like the diagram shown below. As you can see, the topology used for this network is a star topology. If one of the components between the client (device) and the router gets affected, the other connections are not affected.

GLOBAL INTERNET SLOWS (2ND BIMESTER)

Global internet slows after 'biggest attack in history'

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21954636

Global internet slowed down after suffering the biggest attack in history. The attack started because of a quarrel between spam-fighting group and a hosting firm.

How big is the virus we are talking about? Before this attack, the biggest internet attack was of about 100 GHZ. The one that is currently going on is approximately of 300 GHZ, so imagine how bid the problem is.

This problem affects all of the internet users, since the connection is slower. Apart from that, it involves the two groups that are having the struggle, because, from one side, the database and the resources of the spam-fighting group are being compromised, while the image of the other group is affected.

This situation has a relevant significance in the digital citizenship. People that are causing this attack should be punished for their acts because they are affecting everyone. When you use the internet, you have to respect the fact that this is for everyone and you shouldn’t ruin it by doing an attack or something like that.

If someone does something like the attack, a legal penalty should be put to that person. The reason of this is that something like this affects the rights of many people and that is against the law. That’s why the person or entity behind the attack should be punished.

To sum up, the attack was massive and affected all of the people that use internet. People behind it should be sent behind the bars and the connection should get fixed so that everyone can enjoy a fast internet connection again.

PITT TEAM INSERTS COMPUTER CHIP IN BRAIN (2ND BIMESTER)

Pitt team inserts computer chip in brain so a person's thoughts can instigate motion

URL: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/news/health/pitt-team-inserts-computer-chip-in-brain-so-a-persons-thoughts-can-instigate-motion-666707/

This article contains a new and exting news. Now scientists have managed to insert a chip into a quadriplegic’s brain in order to give him the ability to move a robotic hand using his mind (the same way we move our own arms).

The IT system involved is the chip and the arm that helped the quadriplegic person to move, in a certain way. The chip consists of 200 needles that go attached to different specific parts of the brain that control the main movements of the arm. After the brain sends a signal thru the nerves, the computer gets this signal and makes the robot move the way the quadriplegic wants.

With this new technology the whole field of medicine and all the quadriplegic will be affected in a positive way.

Also, with this new IT system the interaction between people and machines will change in a radical way. From now on, machines will become even more important in a human life and maybe they will even become a part of the human (like in this case). Health will also never be the same. With this kind of technology health in general will improve a lot. Also health will be much more dependable of robots and technology, since it will be the new way to help a patient.

All of these areas will have a positive impact thanks to these IT system. If these kind of things become more common they will affect the entire world and will help humans to live better and longer. I hope this technology will be out in the market soon.

HOW HACKERS CAN SWITHC ON YOUR WEBCAM AND CONTROL YOUR COMPUTER

How hackers can switch on your webcam and control your computer

URL: http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/how-hackers-can-switch-on-your-webcam-and-control-your-computer-20130328-2gvwv.html#ixzz2PJunxebp

In this article you can see how much ability young kids have using technology. A 14 year old got RATed (RAT is a spyware virus that can access in a computer and can even control de web cam) when all of his money in a game called Runscape got stolen. After that he wanted to learn how to use this software, and after a while he became a real expert in using it and was able to get inside many different computers. He was able to see everything they typed, saw or even did.

The IT system involved in this situation is the RAT virus, but what is a RAT? This virus is a spyware that can get into a computer by just pressing a simple link or other things. It has a direct impact on every single person that has a computer because now their security is compromised.

Apart from security, the privacy of the users at stake is compromised. If anyone gets RATed they will have no privacy at all since the hacker will be able to watch every move they make. Also their security will be at risk because if the hacker wants to abduct them or do anything to the user with the RAT it will be relatively easy.

All of the issues described above have a legal impact on the society, since it is illegal to spy on somebody or get inside their private property. Also it has an economic impact because with the information the people have on their computers hackers could steal money or something else from the owner of the computer.

Because of all of these reasons this impacts are very serious. If the virus expands it can affect a wide area and can cause a lot of damages. Another thing that it is alarming is the fact that a child was able to use it. We need to educate children in technology since they are young in order for these kind of things to stop.

After analyzing this we can conclude that parents and teachers are kind of responsible for this situation. Parents and teachers need to educate children so they won’t do bad stuff with technology. It’s also fault of the ones who design the virus in first place, but in order to stop people to create software like this we have to educate the upcoming generations so that they will be conscious of their acts.

Article #2, 2nd Bimester.

ARTICLE 2 BIM 2 Pitt team inserts computer chip in brain so a person's thoughts can instigate motion Now the mind-controlled robotic-arm technology developed at the University of Pittsburgh has reached another milestone, again sparking lots of emotion. Her accomplishments, resulting from decades of Pitt research, heighten the promise of people with quadriplegia or arm amputations to use mind-controlled robotic arms to perform daily tasks independently. UPMC researchers, Pitt team and quadriplegia affected persons would be the key stakeholders and the IT system would be the robotic arm used. It’s related with people and machines as quadriplegia affected persons are going to be helped by this machine on order to fell “normal” again. It also involves globalization as there are quadriplegia affected persons all over the world which will eventually like to have access to this robotic machine. The impact is cultural as quadriplegia affected persons are part of the culture and should be helped in one or another possible way. This is also going to have a positive impact on their health. The impact is going to be serious if this technology advance quickly giving the opportunity to quadriplegia affected persons to utilize this technology. It will be a long term impact as there will always be people needing it. A large group of people all over the world suffer from quadriplegia or other injuries. The responsible for this is the Pitt working teams that have been working on this project for more than 20 years

Article #1, 2nd Bimester.

How hackers can switch on your webcam and control your computer A malicious virus known as Remote Administration Tools (RATs) can be used by hackers to switch on your webcam and control the machine without your knowledge. The 14-year-old couldn't believe his eyes. The virtual currency he'd worked so hard to amass in the online role-playing game Runescape had vanished. He'd lost the equivalent of $700 in the blink of an eye, after investing his pocket money into the game's economy for months. All that remained was an instant message dialogue box: "Haha, you got RATted!" Runescape users, web cam users, and laptop owners are the key stakeholders as well as the IT systems involved. This “rating” problem is related with privacy and anonymity because the hackers can access to webcams from laptop users and can see anything personal that you are doing in front of your laptop. It’s also related with security because these hackers are stealing money from reunescape users. They are messing with everybody’s intellectual property, specially the one from runescapes developers. It’s making an economic impact because runescape users are losing the money that they paid in order to play this online game. It’s also a legal impact because it’s not legal to steal money and to spy people by their webcams. The impact is really serious because almost every computer comes with a web cam and many runescape users spend a lot of their money on this online platform. The stakeholders involved are a very large group. Many people use webcams. This is going to face future problems if it’s not solved quickly. The responsible for this is the group of “RAT” hackers. As a consequence many people will probably stop buying computers with webcams as well as many people will stop spending money on online gaming platforms. As a solution I will suggest runescape developers to act quickly if they don’t want to lose a large part of their users. I cant see a solution on the webcams.