Although from a philosophical standpoint i believe that there is no universal right and wrong, i do believe that there is a right and wrong because God has told us something is right or wrong. That is to say, humankind without a god or moral background will not have an sense of what is right and wrong
There are a lot of ethical flaws in communications and networking across the globe. I believe that the internet is a great place. We learn, shop, and communicate via the internet. I believe it is the correct way of thinking to keep it anonymous, relatively unregulated, and able to speak without fear of prosecution. With that said some things should certainly not be OK. Sexual conduction involving adults and children as well as blatant cyberbullying of people you personally know are just a couple of examples of things i would consider unacceptable. The only censorship should be things like this.
As much as i hate spam, ads, and malware, i believe that people have the right to use them. Any problem that affects society as a result of its use is reduced by software developed by companies looking to rid potential costumers of their problem. Gmail is one such company. To encourage people to use Gmail and Google products they have filters to recognize spam and ads. The ad-block add-on to Chrome gets a lot of donations simply because of the convenience of watching videos and visiting websites with annoying and noisy ads.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
5 ethics characteristics
I consider myself pretty cynical when it comes to ethics. I believe that society accepts those who stand by the popular ethics they were taught growing up. In this current generation intellectual property is a very important ethic. 300 years ago nobody cared, because it was the ultimate form of flattery. Some societies accept murder and mistreatment of women, etc very differently then we Americans do. Due to my belief that there is no real universal right and wrong, i chose characteristics that i believe reflects universally are considered ethical actually are.
Consistency - An ethical person will stand by their beliefs, not changing them for anyone.
Respectful - Respect of human life. No matter who you are killing is bad
Responsible - Somebody willing to accept the consequences of their actions
Empathy - Going along with respect for human life and an understanding of others
Justice - They believe in justice by whatever standards justice means to their beliefs
I found these characteristics difficult to decide on due to my beliefs in no universal ethical right and wrong.
The Last Lecture Randy Pausch
The last lecture is Randy Pausch's key lecture to emphasize what he has to say before he dies which was a year later in 2008. I believe Pausch's lecture was very inspiring to both parenting, teaching, and to living life as an innovative student. As a parent, he found both imagination, criticism, and brick walls useful. Imagination and motivation will make a person innovative. Criticism means that people haven't given up on you. Brick walls and failure are great, according to him. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." If a person wanted something enough, they would find a way to break through that wall.
As a teacher, Pausch seems brilliant. He assigned work that allowed for a great amount of freedom and gave his students the capability to set their own bars. He was blown away by their performance, and took his mentor's advice and didn't set the bar for their work. I definitely approve of multiple department efforts in a classroom work. In real life works this will always be the case Control Alt Delete...That was a pretty creepy yet amusing part of Pausch's lecture. Those students did some fantastic work on their 3D environment.
As a student, i think i should find ways to break through my brick walls. I do not want to break through most of them however. I'm going to have issues graduating next semester if my grades don't look right. If grades dont improve in some aspects i will likely require another semester. Systems is one of the subjects that i find a brick wall in. I've repeated twice different courses in that branch of computer science. I feel like this brick wall has been good for me. When i first started computer science i wasn't quite sure what i wanted to do in it. I was willing to take a future job in almost any industry. Over time i have found i was more imaginative and innovative in other areas then systems work. That wasnt the only wall in CS that I've found. These brick walls have made me realize what i want to do with my life in computer science. Something that I will enjoy being a part of will make my work all the better just like the 3D student team.
As a teacher, Pausch seems brilliant. He assigned work that allowed for a great amount of freedom and gave his students the capability to set their own bars. He was blown away by their performance, and took his mentor's advice and didn't set the bar for their work. I definitely approve of multiple department efforts in a classroom work. In real life works this will always be the case Control Alt Delete...That was a pretty creepy yet amusing part of Pausch's lecture. Those students did some fantastic work on their 3D environment.
As a student, i think i should find ways to break through my brick walls. I do not want to break through most of them however. I'm going to have issues graduating next semester if my grades don't look right. If grades dont improve in some aspects i will likely require another semester. Systems is one of the subjects that i find a brick wall in. I've repeated twice different courses in that branch of computer science. I feel like this brick wall has been good for me. When i first started computer science i wasn't quite sure what i wanted to do in it. I was willing to take a future job in almost any industry. Over time i have found i was more imaginative and innovative in other areas then systems work. That wasnt the only wall in CS that I've found. These brick walls have made me realize what i want to do with my life in computer science. Something that I will enjoy being a part of will make my work all the better just like the 3D student team.
