November Exam

ITGS Exam

1.       A friend of yours wants to create a new search engine. Explain to him what he would need to do, including advice on how to make his search engine efficient in retrieving results.

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

3.       Explain, for each of the following actions, using the appropriate relevant terms, how each of the following actions takes place in terms of the data transfer, software and hardware used, protocols.

A)      A user tries to access an unauthorized web site and is prevented from doing so by the network operating system.

B)      A user installs a special videoconference software and when trying to run the software the system refuses to execute for security reasons.

C)      An email is sent from a computer in Argentina to another computer in England.

4.       Give an account of what specific functions are performed by the operating system from the moment in which the computer is turned on until it is ready to receive user input. How does the CPU/Operating System achieve multitasking?

5.       Outline advantages and disadvantages of using simulations for training. On what criteria would you rate a simulation?

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

7.       Can a robot be conscious of its own existence? How would that be achieved or simulated?

8.       Give examples and applications of what encryption is used for.

5 Technologies that will change the world

Click to access the shared document.

The World of the Future

Many of the technological innovations we are now starting to foresee will undoubtedly make an impact on the world in the future. Our goal is not just to try to understand how these innovations will shape up the future but, most importantly, the impact they will have on individuals and societies.

Choose five technological innovations that you think will have a significant impact on the future, and for each of them, working in pairs, write in your blog the following considerations:

-          A description of the technological innovation itself, including the link to an Internet reference on it, and its current status of development.

-          How it is expected to further develop in the future and any possible limitations to such progress.

-          A detailed description of the expected impact of this technological innovation on life in the future.

Surveillance

One of the topics that has garnered greater attention lately related to the impact of technology is that of electronic surveillance, understanding by it the application of modern technologies that can eventually compromise individual privacy of citizens, both by the state or other organizations.
After researching the topic, working in pairs, the assignment consists of writing an article for an online magazine entitled:

"Advances in technology are increasingly compromising citizens' privacy: how to be aware of tech intrusions to your private life".

The article should be at least of 1,200 words and be posted on your blogs.

IB Application to Scenarios

Strand 2: Application to specific scenarios

The scenarios listed here are divided into themes as an organizational tool. Examination papers assess scenarios related to these themes. Individual examination questions may address one, some, or all of the themes.

•            Every theme must be studied.

•            Every topic within each theme must be studied.

•            Each topic must be taught using real examples. Some of the examples shown in the tables suggest possible approaches for study.

•            Students will be expected to apply their knowledge from the topics taught in class or researched independently to the stimulus material in the externally assessed components. This may include discussing ethical issues and social impacts as well as demonstrating an understanding of the IT systems involved.

•            For each of the scenarios addressed, students will be expected to identify relevant stakeholders and to discuss, where relevant, potential stakeholder conflict.

2.1 Business and employment

Topic	Examples
Traditional businesses	Banks, including ATM (automatic teller machines), EFT (electronic funds transfer), hotels, supermarkets, travel agencies.
Online businesses (e-commerce)	Working practices such as teleworking and home working.
Transportation	Airline reservation systems, navigation, package tracking, traffic control systems, IT systems in cars.

The coverage of business and employment should address the IT systems that exist as well as the ethical issues and social impacts that arise from the increased use of information technologies for both employers and employees. Students should be aware of the range of different business environments, ranging from a traditional (offline) business to businesses that are exclusively online.

2.2 Education and training

Topic	Examples
Distance learning over large areas	Hospitals, prisons, retirement homes, schools.
Use of IT in teaching and learning	Educational software, online research and forums, virtual learning environments (VLE), e-books, Web 2.0 educational networks, use of mobile devices, game-based learning, fully immersive environments, filtering and monitoring of students’ internet use, 1-to-1, m-learning.
Hardware and network technologies in the classroom	Laptop computers, handheld devices, interactive whiteboards.
Topic	Examples
Provision for special needs	Inclusive software, Braille keyboards, accessibility.
School administration	Record-keeping of staff and finances, libraries, student records, EDI (electronic data interchange).

The development of new IT systems is revolutionizing the delivery of education and training. Technological advances have led to an increase in the dependency of students, staff and administrators on the supporting IT systems.

