Carolyn's CIS44 Blog

More on Ethics

2008-03-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

Title: Permissible Copying of Software
Author: University of Texas
Date: August 2001
Source: Google search on "when is it right to copy software"
Location: http://www.utsystem.edu/ogc/intellectualproperty/mono2.htm

Although written for people within the University of Texas system, this article gives a pretty comprehensive overview of the rules concerning copying software. Generally, unless the software specifically states that it is okay to copy it, it is not okay to copy it, except for a back-up copy. The article did mention "site" and "group" software, but did not explain it. I believe the site or group can specially purchase software that can be copied and used for multiple users with that site or group, but I'm just guessing. I'll have to look up more about it.....

Week 9 Ethics

2008-03-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

Title: A Blogger's Code of Ethics
Author: Jonathan Dube
Date: April 15, 2003
Source: CIS 44 Course Page assignment
Location: http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/000215.php

The ethics discussed in this article apply to bloggers, and treats the act of blogging to be similar to writing in newspapers, magazines, etc. - journalist ethics. They basically consist of "rules" such as making sure your facts are true, not plagiarizing, siting sources, not writing things that can cause uncalled for harm. I can personally see how blogging could be extremely damaging if used incorrectly - without ethics. One thing that I've heard about quite a lot recently is how many kids are being cyber-bullied through other kids writing mean things about them on their facebook or myspace pages. My husband has decided to give up using e-mail because of the incredibly high level of miscommunication it leads to.

People write things about others that they never would say to someone's face. Perhaps they feel protected, perhaps being unseen gives them a sense of power, or perhaps they just forget about basic human respect for other humans. Computers, unfortunately, don't reach out and cuff someone on the side of the head when they have a stupid idea. There are legal solutions that exist for slander, plagiarism and copyright infringement, etc. , and these should be pursued as much as possible. But considering how vast the internet world is, it seems unlikely that these solutions can actually stop harm from being done. Therefore, people should continue to post articles such as this one on the Blogger's Code of Ethics, if only to hammer into people's heads what is right and what is wrong.

2008-03-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

Title: The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics

Author: the Computer Ethics Institute
Date: April 16, 2001 (last update)
Source: Assigned on Course Page
Location: http://www.cpsr.org/issues/ethics/cei

The Biblical Ten Commandments seem to state things in black and white, yet we know that most things are never quite so simple. Complications abound even for such a straight-forward commandment as "Thou shalt not murder." What about punishment for someone who does murder - is the death sentence fair, or is it breaking the same commandment over again? What about killing in war? What about self-defense?

Likewise, although the Computer Ethics Institute's Ten Commandments seem fairly simple and easy to understand, I am sure volumes could be written about each one. However, they serve the same purpose as the Biblical commandments - they give a framework for ethical behavior.

Just the other day on NPR I heard a report about a study done where people were divided into three groups and given a math test . The math was easy, but it was a timed test and the time given was very short - not long enough to really even complete half the test. Before the test, one group was given the Ten Commandments (biblical) to read, the other groups were not. At the end of the test, one of the groups that didn't read the commandments simply turned in their tests and they were graded. The other two groups were told to rip up their tests and tell the study people how many problems they thought they'd gotten correct. Based on the graded tests, both of the ungraded groups said they'd gotten more problems correct than they possibly could have, but the group that had not read the commandments first reported that they'd gotten at least twice as many problems correct as the ones who had read the commandments reported. In other words, just reading the Ten Commandments made people less likely to lie, even non-religious people!

So, perhaps people just need to be constantly reminded of what is ethical, and perhaps these Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics should be posted by every person's computer in every business and home around the world!

Thou shalt not use a computer to harm other people.
Thou shalt not interfere with other people's computer work.
Thou shalt not snoop around in other people's computer files.
Thou shalt not use a computer to steal.
Thou shalt not use a computer to bear false witness.
Thou shalt not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid.
Thou shalt not use other people's computer resources without authorization or proper compensation.
Thou shalt not appropriate other people's intellectual output.
Thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you are designing.
Thou shalt always use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow humans.

