December Exam

1.      Explain, justifying your examples, in which circumstances you would use:

A)     Biometric access systems.

B)      Cryptography.

C)      A Wide Area Network (WAN)

2.      Explain how a search engine works. How can the owner of a web site secure a high ranking in Google?

3.       
Explain clearly how, in a network:

a.       Users are prevented from accessing unauthorized web sites.

b.      Outside hackers are stopped from gaining access to the network.

c.       A single broadband Internet connection can be shared by many users in the network.

4.       A school decides to issue laptops to all their students and teachers. What would be advantages and concerns stemming out of this initiative from the point of view of:

a.       Teachers at the school

b.      Administrators

c.       Students

5-       For what activities would you recommend teleworking? What can be some of the problems associated with teleworking?

6 -     Explain how an AI bot is programmed to engage in a conversation.

7-       Explain what criteria you would use to select whether to use hubs, switches or routers in a network.

November Exam

1-      Explain why each of the following happens, giving in each case technical details in terms of the data transfer, software and hardware used, protocols when appropriate

a.       A user in Argentina tries to access a video on a site in the US and she gets a message saying that the content is not authorized for her country.

b.      Peer-to-peer downloading software is installed and the firewall refuses to allow the program to operate.

c.       The computer starts up, cannot read the hard drive and asks for a boot disk.

2-      Design a network for the following scenario, explaining clearly the rationale for your design decisions:

-          A hotel has two locations in Buenos Aires. In the city site, they have 4 computers that they sue for booking and reservations with clients when they check in and out of the hotel, using a printer for invoices. They are connected to a back office where there are 3 computers that administrative employees use for accounting and general administrative functions, which uses a colour printer. When the front desk needs to print a brochure in colour, they also use this printer.

-          The other branch, the smaller suburban location, utilizes one computer and a printer for the front desk, three computers in the office, and one computer for the restaurant.

-          The two branches need to be interconnected since when one hotel has no room passengers are sent to the other branch.

3-      You are hired to create an expert system to predict how many customers will come to the owner’s restaurant every day of the year. Explain in detail:

a.       Each of the stages involved in building the expert system.

b.      What makes it an expert system.

c.       How can it become more efficient with time?

4-      Explain how technology has impacted one of the following areas, giving specific examples that you have researched:

-          Arts and entertainment OR

-          Health and medicine    OR

-          Politics   OR

-          Science and the environment.

5-      Comment on the impact of education on technology and the potential for changing education in the future.

6-      Can robots become more intelligent than humans? How can they improve?

7-      How can hackers make money? Explain in detail how they achieve this. What barriers do they need to overcome?

AI Test 2

1. -          A friend of yours wants to set up an expert system to help people choose the cars they want to buy, asking users a series of questions to better understand their preferences and then recommend the best car for them.
1. o   How would you create such a system? Explain in detail the construction of the knowledge base.  
2. o   How would it function as an expert system?
2. -          Explain in detail how a robot perceives reality and acts in accordance. What processing takes place?
3. -          How can you improve a conversational robot?
4. -          Discuss the implications of simulated consciousness in humanoids. How are scientists dealing with these emerging issues?
5. -          How could a robot potentially overrule its commands and act differently to what it was programmed for?
6. -          Give examples of situations where robots would outperform humans and explain why.
7. -          What is the Loebner Prize Competition?  Why is it held?

Optional Topic Assignment

In order to effectively learn about the optional topics, you will create blog entries for the topic that you have chosen. The idea is for anybody who would eventually be interested in the topics chosen to learn more about these topics by means of your posts, to be shared in a blog.

The steps entailed are the following:

• Send me an email right away to itgs.sass@gmail.com so that I can invite you to be  a member of the blog. The message should include who you are working with, the other person's email address, and the topic you have chosen. The URL for the blog is itgsoptions.tumblr.com
• Create at least 5 blog posts for the topic, covering as many of the bullet points as possible. Each post should include the link to the web article or commentary, at least one full paragraph describing what the link is for, and one more paragraph with your personal conclusion. 
• Make sure that each article is clearly identified by topic.
• Sign all articles clearly with both names.

The assignment is due by the end of Friday, October 11th.

