Phone Interviews

I recently completed a phone interview for a company I am interested in interning at for next summer, and after the phone call I couldn't help but wonder what the purpose a phone interview served.  Yes it is an easy way to get information about a potential employee, and the employer doesn't need to receive the candidate at the door of the company.  However I believe phone interviews fail to provide a fraction of the feedback an employer would get through an in person interview.

On the phone, the two participants in the interview do not get to see each other, or shake hands, or any kind of body language or facial expressions.  Some humor is lost, and light jokes cracked over the phone go over awkwardly and without much feedback.  Jokes like this usually lead to a silence with the interviewer trying to ask another question, not fun.  By receiving physical feedback via body language and facial expressions etc. the interviewee can better gauge how they are doing and adapt to meet the interviewer's feedback.  The interviewer can also better gauge who would fit in their company better or who they would rather take on board.

This got me thinking, what other aspects of life do we miss out on by choosing to conduct our social interaction via devices and various mediums of technology.  Conversations between loved ones and significant others can be conducted via text messages or social media messaging.  Technology is not completely new to the social interaction scene however.  Telephones have been around for a long time and have served couples well.  This does not only apply to significant others chatting with each other though, friend groups and even in the work place can be affected as well.  Friends will sometimes not hang out as much in favor of communication online or through a video game.  Getting together to hang out seems less appealing than sitting comfortably in your home watching Netflix or something.  Even collaborating for work, whether it be school or in a company, can get tricky with the presence of technology.  Group members might not want to meet up to work on a project, and instead simply message each other whenever they run into a problem, electing to work alone.

A phone call to get to know an interview candidate isn't always a bad thing, it can be used to gauge initial interest in an individual and learn their skill set.  However, in person interviews should always be conducted, they are easier for both parties.  As for communication between significant others, friends, coworkers or fellow students, technology does help with getting in touch, but it could also take away from the value of meeting one another in person.

The Generation of "Likes" and "Followers"

After reading various articles and posts about the Instagram model named Essena O’Neil who “quit” social media, and performing the tech-journal exercise it has caused me to do a lot of thinking about the affects social media has on society today. I also came to the conclusion that although it may seem as if someone has it all or is living an exciting life on social media platforms such as Instagram, it could be the furthest thing from the truth.

            Essena O’Neil is 18 years old and was an Instagram model until she recently decided to get rid of all of her social media accounts because they do not depict “real life” O’Neil would make around $1400 per post and had over 600,000 followers. O’Neil said she deleted her accounts, for that everything she posted was edited in order to gain more likes and followers. If one was just looking at O’Neil’s posts they would think how beautiful she was and how she has the perfect body, but in reality her photos were altered and edited, and she was not truly happy. Since quitting social medial, O’Neil has deleted her accounts she has started her own website called letsbegamechangers.com, which has the main goal to promote conscious living and to generate conversation about social issues.

            After reading about Essena O’Neil, another story came to mind. Two years ago a college freshman, at the University of Pennsylvania, by the name of Madison Holleran committed suicide. Holleran had been suffering from anxiety and depression since coming to college, and sought help but she tragically took her own life after returning from winter break her freshmen year. Those who knew her and even outsiders said she always looked happy and especially how her social media pages portrayed her as being happy and looked like she was really enjoying herself at college, but it was the furthest thing from the truth. This heartbreaking story is another example of how misleading social media can be. Although it may have seemed she was enjoying the life of a college freshmen, she was actually struggling and very unhappy. This story is another example of how misleading social media can truly be, and that just because someone is portraying as if everything is okay, it can be the furthest thing from the truth. And we as society need to stop using social media to validate whether or not someone is happy.  

            This past week we had to keep a log of all of the times we used technology in a day for our class. After completing this assignment, I was appalled how much I used technology, but more specifically how much of the time I spend on social media sites, such as Instagram and Facebook. I analyzed how constantly looking at my friends’ pages made me feel, and most of the time it would not make me feel good. Numerous thoughts crossed my mind such as, I wish I could be doing that, why can’t I be having that much fun, or why don’t I look like her. I realized that I need to limit my use of social media because it is doing more harm than good. I also came to the conclusion, especially after reading the stories about the two young women, that everything is not what it seems, and that it is very easy to hide things over social media. It is important that this generation stops worrying about getting the most likes or more followers, and rather to just live in the moment and to not worry about what others are doing and try to compare to them.  

