CST 300: Week 8

 Team Video Project Review

Orion Analytics: Trends in Cryptography

This team's short video was simple and informative and made nice use of visuals. I really liked the Cardan Grille example of encryption and decryption. The explanation for asymmetric encryption is confusing, however. A slide with bullets is shown while the speaker quickly narrates. It is a barrage of information that is too much to take in at once. The presenter should speak more slowly or simplify the slide. Perhaps have the bullets appear one line at a time as the narrator speaks. 

Their long video is very well researched, full of cool animations, and uses technical language aimed at professionals. However, the video is too long and research heavy. While I enjoyed learning about the history of cryptography, particularly since it relates to military history, the segment could have been shortened. Also, the slide on fully homomorphic encryption had way too much information. Teamwork is evident, although it seems like one team member spoke more than others. Some segments should have been re-recorded due to speaking mistakes and there are some bad cuts in the film. 

Open Sorcerers, Inc.: IoT and Energy Conservation

This team's short video is straight to the point and seems to target a general audience. There are some bullet points that are a sentence long and should be shortened. I had to adjust my volume for one of the speakers. The end of the video should be trimmed by a couple seconds to eliminate the excessive pause and breathing noise.

Their long video targets a professional audience and is clearly a team project. Visuals are nice. I like the animated graph. Research seems adequate. The end of the video is cut perfectly. However, the audio problem persists for the one speaker. His presentation is fine, but I should not have to turn my volume up that high for his segment. He may have to invest in a better microphone. 

GRID: 3D Prosthetics

This team's short video seems to target youth. The first speaker does not seem very enthusiastic and the audio feels slapped together. There is a bad cut during his segment as well. Although the video starts out weak, the rest of the team put out strong segments. I laughed at the reference to Luke's prosthetic arm. 

Their long video has a more professional format. The video is very informative and goes into detailed description of how 3D printers build prosthetics. A lot of research went into the details of the video. The first speaker did a much better job here than in the short video. The opening was much stronger. Unfortunately, the video does not meet the minimum length requirement. A 30 second conclusion to review everything would have been sufficient to meet it. There is also a joke about how it used to cost an arm and a leg to get prosthetics which may be upsetting to some.

Keeping Up

Final Video Project

My team's final video project is complete. This was the first time I ever put a research video together and also the first time making a video with a team. I am satisfied with the way out videos turned out. One issue we faced was everyone's audio recording volume being different. The differences are more noticeable in the short video. I would like to learn how to fix common issues with audio recording and video making so that our future videos can be even better. 

Roadrunner Financial - Long Video
Roadrunner Financial - Short Video

CST 300 Final Reflection

So here I am 8 weeks later. This certainly has been a crash course introduction to the program. It is very fast paced for being part time. Usually I would have a full semester to leisurely complete 8 units, but this program has me completing 4-unit, 8-week courses back-to-back. I imagine this is what being on a quarter system feels like, but we have two quarters smooshed together into a single semester. It's manageable, though.

I am really glad that this class is out of the way. We learned a lot of useful information and skills that can be used to make ourselves more professional, but I really saw it as a writing class in disguise. Research papers stress me out. Finding out that I had to meet the GWAR in such a short time was intimidating, but it's over now. Maybe I can relax. Or maybe this is just the beginning.

CST 300: Week 7

Final Research Video Planning

Tools for Collaboration

This week my team discussed our plan for creating our final video project. We will record our audio segments using either Audacity or Windows Voice Recorder and upload the mp3 files to Google Drive. We will be using Google Slides for our visual presentation. To ensure consistency, a single team member will combine the mp3 files with the slide presentation using Adobe Premier video editing software. 

Future Improvements

Although our video editor does not mind, my team believes that leaving the editing to one person is not fair. We should all download and learn to use Adobe Premier so we can learn how to record our own parts and connect them smoothly. The reason we decided on one editor is so that we can avoid "3 videos in 1," but I believe we can find solutions that allow each of us to edit our own clips. 

Weekly Reflection

Ted Talk: Andrew Marantz

This week I watched two Ted Talks. The first covers propaganda and toxicity on the internet. Andrew Marantz spent some time with a 30-something-year-old propagandist in California to learn why he spreads lies. The extremist wants to cut off all US immigration, especially from Muslim countries, and broadcasts for his followers to tweet about the "open borders agenda" that George Soros allegedly controls. The man was interested only in arousing emotion from his followers, not in relevant facts. 

Lies like this have been amplified by people in the highest offices in the United States, adding to their perceived legitimacy. Furthermore, social media algorithms measure engagement rather than content. This leads to controversial posts being pushed to the top of news feeds, falsely suggesting that extremist views or conspiracy theories are popular. Mainstream ideas that the majority believe are pushed to the bottom because they do not elicit an emotional reaction. Marantz suggests social networks change their algorithms to promote more healthy discourse and bury the lies of propagandists.  

Ted Talk: Laura Rovner

The second Ted Talk I watched was created by a civil rights lawyer who visited ADX Florence, a supermax prison in Colorado. She argues that solitary confinement is torture because prisoners are locked up 23 hours a day, with 1 hour outside to exercise in a small concrete pen. She argues that prolonged exposure to solitary confinement deteriorates vision, speech, mental health, and social skills. While international humanitarian law prohibits long-term solitary confinement, ADX officials have kept secret from the public what happens behind bars, and Rovner claims there is more transparency with GTMO detainees.

Rovner highlights the story of Thomas Silverstein, a prisoner who spent nearly 36 years in solitary confinement for killing a correctional officer. The prison staff justified their action by claiming there must be a severe punishment for killing guards or it will happen more often. While I agree that there must be a "jail within a jail" to punish troublemakers, I agree with Rovner's assessment that prolonged solitary confinement is a violation of the 8th Amendment, although it appears no court has agreed yet.

