Excellence as a part of ethics

The word "ethical" means "morally good or correct" according to Google. Most of the time it seems that this word is only used in reference to the protection of the rights of others; i.e., discrimination by race in employee hiring is a typical "ethical" issue. While this is certainly a question of good ethics, I am of the opinion that one of the most forgotten ethical issues is that of self improvement. Companies pay us good money to create the software products that bring them life. Users count on us to build software that works how they expect it to. Isn't it morally right for us to do our part in bettering our programming skills and abilities so as to better serve our companies and our customers? If it is, then why don't we consider it unethical to not make the time and effort to improve our programming skills? I believe that we, as individuals, can begin to change this by beginning to improve our programming skills on a regular basis.

Position VLog on the Ferguson case: how social media could put the power of our justice system at risk

Ever since the Ferguson protests have started, I have been intrigued by the role that social media has played in escalating the situation. It appears that everyone and their dog who sees an opinionated statement on a social media site about the Ferguson situation automatically believes themselves to be experts. I don't claim to be an expert or to know anything about what really did or didn't happen, but I do feel that people need to be aware of the powerful influence that social media can have on political situations. This video was created to express some of my thoughts and feelings on the subject. I only had 1 minute to do it in, so if the logic that I follow is unclear, please comment below with questions and I will get back to you.

Teaching how to balance technology in life through example

Technology has begun to make up a very significant part of our lives. Since most of the technology that we have is relatively new, humanity is still struggling to learn exactly how it fits into every day life. I think that in all the excitement of our newly-created inventions we have allowed technology too much leeway into our lives. So now the question is, what can we do to turn it around? There is no simple answer to this question. However, I believe that the best influence against the overbearing onslaught of technology is the example of a parent to his or her children. What if we - as the future parents of the next generation of Americans - were to master ourselves in such a way that technology became a tool, instead of a driving life force? How would this change the way our children viewed technology from day one? Even though it would be hard for us to change our current ways, it would an investment through which future generations would be taught how to properly control technology.


https://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/02/keeping-safe-and-balanced-in-a-google-youtube-twitter-facebook-ieverything-world?lang=eng

Should police forces be involved in internet?

I recently read an article depicting a sad scene: a junior high girl from Heber City, Utah, used Instagram posts to tell other students that they should commit suicide. While I do agree that this is horrible, I must admit that I was a little surprised to read that the police responded to the incident. The role of police in our society is that of protecting the peace and constitutional rights of the districts over which they preside; it is not to step into the middle of internet bullying fights between teenagers in middle school. I personally believe that getting the police involved is like using a bulldozer to move a molehill - it's overkill. So this begs the question: if not the police, then who is responsible for "policing" such events as these? Should there be some kind of an agency established whose purpose is to ensure that the internet a safe and happy place for all those who use it?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865616133/Police-investigate-cyber-bully-targeting-Heber-students-on-Instagram.html

Book Post #2: Self-investment and becoming the a top-quality job candidate

Recently, I had the opportunity to read a book called My Job Went To India, And All I Got Was This Lousy Book written by Chad Fowler. While Fowler made many wonderful suggestions, I think the clearest overarching message that he conveyed was that of protecting investments. In the business world, when a company puts ridiculous amounts of money into a new and important project, they don't do it for kicks and giggles. They do it because they expect their investment of time and talent into the project to eventually reap long lasting benefits not only now, but in the company's future. In order to make this work, they have to protect their investment - meaning, they have to put in additional effort in order to assure that their past investment will continue to serve the company in the future.

The same is true for those of us who aspire to be computer geeks and programmers. We have chosen to invest in the field of computer technology, and this is not an investment that we made lightly. First off, we have invested a considerable amount of time and money into obtaining a bachelor's degree. But just obtaining a degree is not enough - our degree, in essence, is not self protecting. Just having a degree does not automatically guarantee that we will always have a job. Instead, we have to protect the investment that we made in obtaining our bachelor's degree.

So how, one may ask, does a computer scientist protect his degree? One of the most prominent solutions that Fowler offers is that of not getting complacent. If one is complacent, they will never see the need to improve past their original CS degree. However, if one stays humble, they will soon realize that there are many ways in which they can make themselves better. They could deepen their knowledge of a coding language by exploring it's intricacies, or relearn the basic rules of English grammar so as to communicate better with their co-employees at work. Whatever it is a programmer chooses to do, it should be the thing that will most help them to protect the investment they made into their CS degree.

"Cathedrals" using "Bazaar" tactics?

As I read The Cathedral and the Bazaar by Eric Raymond, I couldn't help but wonder to myself: if the bazaar method really is so successful, why it is that large software companies still dominate the markets? It's mostly true that most people who don't either work or play in a technical field use the products of big companies. The truth is, I believe big companies are successful because they are able to put into practice the same principles that have helped open source to be so effective. Since they have large numbers of employees, they are able to generate lots of good ideas quickly. They maintain and build upon the same code base with each release, and with each release their code base is further refined, just like open source code bases are refined over time. They are able to provide effective code revision, since so many eyes see and use the same code. In this way, I can see exactly how big companies are able to stay successful by using the same principles that have given life to open source.

Effects of alienation of women from computer science

I think there is great harm with the idea in our society that computers are a man's stomping grounds. For the point of my argument, it doesn't matter why women feel alienated from computer science, it just matters that they do. A computer is a tool, and tools should not be gender-specific. Take a hammer, for example. If a society were to think that only one gender could use a hammer and think down on the other gender using it, it is then stunting the building and creative capabilities that could come from the minds of half of it's population. It is the same with computers. By continuing to allow our culture to alienate women from computers and technology, we are cutting off the bright minds of the women in our society from using computers to create, build, enlighten, expand, and otherwise make our world a better place. Why on earth would we want to do that? What can we do to unalienate women from computers in a way that they will respond positively to?