A Gift of Fire: Questions 4.8 and 4.10 p. 182-3

4.8 a.) Yes, it is more likely to occur in computerized records, because on paper, text and writing does not need to be coded and decoded in order to be transferred, it simply must be physically transferred, whereas with an electronic record, different coding schemes may have an error in which the transfer of data causes the data to be misinterpreted and say something completely different when it is decoded and stored in the new space.

b.) One practice that can help prevent these errors is to run checks to make sure that the coding systems are compatible with each other and that they don't cause errors in the transfer of data. Another practice would be to update the software so that the different types of coding are directly compatible and recognize each other, shrinking the margin for error. An alternative to this would be for every school in a given area use the same coding schemes for things such as disciplinary coding.

4.10) Had the scores been reported higher instead of lower, there would be no complaining by the schools and, if someone within the school did suspect something, they would probably stay quiet about it because the higher test scores would mean that they would be looked upon as better and their careers would become better. However, if another school suspected something and noticed that many schools had a sudden rise in test scores, they would eventually suspect that a software error may be present, and, if found, it would be corrected and it would demote the people of the school whose lives were boosted from the error. One situation where a computer error might not be reported would be if a company's stock values were to increase suddenly causing more people to invest in the company. The company would most likely not report the error, because their business would be doing better. Another case might be if an electronic survey was taken across a large scale of people. A malfunction in the software could cause the results of the survey to be skewed, and so if an organization had planned to take action depending on the results, they may perform the wrong action based on incorrect results. Since the survey would be set on a wide scale, the people who see the results would most likely not collaborate and discuss their answers; they would just accept that the answer they gave was merely not the popular choice. The company would most likely not see it either because they probably are not familiar with the behavior and personalities of people on a very broad spectrum.

TrueCrypt Advantages

One advantage to using TrueCrypt on your PC is that it Encrypts data "on-the-fly." This means that data will be encrypted and decrypted much faster than previous encryption schemes. Encryption will be faster and less time-consuming. However, the PC still needs to process the encryption command, so it won't be as fast as a computer without TrueCrypt. Another advantage is that TrueCryot uses special coding that is given to the user so that the device doesn't need to be used on a specific computer and data can be transferred easier. However, if the user forgets their password, then they will not be able to retrieve their data and will have to spend time figuring out how to change or recover their password, or their data will be as good as lost. A third advantage is that the user's data will be encrypted so that no one else can use it. This protects personal information from being stolen. however, if the user's password is stolen and the hacker also has or is familiar with TureCrypt, then they can steal the password and access the uer's information. However, this would take longer than stealing unprotected information, and having to tak ethe extra time may discourage a hacker and cause them to look for a different victum.

ATM advantages

One advantage of using an ATM is that an ATM is available longer. A person doesn't need to wait for any specific time of day to go to an ATM, whereas they do need to wait in order to go to the bank. This is good because people can access the services of an ATM at many more times of the day than at a bank, and thus is more convenient for the user. Another advantage is that an ATM is less pronged to human error. Getting helped by a bank employee has its benefits, but the service is pronged to human error, and can be very inconvenient if not caught right after the error is made. An ATM, being a programmed machine, is less pronged to random error, although it is not completely error-free. Humans built this device, and so there exists a possibility of a programming error, causing error on a much wider scale. However, these errors can be caught and fixed more easily, as certain trends that have to do with the error are much easier to spot and it is much easier to reprogram a machine sometimes than it is to correct a human error. A third advantage is that transactions made by an ATM are much easier to keep track of than by a human teller. A human must manually record the transactions he or she made, and sometimes this can lead to an incorrect recording due to human error or poor memory. However, an ATM is programmed to record every transaction it makes, and, given that the device has been programmed correctly, these records will not be incorrect or pronged to error as much as if a human were recording. An ATM is a machine, and has no emotions, making it less likely to make an error in a transaction. There are quite a few advantages to using ATMs, but they are not without their disadvantages.

Privacy Rights

Privacy is a valuable thing that is diminishing as technology becomes more developed. More peoples information is stored and kept in databases, and unfortunately, it is difficult to stay out of every single database. I feel that it is wrong for information about you to be stored, information including presonal conversations via e-mail, phone conversations, instant messaging, etc. Somewhere in the world, there is at least one piece of information about every single person in the world. As technology develops, the world becomes more like the world is in the novel "Feed" by M. Anderson.