2.3 Environment

Topic	Examples
Modelling and simulations	Climate change, forecasting natural events or demographic changes.
Data logging	Sensors, probes, real-time data collection.
Satellite communication	Remote sensing devices, satellite imagery, tagging.
Mapping, virtual globes	Geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS), cell/mobile phone tracking, online journey planning, online maps.
E-waste	Development, disposal and recycling of IT equipment, monitoring organizations such as the Basel Action Network.
Resource depletion	Use of non-renewable resources for manufacturing components, electrical consumption of IT systems.

The environmental theme covers a wide range of topics. The increasing processing capability of mobile devices has enabled almost universal access to information, but the increased number of devices has impacted on health and the environment.

2.4 Health

Topic	Examples
Diagnostic and therapeutic tools	Surgery, prosthetic devices, diagnostic technology, rehabilitation, patient monitoring, individualized IT solutions for disabled people, accessibility.
Medical information, administration, marketing and sales	Medical advice, e-prescriptions, telemedicine, electronic health records, international health cards.
Medical research	Global collaboration, database for the Human Genome Project, improving patient rehabilitation.
Psychological and physical considerations	Internet addiction, repetitive strain injury (RSI), ergonomics.

IT has revolutionized medicine. With the increasing size of the world’s population, the effective management of health care using IT systems will become even more important.

2.5 Home and leisure

Topic	Examples
Homes and home networks	IT management of home systems: for example, lighting, security, entertainment centres.
Digital entertainment	Films, photographs, music, arts, online and digital games, gambling, virtual worlds.
Social networking	Chat rooms, messaging, blogging, file sharing, wikis.
Published and broadcast information	Books, newspapers, digital radio and TV, e-books, podcasts.
Digital policing	Monitoring organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
Hardware, software and networks	Portable digital devices and their ability to remotely control other devices, IT-enabled appliances.

The growth of the internet and the ability to transfer information globally in real time has revolutionized the way in which increasing numbers of people live. The global online society, the development of English as the dominant online language, and the constant availability of information may lead to a homogenization of peoples, with some cultures being subsumed into others or lost. 

2.6 Politics and government

Topic	Examples
Political processes	Online campaigning, voting, lobbying, fund-raising and advertising.
Government information sites	For example, travel warnings, tourist information, environmental information and warnings, government policies, city government websites.
Access to, and updating of, personal information held on government databases	Collection, storage and updating of personal data: for example, driving licence, TV licence, tax returns, passport applications and renewals, medical records, military service records, social security information, online police records.
Government control and use of information	Censorship, data matching across agencies, archiving, biometric data, national identity cards.
Law and order	Police surveillance, terrorist monitoring, DNA data.
Military	Cyberwarfare, smart weapons, espionage, battlefield technology.

The importance of IT is becoming increasingly evident in political campaigns. With increased amounts of information available to governments, ethical issues relating to its possible misuse are becoming more and more important.

Blog on application to specific scenarios

In order to tackle this strand, we will divide the work so as to find resources that can later be used to study. To do that, we will work on a multi user blog.

• Initially, send me an email with your preferred email address to become an author in the blog. You will receive an invitation to join the multiuser blog http://itgsoptions.wordpress.com  
• After joining as an author, your objective is to create one blog entry for each of the themes that you chose. These posts should be about articles or links to Internet sites that relate to these themes and should include:
• URL of the site
• Justification of why the authors are valid
• Short summary of why the site is relevant to the topic studied.

Do not forget to categorize each post.

21st Century Business

Like no other area, technology has impacted businesses very significantly, and resulted in increased productivity. However, there are issues associated with the generalized use of technology in the workplace that have affected both positively and negatively individuals and society.

We will analyze the influence of technology in business and how it can affect jobs. You are a consultant and you have been hired by a client to develop the technological support for his new firm. This is a 2000-employee retail store that sells goods direct to the general public, and will have branches at various shopping centers within Buenos Aires. Your client is set on incorporating the latest available technology to his firm and as such, it is your job to provide him with the latest advances in the following areas:

- Transportation and logistics: storage and transport of goods, inventory control, purchase processing.
- Employment: electronic employee monitoring, payroll processing, ergonomics and health, job obsolescence and retraining, online job search, employee surveillance.
- Banking and finance: ATMs, Internet banking and brokerage, electronic cash, insurance.
- E-commerce: teleshopping, online marketing, data mining,
- Retailing: advertising, media.