Updating your Blogs / assignments

Dear all,

First of all, my apologies for not being here again today, I was delayed at the airport on Wednesday and could not make it on time and now the schedule for a presentation that I have to make at the IB Conference has changed, thus making it impossible for me to be there today.

Please complete the Optional Topics assignment and I need you to send me the link to the education video, I have only received a couple of links to the videos.

I will be back normally next week, and you can expect to recieve your corrected tests during the weekend.

Optional Topics

The ITGS syllabus allows students to choose one other topic for further study and development.

The following is a list of topics, including the issues that the syllabus highlights as essential within each unit:

3.3 Health
• Telemedicine: service delivery to isolated and remote areas
• Electronic health records: privacy, data analysis, public health
• Diagnostic and therapeutic tools: robotic surgery, prosthetic devices, diagnostic software, drug
development and marketing
• Medical advice on the Internet or a CD-ROM
• Monitoring patients
• IT solutions for disabled people

3.4 Arts, entertainment and leisure
• Digital art: electronic music, interactive visual art, desktop publishing
• Film: digital actor simulations, characters and animation
• Live arts: digital effects, choreography, lighting, marketing
• New media: DVD, CD, VR, stereolithography
• Broadcast media: digital radio and television, electronic news, magazines and books
• Toys and games: CD or online games, online gambling

3.5 Science and the environment
• Modelling and simulation: digital experimentation, demographic and environmental simulation
• Visualization: mapping
• Data search, collection, processing and analysis
• Forecasting
• Data logging

3.6 Politics and government
• Political process: voting and elections, lobbying, open government and free movement of information
• Government administration: record keeping, tax collection, policy implementation
• Legislation: policy development, enactment, enforcement and analysis
• Police: DNA data collection, video surveillance
• Military: cyberwarfare, smart weapons development, espionage
• Rebel and terrorist use of IT

Working in pairs, you will select one of these topics and start creating your digital log of resources to help you achieve the learning objectives. Please remember that the focus of the subject is to acquire mastery of the topics outline but, more importantly, to analyze ethical and social implications of these topics on individuals and society.

The next step in planning the learning of the topic involves doing research and finding relevant web sites that relate to the topics chosen.

Your assignment today will entail:
- Finding at least 6 web sites that can be used as reference for the topic chosen.
- At least 2 of these sites should include videos o some other sort of multimedia elements.
- Before the end of this lesson you are expected to produce a document that contains:
o URL of each web site.
o Validation of the authors / contents.
o An annotated commentary or brief reference of what the web site or resource contains.
o Enumeration of the topics from the IB list that are covered by that web site.

The assignment should be posted on the blog before the end of today.

Networks Test

NETWORKS TEST

1. A small school has two sites. The main site includes two computer labs, each of them with eight and six computers respectively. The labs are on adjoining rooms and share a colour printer. Within that main site, there are also five networked computers in the administrative office, which have their own printer but that, occasionally, would also use the common printer in the academic labs.
There is another smaller site that includes an academic lab with four computers and two other computers in an office. They all share a printer. All databases from the school are centralized in the server within the main site.
Design and draw the networks that responds to the needs of the school, as well as a short paragraph that explains your choices.

2. The manager of a bank asks you to design a security solution for its operations. Explain what security solutions would be adopted, including passwords and biometrics.

3. Explain, in detail, the process by which a sound is recorded via a microphone and stored and later reproduced by the computer. On what would the quality of sound depend?

4. What technical measures should be put in place to prevent unauthorized web sites on a network and to prevent hackers from accessing the network?