"Swatting" and the Underworld of Twitch

            “Swatting” is becoming a dangerous problem in the streaming community. The term “swatting” is where malicious users, through use of an IP address of a target, can call a SWAT team to infiltrate the target mid-stream. Although “swatting” didn’t start on Twitch (many celebrities in the past such as Ashton Kutcher, Justin Timberlake, and Rihanna), the phenomenon is definitely more prevalent on the site due to increased Internet speeds and user accessibility.

            The attacks usually originate from “internet trolls” or malicious users on Twitch. The process of obtaining IP, usually through the user’s Skype account, has been made even easier with the use of “Skype resolvers” where anyone can input a Skype username and find their IP address. The attacks usually start with a DDoS attack, or “Distributed Denial of Service.” This attack is one of the easiest to accomplish and only requires the IP address of the target and a moderate level of technical ability. Once the attacker finds the desired IP address, they then swamp the target’s network with traffic, effectively shutting down the network.

            One example involved a woman named Janet and her attacker under the fitting alias “Obnoxious.” Jane spent much of her time on Twitch, and as a female she was subject to more hostility than men. Obnoxious, like many other attackers, was a depressed kid with a troubled past who wanted to just cause trouble for no reason. He started out with simply messaging women, looking for a friend. If they didn’t respond he would escalate his attacks, from ordering unappetizing pizzas to targets’ homes to sending massive “text bombs” to eventually threatening to dispatch a SWAT team to either their or their parents’ homes. Here is a sample of what Obnoxious would message targets:

            Obnoxious threatened to post her “dox” publicly, which allows anyone visiting sites like doxbin to find and sell people’s dox documents. A “dox” is a document of your private information posted online for anyone to see and exploit. Doxing makes you vulnerable to all sorts of mischief, from phone harassment to even credit-­card fraud. Obnoxious was able to obtain this sort of information for dozens of women. He mainly did it by ­calling Internet companies and tricking customer-­service representatives over the phone. He would use one small piece of public information, like a birthday or a favorite pet, to get yet another from one company, and then he would use the new piece to get more information from a different company.

Some of his victims took long breaks from doing what they love due to fear of further harassment. ‘‘I just wanted to be alone,’’ says Alexa Walk, who was swatted by Obnoxious at her apartment in North Carolina. ‘‘I didn’t want people to see me upset.’’  Obnoxious, like many other attackers, used different aliases at the same time to flood chats with threats of DDoS attacks and dumping dox files publicly.

As the Internet grows and video game streaming and esports become even more prevalent, so does the risk of “swatting.” Even though no one can truly be “safe” from malicious users like Obnoxious, it’s important to know the danger of what these attackers can do. Eventually the Canadian police arrested the suspect, charging him with 46 counts, including criminal harassment, public mischief and extortion. With the help of the police and strong willed users, perhaps one day the Internet will be free of these malicious attackers once and for all.  

Hour of Code: Minecraft

Hour of Code is a project designed to get different people interested in programming and computer science, regardless of age, gender, nationality, or technical expertise. It serves as a short introduction into the world of code, by allowing each individual to do as much coding as they can learn in an hour with guided expertise. The Hour of Code is extremely encouraging as it does not discourage people from writing either more simple or few lines of code, nor does it discourage them from really getting involved with the code. It is an event for anyone. Although not extremely complicated, when the Hour of Code sparks an interest in an individual, it has served its purpose.

The article “Microsoft Retools Minecraft to Teach Kids to Code” from Tech News World, discusses Microsoft’s recent announcement of participating in the Hour of Code project using Minecraft. Using Minecraft as a medium in Hour of Code mostly targets younger kids. This can be good because many kids have played Minecraft, and even if they haven’t they have probably seen it or heard of it. If a child has played Minecraft, they will be even more excited about the Hour of Code project. It has to do with something familiar that they enjoy. I believe that video games can be an important tool in interesting young students in programming.

