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CS 312 Review

Midterm Exam

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Henry David Thoreau, Walden, 1854

Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys,

which distract our attention from seriousthings. They are but improved means to an

unimproved end, an end which it was alreadybut too easy to arrive at.

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Neil Postman, Five Things We Needto Know About Technological Change

Technological change is a trade-off.

The advantages and disadvantages of new

technologies are never distributed evenlyamong the population.

Embedded in every technology there is a

powerful idea.

Technological change is not additive; it isecological.

Media tend to become mythic; i.e. they are

assumed to have been with us always.

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What Is Intellectual Property

There are four main categories of intellectualproperty that are protected in the UnitedStates

1. Trademarks - Source Identification, Levelof Quality

2. Copyright - Tangible Expression of Ideas

3. Trade Secrets - Valuable Information NotGenerally Known

4. Patents - New, Useful, and Non-ObviousIdeas

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The History of Computing

What was the first computer?

What did Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace do?

Who developed the first digital computers?

How important were theoretical advances such

as Boolean logic and solid state transistors?

What were the major contributions of Alan

Turing?

How important has personalization been?

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Moores Law

The number of transistors on a chip doublesevery 18 months to 2 years.

This appears to be an instance of

technological determinism.The size of an atom appears to be a limit.

The next step may be quantum computing or

using DNA.Do other technologies also advancedeterministically?

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The Economy

In the 90s, many companies failed because

they didnt have a good business model. AreInternet companies doing any better now?

Google is huge and very profitable. Can theystay true to their motto, Dont be evil?

Why do spammers continue to fill our mail

boxes with unwanted messages? What dothey get out of it?

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Work and the Workplace

Is automation finally affecting theemployment numbers?

Will robots take away more and more jobs?

What is the outlook for workers incomputer technology? Will there always bejobs for them?

Why is this a white male field? How canwe get more women and people of colorinto it?

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Computers, People, and SocialParticipation

Is Google making us stupid? And what does

that mean?

Do we no longer have time for solitude?

Do we live as much in a virtual society as a

real one? How can we keep our identitiesstraight?

How tech-savvy are kids today? Are theythat much better than their parents?

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Societal Institutions

Can we ever escape our past? Is it always

available on the Internet?

What is the Digital Public Library of America?

What is happening to digital storage? Will

we be able to read our documents in 10 or 50years?

Is there a future for online courses,particularly the MOOCs?

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More on Societal Institutions

What happened in 1960 at that lunch

counter in South Carolina? How does thatcompare with Twitter Revolutions today?

What are drones? How important are theyfor the military? What are their commercial

uses?

Should we ever allow robots to actautonomously in a war zone?

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Risk

Cyber warfare is already here. What is it

being used for now? Could it be used to takedown the electrical grid or damage the water

supply of a country?

What will cyber warfare look like in the near

and distant future?

How can we know who the attackers are?

And if we find out, how do we retaliate?

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More from Thoreau

We are in great haste to construct a magnetic

telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and

Texas, it may be, have nothing important to

communicate. As if the main object were to talkfast and not to talk sensibly. We are eager to tunnel

under the Atlantic and bring the Old World some

weeks nearer to the New; but perchance the first

news that will leak through into the broad, flappingAmerican ear will be that the Princess Adelaide has

the whooping cough.

Thoreau, Walden, 1854