Presentation Skills

Finally, I learned some tips for improving my PowerPoint presentation skills. Visual aids should be relevant to the topic, simple to understand, few in number, and not be used to avoid eye contact. Distractions must be kept to a minimum, so handouts should not be passed out during the presentation. The slides must have an agreeable font that can be seen from the back of the room. Last, but not least, it is important to keep bullet points minimal by not writing everything you will say on the slides. The slides are not meant to be read directly. They are meant to help you keep track of where you are and what to talk about. You must be prepared for the presentation beforehand. 

CST 300: Week 6

Team Capstone Ideas

This week my team and I discussed ideas for our capstone project. We began by discussing the individual capstones projects we blogged about last week and provided suggestions to expand on and improve them. For example, it was suggested that my financial management program download transaction data and categorize purchases automatically by using a 3rd party service, such as Plaid, to access bank accounts. Afterwards we began discussing new ideas. The most promising possibility was a "super" social media website/app that centralizes all your social media newsfeeds. I think this is plausible depending on available APIs from major social media websites. The user could link their accounts to the app which would then download feeds from each site, parse them, and consolidate posts into a standard interface. When replying to or "liking" a post, an appropriately crafted data string would be sent to the corresponding social media server and the app would confirm the data was received. This app could allow for universal features like updating all social media sites with the same profile picture or posting the same message in multiple places simultaneously.

Keeping Up

The most beneficial thing I learned this week is how to properly create a resume and cover letter. It is one of the areas in which I struggle, and I have previously been criticized for having a weak resume. I find it difficult to describe basic duties using long, detailed sentences, as I don't care much for exaggeration or unnecessary filler. The videos presented by career services provide reasonable examples and tips for creating a concise, professional looking resume for a targeted company.

Finally, my team began work on our final presentation videos this week. I proposed that we present consecutively but we decided to alternate 30 second to 1 minute time blocks. I believe this method will be easier and more efficient than my proposal of speaking for a solid 3 minute block. Our long video has been split into 8 sections and the short video into 5 sections. Each section has a designated time block and has been assigned to a team member. Our shared outline is on Google Docs so we can keep our team up to date with our progress and help them out if necessary.

CST 300: Week 5

Teammates' Goals

It is important to know the goals of your teammates so that you can help encourage them. My teammate Katie is a systems administrator with aspirations to become a software engineer. The following is my response to her educational and career goals:

Hi Katie! I think it's a fantastic idea to combine your IT background with a bachelor's degree in computer science. There are many people who have a deep understanding of how computers work programmatically but have little-to-no knowledge of the IT side of the house. Combined knowledge of software development and systems administration will take you far towards your goal of working in your chosen industry. 

My teammate Mike is an aspiring game developer. Not only does he want to work on games, he also wants to create tools for other game developers to use. Here is my response to his educational and career goals:

Hi Mike! It's awesome that you plan on making game development tools. I hear so many students talk about making their own video game, but you want to make the tools that they use. That is a pretty specific focus and will probably have a smaller pool of applicants. You seem to be passionate about the field and are eager to learn anything necessary to succeed. 

Capstone Ideas

Financial Management App

• One of my first Java programs was a bill manager written for my mother. It is a basic desktop program that transfers data back and forth between a graphical user interface and an XML file. It functions as a digital version of a financial logbook. I would like to expand on this idea and create a full blown financial management program.
• Having multiple checking and savings accounts, especially across more than one bank, can make financial management a headache. This program will help users consolidate all expenditures by providing a central location for them to enter information about their bills and transactions. I am considering additional features.
• I plan on storing data in the cloud and incorporating a network-based login feature. I would like for this to be a mobile app or perhaps web-based.

Crisis Intervention

• My idea for this was partially inspired by Stuff Ride, a previous capstone project.
• I have dealt with people facing various crises in their life such as suicidal thoughts, mental illness, and substance abuse. It helped them to have someone to talk to. Sometimes, however, there is no one for them to talk to. I would like to create an app that helps people in crisis find someone to connect to.
• Users will select the type of crisis they are experiencing and submit a request for help. Other users with the app will see this request and have the option of connecting with the person in crisis, possibly intervening before a bad situation gets worse. 
• Similarly, users will be able to mark themselves online and available for chat. They can select the types of crises they specialize in. I may also incorporate a friends list, although app users can remain anonymous. 

Grocery Planner

• This mobile app will store a grocery list for the user. When an item is entered, the app scans the websites of local grocery stores to presents the user with the lowest 3 prices within a certain radius. The app will update these prices every day that an item remains in the list. 
• When an item is purchased, users will enter the price they paid. The app will save this number along with other pertinent information. Average and total amounts spent on items will be available. Data will be collected from all users so that average prices and other statistics can be compared across regions.
• I would like to incorporate a suggestion feature based on past grocery purchases. The algorithm will determine the likelihood that the user will need a certain (previously purchased) item soon and suggest that it be added to the grocery list.

Summary

One of the most beneficial things I learned this week is that there are many free software programs available to me as a CSUMB student. I knew of student programs for Microsoft Office, but I wasn't aware of the free access to photoshop or other editing programs. I am looking forward to learning how to use them.

I am strongly considering earning a master's degree online. The point that stuck out to me the most about graduate programs is the "professional student mindset" con. Although I have work experience, it isn't in the computer science or teaching fields. I prefer sticking to what I know, and I am comfortable being a student. I don't want to experience imposter syndrome when I get out to the work force again. However, I do believe that everything will work out one way or another, and I am beginning to consider internships in the field.