Despite being late (even though the document was ready on Thursday),  I still have not forgotten my trusty ITGS triangle. I digress, so I"ll just jump into this interesting article.  To sum it up, the article was written by Matt Peckham at MSNBC, who wrote a story about a controversial news story by Fox News [inb4ofcourse], involving a report on the new 'Medal Of Honor' reboot being done by EA games.  The controversy, [incorrectly reported by Fox News], was actually being able to play Taliban in multiplayer, as the game is authentic as well (while most video-games are realistic). Now, needless to say is that there was some backlash as the game is based on events which are still on going in Afghanistan.  This has brought into question whether playing authentic situations (meaning, playing the taliban in competitive multiplayer) should be done in gaming, as there are still people out there who feel sensitive about war (whether you were a soldier, family member, etc.).

Now, as a 'gaming-enthusiast', this has a huge impact the leisure side of technology, because really people just game as a form of relaxation. Now with there being backlash on games that recreate situations ongoing, whether it be in Grand Theft Auto 4 in which you play a civilian trying to lead a more legalized life, or Modern Warfare 2 in which your experiencing realistic situations, but not actual situations (Though controversial, for an airport shoot-up sequence).  The interesting thing about Medal Of Honor (because I've kept some close tabs on it), is that they've actually interviewed the Tier One operatives and brought out the level of authenticity. I personally think that, once again, this comes down to the fact that it is a game. I understand while people may not appreciate this opinion, is that we are playing this game on a machine, and at the end of the day, it is no real war experience going on in the living room. To that extent, we still have to remind ourselves at times that our interaction with machines shouldn't really emotionally effect us.

Below, is my breakdown of the article from the ITriGS view!

ITGS TRIANGLE BREAKDOWN:

Who:
EA, Fox News
Written By: Matt Peckham

What:
EA’s Medal Of Honor game allowing the playing Taliban in competitive multiplayer mode.

When:
Summer 2010

Where:
America

How:

Fox News reports a story on Medal Of Honor.
----------
Social & Ethical Issues
People & Machines
Policies & Standards
----------

Areas Of Impact
Leisure

Stakeholders
EA
Gamers
Families at loss from Afghanistan.

• 0 Comments

Before reading the introduction, I decided to have a look into the preface, to my surprise, it started off with a sentence that I would have never expected to read before starting a book.

"I have written this book partly to correct a mistake."

From there, it goes into how his first book "Applied Cryptology" didn't direct people in the direction he wanted. Instead, it lead to "lesser" security systems around the world. More importantly however, he immediately states three points about the novel I am going to read about:

"This book is about those security problems, the limitations of technology and the solutions"

"Read this book, from beginning to end"

"Many technical books are meant to skim, bounce around in,  and use as a reference. This book isn't. It has a plot."

In several senses, I was taken back, but lets just get straight to the point, shall we?

The introduction to the book first logs a number of security events during March 2000, whether they were defacing websites, security breaches, bugs or errors with software. This continues on for a bit before it his point becomes abundantly clear, that there are a multitude of problems and vulnerabilities in the software that is supposedly meant to be "secure". He discusses in detail why and what can be done about the problem at hand, being the primary subject of his book.

Thus far, its been a fascinating book to read, and it really adds perception to the security in our world. It looks into detail about the underlying systems that go into creating the 'security' in our world, and how it seemingly may seem less secure then before.

• 1 Comment

The writer of a worm that can enter jailbroken iPhones has accepted a job to be a hacker full time. Although he will be doing his work for good, are iPhone owners so happy about the situation? For more information, visit this link. I believe that this article will be a good choice for my portfolio, so let the wonderful ITGS triangle explain!

News Event

Well, I already explained this part. No need to repeat myself. Next!

Social and Ethical Aspects

Control: If the hacker and his company are allowed to control worms, will they still use them for good?

Intellectual property: Should somebody's iPhone be hacked by somebody, even if they know the risks of jailbreaking?