For each of these areas, you must find at least one application that will position his firm on the cutting edge. By creating a presentation, you will highlight for each of these applications:
- Characteristics and main functions.
- How it can help boost productivity and gain efficiency.
- Eventual ethical or social issues associated with their use, concerns that employees might have.

Create a Powerpoint presentation that details the applications that you use for each area , addressing each of the 3 points above.

Areas of impact: computers in education

One of the areas of impact that we will be studying within the syllabus is Education.

Today we will introduce the topic and briefly discuss some of the social implications of the technological advances in Education.

The following is the list of topics for the unit as stated by IB:
• Telelearning: isolated and remote areas; use in hospitals, prisons, retirement homes
• Modification of hardware and software for special needs: voice recognition software, text-to-speech, special input and output devices, Internet resources
• Software in the classroom: science experiments, social studies modelling and simulation, instructional tools and media, computer-aided instruction, computer-aided learning
• School library systems: catalogues, security systems, online research • Hardware in the classroom: laptops, notebooks, teleconferencing
• Software in school administration: record keeping, scheduling, Intranets, public information
• Training, tutorials, simulators

Your assignment, working in groups of 3 students, this time will consist in the production of a short video based freely on one of these topics. The video should be entirely based on evidence gathered at the school, interviews and/or other filming done at school and should address the implications of the chosen topic based on research to be performed at school.

Steps:
- Supporting web based research, sequence and overall plan for the video (to be submitted at the end of today’s lesson)
- Script and plan of interviews -
- Video in digital format (date TBD)

Simulations and Modeling

The next topic that we will be covering involves computer simulations and modeling. The unit will focus on the effectiveness, usefulness, limitations, and (of course!) the social and ethical impact of the increased use of simulations.

We will initially discuss the basics of computer simulations by reading the article on What is Modeling and Simulation from the University of Central Florida.

A simple but very complete resource that can serve as reference for the topic is the presentation on Introduction to Simulation and Modeling of Queueing Systems. Another important resource is a list of applications of computer simulations that can be found on Table 1(Page 2) of Growing Importance of Modelling and Simulation: Professional and Ethical Implications.

The following video shows some common applications of computer-based simulations:



Towards the end of our lesson today, we will be exploring a tantalizing possibility by reading the New York Times article entitled Our Lives, Controlled From Some Guy’s Couch.

Evaluating Simulations

We will see practical examples of applications of simulations and evaluate their effectiveness and implications. Some common fields that have been subjected to modeling and simulation are:
- Weather forecasting
- Stock Exchange
- Genetics and evolution
- Training simulators, excluding Flight Simulators

Working in pairs, your assigned task will be to choose one of these fields and answer the following questions:
Find web sites or direct references to computer simulations within the chosen field.
How complex is the underlying model and on what theory/equations is it based?
To what extent are the above simulations being used for real-life or research/training purposes and why?
Based on the above, what is the reliability and effectiveness of the model and related simulation? (This is the most important question!)

Creating a SASS Bot

We will now put into practice some of the principles of Artificial Intelligence.

The objective of this activity is to create a chat bot that features some of the characteristics of a member of our community.

We will go to The Personality Forge and learn how to create a bot by building predefined phrases at the Language Center. Then it will be time to give life to a new bot.

• Form groups of two students each.


• Create an account for the group.


• Come to my desk to get a personality assignment.


• Work on creating a profile for the bot, that is, a series of statements that define the personality of the bot based on the characteristics of the person assigned. Send it in a Word file to itgs.sass@gmail.com before the end of the lesson.

Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

A logical next step in the study of Robotics and its ethical and social implications is to focus on the software that makes robots acquire quasi human capabilities. The software that runs robots, as well as other modern technology applications, is based on Artificial Intelligence.

As a primer, we will refer to “What is Artificial Intelligence?” by Stanford University Professor of Computer Science Dr. John McCarthy, one of the pioneers of AI.
We will also be referring briefly to the first Chapter in the book “Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence”, by Robert S. Engelmore and Edward Feigenbaum.

In order to see the possibilities of AI for mainstream gaming applications, we will take a look at Project Milo.

We will then look at a short video on The Rise of Artificial Intelligence:

Another short clip illustrates the concept of the Uncanny Valley and its relation to evolution of AI.


In order to better understand the extent to which conversational engines have evolved, we will be looking at the Loebner Prize competition:

Finally, so that you can get some first person interaction with AI bots, we will transfer to The Personality Forge, where you will be chatting with an AI program and try to catch it into betraying itself to be a robot!

