The Pattern on the Stone

Throughout my adventures in CIS 115 (Intro to Computer Science) I have had the opportunities to read the textbooks for our class. One of these books is The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work by W. Daniel Hillis. I think I took the most interest in this book because it felt less like reading for class and more of reading out of interest. The writer does a very good job to add personality to the book, as he tells of his own experiences. The terms that Hillis uses makes concepts easy to learn. Coming from a background of only self-taught computer knowledge, I was immediately interested, and was eager to learn more.

The book did not fail to meet my expectations. I was automatically hooked at the first mention of Boolean algebra, which I had not heard of at the time of my reading, especially since I also have a love of math. To learn about these individuals that helped set the foundation for computing science was really axciting. To think that Hilli has actually met Claude Shannon! Whew, I got a little excited there.

Of course, all of this new information led me on a mad Google and Wikipedia spree, looking at the "mathematics" behind Boolean algebra, logic gates, and other concepts which led me in this spider web-like pattern across the web, where I had links open in my browser on everything from Charles Babbage to Minecraft (logic gates work in video games too, you know).

What amazed me most about my findings was he amount of information I did not know. While I did not have that much prior knowledge, it was surprising to see how much depth the information had to it, spanning generations, countless contributors, and multiple discoveries that helped shape the computing world into what it is today. The book also helped me understand present technologies that I work with today, by trying to understand them on a simpler level.

Besides the fact that most of my friends are not exactly technologically-literate, I would definitely recommend this book to them if they wanted to learn more. Like I said in the beginning, the book really became an easier read as it was easy to understand from the beginning. The comparisons in the book are relatable to other information that a reader might identify, making the learning that much easier. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to read The Pattern on the Stone.

Security Questions

Thank you for registering your account. Please provide your mother's maiden name, first pet's name, social security number, bank account PIN, and thumbprint to continue.

Wait, what?

There is some information that you just don't give away (if you're smart and careful, at least). Yet, the internet and web services continue to push the boundaries of "how much is too much?" Of course I have a Facebook, a Twitter, and also an Instagram, so it isn't difficult to find me on the web. That can be said for most people my age as we go through this age of social media. However, how many of us are protected? How much of our information can actually be seen? As present as I am on the internet, my valuable information is only seen by those who I trust (as much as you can trust friends on Facebook). I pay attention to who I connect with on social media, and block whoever might be potentially dangerous or unknown.

Social media isn't the only place where information is given out, however. Web services from all over will ask for an account to be created, or to sign in with certain information. This information can run from very modest to the equivalent of your life's story. I take great care in paying attention to these details to make sure that nothing I touch on the internet has more information than they need. For example, if I use a web service that I will never buy a product from, or never need something shipped to me, then why should I provide my home address? My address isn't that private, but at the same time is not absolutely necessary to divulge. Sometimes it is just nice to stay anonymous on the web. There isn't a way for potentially malicious sources to hunt you down, and it certainly helps to lessen your personal presence on the web.

There are some, however, who have no boundaries when it comes to the amount of information that they share. No, I'm not just talking about the people who tweet about when they are on the toilet. These are the people who have all of their contact information listed directly on Facebook, completely open to the public. These are the people that are too trusting, too faithful in humanity, or just too unaware of what can happen should something go wrong. Scammers pray upon these people, hoping to get just enough information to make use of it. None of us are going to get five free iPads if we give our email address and name out, and not a single person reading this blog will come into a million dollars from Africa if they help out by giving their bank account information. There's something good to be said about the trust that these people have, but not everything that seems good is safe.

Stay in school, stay safe, and remember: don't post on Facebook to "hit you up" if 1,000 of your friends live somewhere you've never heard of.

The Two Words

Type the two words:

Ah, CAPTCHA. That Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart. Many just know it as the annoying text box that they have to get past to do several things on the internet. CAPTCHA actually traces its roots back to the beginning of the internet, and computer hackers.

In the beginning, users wanted to create text that was illegible to computers. The first hackers, wanting to post sensitive information without being caught by filters, would change characters in text (such as changing the E in “hello” to a 3, so the word would read “h3llo”). This procedure became popular, and would later come to be known as leetspeak (which would infect the world of gaming). The term “CAPTCHA” was coined in 2000 by Luis von Ahn, Manuel Blum, Nicholas Hopper, and John Langford, and the most common form of CAPTCHA was developed by Mark D. Lillibridge, Martin Abadi, Krishna Bharat and Andrei Z. Broder. This form involves a distorted word, image, or digits. CAPTCHA was originally developed as a sort of gateway, preventing computer bots from entering certain parts of the net. This could include sensitive data, preventing programs from mass creating accounts for websites, or downloading large quantities of data.

The CAPTCHA system was refined into commercial systems, one of which being reCAPTCHA. It uses the same word recognition system, in the form of two word prompts. This system not only prevents bots (working with two distorted words instead of one), but it also helps digitize the text of books. The reCAPTCHA service is a subscription service, supplying websites with images and words that cannot be read by recognition software. Businesses pay for the service to use in their validation procedures, and in turn the results of the test are sent back to reCAPTCHA to help with digitalization projects. reCAPTCHA has worked on digitizing archives of the New York Times, and as of 2012 has digitized 30 years of the magazine. Acquired by Google in September of 2009, the system’s slogan has become “Stop spam, read books”.

While CAPTCHA seems to escape most when thinking of frequent web technologies, it is more relevant than most think. Websites that use the system include Facebook, CNN.com, and Ticketmaster. CAPTCHA reports that it displays over 100 million CAPTCHAs every day, showing how widespread the system is. While we are all humans (at least, I hope so), this system helps security on a wide range.

From computer hacking to stopping thousands of computer bots, what are the chances?

B1 and the Algorithm Presentation

Algorithm – a set of instructions designed to perform a specific task. Of course this is the definition of the word, but it is also the topic of one of the groups presenting in my Intro to Computer Science class. The group introduced the history of algorithms, practical applications, as well as varying types of algorithms. Being that we had already covered the topic as a class, the presentation was easier to comprehend, since some background knowledge had already been obtained. It was very interesting to hear about the different types of algorithms, from the “brute force” algorithm to an algorithm used for backtracking. It was great for them to return to the core idea of why we need algorithms, and the fact that they exist even if we do not realize it.

I do appreciate the wealth of information contained within the presentation, but at times I questioned if the information was a bit repetitive and redundant (you know, like saying something that means the same thing twice). And while this information was new, and believe me when I say it actually was nice to learn a thing or two along the way, it seemed very information heavy. Of course this is to be partially expected since it is a “research” topic presentation, but above all the word “presentation” needs to be stressed. At times, I found it less interesting when I realized that I would be looking at another large wall of text on the next slide of the PowerPoint.

I give kudos to the group for separating their information by their individual subtopics. While this made it apparent where the work was divided, it helped the transition, ensuring everyone would be on the same page when the next topic was reached. The visual of the presentation was very easy on the eyes, meaning that outside of the walls of text, the presentation was nice to look at. The visual aids, as well, were a boon in this presentation. They were very explanatory, and added an extra touch of information.

Overall, this was a good presentation based on the team’s ability to review what had been previously covered, as well as further elaborating on the topic. My only unfulfilled question would be this: what other practical algorithms can be demonstrated? We all know the PB&J algorithm, and those who enjoy solving Rubik’s cubes have algorithms for them. It’s always interesting to see how an additional level of thought can be put into the simplest of things.

Nice presentation, group B1. Would recommend.