October Vocabulary

Software (application): The programs, routines, and symbolic languages that control the functioning of the hardware and direct its operation.


Shareware: Copyrighted software that is available free of charge on a trial basis, usually with the condition that users pay a fee for continued use and support.


Public domain: A domain not protected under patent or copyright.


Freeware: Software that is available for free, usually over the Internet.


Commercial software: Software that is designed and developed for sale to the general public.


Integrated Software: A collection of computer programs designed to work together to handle an application, either by passing data from one to another or as components of a single system.


User Manual: a technical communication document intended to give assistance to people using a particular system.


Registration card: A card issued for means of registering.


Serial Number: A number that is one of a series and is used for identification, as of a machine, weapon, or motor vehicle.


Warranty: A guarantee given to the purchaser by a company stating that a product is reliable and free from known defects and that the seller will, without charge, repair or replace defective parts within a given time limit and under certain conditions.


Copyright: The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.


Multi-user license: A software license that allows more than one person to use the software.


Single user license: A software license that allows one person to use the software.


Site license: A license to use software within a facility.


Compression: The process by which data is compressed into a form that minimizes the space required to store or transmit it.


Decompression: The act of reversing data compression.

Back-up: To duplicate a file or program so that the original is not lost.

Back door (trapdoor): A hole in the security of a system deliberately left in place by designers or maintainers.

Upload: To transfer (data or programs), usually from a peripheral computer or device to a central, often remote computer.

Download: To transfer (data or programs) from a server or host computer to one's own computer or device.

Wizard: Instructional help in an application or system development environment that guides the user through a series of multiple choice questions to accomplish a task.

Template: A document or file having a preset format, used as a starting point for a particular application so that the format does not have to be recreated each time it is used.

GUI: An interface for issuing commands to a computer utilizing a pointing device, such as a mouse, that manipulates and activates graphical images on a monitor.

Command-line Interface: On a display screen, the space following a prompt (such as $) where a text instruction to a computer or device is typed.

Voice recognition: The conversion of spoken words into computer text. Speech is first digitized and then matched against a dictionary of coded waveforms.

Field: An element of a database record in which one piece of information is stored.

Key field: A field in a segment or record that holds the value of a key to that record.

Record: A collection of related, often adjacent items of data, treated as a unit.

Search: To look for specific data in a file or an occurrence of text in a file.

Query: To interrogate a collection of data such as records in a database.

Sort: A group of data of the same general character.

Database Management System: A special data processing system, or part of a data processing system, which aids in the storage, manipulation, reporting, management, and control of data.

Mail Merge: The process of combining a form letter with a list of names and addresses to produce individualized letters.

Flat-file database: A database system in which each database contains only one file, which is not linked to any other file.

Relational database: A database system in which any database file can be a component of more than one of the database's tables.

Data redundancy: The occurrence of values for data elements more than once within a file or database.

Data integrity: the condition in which data is identically maintained during any operation such as transfer, storage or retrieval.

Reliability Conflicts

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2008/03/whistleblower-v/


A Fromer Technician of Hart InterCivic, William Singer, filed a lawsuit against Hart claiming that the company lied about the reliablility of the Voting Machines it produced and sold to the Federal Government. Thw Whistleblower says that the company did so in order to obtain $4 billion in federal funds. The suit was filed on the government's behalf, but it remained sealed until March 2008, when the U.S Attorney's office decided not to join Singer. Singer continues without the government's help, and if he is successful, he will obtain a portion of the funds that Hart will be forced to return. Among the claims Singer makes, he says that Hart didn’t completely alpha test its software and didn’t beta test its software at all, and Hart also created a fake certification report because the machines couldn't pass the standard requirements test. Also, special machines designed for disabled voters "were prone to lose votes due to system design flaws that were well known within Hart. Pete Lichenheld, Hart InterCivic spokesman says none of Singer's claims are true and points out that the government not joining him in the lawsuit is a sign of how little faith they have in the lawsuit. Singer does, however, press on.