Resources On Programming Language, Net Neutrality, And CPU Security Exploits Essay.

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Week 1

The text discusses how modern CPUs function.  Recently a critical flaw in microprocessor design has been discovered that allows two extremely serious security exploits:  Spectre and Meltdown. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes how either of these exploits work.  The resource (and your summary) should focus on what is occurring in the CPU that allows these exploits to occur.

Title and Reference:

What You Need to Do Because of Flaws in Computer Chips

Metz, C. and Chen, B. 2018. ‘What You Need to Do Because of Flaws in Computer Chips’. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/technology/meltdown-spectre-questions.html [Accessed 24 May 2018].

Summary:

The article talks about the basic overview of spectra and meltdown vulnerabilities. The article is chosen for the reason as it has describes the security threats that can be caused  for these vulnerabilities. Apart from that the article has also discussed about ways for preventing these threats and the steps that a consumer can taken in order to make the system safe from the external threats.

Memory isolation is one of the key security feature of a computer system. One of the best example of this is the Kernel of the system which is non accessible by the user. The meltdown vulranability exploits the side effects of out-of-order execution on modern processors to read arbitrary kernel-memory locations including personal data and passwords (Metz and Chen 2018). The modern day processors are included with the Out-of-order execution for better performance. This attack works on various Inter produced chipsets. The attack is independent of any operating system and does not rely on any software. The work of the Meltdown vulnerability is to break down the security checksgiven by the address space isolation . The exposure also opens up advisory for reading the memory of other systems connected or the virtual memories, or the cloud system connected with the processor without taking any privilege or permission from the system.

This malwareaffected every computer system chipset produced in the last 20 years. The malware got this name because of the fact that is can even break down the hardware boundaries of a system. If any attacker exploits this malware the attacker can gain access to any data in the system, as well as if any data is stored in the cloud system connected.

As the vulnerability exists at the hardware level of the chipset so there is no developed patch yet, but Intel is has developed a software which can detect if there is any issue with the processor. Google and Microsoft has also helped in developing the patches.

I have learnt the difference between the spectra and meltdown. However, the discussion has been based only on meltdown. I have learnt the causes of meltdown and the possible steps those can mitigate the threats from  the meltdown.

Week 2

Prior to 1985, there were very few Operating Systems (OSes) that used Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs).  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE of these GUI operating systems.  The OS must have been release prior to 1985 so cannot be Microsoft Windows.

Title and Reference:

History of Computers and Computing, Birth of the modern computer, Personal computer, Xerox Alto

History-computer.com. 2018. ‘History of Computers and Computing, Birth of the modern computer, Personal computer, Xerox Alto’. [online] Available at:

https://history-computer.com/ModernComputer/Personal/Alto.html [Accessed 22 May 2018].

Summary:

The article tells about the first operating system that supported the graphical user interface. This paper discuses about the detailing of the working principal and the hardware and the software specification of the first operating system that supported the graphical user interface(GUI), and the name of that operating system is Xerox Alto.

In the history before the realise of the Microsoft, the Xerox park developed the first what the worldknows today the GUI. Although the technology was heavily criticised for failing the innovation technology. The first developed project were developed for the PACR ALTO systems and the Xerox Star machines (History-computer.com 2018). The machinehad a display or the graphics processing unit. It was first developed in the year of the 1973. The system had a bitmapped screen, with grey and white outputs.

This system became the first computer to display the metaphor and the graphic interface. Although the system was not for the commercial purpose, but thousands of the systems were built at the times and were internally used as the PARC offices. The display had many few of the items that the modern generation system has, like a menu button, a delete button, an open and a delete button. By the late 1981 the PARC started producing a new system named as the PARC star system. This system was the first generated personal computer system in the year of the 1973.

This became the first system in the history which came with the metaphor and mouse driven graphics or the GUI. Unlike the Alto this became commercially available, but only a few number of systems were sold due to the heavy price of the systems. Later, Xerox sold the item to the IBM for a very less cost.

The knowledge I have gained from this article is that Windows is not the operating system to invent the GUI for the first time. The detailing about the hardware of the Xerox Alto and its working principal become known to me from this article. It can be said that the invention of the Xerox Alto had opened the gateway for the further development of the GUI supported operating system.

Week 3

Low-Powered Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs) are wireless communication networks that are characterised by linking devices over large distances.  Devices (including simple sensors) typically can only communicate at very low bit rates, however, the communication and associated electronics consume very little power.  As such, LPWAN devices can be battery powered and operate independently for many months or even years.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE platform or technology that implements a LPWAN.  

