Women in the Sciences

My mother graduated in CS from BYU in 1984. The field was still relatively young, and I understand it was very math-oriented. I believe computer science has since created its own ecosystem of basic concepts and has strayed from the mathiness it once possessed. If this field were to embrace its mathematical roots, there could be a surge of female math majors investigating this discipline. The long hours spent alone coding on a computer which are required to be successful may be another reason why women are discouraged from this major. My mom met my dad (also a CS major) early in her track, and they spent a great amount of time together doing projects. I also know a girl in my ward last year who is now in the major, and she will only sign up for CS classes with another girl she knows in the major. Classes like CS 240 and 345 unfortunately are light on the social aspect of an education, and can deter naturally social people from the dark lonely confines of the first floor of the TMCB.

The New Experts

I headed over to microsoft.com this morning to see what ornate festivities Microsoft might be throwing for the launch of Windows 7. I was met, however, with an interesting surprise. Instead of a slick Silverlight movie extolling the virtues of Microsoft's new crown jewels, they had scoured the Twitter-sphere looking for positive tweets about Windows 7. These 140-character reviews were on full display, each hitting on a different aspect of the new OS. Social media has definitely changed the way computer companies do business. A few years ago, a launch like this would surely consist of industry experts sharing their lofty opinions about Windows 7, using proof by authority to demonstrate that Windows 7 is a superior product. Now the consumer has the power, and trust is placed in the common man to confirm the usefulness of Windows 7 to the next common man. Proof by quantity. I hope it's better. Windows 7 as well.

Good Luck

Security experts are facing a progressively uphill battle against hackers and users alike.

The Internet is becoming more pervasive in the lives of the average person, and as cloud computing becomes a more accepted paradigm, the number and severity of potential security holes becomes a greater problem. Internet services offer a greater amount of functionality every day, tempting users to upload increasingly sensitive documents, in turn tempting the online hacking community to work harder to get at the information. As more users upload information, the amount of information a hacker can pilfer increases as well, further enticing a hacker.

The number and values of online assets are increasing because of an ever growing online community. The task to educate concerning Internet security is a huge task, especially with online newcomers emerging every day both young and old. The common mantra is to vary your passwords between sites and to change monthly or semi-monthly. I worked at software company providing solutions for small banks for almost two years. They ran a tight ship, and required a password change every 6 weeks. At first my passwords were clever, imaginative and difficult. However, I remember after about the fifth password switch, I would change as little as possible in an effort to simply remember what the password was. By the eighth or ninth switch I was routinely calling security asking them to reset my password (prompting another level in the memory game). It was frustrating and very anti user-friendly, cultivating a bad relationship between myself and the network personnel.

Unfortunately, the hacker community is always one step ahead. Even if security experts are to evolve their processes, there is no doubt the criminal community will immediately begin their work to exploit the new systems. The Internet allows the international community to personally knock on your door, and since many of these visitors have no other life than to pick at your locks, security experts are more hard-pressed to provide iron-clad solutions. Thus begins a tight-rope walk between usability and security. Only time will tell if a solution will ever be developed that can satisfy both ends of the spectrum.

It's a boy! Now what will his username be?

Snow Leopard Guest Accounts Wiping Computers

The accelerating progress of technology is dizzying. In 50 years we have gone from mainframe computers in the back rooms of large universities and corporations to Twitter updates in the bathroom. Our user account name and password comes to mind as quickly as our favorite color or movie, and in almost every sense the information it safeguards defines us more clearly. Our reliance on computers as part of our identity casts an increasingly large burden on the designers and engineers who implement these systems to include robustness and redundancy as leading features. In this digital age that continues to emerge, we can no longer afford to bet a portion of our identity to faulty systems.

The Cycle Repeats...

Every year it's the same thing. The Stake has set a goal to index a certain number of names by the end of Winter Semester. Stake leaders enthusiastically encourage members to board the bandwagon, through special Family Home Evenings, firesides, Sunday School lessons and the like. People are called to committees to convince their fellow comrades and countrymen to participate. After three months nothing much has changed. Upon being asked when the last time Molly M. or Peter P. logged on to fulfill their weekly pledge, they respond with an evasive, "Are we still doing that...?" As divine providence grants us increasing ease of connecting with our ancestors, we increasingly fill our schedules with IMing and Facebook pokings. How about we look up the relationship status of our Great Grandfather for a change?

Pseudo Privacy

The World Wide Web can sometimes be just that, a web. It certainly can capture us at our best, but unfortunately, our more forgettable moments seem to be even more sticky. In the age of Facebook and Twitter, what we say and do can be instantly available for the world to consume. However, text snippets, sound bites, and online photo albums only allow a glimpse into our complex lives. Without the context of these bits and pieces of our lives, swift judgments can fly, only to get tied up in today's social networking world. Not only do we need to hold judgment when we surf the web, but we also need to be more aware of what we say and do, because you never know who will be watching.

Obama gets hard lesson on talking to press

The Misinformation of the Sages

I still remember the day I discovered Google could count. I was in the Math lab at BYU and realized I had left my calculator at home. So instead of scrounging around for a piece of scrap paper to figure out what 45 * 6 was, I happily entered the expression in that brilliantly white text box and left Google to do the thinking. Google has become our surrogate brain, simplifying an entire research project into a couple of cleverly-worded search phrases and deciding where we are headed to dinner Friday nights. No doubt Google and the Internet have placed a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, but I am afraid that our ability to reason and to wonder are at an increasing risk of going bankrupt.