First, many children already have an interest in video games; showing them something new they can do within or with them. In the video within the article, the creator of Minecraft mentioned that he himself sparked an interest in programming from video games.

Second, many games, especially Minecraft provide modding opportunities to those especially interested in programming. Modding for Minecraft is incredibly easy with the amount of free tutorials online, and communities willing to help you learn how to create your own mod. Many kids start off programming in just this way. They see something they like, and they want to make it better or more customized. An Hour of Code may not be as in-depth as modding is, but for those who never thought that they could do something like program, or for those who are a little uncertain that they can do something, this may be the perfect push into the world of code.

Certain games can encourage coding skills within them as well. For example, Minecraft has red-stone circuits, which allow one to built their own logic circuits. There are other games where the player can actually code certain actions as well, through a system similar to the one used by Hour of Code. More games could encourage learning of code through play like this.

Technology and computers are such a big part of today’s world that it is useful to know at least a little bit of programming. It is important to encourage younger children to learn how to code. Although not everyone will be a young talent or a future computer scientist, the basic skills of logic and programming are helpful to know. Games are a good medium to talk through to kids. More games should get involved like Minecraft and encourage children to code a little on their own.

References:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Microsoft-Retools-Minecraft-to-Teach-Kids-to-Code-82767.html

Who decides what privacy is?

More than a year ago, in a decision that shocked many American Internet companies, Europe’s court ruled that search engines were required to comply with an unusual right: the “right to be forgotten.” The court found that certain users have the right to ask search engines like Google to remove results for queries that include the person's name. To qualify, the results shown would need to be inadequate, irrelevant, no longer relevant, or excessive. Google has adhered the ruling, a surprise decision that stirred debates about the balance between privacy and free speech, while fighting it in the courts. 

In its updated report last Wednesday, Google said it has evaluated more than 1.2 million Web pages on case-by-case basis and removed 42% of them from its search results. It also included a list of the 10 domains most affected by link removals, most of them being social networking sites. 

The disclosure highlighted an ironic aspect of the ruling: that search engines are the intermediaries of the removal requests. In other words, it is up to Google to evaluate the ethics of a request and decide on a course of action. Although Google didn’t explicitly explain why it removes some links and keeps others, it did provide clues as to what it takes into account when making the decision. Whether someone is a public or private figure, whether it considers a crime to be minor, and whether incidents in question took place during a person’s private or professional life. For example, in one case, Google denied a prominent businessman’s request to remove articles about his lawsuit against a newspaper. In another case, it removed a link about what it called a teacher’s minor conviction years ago.

In its report, Google proudly stated that it considers the rights of the individual as well as public interest in the content. Even though the government forced search engines like Google to comply with the law, it is the company’s view of right and wrong that ultimately controls the law. With this in mind, I think this is an acceptable compromise between regulators and private entities. Private companies can now add to their list of proprietary services with purely synthetic but equally as proprietary ideals. I don’t think that most people who chalk the decision up as a win for privacy advocates realize that they don’t have as much power as they think. Of course, Google’s compliance is a blow to free speech but now there’s a strange limbo where someone can get away with things on one domain but not on another. Is it really privacy when different entities can change the meaning of the word? 

Assuming for a moment that all search engines adhered to the same principles of privacy, the law still doesn’t take into account domains registered in other countries but still accessible in the EU. The Internet can never truly forget and any ideas of an identity eraser should be left in the spy movies they come from. Unfortunately, many people don’t get a second chance because of this grim truth. If anything, instead of trying to eliminate the exposure, people should spend more time trying to limit it. Being more conscious of your actions on the internet can greatly reduce the risk of “being remembered” in the real world.

The Future of Genetic Engineering

With the development of “selfish” genes by the University of California, Irvine, genetic engineering has become significantly more ethically complex. “Selfish” genes propagate through generations, meaning that any change made in an ancestor will show also in the descendents. This is different from conventional genetic engineering, where the genetic changes in an individual would only continue based on normal genetic distribution. This advancement presents several new ethical issues, not only in the genetic engineering of wildlife, but also with that of human genetic engineering.

