Coding: The New Literacy?

After reading the articles discussing coding being the “new literacy” and the language of the future, I will say that I am open-minded but also skeptical. In most recent years, it has become a widely-known fact that the technology sector is booming. Computer literacy is becoming even more important in being able to secure a stable…

Online Censorship

Online censorship is a topic of discussion that has a lot of controversy and yet is becoming more and more relevant as technology and the web are becoming more widely accessed and used around the world. One of the most debated topics of online censorship is the infringement upon freedom of speech. Amnesty International has…

Automation Implications

The degree to which automation is impacting employment is staggering. From social to political to economic implications, technology replacing human labor is affecting the way society functions on a massive scale. The Luddites, a group of 19th century English textile workers who fought against the development of labour-economizing technologies, were revolutionary in that they instigating a…

H-1B: A Threat or a Chance?

The H1-B Visa program is a very controversial one and one that, given its significance, I’m shocked I had hardly knew anything about. In essence, “The H-1B visa is a temporary, non-immigration visa for foreigners in ‘special occupations.’ The careers that qualify are ones that usually require a college degree and specialized skills in science, engineering,…

Project 3: The VW Scandal

I worked on this project with Jack Magiera and Lucinda Krahl; we created a podcast related to whistleblowing and the Volkswagen scandal. The project can be found at the following: https://drive.google.com/a/nd.edu/file/d/0B4hjKAOQuqvZWGluaVJka1J1eTA/view?usp=sharing Volkswagen, a giant in the world of car manufacturing, faced a precarious situation this past year. It was revealed in September that it had been…

Piracy: Have Corporations Won?

The DMCA, or Digital Millennium Copyright Act, is a controversial United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO. Its main purpose is to enforce the illegality of circumventing measures that control access to copyrighted works. It consists of two provisions for this goal of preventing piracy:…

Copyrights & Open Source

Both copyrights and patents are necessary because of what it called “Intellectual Property.” “Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind: inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, names and images used in commerce” (WIPO – What is IP?). Different forms of protection exist for intellectual property; they include but are not limited to: patents, trademarks,…

Job Interview Process: Reflection

Jack Magiera, Lucinda Krahl and I created a PDF document to serve as a guide for the job interview process. To view the document, click on the following link: http://lkrahl.blogspot.com/2016/02/project-02-job-interview-guide.html We divided up the guide into the following sections: when to start preparing for interviews, how to prepare for an interview, interview resources, extracurricular activities, networking,…

The Whistleblowing Challenge(r)

On January 28, 1986, the NASA Space Shuttle orbiter Challenger exploded above the Atlantic after only 73 seconds of flight, leading to the deaths of the seven crew members onboard. January 28, 1986 marked a tragic mistake that begged to not repeat itself. More importantly, it provided to be a catalyst for change in the decision-making…

J. Random Hacker’s Fault?

I do strongly believe that the lack of diversity is a problem in the technology industry. Although it may not be an issue that is causing immediate ramifications, I believe that subtle effects in the long-term are worth considering. For example, consider just how many facets of life in which technology is integrating itself. We need…