Resources for COMP492

Class 1: January 20

Discussion of syllabus. Course highlights.

Design pattern lab (see the assignments web page).

Class 2: January 29

Instructor-led discussion.

Required reading:

Quinn Ch 2 ("Introduction to Ethics"). You can skim most of this chapter; you are not required to be an expert on philosophy for this course. Do read sections 2.7 and 2.8 carefully -- these are about act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism, which are relatively easy to understand and apply.
Richard G. Epstein, The Case of The Killer Robot, 1996. We will use the online version published by the Online Ethics Center of the National Academy of Engineering. An expanded version is also published as a book: Richard G. Epstein, The Case of The Killer Robot, John Wiley and Sons, 1996.

Summary of ethical theories and professional ethics.

Class 3: February 3

Project work day.

Class 4: February 10

1. Joanne's discussion on computers and sustainability. Required reading is listed in Joanne's Moodle post (look for Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 6:19 PM)

2. Mark's discussion on computer security. Required reading is listed in Mark's Moodle post (look for Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 1:24 PM). In addition to following the links, make sure to read the article attached to that post: The Threat of Advancing Cyber Crimes in Organizations: Awareness and Preventions, Anil Kumar and Jaini Shah, International Journal of Advanced Research in Computer Science, 5(8).

Class 5: February 17

1. Mia's discussion on computer vision. For the required reading, see her Moodle post from Monday, February 9, 2015, 10:45 PM. Don't miss the PDF attachment, from Szeliski's computer vision book.

2. Kevin's discussion on encryption. Required reading:

Book chaper: "An Introduction To Encryption And Security Management." Secure Communications (2002): 25-59. Applied Science & Technology, 9 Feb. 2015. Read only pages 38-54. Available online from Dickinson library (I think you need to be on the campus network for this to work).
Two Wikipedia articles:
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encryption
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_Layer_Security
5 newspaper articles:
As mentioned in class, our textbook covers some examples of the US government trying to control the use of encryption via legislation and regulation: the "clipper chip" (section 5.11.4) and restrictions on the export of cryptographic software (section 5.11.5)

Class 6: February 24

Code review -- see the assignments page.

Class 7: March 3

1. Kirsten's discussion on professional ethics and patents. For the required reading, see her Moodle post from Tuesday, February 24, 2015, 10:07 AM. Don't miss the PDF attachment to this post.

And for a completely optional but amusing extra, check out Drew Curtis's TED talk, How I Beat a Patent Troll (6 minutes). Lawrence Lessig has a great TED talk on software patents too, but it's 18 minutes long. Anyone have time to watch that??

2. Soo Jin's discussion on intellectual property and piracy. Required reading:

Quinn:
- Chapter 4.1-4.2.2.
- Chapter 4.3.4-4.4 up to and not including 4.4.1.
- Chapter 4.6-4.6.3.
Read the following parts from the Wikipedia article on "Copyright infringement" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement):
- The introduction.
- Section 2, Motivation.
"Web Inventor Tim Berners-Lee Speaks Out Against CISPA" from Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/04/18/web-inventor-tim-berners-lee-speaks-out-against-cispa/).
Skim the Wikipedia article on Protests against SOPA and PIPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_against_SOPA_and_PIPA).
Read "Is music downloading the new prohibition? What students reveal through an ethical dilemma" (Altschuller, S. S. & Benbunan-Fich, R. R., 2009) from Ethics & Information Technology, 11(1), 49-56. You can skim the introduction, but do read from Research methods section onwards. Available on Moodle.
Read "How The Pirate Bay sailed into infamy" from BBC News (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7893223.stm).
Read "Megaupload file-sharing site shut down" from BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-16642369).
- Addition by jmac: A related Megaupload story -- I will explain in class why this is of interest.
Read "US internet 'six strikes' anti-piracy" from BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-21591696).
Read "Sopa and Pipa anti-piracy bills controversy explained" from BBC News (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-16596577).
Take the class survey on piracy: http://goo.gl/forms/cW7oaHx4Mx