Privacy: How much information can the hacker collect from targeted iPhones?

Reliability: Will the hacker remain a reliable employee?

Security: Is it ethical to breach past the security of an iPhone, no matter how weak it is?

Business and Employment: Of course, somebody is getting employed here.

Information Technology Systems

Jailbroken iPhones and the worms that can hack into them.

Specific Areas of Impact

The privacy of many iPhone users, along with the consequences of jailbreaking an iPhone in the first place.

Stakeholders

The hacker, his new employers and iPhone users. Apple might also be involved.

To view more bookmarks about technology and business & employment, visit our Diigo space, because that is totally where you want to be. Or where Dr Tech wants you to be, but...

• 1 Comment

The role of the network administrator is to maintain the stability of the server. The server is very important, as the stability of our school network depends on its’ performance.
The role of a network administrator is in management through software, rather than managing through hardware. All this work can be done through one computer and the right software. When there is a hardware difficulty, thanks to a relationship between our school and Apple; technicians are sent from them in to service our Xserves.
The first job is to manage accounts. When a new student comes to our school, the administrator must create logins for all the accounts; as well as deleting the accounts once they leave. This also applies to managing our school-wide E-Mail Client FirstClass. A failure to delete accounts on FirstClass could lead to the school being charged for the unused accounts, while the activation of an account costs a particular amount of money.
The second job is to prevent overload in the server. The most important software used by an administrator is Workgroup Manager. This allows the administrator to see how many people are logged onto their accounts stored on the server. We primarily see spikes in logins when Students login at the beginning of the day and when Teachers login early in the morning. This can lead to Login Overloads, creating problems within the server. If people are logged into their accounts and not using them, the administrator can view the usage statistics of everybody logged in and log them out.
While a server has many automated features, it is up for the administrator to make sure our servers don’t crash under the weight of students and teachers. The stability of the server is one of the most important aspects of the infrastructure of our school, and without an administrator; something as simple as accessing a webpage or opening a document would be next to impossible.

• 1 Comment

ACS Egham uses the same systems as any large corporation to connect to the Internet. It is a farley basic system involving proxy servers, switches/hubs and a lot of fiber optic connections. The first step is to have a point of entry for the Internet. This comes from an ISP or Internet Service Provider. The Internet comes into the main server room in Magnolia via fiber optic cables were it connects to a hub. This hub takes the connection the the Internet and connects it to the main server for the school. Inside the rack for the main server is a proxy server. The proxy server splits the Internet connection and sends the split signal to all the different locations around the school (Magnolia, Maple, Mansion, Lack, Saville, Reception/Student Center). The signal is again sent around the school grounds using fiber optic cables.

• 2 Comments

Over the years amazon has developed a platform technology for reading on the go. Downloadable newspaper subscriptions, magazine subscriptions, eBooks, Novels, Poems, articles, etc have been made to be downloaded onto the cheap and useful Amazon Kindle. The Kindle is cheaper than most eReading tools because of its wireless internet capability. The Kindle, even after paying for shipping and handling costs can be cheaper than most electronic book platforms in the country of origin. The Kindle targets traveling businessmen or people who travel around alot. Now the Kindle is becoming globalized. With international wireless internet this has become a must-have appliance for traveling. "Book lovers can now fire up their Kindles from Albania to Zimbabwe, but Canadians are still in the cold as far as Amazon.com Inc.'s popular electronic book reader is concerned." (CANWEST NEWS SERVICE). Now the Amazon Kindle has reached over 100 other countries around the world from Albania to Zimbabwe. "Whether you're in Paris, Mumbai or Sao Paulo, you can think of a book and be reading it in less than 60 seconds," Amazon.com said in a statement on its website. For more information about countries which have wireless capability and which don't go to the third link in the comments.  The Kindle becoming international deals with Globalization because it is becoming an international appliance. It also has to do with people and machines in specific, businessmen.

• 2 Comments

One major social ethical issue that has appeared in the last 9 years is "How far will we go to protect our society?"