5. How is multitasking achieved by the operating system?

6. What strategies can be put in place to avoid loss of money in firms due to repetitive stress injuries?


Please email your completed evaluation to itgs.sass@gmail.com

Network Test

1. 1-      A store that sells electronics has a shop and a warehouse. The shop, where salesmen sell products directly to consumers, has five computers that are points of sale and that salesmen use to complete their sales. These computers share a printer where invoices are printed out, and are also connected to three computers within the same shop that are used by the administrative office. The three computers share their own printer. Whenever a salesman completes the sale, the computers in the shop need to check the stock of that particular product in the warehouse. The warehouse has six computers that are handled by employees, sharing a printer. There is one other computer in the warehouse itself that handles sensors and other functions related to the warehouse.
2. Design and network for the shop on the warehouse, and include a short paragraph that explains your particular choice of switches, routers, as well as the connection between both locations.
3. 2-      Explain the difference between a proxy server and the firewall, giving specific examples of when each of these would act and why.
4. 3-      Give technical details as to each of the following operations, explaining in each case how they are performed:
5. a.       A user tries to install videoconferencing software and he cannot do so, the operating system requesting that an administrator performs that task.
6. b.      In a network, Internet traffic becomes very slow, the system administrator reports that he will have to add one more switch.
7. c.       An Internet connection is upgraded from a cable modem to a fiber-optic connection.
8. 4-      Give examples of activities that would be apt for teleworking, explaining the reasons for your choices.
9. 5-      When would you use each of the following?
10. a.       A real-time operating system.
11. b.      A multiuser operating system.
12. 6-      Why are firms concerned with ergonomics?
13. 7-      Give examples of applications for which biometrics would be preferable to passwords and why.

Search Engines Evaluation

Answer all of the following questions. Send your answers to itgs.sass@gmail.com
PLEASE CHECK BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE ROOM THAT I HAVE RECEIVED YOUR EMAIL

1. 1- Explain in detail the underlying mechanism when a user types a URL and the corresponding page is returned to the user's computer. Why are there different protocols to be used on the Internet? Why are only certain ports open?
2. 2- Explain in detail how a search engine works, and how a search result is returned when a user enters a query.
3. 3- How does Google rank webpages for search results? What is most important in their algorithm?
4. 4- A friends of yours wants to launch a website for his new company, that sells specialized equipment for bicycles. He wants his company to appear at the top of the searches when cyclists look for accessories and gear. How would you make sure that his web page ranks high?
5. 5- If you were transported 20 years into the future, what features would be available in both computer based and cell-phone based search engines? Explain in detail how these innovations would work.
6. 6- How would you construct queries to find out about "advances in food technology will solve world hunger". How would you determine the validity of the sources?
7. 7- EXTRA CREDIT - Test your Search Engine ability!
   In one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history, an athlete stopped in a race to help fellow competitors who were in risk of drowning. In the Olympic games held 3 years before this athlete was born, another athlete was the first ever to win three athletic events with world records. The Olympic sport in which this person’s partner won a gold medal has been swept (meaning that 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place were won by athletes from the same country) twice by a country. This country’ s most famous Olympic hero won his or her maximum number of gold medals in a city where the Olympic Games were also held. How many athletes from Argentina participated in those games?
   
    

Recap for evaluation

During this first part of our course, we have studied search engines, their underlying mechanism, characteristics and some of the potential implications on individuals and society of their manipulation.
The topics that we have covered include:
• Basic knowledge of the Internet, servers and clients, protocols, data packets, IP, DNS.
• The nature of search engines,  indexing algorithms, what makes a search engine better than others.
• Validating sources.
• Privacy issues, privacy policies from search engines.
• A brief glimpse into the nature of search engine algorithms. Search Engine Optimization. Pagerank. Google bombing.
• How search engines can be manipulated and their potential effects on individuals and society.
• Mulltimedia Search Engines and the future of esrach engines.
• User constructed search engine queries.

Robots and AI Test

1. 1-      A friend of yours wants to create an expert system that will attempt to guess the results of football games based on the players that make up every team on their statistics. Explain clearly the stages, processes, and persons involved in the development of this expert system as well as how the system would work.
2. 2-      How is a conversational chatbot created? How does it simulate intelligence?
3. 3-      Explain what the Turing Test is and what is its purpose. Comment on how the best conversational artificial intelligence systems are evaluated in a competition.
4. 4-      Give examples of three specific uses of robots were they would replace humans.
5. 5-      Explain how the effect known as “Uncanny Valley" influences the design of robots.
6. 6-      Why are scientists studying the behavior of ants and other small animals related to artificial intelligence?
7. 7-      Robot soldiers are being developed and, according to many experts, they will constitute the future of warfare. Explain how the robots would identify an enemy soldier and act accordingly. Are there risks in terms of these robots rebelling against their creators?