Week 7 Article 1 JavaScript tutorial 1

2008-03-10T17:08:00.000-07:00

Name: JavaScript Tutorial
Author: Henrick Petersen (NetKontoret)
Date: copyright 1999-2002
Source: Google search
Location: http://www.echoecho.com/javascript.htm

Another echoecho tutorial, and it's just as well-explained as the other echoecho tutorial I looked at. I went through just the section on Basic JavaScript. There were a few examples that were confusing, like the table with colors. There is an awfully lot of material involved with JavaScript; this was a good start at understanding some of it.

Week 7! JavaScript Tutorials

2008-03-10T11:15:00.000-07:00

Hi. Okay, so I missed a few weeks! I've actually been going to various sites just to look up something if I've encountered a problem on an assignment, as well as using a book I bought (HTML, XHTML & CSS, Sixth Edition: Visual QuickStart Guide by Elizabeth Castro), but I just haven't been inclined to spend the time reading entire "articles" and summarizing them. This 7th week though, I'm going to have to because I really need to go through 1 or 2 JavaScript tutorials for my own understanding - and for homework. The first one will be from EchoEcho.com, and I will get to the blog for it as soon as I've gone through it.

Week 4 Article 1 html Tutorial

2008-02-13T08:08:00.000-08:00

Name: Your html Source
Author: Ross Shannon
Date: 2000-2008
Source: CIS 44 class blog suggestion
Address: www.yourhtmlsource.com

Another tutorial! This one, like the others I've looked at, is simple and easy to follow. I like this one better than some of the others however, because the author has a sense of humor which is spread liberally through the material. Learning should be fun, after all!

Week 3 Article 3 Frames Tutorial

2008-02-13T08:00:00.000-08:00

Name: EchoEcho Tutorial on Frames
Author: NetKonturet (from Denmark)
Date: Copyright 1992-2002
Source: CIS 44 current delicious link
Address: http://www.echoecho.com/htmlframes08.htm

This is a very straight forward tutorial, simple to understand with basic graphics. I'd use this site again when I want to check on something specific.

Week 3 Article 2 CSS for Deprecated HTML Attributes

2008-02-10T17:06:00.001-08:00

Article: CSS for Deprecated HTML Attributes: Part 1
Author: Emma Sax
Date: February 2, 2007
Source: CIS 44 Original Delicious site
Address: http://www.punkchip.com/2007/02/css-deprecated-attributes-1/

This is a "hands-on" sort of article giving examples of HTML commands using deprecated attributes and the CSS code that should be used instead, specifically margins and borders on images, and the type of the bullets/numbers of lists. Personally I had no idea before this course that the code and methods used to create web pages has been subject to quite a bit of change, and did not have standards that were followed across the board, from browser to browser. The arguments for moving towards such standards are clear, so it's good to be aware of those standards, and articles like this one must help the progression towards them. For myself, I hope just to learn the correct CSS usage the first time around!

Week 3 Article 1

2008-02-07T19:12:00.001-08:00

Name: The Microsoft-Yahoo! Deals: A User's Guide
Author: Lev Grossman
Date: Feb. 7, 2008
Source: Google Search - Time/CNN site
Address: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1711088,00.html

Okay, so this doesn't have to do directly with what we're learning in class - but we did have to do a search engine tutorial and this does have to do with the providers of those search engines. This article talks about how the takeover bid for Yahoo! by Microsoft will affect the various players: Microsoft and Yahoo! themselves, as well as Google, internet advertisers and internet users (us.)
I found it interesting particularly because I now know that the different companies sort of specialize in different areas. My own opinion is that this is a bad deal for Microsoft. It's just too expensive and they should try to move forward in more innovative ways.