Roboethics Assignment

Following up on our discussion on Roboethics and what we have learned on the evolution of robots, your assignment is to create a short video that addresses one of the following statements:

- Robots that create the illusion of feelings and self awareness should be banned because humans become too attached to them.
- Human intelligence will improve by creating robots that extend human capabilities.
- In the near future, man’s best friend will inevitably be a robot.

You can work in pairs. Please follow the following directions regarding the completion of your assignment:
- The video should include static slides that reflect your point of view as well as clips from advanced humanoids and other robots that you will search for on the Internet.
- Do not include long texts, rather bullet points and images and / or videos to support your statements.
- Include a final page with references that you have used to complete the presentation.

Roboethics

After our first approach to the subject, we will be analyzing the ethical and social implications associated with the development and evolution of robotics.

Our first step will be to watch two short videos from Georgia Tech University that focus on the evolution of robots:

- Will Robots Replace Humans?
- The Evolution of Robots

Subsequently, we will analyze some of the issues associated with the emerging field of study Roboethics through the following YouTube video:




We will then read Seed Magazine´s very interesting article on The Rise of Roboethics.

Robotics

Our next topic will be Robotics, and our goal is to analyze the various applications on robotics in modern society as well as the ethical and social implications of a more widespread use of robotic technology.

We will first watch a video on Robots:


We will be exploring some Robotics basics through the folllwing pages:

• BrainPOP
• Introduction to Robotics 

Networks Test

1- Give examples of situations in which the proxy server and the firewall would act. If the Internet is slow at a company that has several buildings, which of the two should you use and how?

2- What functions are performed by the operating system in a computer? Give examples of three devices that have different types of operating systems and explain why they would fit into that category.

3- What type of activity would justify having all ergonomic furniture and why?

4- "Passwords will soon become a thing of the past." Discuss.

5- A cinema company has inaugurated a new digital system where all movies are streamed digitally to their cinemas. They have a cinema in Unicenter where there are five movie rooms and they also have 6 computers for ticket purchase and printing.

They also have an office at headquarters, where there are 5 computers and two printers that deal with general administrative duties. There are other cinemas in different shopping centers in the city.

a) Explain the flow of information and critical components in the operation of this network.

b) Draw a diagram that shows graphically the network. How would the cinema be connected to headquarters?

6- How can members of a team that works mostly from home remain connected and productive? Give specific examples of software platforms and how they work.

7- A friend of yours calls you to say that the network at his firm is congested and runs very slowly. Why could this be? How can you try to fix it?

Please email your answers to itgs.sass@gmail.com Do not use a Google doc for this.

Data Security and Encryption

After learning about hacking and how it compromises data security, we will learn about the next step in protecting data, by means of encryption. The very ancient and often used in technique of cryptography involves scrambling messages in such a way that only the parties within the communication or, in our case, a computer algorithm and users know how to decode them effectively.
We will first learn the basics on cryptography from the Encryption Tutorial. Another simple source is What is Cryptography? at WiseGeek.

Then we will play around with some of the games at CryptoClub.

Assignment After studying some of the methods and algorithms for encryption, we need to understand how this is done in real life.

Suppose you are an IT security consultant, and one of your clients asks you to review for him the various options (free and paid) that exist for encrypting sensitive data in his hard drive. Answer the following questions:

- Identify at least one software for personal and one for professional use that are available for encrypting sensitive data.
- For each of them, write a detailed sequence of instructions as to how to effectively encrypt the data.

Working in pairs, answer the question in a Word file. This file must be sent to itgs.sass@gmail.com, in encrypted form, together with another file that explains how to decrypt it, and why you have chosen that particular software.

Your own E-Commerce Store

One of your friends owns a retail store (you choose what the store sells) and he asks you to help him set up his online store. You start a joint venture with your friend and start the online store. You will need to decide:

• -          Which products will be featured.
• -          How you will determine the stock level for each product (explain what factors you would take into account).
• -          How to communicate with potential clients in terms of marketing and advertising.
• -          How you will handle deliveries.
• -          Design a prototype of the e-store using Goodsie for a free 30 Day trial.

Create a blog entry that explains these decisions and include the link to your Goodsie store.