Title and Reference:

IoT Connectivity - Comparison of LoRa, SigFox, RPMA, and other LPWAN Technologies | IoT For

IoT For All. (2018). ‘IoT Connectivity - Comparison of LoRa, SigFox, RPMA, and other LPWAN Technologies | IoT For All’. [online] Available at: https://www.iotforall.com/iot-connectivity-comparison-lora-sigfox-rpma-lpwan-technologies/ [Accessed 24 May 2018].

Summary:

The article focus on the new technology which is known as LPWAN. The reason for choosing this article is that the article focuses on  the use of the emerging technology called internet of things(IoT) using the LPWAN.

The LPWAN stands for the low power wireless area network, and it is not a single technology but a combination of various lower power technologies. The LPWAN is one of the most important aspect of the internet of things, especially in the IOT of the smart cities. Due to its low power use and high speed it is one of the most used thing in the smart cities (IoT For All 2018). There are various types of the technology that are developed all over the world, the most used one in the case of the IOT are the RPMA, or the random phase multiple access which is developed by the Ingeu INC. IT helps in the data communication with a speed of 2.4Ghz, but the price of this technology is bit higher than the traditionally LPWAN.

The most important feature of this is the LPWAN over the cellular connectivity. As the lpwan provides better battery efficient so the it provides connectivity for a long time enabling the process of the M2m in a better way.

 The cellular connective often suffers a poor connectivity and often have gaps, also in IOT there needs a continuous strong connection, the LPWAN helps in providing the same for a long range of time (Neumann, Montavont and Noël 2016). As this is a new technology the it has a very good and fair future. The landscape of the technology is constantly changing, as many organisations are working on it to give a better version of it.

The information I have found from this article is helpful in understanding the different usage of the LPWAN in the application of the IoT. However, there are no standardization for the use of LPWAN which may become a problem. It can be assumed that with the advancement of the technology further research will be developed regarding the use and application of the LPWAN.

Week 4

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a group of hardware and software technologies that allow users to communicate via voice and video over the Internet.  VoIP uses a number of different software protocols, depending on the application.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE of these VoIP protocols.

Title and Reference:

The Session Initiation Protocol - The Internet Protocol Journal

Cisco. 2018. ‘The Session Initiation Protocol - The Internet Protocol Journal - Volume 6, Number 1’. [online] Available at:

 https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/press/internet-protocol-journal/back-issues/table-contents-23/sip.html [Accessed 22 May 2018].

The reason for choosing this article is that this article has discussed about one of the VoIP protocol which is known as Session Initiation Protocol. The discussion points out the basic working principal about the session initiation protocol.

Session initiation protocol(SIP) is a signalling protocol. The main objective of the SIP protocol is to create , modify and terminate the session between two end points ( Cisco. 2018). The endpoints can be the two communicating system  in a process. The protocol works ta the application layer and it helps to communicate over the voice calls over the internet.

The protocol is defined in RFC 3261. The SIP protocol ha standardization defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force. Both the unicast and the multicast of the communication can be done using the SIP protocol.

There are five components of the SIP protocol which are sed during the establishment of the communication.

User location, User capabilities, user availability, management of the issue , setup of the session

The article has given the description and the components used in the establishment of the connection through SIP. There are various other protocols   through which the voice over internet communication can be established. However, the majority of the devices use SIP protocol for the establishment of the communication.

Week 5

One of the many uses of cryptography has been the development of the blockchain.  Blockchains are commonly used as the basis for maintaining the data integrity of crypto currencies, though have many, many more applications.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes how blockchains work.  Note that the resource should focus on the blockchain mechanism, NOT crypto currencies.

Title and Reference:

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology | SAP

SAP. 2018. ‘Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology | SAP’. [online] Available at: https://www.sap.com/products/leonardo/blockchain.html [Accessed 24 May 2018].

Summary:

The article talks about the block chain technology, which was initially use for in the  keeping the records in crypto currency transaction. The reason for choosing this article is that , the article discusses the block chain as a emerging technology for  implementation of the secured storage of the records. In this context, the article discusses about various forms of block chain technologies along with the challenges and opportunities regarding this technology.

The block chain is one of the latest technology that has hit the market in the recent years (SAP 2018). IT can be defined as an incorruptible ledger of any economic transaction that can easily be programmed to record any value and not just any financial value. It can be said the block chain can be implemented in thing from the Google docs to the cryptocurrencys. Few of the benefits on the technology is, due to the lack of the central authority it makes the system an ideal ledger and settlement solution for large projects.

It becomes easier to trace and track how the assets move though any supply chain, including the vendors and the factories to the transmission of the transportation lines in their final locations.Although the system has many issues in the current status like the security issues of the block chain is not yet tested in the market or in real life scenarios. Also the system is very hard to implement manly because of its open source projects.