Week 2 Article 3 Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

2008-02-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

Name: Effective Use of Style Sheets
Author: Jakob Nielsen
Date: July 1, 1997
Source: link from current CIS 44 delicious site
Address: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9707a.html

This short article is amazing to me because although it was written so long ago, apparently the topic is still at issue. I suppose this must be because so many sites were written before CSS came into being. It is obvious to me that CSS should be used as much as possible, as the article points out: to aid in consistency throughout a site, to lead to faster downloads of sites, and to ease maintenance. I don't understand why certain html code is even taught when better CSS methods are available!

Week 2 Article 2 Div Vs. Tables

2008-02-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

Name: Why Table for Layout is Stupid: problems defined, solutions offered
Authors: Bill Merikallio, Scott Designs, Inc. & Adam Pratt, Adobe Systems Inc.
Date: 2003
Source: link from original CIS 44 delicious site
address: http://www.hotdesign.com/seybold/everything.html

This was an entertaining article on the benefits of using CSS commands to design a web page instead of html table commands. It caught my eye since there was some discussion on this topic in class last week. The material covered doesn't really help me in details right now, since I just don't know enough about any commands, but it does reinforce the idea that as I learn, I should use CSS as much as possible. It also gives some links to some web design sites that I'll bet are pretty good ones.

Week 2 Article 1

2008-01-31T07:58:00.001-08:00

Name: XHTML v. HTML, Strict v. Transitional
Author: Estelle
Date: June 4, 2007
Source: Google search on "validate transitional"
URL: http://www.evotech.net/blog/2007/06/xhtml-html-strict-transitional-deprecated/

This is, apparently, Estelle's blog. She gives an easy to understand explanation of the differences between HTML and XHTML as well as those between Strict and Transitional. Basically the difference is adherence to expected format and the use, or prohibition of use, of deprecated elements. A link is given to a table that lists all of the deprecated elements - this seems like it could be handy to keep as a bookmark.

Week 1 Article 3

2008-01-27T18:15:00.001-08:00

Name of Article: "Using XHTML"
Author: Allen Leigh
Date: 1998,2007
Source: link from CIS44 class delicious site
Address: http://www.shire.net/learnwebdesign/nocss/html.htm

This site has some very helpful, starter information on XHTML, such as basic elements. I found it interesting that this site says not to use the bold element but to use strong instead. Likewise it says not to use the i for italics, but to use the emphasis command instead. I also don't understand the hex code for colors, but I'm sure I'll learn about that in class! I may print a copy of the elements listed on this site for reference, since they are listed in an easy-to-read fashion.

Week 1 Article 2

2008-01-27T17:59:00.000-08:00

Name of Article: 1st Site Free
Author: Bill Green
Date: Update January 2008
Source: found through link on CISS44 class delicious site
Address: http://www.1stsitefree.com/index.htm

This site is a nicely ordered explanation of the steps needed to create a web page, although I don't really think the steps have to be taken in the order given. For example, a brief teaching on XHTML language is given in step 3 or 4, under a section on coding your web page. Factors to consider when designing your web page, such as the target audience, how often you plan to maintain it, etc. is discussed under the first step. I plan on learning how to code web pages before thinking about setting up a design for my first web page. If I use this site to help me with this course, it will be when we discuss design strategies rather than when we are learning how to use XHTML, CSS and Javascript.

Week 1 Article 1

2008-01-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

Name of Article: "How Blogs Work"
Author: Marshall Brain
Date: 1/23/08
Source?: How Stuff Works
Address: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/blog.htm

Not having any familiarity with blogs, the explanation at Blogger.com just wasn't enough. This site, which was one of the top listed on a Google search for "about blogs," explains the background and popular use of blogs. It's broken into 5 sections: an Introduction to blogs, Blog basics, the Blogosphere and Creating your own blog, and two pages of links, only the first of which has to do with understanding blogs. I found this site helpful so I feel more comfortable working with a blog; blogs really are pretty simple!