E-Commerce

Our next topic in the sequence is E-Commerce. We are all somewhat familiar and have some first-hand experience on E-Commerce, however, we need to analyze some of the technical and theoretical background related to its development and evolution.

We will watch a short course on e-business models.
We will start by watching three short video segments from VTC.com, a site dedicated to offer Computer Software Training.


Two web sites that provide general information on e-commerce are:

• Basic Guide to E-Commerce
• Risks of E-commerce.

ASSIGNMENTOur assignment for the day, to be covered in class, consists in answering the following multiple-choice questionnaire:

• Introduction to E-Commerce Multiple Choice Quiz

In pairs, research the answers to each question until you score all right answers.

Real Life Hacking

Whilst playing the game, you have learned several tools and techniques related to hacking that enabled you to gain access to computers, bank accounts, crack passwords, send spam, etc.

We want to understand how much of a threat that is in real life, that is, to compare what the game presents a s a simplified technique with the tools that hackers have access to in real life.

Your assignment consists in:

• List all the techniques for hacking that you learned in The Hacker Experience.



• For each of the techniques, find what software or other resources exist to implement that technique.



• Evaluate whether that particular hacking tool is possible, feasible or impossible.



• Write a final conclusion on the risk and threats associated with hacking.

Create a blog post that summarizes your conclusions and ideas. The assignment is due by the end of next lesson, and you can work in pairs.

Hacking

After studying networks and the various ways in which businesses and organizations share valuable information, we will analyze the subculture of hacking, its potential threats and implications for individuals and societies.

We will start by watching the following video on the History of Hacking, produced by Discovery Channel:


We will then read an article on the 10 Famous Hackers and Hacks as well the Biggest Computer Hacks of All Time.

After this, we will access the SlaveHack web site. This site features a completely safe and virtual environment that allows you to learn about hacking by participating in an online game that teaches you some of the techniques that hackers use to break into computers.

Network Design

We will learn more about switches, hubs and routers by watching the following video:
The objective of today's assignment is to solve a real life problem and design a network.

We will first work together on the following example:

- An airline company has a counter and an office at the airport. At the counter, five employees use their computers for checking in passengers and printing out boarding passes on a special printer, and they are connected to an office at the same airport, where administrative employees work on four computers and share a printer. All the transactions at the airport are connected to the airline’s headquarters downtown, where a sales office comprises six computers and a printer, and an administrative office features four other computers and two printers. All the computers at the headquarters location use a single colour printer for travel brochures.



Using the knowledge that you acquired over the past lessons, for each of the two cases below you should:

a) Draw a diagram that depicts the schematics of the network, including images of the various components (hubs, switches, etc.) that you can easily obtain from the Internet.
b) Write a rationale for the design decisions that were made, explaining the reasons for them in each case.

Bear in mind, when making your design decisions, the costs of all components involved, remember that routers are more expensive than switches and that these are more expensive than hubs. Also include, whenever necessary, proxy servers and firewalls.

1) A school has two small campuses that operate at different physical locations, 10 km apart. The North campus has a computer lab with 9 workstations and a printer that are connected via a network, and 4 administrative computers and two printers that are networked to each other. A file server and colour printer are accessed by all computers in this campus, which are also connected to the Internet by means of a dedicated cablemodem. The South campus has two computer labs with 6 and 8 computers respectively, plus 5 other computers that are used for teaching and administrative purposes. There is one file server and network printer that must be accessed by all computers in the network. The North Campus will access the Internet via a dedicated cablemodem. Both campuses must be linked.


2) A multinational company has branches in Argentina and the US. The Argentina branch has 8 networked computers that are used to handle customer requests and post-sale service, whereas the US office deals with sales and production through 12 computers. Each branch has two network printers and a file server, and they must be connected to each other. Design a network that satisfies the requirements and explain which hardware and/or software solutions you need to adopt.

More on Networks

We will attempt to consolidate our learning on networks by browsing the Networks Basic Interactive Tutorial to further understand some of the basics about networking. This should take no longer than 20 minutes.

After that, you should be able to correctly answer all 11 questions of the Networks Basics Overview Quiz, which should not take you more than 5 minutes.

As a reference, you can browse the Educator's Guide to School Networks, which constitutes a good tutorial for network basics.

After that, you can try designing a network utilizing the following Interactive Network Design Simulator.