Socially, the country I am in seems to have some issues (in the sense that there are marauding teenagers or drunks who decide to tear up a street whether they seems to be aware of their actions or not). Yes, I have seen these type of situations in first person, but I digress, but it seems like the government's answer to it is CCTV.

Now, CCTV is probably the biggest double-edged sword in England more then the rest of the world? Why? Because we seem to have the most in the world. It has become so recognizable that it can be suggested to be an icon of some sort; and despite the billions of pounds used to develop it, it seems to not have completely payed off. But the idea of it still remains, and though that article indicates that CCTV hasn't , it still remains, CCTV can reduce crime and add to our security. However, it goes one step further.

Modern CCTV now has the ability to communicate with people on the street. The fact that they are able to see people dropping litter on the street is insane; it seems out of a movie no? The government is watching your every move in their city and how far they'll go to make sure you don't do something (V For Vendetta? Anyone?); The fact that the police does this to 'keep the city secure and safe in a healthy environment to make sure citizens stay okay' but they seem to be bordering on privacy. Its almost a marytr, where people see these things and feel terror in their eyes. Might seem like a slight exaggeration, but consider for one moment, with the direction they've headed in with CCTV and being on the borderline of privacy and security, one must consider, once they eliminate crime, are they going to extend that on to more minor incidents?

• 0 Comments

You have briefly looked into how networks work in general now you must prepare to interview and discuss with the school network manager, and then present these findings together about how the network functions in our school in five weblog posts:-

Areas you will need to look at are:-

1. Software for Network Management including Remote Access software and how it works - you must be able to describe and document the main applications( and their functions) on the server that the network administrator uses?
2. Hardware used for the network - the network topology and overall structure of the network as a diagram - you must be able to produce an overall diagram of the network naming the servers and main clusters?
3. Internet and Wireless Systems - Proxy servers, Filters and how ACS-Egham connects to the internet - you must be able to describe the systems setup for Internet access and controls on those systems to stop issues including viruses, trojans and other attacks on the network?
4. Network Security - User access and permissions/Active directory or OSX equivalent - you must be able to explain how users and their rights of access are administered on the network, and how this enables the network to remain secure for different users?
5. The overall role of a network administrator at our school, what jobs are done how are they organised. How does the network administrator support all the staff and students. What are the difficulties and problems associated - are they really just like the IT Crowd?

You must throughout the interview, be able to write down notes, take photos and sketch any diagrams so that you can describe the network fully. Each of you must choose one area to focus on from the above list, produce a series of questions that you will ask during the tour and then obviously write your informative weblog post with photos and screenshots?

 YouTube: Play Now | Play in Popup | Direct Link

• 0 Comments

During a recent discussion, a question cropped up, "What was the first IT system/Computer?" While I didn't jump in immediately, I knew which I considered as my first computer. However, first I decided to think what an IT system was. This was critical as its meant to make something easier and effecient for us firstly. However, if that were the only thing an IT system had, it would mean an abacus is an IT system. While it does make it easier to calculate exponetially large numbers, it still requires us to use the tool in order to gain numbers; my point? Something that is a IT system means that its automated in some way. For instance, a calculator is automated and still can calculate larger numbers.

However, an IT system has an  "input, process, output and some form of a storage system" (Quote taken from IT class), in which case I believe the first computer created technically was  "Enigma". While designed to perform code-breaking functions, it still had some computational pieces to make a computer, such as coding. Enigma was a very simple IT system, but it was a computer because one would type in a certain phrase and it was able to take that phrase, process it and then output it into a form that could be understood.  One final point about the enigma is that it forms the basis of our modern day keyboard (more or less, just a few keys in the wrong place!) and sometimes each of these keys performed more then one function! That is why I believe Enigma is the first computer.

• 4 Comments

BBC News - TECH

As Cloud Computing is becoming more popular as emerging web services are beginning to provide free use of online storage space.  Greater and greater amounts of data are flowing more frequently and being cumulatively stored within the seemingly infinite shelves of online capacities.