The price of the developed system are also very high apart from those which are freely available (Peter and Moser 2017). Thetechnology batches the valued transactions that are hashed and encoded into the mircke tree. The data adoption techniques in the system is quite easy and can be done without any hustle or bustle. This technology has a large potential of transforming any business for long terms.

The article has provided a good amount information about the block chain technology. Apart from that this discussion has also provided information about the working principal of the block chain and the possible areas iof technology on which this technique can be implemented.

Week 6

One controversial practical application of network traffic management is in the contravention of the principle of “net neutrality”. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what net neutrality is and how its contravention could impact on individual and business users of the Internet.

Title and Reference:

What Is Net Neutrality?

American Civil Liberties Union. (2018). ‘What Is Net Neutrality?’. [online] Available at:

https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/internet-speech/what-net-neutrality [Accessed 24 May 2018].

Summary:

The article focuses on the net neutrality. The reason for choosing this article is that, the discussion  in the article throws a clear understanding of the net neutrality along with the possible effects of tye net neutrality on the individuals and the business organizations.

In the last decade there had been many debates for the topic of principals of the net neutrality. The economicliterature researchers have come up two definitions of the concept, the most basic or the primary definition is explain to stop the payments off the contents providers to the internet providers or as it said as the one sided pricing modelling, where as in the case of the two sided price modelling this type of the payments are permitted .

The recherché program is has focused in the process or explore how the net nutalllity rule would affect the market. The biggest concern in this process that the internet will become a pay to the play technology with two different tiers that is one having the high speed access and the other which does not have the speed. And as a consequence the high end organisation will capture the speed nets.

The organisation like the Google, Facebook and others will get the speed internet but will have to pay a very much higher cost. Also the dark side of this concept is that it will be harder for the start-up organisations to progress. Also the prices of the call cost might get increased due to prices that the telephone communication industries has to pay. Some of the ISP transparency disclosure to the customers. This is something which can change the entire market of the internet usage and bring revolutionary effects.

The  information I have found from this article has helped me to gain the insight of the net neutrality. The effects of the net neutrality is well understood from this article.

Week 7

Information Systems have led to greater and greater degrees of automation in the workplace.  There is currently extensive speculation on which jobs will cease to be performed by humans in the near future.  Find and summarise ONE resource that discusses jobs that are likely to not exist in the future due to ICT based automation.  Note that the resource must clearly link the loss of the job(s) to advances in ICT.

Title and Reference:

GCSE Bitesize: Impact on employment

Bbc.co.uk. (2018). ‘BBC - GCSE Bitesize: Impact on employment’. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/ict/implications/2workpatternsrev2.shtml [Accessed 24 May 2018].

Summary:

The article indicate sthe effect of the advancement of the ICT in the employment sector. The reason for choosing this report lies on its effectiveness on indicating the way the advanced technology is reducing the chances of employment.

As per the current market analytics it can be said in the near future jobs in many sectors like the hospital, insurance,engineering, architecture and many others. Due to the advances of thein the field of the ICT the people are losing job and only selected few who can do the task that are not possible for the machines to do (Bbc.co.uk 2018).  In the field of the healthcare it is seen that there are systems that can do tasks better than the doctors. For example of this is the IBM Watson proved that it can detect lungs cancer from the MRI reports more accurately than the human beings.

 In the field of the insurance the work of the human beings like the formulas and the other can be easily done by the computers using the big data analytics. In the field of the teaching it can help the student teach a thing with more accurate manner though the video and the audio output.

The modern generation cars are also getting smarter with the auto drive technology, and there are test going on for the same. In the field of research it can bring significant results with a very less chances of errors. It can be said that more the technology is advancing the more people are losing their jobs. There can come a time when the entire market may get automated and there would not be any need for the human being for doing any work.

The information that has been found from the article indicate that the impact of the advancement of the ICT may help the organizations in a positive way. However, this advancement also has the negative impact. The negativity will hit mainly on the society. The automation of the jobs will cut down the requirements of the human resource.

Week 8

With the advent of mass data collection and storage has come the use of these datasets for machine learning. Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what machine learning is and how it is being used.

Title and Reference:

Machine Learning: What it is and why it matters

Sas.com. 2018. ‘Machine Learning: What it is and why it matters’. [online] Available at:

https://www.sas.com/en_in/insights/analytics/machine-learning.html [Accessed 24 May 2018]

Summary:

The article discusses about the basic attributes of machine learning. The reason for choosing this article is that , the discussion in the article points out the basic working principal of machine learning and its difference with the artificial intelligence. Apart from that it also discusses bout the various areas of application of the machine learning.