Class 8: March 17

1. Xin's discussion on social networks. Required reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_networking_service. Read Introduction, Emerging trends and Issues
Excerpts from Social Networks: Development, Evaluation and Influence by Schneider, Hanna L., Huber, Lilli M., Nova Science (2009). Available as http://site.ebrary.com/lib/dickinson/reader.action?docID=10661819. Instruction: Please read these sections: Overview, OSNs from the Perspective of Foresight(just skim through), Conclusion.
http://www.usnews.com/education/online-education/articles/2014/11/05/social-media-gains-momentum-in-online-education. Social Media Gains Momentum in Online Education
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/21134540/vp/11066322#11066322. Dangers in Social Networks
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2014/09/10/10-reasons-job-seekers-should-embrace-social-media. Employers are checking job seekers via social media

2. Matt's discussion on malware. Required reading:

Brain, Marshall and Wesley Fenlon. How Computer Viruses Work. 01 Apr 2000. HowStuffWorks.com. Available as http://computer.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm.
Geier, Eric. How to Remove Malware From Your Windows PC. PC World 15 Nov 2011. Available as http://www.pcworld.com/article/243818/how_to_remove_malware_from_your_windows_pc.html.
Grimes, Roger. Seven Ways to Secure Windows 7. PC World 16 Jul 2009. Available as http://www.pcworld.com/article/168535/windows_7_security.html.
Hoffman, Chris. Not all "Viruses" are Viruses: 10 Malware Terms Explained. 4 Nov 2013. Available as http://www.howtogeek.com/174985/not-all-viruses-are-viruses-10-malware-terms-explained/.
Malwaretips.com. How to easily clean an infected computer (Malware Removal Guide). Available as http://malwaretips.com/blogs/malware-removal-guide-for-windows/.
Segura, Jerome. Exploit Kits: A Fast Growing Threat. 21 Jan 2015. Available as https://blog.malwarebytes.org/exploits-2/2015/01/exploit-kits-a-fast-growing-threat/.
Trojan horse Virus & worms explained. Google. Available https://sites.google.com/site/helpwithpcssite/trojan-horse-virus-worms-explained.
Vanish.Org. Rootkits. 2006. Available as http://www.vanish.org/security/rootkits.htm.
Weinberger, Sharon. Top Ten Most-Destructive Computer Viruses. Smithsonian.com 19 Mar 2012. Available http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/top-ten-most-destructive-computer-viruses-159542266/?c=y-vvpage=1&no-ist.
Zhou, Yajin and Xuxian Jiang. Dissecting Android Malmare: Characterization and Evolution. 2012 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. Available http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=6234407.

Class 9: March 24

We will have Matt's postponed discussion (see above for details), and the remaining time will be for work on senior projects.

Class 10: March 31

Instructor's discussion on trust and computer systems:

The required reading is the classic paper by Ken Thompson, entitled Reflections on trusting trust. This paper was actually the lecture given by Ken Thompson when he accepted the Turing Award. It was also published in the Communications of the ACM, August 1984, Volume 27, number 8, pages 761--763. A copy of this copyrighted article is available on Moodle. A full copy of the program presented by Thompson in Figure 1 of the paper is also available: thompson-program.c (actually, this is a simplified and adapted version of the program but uses the same ideas).
We will do an ungraded minilab in class. In addition to the above thompson-program.c we may also use the following tools for working with self-reproducing programs: self-rep-tools.zip.
As usual, you are required to post two discussion questions about the reading.

Class 11: April 7

Individual work on posters and/or project code and/or project report. Meet with instructor as necessary to make progress on these tasks.

Class 12: Wednesday, April 15

Note that there is no Tuesday class this week. Instead, you're required to present at the science symposium on Wednesday, April 15.

Class 13: April 21

This class will consist of two separate discussion sessions led by the instructor:

Professional ethics for software engineering. Required reading: Quinn chapter 8, "Professional Ethics." The handout Summary of ethical theories and professional ethics may also be useful.
Classic paper discussion: Have we fulfilled Vannevar Bush's vision? Required reading: Vannevar Bush, As We May Think, Atlantic Magazine, July 1945.

Class 14: April 28

This class will take the form of an afternoon tea party, from 4PM to 5PM, at the instructor's house (details sent via email). The attendance policy will not be in effect, but I do hope everyone will be able to make it! Optional reading: the classic 1959 talk about the future of computing by Nobel-winning physicist Richard Feynman, There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom (this talk has its own Wikipedia page too). The reading is optional. You are not required to submit discussion questions.