Networks

The next topic that we will be dealing with is networks. We will be analyzing the fundamentals of networks, different topologies and other technical concepts as a first step towards discussing the implications of networks on society and individuals.
We will start, as an introduction, by watching the following animation that depicts graphically how Internet works:




Then we will cover the basics and fundamentals of Networking through How Stuff Works.

How Ethernet Works

Another good reference is the Ethernet Tutorial at Lantronix.

Teleworking / Biometrics Assignment

You have been hired to provide analysis on:

• In a corporation, the owners want to protect the room where the most valuable files are stored and they are unsure of whether to use fingerprint access or face recognition. Which of the two methods would you recommend and why?
• Another firm wants to adopt a solution to allow their employees to work collaboratively from their home or whilst they travel. Review existing options and recommend the one you think is best.

In both cases, your recommendations must be based on technical issues as well as affordability. Post your answers as a link to the PowerPoint presentations you develop in your blog. 

Ergonomics / Teleworking / Biometrics

During the next few classes, we will be discussing some general issues related to technology use and access, as well as their implications.
Ergonomics: is the application of scientific information concerning objects, systems and environment for human use (definition adopted by the International Ergonomics Association in 2007). However, the field of Ergonomics is mostly associated with the design of hardware in such a way that it prevents commonly known repetitive stress injuries RSI.

Ergonomics at work illustrates some of these concepts.
Teleworking: Globalization and recent changes and technological advances have made it possible for an increasing number of people to be able to work from home. Advantages and Disadvantages of Teleworking is an article that provides a good summary of the advantages and disadvantages of working from home.
In order to take full advantage of teleworking, users need a platform comprising different tools to share their work online. We will subsequently research the existing online options.
Password Protection – Biometrics: Any organization that possesses valuable information needs to put into effect some sort of validation process that ensures that only authorized users can gain access to relevant information.
Traditionally mostly accessed through fingerprints, now facial recognition is gaining ground. The following video extols the advantages of face recognition:

There are many different authentication methods, from the very simple and straightforward Passwords) to more complex ones based on biometrics. We will watch the following two videos to jumpstart our discussion:

Search Engines Test

Answer all questions with technical details. Once you have finished, submit your answers to itgs.sass@gmail.com

1-      Explain in detail what happens from the moment a user types the URL for our school’s web site until the page appears on the browser.

2-      Can a web page loaded in a browser read the computer’s hard drive? Why?

3-      Summarize concerns regarding users’ privacy when using search engines. Are these concerns well founded?

4-      The owner of a car dealership who sells cars and car parts online wants to increase traffic and consequently sales in his web sites. Explain in details how you would work with him to achieve that objective.

5-      How do you think search engines will evolve in the future? Explain in detail what technical characteristics we might expect them to have in the next few years. What needs to improve for this to happen?

6-      What makes a site rank higher in Google and why?
7-      Can a site not appear within a search engine? How is this done? Are there sites that cannot be accessed through the regular http protocol?

Some technical concepts

During this subsequent unit we will go over some technical topics that we need to cover so as to afterwards be able to discuss and analyze the implications of computer systems on individuals and societies. We will approach this unit by first reading about these issues and then working on a series of assignments that will let us derive and infer their implications based on a sounder technical base.

Analog and digital data: How Analog and Digital Recording Works, from HowStuffWorks, an interesting tutorial on analog and digital recording that covers well the difference between analog and digital data. If you Google “analog and digital data” you will come across many reliable sources that will yield information on the differences between both types of data.

Difference between data and information: Again, a very clear distinction can be made between data, that is, recorded numbers, readings, etc. which in themselves are meaningless as opposed to information which can be derived from the processing and analysis of that data, in our context through computer software in a process known as data processing. There are abundant sources on this topic, a well-summarized and concise reference can be found at Understanding the Difference Between Data and Information.

Operating Systems: We will be watching a couple of videos related to Operating Systems.

.

Then, we will once more be referring to HowStuffWorks for a general introduction on How Operating Systems Work. It provides a good and thorough introduction to this very important concept.

Multimedia search engines

This first video features an interesting discussion related to the use of data by computer companies and its implications.

