Module 11; WarGames

For this assignment we were able to watch some sort of computer related movie which did not bug me one bit.I decided to watch WarGames because I absolutely love this movie and this was the perfect reason to watch it again. This time I noticed a lot more since I was watching more for the assignment and not solely on entertainment.

The movie is about a teenage hacker who hacks into a top secret computer game which unbeknownst to him the game is actually a United States military computer programmer that is programmed to predict possible outcomes of a nuclear war. When the hacker plays the game and picks a country he wants to nuke he is actually playing in real life as well and putting a lot people and countries in danger and almost starting World War III as a result.This is something that it is not very likely to happen today not necessarily the hacker part but the computer programming aspect of it. However, I do believe it could have 100 percent happened when computers were just becoming popular, but not so today. When computers have been around for a long time you learn how they work and what to do and not to do. And, because of that a few years ago the real nuclear plan was drawn out never computerized. But, back then when computers were the new up and coming no one knew just how it could work even the government was new to everything and trying to learn the new technology. So, you store everything on this computer thinking oh it will be fine not knowing it could somewhat endanger lives if it ends up in the wrong hands if you're careful. Trust was a very deal back in the early 80's we are all working together and to have someone hack into your system not just anyone but a kid is a big deal. When the movie came out some kids got the idea to hack their way into the defense department computer system and succeed. Hacking has come a long way since then and it is taking over by the minute. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) the computer programmer in the movie is actually designed to withstand a heavy bombing and tracking Santa.

Social awareness was a big theme in the movie basically act in a way you know is right and accepted and know the consequences to those wrongdoings. Hacking into anything and gathering information you know nothing about or doing it to hurt others for fun is not socially acceptable when that person knows its wrong in doing so and can have some dire consequences for either parties. In the movie the hacker gets caught and ends up trying to prove his innocence that he did not do this on purpose and wasn't some type of "spy". Moral of the movie do not hack or (just watch what you are hacking into).

Module 10

Brandi Barnett
IST 1100
3/23/13

       The writing in this story was out of this world and very hard to comprehend at times.

Which is why I loved everything thing about “A Logic Named Joe” it was funny and witty. I was truly

surprised when I saw it was written in 1946 the author predicted what computers would be like very

accurately when computers back then were practically still in the womb. Man, I really wanted to

know what the best way to make a lot of money was, out of curiosity of course.

    The author described computers like a big TV where you preview anything you want on it just by

punching the screen and brings up what you asked for. He said it would have a keyboard, software,

processing, and it would be in homes and business around the world (which we have today on our

computers). He also predicted video (you tube), communication (skype) internet, censor ship for

young kids (still working on that) etc. of course he couldn't have predicted that once something is on

the internet it is on there forever.

    The author mentions something called “The Tank” in the story and all I could think of when I read

it was the “Think Tank” from an episode of Psych. Of course, there is no correlation between the two

(eh) I just love that show. Anyways, “The Tank” the author refers to is a set of information to

translates to servers on the web which then would come up with whatever result it wanted to.

The World Is Flat: Module 9

Brandi Barnett
IST 1100
3/15/13


        Well Dell computers have six factories world wide which has its very own logistics system where many parts of the computers are held. Dell will call up one of those factories for parts and those parts will be where it needs to be within minutes. Dell would rather use the help of multiple suppliers rather than one big one in case something goes wrong down in supply demand. Sale and delivery takes about a few hundred companies and a lot of big wigs to make this happen. No two countries will ever go to war if they are both packing the same supply chain. 

   Yes, Al Qaeda has a supply chain they just work off other supply chains from other businesses. They use their source of religion to manipulate the chain of supply. They use it for recruitment for trainers and followers, raise money, and to pass along the tools they use in their operations. They have used our technology to their advantage. 
   
   Curse of the oil is when one there is no taxing on oil and when a country has no one looking out for how the oil is being used. Companies are laughing all the way to the bank all awhile abusing the system since there is no one taking care of the oil business. Since there is no tax money on the oil, there is no money to contribute to make some of those countries a little better. 

Module 8

Brandi Barnett
3/2/13
IST 1100

While growing up my mom had bought a whole collection of encyclopedias that were to be used by my siblings and I. We did have to read cover to cover (she was once of one those moms) but we only got to a few of them before computers were becoming popular and everyone had to get one even my family. After the computers were introduced in my household my mom gave up and figured we would use that for learning. I was in elementary when my family first acquired this fascinating new piece of technology. I was only allowed to play games on it for an hour once a week since I was so young. However, in elementary we had computer time where we would do some type of subject matter on there and during recess we could play games on it. Even with little access to the computer it was such a huge deal as a little kid to be playing with this big toy. Older generations would go on to say people my age have become the lazy generation for relying on technology so young and so fast.

            I spent parts of my life in California before moving to Utah. I moved to Utah the summer after 7^th grade. My middle school in California had no computers except for the ones for the teachers. Students were not allowed access. We had to do computer work at home or at the library. My dad was really strict and never let me use it even for homework he would always tell me to go to the library and read up on it. Yes, I know what I library is barely. When I moved to Utah and started Jr. High that school had a lot more computers then what I was used to. I was overwhelmed because I did not know how to properly use one. That was the beginning of my “laziness.”

            In high school computers were heavily relied on for homework and answers. Thanks to Google. I am a Google queen. During my senior year administrators new computers would be really useful out in the real world so they had a great idea in order to graduate we would need to take a computer class requirement and need at least a “B” to pass. We would learn the ins and outs of hard drives and monitors, software, printers, search engines. Etc. you name it we were taught it. We were the guinea pigs to see how things would go. It went extremely well. They do change a few things about it. But, I really loved that class and it was one of my favorites. To be able to learn this every growing technology is very powerful.

            Now, in college you need a computer to even survive. They are now offering e textbooks in some classes. We have online classes. We have to register online. We have to email teachers or text. Everything we do is via a computer. Most teachers lecture off of PowerPoint. It is an everyday occurrence using some type of software. What happened to the chalkboard days?

            Some days I am very grateful for a computer and the internet. It is such easy access for everything. Regardless of it being true or not. Then, there are days where I could just pop open those encyclopedia and just read and do research based on that. But, that is way too much work. It is true we are the lazy generation. I wonder what will become of the kids who are being brought up in a technology based world today.