However, is infinity online really a matter of fact?... (think of Twitter's unaccounted for tweeting overload)

also

Are these new services really promising what they imply?

Perhaps... or perhaps (quote Bill Thomson) "Those of us who use the cloud just need to be clear about the realities of the situation - and not send or store anything on GoogleMail or HotMail that the US government might want to use against us"

http://www.googleisevil.com/

• 0 Comments

Machine Language is binary, consisting of 0's and 1's, correct? Well, maybe not for long.

A study by Edinburgh and Manchester university scientists has arrived at a more sophisticated quantum binary language using an entire range of values (qubits). This technological advance uses molecular-scale technology instead of the current silicon chips. Such an achievement of a further enhancement in computing power supports Moore's Law but some Social & Ethical Issues can be brought into question.

Quantum computing may not be fully reliable and a hasty adaptation of the scientific breakthrough may have tragic consequences. Moving into molecular scale technology takes hardware manipulation and development out of engineers' hands and into CAD & CAM software, which itself may not be fully reliable.

Another issue may involve People & Machines. Further complicating an already complicated IT System may produce technophobic outrage by pushing consumers to use a device they'll know even less about.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/7952524.stm

• 2 Comments

We have looked over Web2.0, a big step in Internet functionality, but Web3.0 may be the next significant advance in the reasonably near future.

The 20-year anniversary of the World Wide Web was celebrated at a gathering in Geneva recently on the 14th of March. Tim Berners-Lee, acclaimed inventor of the Internet, attended this celebration and delivered his next proposition for a further advance in Internet functionality.

His idea is not farfetched; he is moreso publicizing the concept rather than inventing it. The concept is to advance the Internet into a web of data. The combination and correlation of raw data would aid scientific research and development.

A widespread effort to materialize this concept has been taken on by a group of European computer scientists through DBPedia. This system obtains key information from the popular site, Wikipedia, and retains the information in a database. e.g. Historical figures' dates of birth/death, hometowns, heights, etc. An obvious Social & Ethical Issue arises from this idea. How can one authenticate the data derived from a publicly edited domain like Wikipedia? Automatic testing methods to validate and verify derived information have been looked into to ensure the authenticity of these databases, but problems can be expected to follow alike Web3.0's predecessors.

Source: http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/medien/das_grosse_aufraeumen_im_hypertext-haufen_1.2216427.html

• 3 Comments

A recent story in the news has been associated with Google Maps. A roofer named Tom Berge scouted for and stole half-inch lead tiles using satellite images on Google Maps. Lead tiles appear darker than others; Berge and his accomplices used this knowledge to make off with an estimated £100,000.

Google Maps has had some controversial stories associated to it like the recent StreetView infringing on Privacy Rights. The technology is unquestionably useful for innocent tasks like mapping itineraries or finding nearby places of interest. But it also enables more cynical tasks like locating and stealing valuable building materials or viewing private roads.

Is Google really evil or are criminal users inflicting that reputation?

Is Google simply irresponsible by providing technology for criminals to perform these tasks?

Source: http://www.t3.com/news/lead-thief-used-google-maps-to-find-victimxs?=38386

• 2 Comments

Just a quick good luck to Grade 12's who will be involved in their final mocks this week - and all three papers! Yikes.

Grade 11's a reminder of work due etc :-

1) Thursday - Web 2.0 Presentation on their long assignment into reading a specific ITGS related book (note blog posts should also be up by now?)

2) Monday - look over the last ITGS mini test - for retest next week.

3) Continue on with Spreadsheet based skills - of which many have still not handed in their first skills spreadsheet - Run a Business.

4) Tuesday - the Great Debate.

So plenty on, make sure you are up to date, otherwise you will be falling even further behind.

P.S. Will be looking back at the problems with the Slife application, and checking out two new features of this weblog including the gravatar!

• 0 Comments