27 October 2015

CST205 Week 1

No class this week - although there was the introductory meeting Saturday morning where we met each other (again) and went over what would be taught in the upcoming Multimedia Design and Programming class.

Article of Interest (courtesy of 1105 Media):
Why Tech's Biggest Companies are Against the Cyber Security Bill

Some of technologies leading revolutionaries such as Apple, Twitter Facebook and Google disregard the Cyber Security Bill as a legitimate solution to the data breaches seen in recent news.

The Cyber Security Information Sharing Act of 2015, also known as the CISA, would allow corporations to voluntarily share information about users with the government, without the fear of lawsuits, in an attempt to prevent cyber attacks.

Those against the bill firmly believe that it infringes on the privacy of users and that it does too little to prevent cyber attacks. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, a trade group representing tech leaders such as Facebook and Google, doesn’t believe it can support the bill as it is now.

"CISA’s prescribed mechanism for sharing of cyber threat information does not sufficiently protect users’ privacy or appropriately limit the permissible uses of information shared with the government," a statement from the group said. "In addition, the bill authorizes entities to employ network defense measures that might cause collateral harm to the systems of innocent third parties."

Supporters of the bill believe that creating a voluntary sharing environment would help to protect Americans from threats of a cyber attack, such as the disaster that hit Sony just a year ago. According to supporters, CISA would require companies and the government to remove any personally identifiable information believed to be irrelevant before sharing evidence of cyber threat indicators.

As of April, the bill passed in the House of Representatives and is now expected to be put to a vote in the Senate. There are several amendments to be made before a vote happens, but if passed, the changes will have to be approved by the House of Representatives before the bill is sent to the White House.

25 October 2015

CST300 Week 8 (and a half)

There was some debate in my group about the short video, so here are both versions:
https://youtu.be/DD-7pYoRNYY (my short video)
https://youtu.be/SvoHtx-wCqo (group short video)
Along with our top quality long video:
https://youtu.be/IQ8PZyLKygg

Review 1:
Team Enterprise Talks About Space Probes
Overall this is an imaginative video on a fascinating subject and I really enjoyed watching it.
1. is the topic well covered?  Yes, with lots of details.
2. is the presentation clear? Yes, but perhaps more pictures of the subject matter (probes, etc)
3. how is the quality of the research? You mention in your video that control of the space program was turned over to NASA after the failure of Explorer 5, but didn't mention that this is when NASA was formed to replace the National Advisory Committee.
4. how is the quality of the video production? Your audio occasionally cuts out, this was most likely an editing issue (like 0:51 - "it was run by..."). I do like the transition between segments.
5. is the video engaging and interesting? The use of pop culture references definitely makes it more engaging.
6. is the team work evident? Despite having divided up the segments, there was obviously a lot collaboration as they are presented similarly and have the same underlying theme.

Review 2:
Team #2 - Bitcoins
Trust but verify. You did a fantastic job, one of the best in our cohort.
1. is the topic well covered? Yes, and I liked how you went far enough into it to explain how to set up accounts, etc - but could have used more about how they work behind the scenes (like here)
2. is the presentation clear? Yes - very easy to follow.
3. how is the quality of the research? Good.
4. how is the quality of the video production? Good.
5. is the video engaging and interesting? Very graphically engaging, I like how you didn't just use a slide show like most groups (including my own).
6. is the team work evident? This very well could have been done by a single person. Fantastic team work with a solid result.

Review 3:
AppTyx Driverless Cars
1. is the topic well covered? Yes.
2. is the presentation clear? Yes, but you do discuss the same subject multiple times (like use of GPS). The video could have also benefited from a summary at the end.
3. how is the quality of the research? Good. But the human driver you mention at 9:43 is due to legislation, not actual safety concerns and the additional person was removed back in 2012 and was just for real time monitoring.
4. how is the quality of the video production? Good, but some of your slide selections had text that was too small to read (GPS explanation). In this case you may have wanted to pan & zoom to each area as you talked about it.
5. is the video engaging and interesting? Yes, but the video is a little long.
6. is the team work evident? You could have collaborated better and reviewed final video as a group to avoid some of the videos redundancies.


This week was all about finishing our ethics paper and videos. Though I did find a new potential blog location for CSUMB students:
https://ilearn.csumb.edu/blog/index.php?userid=1943

14 October 2015

CST300 Week 7

No too much to report this week - just continuing to work on the Ethics paper. Enjoyed watching (as always) the Ted Talks, although that did distract me from my other homework for quite awhile (like Lays potato chips, no one can eat just one). My absolute favorite Ted Talk of all time remains Regina Dugan from DARPA and her talk on failure. I also watched Joseph Desimone explain the advantages of faster 3D printing. Both give fantastic, motivational presentations.

09 October 2015

CST300 Week 6

Take a look at the top 5 most-desired workplace skills.
  1. Communication Skills
  2. Strong Work Ethic
  3. Teamwork Skills
  4. Flexibility and Adaptability 
  5. Problem Solving Skills
The "one-minute commercial" reminds me of the 30 second elevator pitch I used in the "dot com" days.

I really liked the resume keywords list here as well.

My Résumé - before and after or see the online version at WSiaB.net.

I will most likely not be looking for an internship. I could use some improvement on some of the job search methods mentioned (professional associations and social networking).