Hive Tracks ethical blog
Bee keeping is an interesting and seemingly worthwhile hobby, but there are a few ethical issues which pose a threat to the maximum effectiveness of the project. Honey bees are essential to our farming economy and with providing multiple foods available for human consumption. With that said, they are dieing. To combat this, beekeepers on hivetracks.com has a cloud based management tool to help the user keep records for each of their hives. There are several ethical issues already with this system, which for the most part there hasn't been a problem with yet, but can expect to handle in the future. It is not clear who owns and therefore control the data, which is a problem related to both copy-write and privacy. There's also the matter of who owns the software used by hivetracks. It is also not understood by the users how secure their data is. Users know its located on a cloud but not much else if they even know what a cloud is. As of right now, there are many bee hives shown on a Google map, which can be a privacy concern on its own.
beeinformed.org has been suggested to partnering up with hivetracks for better effects in the future. This combination would be very beneficial as beeinformed seems to have an informative data analysis system. By combining two website features into one, you once again see the problem of intellectual property. Who owns data, software, hardware, etc.
hivetracks, in the near future, expects to have an automated hive monitoring system on all its hives consisting of instruments inside/outside the hive. This would be great for getting accurate data and assisting the beekeeper. There are plenty of negative aspects to this. The data automatically entered by the instruments could show neglectfulness by keekeepers among other things. While this tool would be extremely useful, hivetracks would have to set policy and notice once again on who owns data and what can they divulge to the public or the government.
beeinformed.org has been suggested to partnering up with hivetracks for better effects in the future. This combination would be very beneficial as beeinformed seems to have an informative data analysis system. By combining two website features into one, you once again see the problem of intellectual property. Who owns data, software, hardware, etc.
hivetracks, in the near future, expects to have an automated hive monitoring system on all its hives consisting of instruments inside/outside the hive. This would be great for getting accurate data and assisting the beekeeper. There are plenty of negative aspects to this. The data automatically entered by the instruments could show neglectfulness by keekeepers among other things. While this tool would be extremely useful, hivetracks would have to set policy and notice once again on who owns data and what can they divulge to the public or the government.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Ethics
Ethics are an interesting thing in the world. Each of us has our own ethics for every single aspect of our life. We create them based on our experiences and what we think is important. My presentation to the class on ethics included my view as part utilitarian that focuses on making decisions that make people happy. With this said morals and ethics also have a base in our upbringing. Society from a young age uses positive and negative reinforcement to build our ethics and what makes us happy. In other words, our happiness with our decisions is a direct result of what other people believe should make us be happy. War is not approved of in this day and age. The soldiers who have killed do not receive congratulations and approval as much as they receive pity. Therefore the killing is considered a necessary evil instead of an honor. This has only become a cultural thing in the past 200 years. 2000 plus years ago people are congratulated on their kills in war and even tried to bring back prizes like the armor of their kill back home for bragging rights. This reinforcement of morals and of what makes people happy changes all the time. 2000 years ago homosexual relationships were approved in many cultures and in the past 200 years homosexual people "go to hell".
In our career development presentation, I saw several important points that were addressed relating to cover letters, resumes, and interviews.
One important quality hiring employers look for is first impression. The first thing an employer looks for when recruiting is whether or not the recruit looks interested in the position. This means dressing up and look like you want the job. The job should mean more to you then just a position you applied for. In the interview itself this means that you should have done some homework on the company you applied for to reinforce your reasons why you would be the ideal hire for the company. You should be able to talk fluently and show that you are capable of being social in a professional setting.
Resumes and cover letters are fairly important for getting your general information to employers. When creating a resume include relevant details. Don't include miscellaneous jobs and volunteer work if its not relevant to the job you are applying for unless it says something unique about your character. Resumes should be proofread as well. If an employer sees careless spelling and grammar in something as simple but important as a cover letter or resume, what can they assume about your future professional work in the company.
During this presentation i learned quite a few more things about future employment and so in this stage of our education the career development center is there to help us make good resumes, cover letters, and interviewing preparation.
One important quality hiring employers look for is first impression. The first thing an employer looks for when recruiting is whether or not the recruit looks interested in the position. This means dressing up and look like you want the job. The job should mean more to you then just a position you applied for. In the interview itself this means that you should have done some homework on the company you applied for to reinforce your reasons why you would be the ideal hire for the company. You should be able to talk fluently and show that you are capable of being social in a professional setting.
Resumes and cover letters are fairly important for getting your general information to employers. When creating a resume include relevant details. Don't include miscellaneous jobs and volunteer work if its not relevant to the job you are applying for unless it says something unique about your character. Resumes should be proofread as well. If an employer sees careless spelling and grammar in something as simple but important as a cover letter or resume, what can they assume about your future professional work in the company.
During this presentation i learned quite a few more things about future employment and so in this stage of our education the career development center is there to help us make good resumes, cover letters, and interviewing preparation.
Monday, August 26, 2013
Ideal Job
As with any computer science student, my dream job is to work in game development or to work with a prestigious company like Google. I am far from a computer science prodigy, however, and therefore will probably not get that kind of job right after graduation. Assuming I graduate on time and everything goes as expected, I will try to find employment in developing business applications in Charlotte or the Triangle. My Capstone project should help me gain that position. My partner and I are developing a stock market application that will present data in a more comprehensive way and help even the most inexperienced of users make more informed decisions in the stock market. After gaining a job in a company that develops these kinds of applications, I intend to work my way up and gain some valuable experience. At some point i hope to get hired by a younger company like Google or a game development company.
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