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.

Build a Computer

Build Your Own Computer

The Advantages
Building your own computer  might be the best technological decision you ever have to make.There are numerous advantages to building your own computer.  Most people buy pre-built computers from major companies like Toshiba, Dell, and, Alien-ware and while these companies make sure their computer parts work well together and are functional, they are generally more expensive and are less tailored to your specific user needs.  One great advantage to building your own computer is that they are easily upgradable.  If you have a failing part or you just think your computer performance would improve with a newer processor or some other part, its fairly easy to replace them if you know what you're doing.

Disadvantages of building your own computer
When you build a computer you have to do research on all the parts you intend to put in it.  In addition to research on price and specs, you must also make sure all the parts are compatible, and that they will fit inside the case.  Pre-built computers allow you to avoid the situation where you may have accidentally bought a incompatible part.  The only other disadvantage would be warranty.  Although there is a possibility that a specific part might be under warranty,  you would have to prove that that part was the problem in a failing computer.  Pre-built computers take the warranty issues out of the picture in case of problems.  Its easier to send in the whole computer when something is wrong then to diagnose your computer yourself or with a technician who might charge you an arm and a leg for a simple problem.

Consider Your Needs
First and foremost, you should consider your needs as a computer user.  Are you a gamer or just a casual user? Are you working in a potentially hazardous environment for a computer? One of the greatest advantages to building your own computer is in buying parts you as a user will need.  It allows you to focus on whats important instead of adding expenses in unnecessary places.  The most important thing for a gamer would obviously be the video card.  Do you have lots of big files?  If so then you probably need a bigger hard-drive.

The Complication With Piracy

The media has for several years now been pushing for a crackdown on online pirating.  After the Patriot Act and its violations of our privacy, legislation in the government meant to extend the governments control over what the American public can do over the internet are being opposed with a ferocity rarely seen by lawmakers. In addition to public protests of the recent bill SOPA(Stop Online Piracy Act), many companies like Google and Wikipedia staged blackouts, forums, and blogs attacking its legitimacy. Law enforcement knows that many people pirate but they are unable to do much when most of the population that actively uses the internet vehemently oppose restrictions and value privacy in their internet dealings.  The internet is very much against any restrictions or breach of privacy from the government and it has always been a sort of sanctuary for people who want to say something anonymously, or view something that the average person might judge them for.  Internet users see this as a breach of privacy like in the court case Mapp vs Ohio in 1961.(http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases/ar19.html)

Also the "problem" with piracy is that no one can really say how harmful it is to the various industries relevant to it.  Statistics show that pirates, in general, buy over 30% more then people that dont pirate. (http://www.techhive.com/article/2012121/pirates-buy-more-music-than-legal-downloaders-study-shows.html) So realistically pirates only take away from the potential revenue of the media they pirate.  Because of this statistic, the question then becomes: if these pirates were incapable of pirating, would they buy the products they pirate?  In my personal experience I would say no.

I am a pirate, not a very active pirate, but a pirate nonetheless.  I tend to pirate video games if I pirate at all.  Due to the lack of good PC demos, many gamers will pirate a game to test it out to see if it is worth our time.  If its not then usually we ignore or delete it from our hard-drive.  My most recent experience like this was with the game Endless Space, which i found too boring for my taste.  Most pirating gamers, however, will buy games that they decide is worth their time and money.  My most noteworthy experience with this was with the Indie game Mount and Blade.  I have probably spent at least a hundred hours on that game.  It is also apparent that Indie games in general are made popular by the people that pirate them.  This is how games like Minecraft became popular.  People found that it was a game worth buying and the creator is now extremely wealthy and already working on a new game.  This proves that pirating at the very least contributes to new creative material in gaming.

       

Phone Porn is Risky

Contrary to what many other article writers say, I AM here to judge you.  It would appear that sometimes people can't wait for their nightly porn and must resort to phone porn in a corner somewhere.  Phone porn is a lot riskier then it appears and people that view porn on their phones should consider waiting until they can get on their home computers where they typically have better malware defense.

Nearly 25% of all malware on phones comes from the visitation of pornographic websites although only 1% of all mobile traffic is porn. Clearly it is a lot more risky to watch porn from your phone; about three times as risky to do so. 

We are at a technological crossroad where in the near future more important financial transactions and exchanges of personal information via phone will be more common.  While most people still do their business transactions via home computer, malware designers target the widest audience they can for mayhem.  The more people that get phones capable of internet access and performing financial transactions, the more virus and phishing developers will target phone owners.  Pornographic websites among other websites can download malware on your phone designed to acquire your information and exploit it.  

How to tell if your phone is infected? The most common mobile malware is an SMS Trojan.  It typically takes the form of a fake app and while hidden from the owner sends SMS codes that bill the owner.  If your phone is infected by an SMS Trojan then check your bill.  It will be a lot higher than usual. Fake apps and ads may ask for your personal information. Also, just like on a PC, if your phone makes changes to your social networking sites like facebook or sends out emails without your permission you probably have some form of malware on it. 

As for trying to protect against malware, there are anti-malware apps for both Androids and iPhones.  Watch for changes in your bills and overall be more careful when visiting sketchy websites especially pornographic ones.