Machine learning can be defined as the application of the Artificial intelligence that helps any machine or system the ability to learn things automatically from the past or the input provided without being explicitly programmed (Sas.com. 2018). For doing this the process starts with the observation of the data stored in the internet such as books, cases et cetera. The primary aim of this process is make sure that the computer learn themselves without any human interaction.

There are several process for making a machine learn things, like the supervised machine learning methods, in this process the programmer feeds the machine with sources and the machine learns the same. Then there is the unsupervised machine learning technique, under which the work of the programmer is only to instruct how to collect data, and then the program itself will learn the things.

 There also some of the other techniques that are there but these two are the most important one. The use of the technology is very much important in the near future. One of the basic use of this technology is in the self-driving cars, which is one of the most testing technology in the near future. Also there are reports that the organisations like the Facebook and the Google are working on the technology for developing their business further. This can also a harm to the human beings as, if the machines learns every there is no need for the human beings, and it can reduce the number of the available jobs present in the market.

The learning form this article indicates that the machine learning is an emerging technology that can be helpful in implementation of the new systems in different sectors which can serve in more effective way. However, there are certain improvement needed in order to implement the machine learning in more effective way.

Week 9

Critical to application development are the languages used to implement the specifications.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes ONE programming language that has been developed since 2008.  The resource (and your summary) should include information on the principle uses and features of the language.

Title and Reference

Swift

Inc., A. 2018. ‘Swift’. [online] Swift.org. Available at: https://swift.org/documentation/#the-swift-programming-language [Accessed 24 May 2018].

Summary:

The article is the documentation of the Swift programming language. The main reason for choosing this article is that, this article provides the basic information about the Swift programming language. Apart from that the format of the syntax and the application of the language can be known from this documentation.

The Swift is a general purpose language which is developed by the apple Inc. in the year of the 2010 (Inc. 2018). The language is based on the contemporary language of the objective C and python. It can also be said as an alternative language for the C, in the apple systems.

One of the main advantage of this is unlike the C, the language does not expose pointers and other unsafe assessorsin the instances. The swift supports five access control methods like the open,public,internal, file private and the private. The private indicates there it can only be accessed from the class itself. File private is the file can be accessed only from the file, internal can only be accessed from the module and public indicates that it can only be accessed in the public.

There are optional and the chaining methods allows the references and the values to be operates.One of the best feature of the programming language is that it is an objective oriented programming supports the protocols which makes use of the language easier. The swift uses the same runtime as the normal objective C, but requires the iOs or the mac OS. Swift has considerable access to the object model.

The information that can found from this article helps to understand the basic attributes of the Swift programming language. This helps to understand the similarities of the language with the other traditional language and the speciality of this particular programming language.

Week 10

While information systems and technology deliver many benefits to society, they can also result in negative effects and outcomes.  One recent controversy, the propagation of fake news and its influence on elections, has been linked to a type of software called a “bot”.  Find and summarise ONE resource that describes what bots are and how they can be used for disseminating misinformation and affecting human behaviour.

Title and Reference:

Thanks to bots, fake news spreads faster on Twitter

The Economic Times. 2018. ‘Thanks to bots, fake news spreads faster on Twitter’. [online] Available at:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/thanks-to-bots-fake-news-spreads-faster-on-twitter/articleshow/63244520.cms [Accessed 22 May 2018]

Summary:

 The paper focuses on the significance of the bots in spreading the fake news. The importance of the paper is that  the discussion in this paper indicates the definition of the bots and its significance in spreading the fake news. The impact of the fake news on different aspects are also discussed  in this paper.

Fake news is one the most significant threat that is hittingthe modern day social media. In the recent times it is seen that the fake news are spreading so much that it is affecting every significant market in the world, including the health and the stock markets (The Economic Times. 2018). The main issue is the publication of the news that is false or misleading. A bot can be defined as a machine program is programed in such a way that the things it does is entirely automated and the creator cannot be traced .

 The bots are one of the major reasons in the modern times which does many foul plays like spreading fake news, penetrating in secure systems et cetera. The bots are also changing the politics of every mind, and the people. There had been many cases where it is seen that the bots plays a major role, in publishing fake news which leads to chaos in the public. This is not only harmful for the public but also for the governing authorise, as this can take people in false direction which can lead to devastating outcomes.

The people who makes this type of bots wants the people to believe in something which is beneficial for them . Also there are some bots which are useful for the people but those are very few. The concept of the bots are changing the entire concept of the society.

The information I have found from this paper makes a clear understanding of the spreading of the fake news and the role of the bot in spreading the fake news specially in the political filed. The information regarding the mitigation of spreading the fake news by bot can be known from this discussion.