Then, we will analyze one of the most interesting future developments in the area of search engines consists in the capability to search for images, video, etc., based on pattern recognition. A futuristic application of search engines can be visualized in the following video: - Sixth Sense Demo

How will search engines evolve in the future? How close are we to some of the pattern recognition feats that are common in movies (i.e. automatically recognizing a person from a traffic camera)? What is the potential of real time searching? Will augmented reality change the future?
Find at least two articles that make reference to the future evolution of search engine and find one pilot site that does such searches. Post these articles, together with short comments, in your blogs, as well as relating your user experience of the multimedia search engine.

Google features

As you probably know, Google has many more features, apps and services than just the search engine itself. Some of them, like Google News or Gmail or Google Maps, are very well known, but other are truly interesting and useful and are not so popular.

Your assignment consists in:

• Find 5 Google applications that are not well known.
• For each of them, explain what their function is, how they work technically and give one example of its application, including a screenshot of it.
• Explore, on top of the 5 above, Google Now and Google+, and reflect on their applications and potential. 
• Choose one of these applications and state how it could be used in the school to enhance anything we do in class.

SEO SASS

As a way to practice SEO, we will first review our school page (www.sanandres.esc.edu.ar) with SEO analysis simulators, and then work towards suggesting specific actions to improve our visibility.
Steps include:

• Finding sites that analyze SEO information about a web page.
• Work with the Development Department to identify those queries that need addressing so that our school ranks higher in them.
• Utilize White Hat techniques to improve the visibility of the page.
• Have screen dumps before and after SEO with Google and other search engines.

The Filter Bubble

We will first watch the following video:





A site that makes reference to issues related to the Filter Bubble are:

• http://dontbubble.us/

We will then read the following article on privacy issues on the Internet.

Then we will complete the following assignment, working in groups of 2:
1- Login with your Google account (Gmail, Hotmail) and perform a search query individually. Then have the other members of your group do the same. Do you notice any difference? With what type of search query? Formulate your conclusions taking into account the content of the video.
2- Summarize some of the concerns regarding privacy for Google and search engines. Are they founded?
3- Investigate "who Google thinks you are" and post a comment on that.
4- Search for "how Target knew a teenage girl was pregnant" and comments on the implications to privacy.

Post your assignments on your blogs.

Analyzing Search Engines

During the video that we watched, several key issues related to the inner workings of web search engines are discussed, as well as how web engines process their indexes.
We will use this assignment to try to visualize in a practical way how search engines, in this case Google, have such a powerful influence in how businesses and even individuals fare in society.
Answer the following questions in pairs, and post the answers on your blog.
1) Suppose you want to find whether its is worth buying a hybrid car or not, so perform a search query on on Google and one other web search engine. Every time you access Google and the other search engine you should enter the same text. Please answer the following questions:
a. Which of the two search engines is better and why? What objective criteria would you use to compare them?
b. Analyze the results from the first search for both search engines and explain the reasons why you think the the first four sites appear at the top.
c. What can you conclude about each search engine’s ranking algorithms? Research the differences and similarities between both.
2) Explain what PageRank and SEO are and briefly outline how web site owners can utilize strategies to rank higher on search engines.
3) Conduct the following searches on Google:
- Arabian Gulf
- I can read Wikipedia
- Investigate what happened in 2014 regarding the search for "what time is the Superbowl 2014"
and, with regards to the above searches, explain what “Google bombing” is as well as its potential implications for individuals and organizations.

How Search Engines Work

Our first topic for analysis and discussion is how search engines work. Search engines have become an essential component of everyday life and their influence is undoubtedly far reaching.

We will learn about the topic by watching the following video from a lecture by Dr. Marti Hearst at the University of California at Berkeley.




There is plenty of information available on the inner workings of search engines. Two such links include: - How Internet Search Engines Work at howstuffworks.

Validating sources

When we look for information on the web, we must first assess its validity. The following links provide information on how to evaluate the reliability of a web site:

• How to Judge the Reliability of Internet Information
• Evaluating Internet Resources

Take two statements from the Terra 2050 Videos and, using web search engines, try to assess their validity.
In order to do this, you must write a short document citing the sources used and the reasons why you arrive at a certain conclusion.
All assignments should include:
- Statement.
- Annotated links with a short discussion on how they tend to prove or disprove the statement.
- A brief analysis of the validity of each source.
- A conclusion that sums up the above.
The assignment must be done in pairs, and published on each team member's personal blog before the end of the lesson today.

Criteria for grading include:
- Clarity of presentation, including summarizing.
- Quality and depth of the analysis.
- Use of valid sources.