The most immediate issue with the inclusion of “selfish” genetic engineering in wildlife is the potential problem of maintaining the propagation of accidental or unintended changes to a species’ genome. For example, the inclusion of anti-malaria genes into the mosquito population in Africa is one of the most prospective possible applications. This change to the mosquitos’ genome would potentially save millions of lives, and eradicate the risk of mosquito spread malaria forever. However, consider the possibility that this change also accidentally causes an increase in the spread of yellow-fever. How would this then be rectified? Ethan Bier, a fly biologist at the University of California, San Diego, proposes that for each “gene-drive”, a functionally opposite drive must be developed. This way, in the event of a malfunctioning gene drive, the reversal can be spread just as quickly.

Another potential issue with the technology is the possibility of environmental attacks by terrorist groups or nations. A sufficiently thought out gene-drive could wipe out entire biomes. For example, a change in vegetation that causes complication up the food chain, or one that eradicates a major food crop. While currently development of such a gene-drive may be impossible, or cost millions of dollars, presumably the development cost will decrease significantly as the technology develops, putting it in range of large terrorist groups or rogue states. And how would these attacks be considered in wars between nations? Would it be classified as a biological attack, or its own genre? Would international law have to change to reflect this?

The possible implications in human genetic engineering must also be considered. While a gene-drive that eliminates major human diseases such as cancer or diabetes sounds extremely promising, it is important to understand that not all people may want to incorporate these changes into their genome. An “unselfish” genetic change would allow an unmodified parent and a modified parent to avoid the modifications in their offspring. However, a “selfish” genetic change would mean that the genetic changes would continue in their children. As a result, humanity would need to split into two distinct groups: those who are free of genetic changes, and those who are not. The only possibility to merge the two groups would be to use genetic engineering to undue those very changes.

While gene-drives represent a monumental advancement in genetic engineering, the ethical dilemmas that arise are just as significant. With great power comes great responsibility.

Stop Making Me Scroll!

When making a website, developers must keep in mind the sheer variety of options and configurations that users will view the site through. Users may be on a computer, phone, tablet, game console, or something else not listed. From there, display space varies, with newer phones and tablets showing more on screen than older versions, dedicated computer users having bigger, better monitors for a larger workspace, and console users coping with a wider distance between user and screen. Even then, web browsers will differ, with users of different devices opting to use their preferred browser (or not being given a choice). As a result, websites must be able to cope with all these variations, lest a poor design drive away users and, potentially, customers.

To do this, I have noticed several tricks observed though my many hours of navigating the internet in effort to stave off ennui. First is to use many resizable pictures, they can always be repositioned on screen size and will appear to annoy users of all devices. Second is to never put any useful information where visitors can easily find it. You will want to put many vague sentences in-between the giant pictures mentioned previously. Third, space out all the text as far as it can go, you will want both the line spacing and kerning to be wider than an obese whale. Fourth, make it so that this one design is standard to all devices. This way, you can save effort overall. Fifth, make liberal use of hover over animations and large loading icons in general. Sixth, put everything on one page, with any menu clicks being used to automatically scroll the page down to the relevant section. As a bonus, make it so I have to make an account and log in to view anything that is not a box telling me to log in or make an account, even if I’m trying to find out what your service is.

In case you have yet to notice from my tone of writing so far, web developers, please stop doing this. I should not have to resort to a combination of Google and Wikipedia to find things from your site that I need. Annoying your users more than that burst pipe last week will not endear me to your services. Designing everything this way does not help, even on mobile, which it was undoubtedly made for in the first place. Large photos with spaced out text looks good a first glance, sure, but it quickly becomes obnoxious to read and follow. Scrolling to find anything works okay on mobile, until I accidently swipe and watch as I lose my place. On desktop all this scrolling achieves is wearing out my mouse wheel. If you went for the extra credit and decided to force accounts, it’s even worse, as I need an account to find out about your site, but won’t make an account until I know what it does (really, I could be signing up for cat facts, for all I know). I get that this happens to be the current trend in web design, and that it works well across devices, but at the very least, stop making me constantly scroll.