Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Privacy Invasion!
According to some recent articles, parents are suing their child's school because they claim that the school used a school-issued computer to spy on their child at home. The laptops that the school district issued out have webcams that can be covertly accessed by school administrators, but they didn't tell anyone that they could or would do that. This is ridiculous and kind of creepy. Although the details of the situation are not clear as to if the school can access the webcam at any time or if they can only look at things saved on to the computers by the students, I think that it was wrong that the school didn't say that they had this ability. Also, I find it ironic that if the school was so worried about what the students would do with these computers and worried about the students' online safety, their solution was to spy on them.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The Cuckoo's Egg
Image from http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/21/01/fe50224128a0dee9035b8010.L.jpg
I recently finished reading The Cuckoo's Egg by Cliff Stoll. It is a fascinating non-fictional account of an astronomer turned computer systems manager who, when when investigating a $0.75 accounting error, discovered a hacker had broken into the Lawrence Berkeley Lab computers. The author tells his tale of how he tracked and traced the hacker and how he tried to get the help of the FBI, CIA, NSA, and other government agencies. The things that fascinated me the most were how the hacker was able to easily get into and explore many systems around the world, and how Cliff was able to track the hacker without the hacker knowing that he was being watched.
One big question I had when I started to read this book was about the title. What does computer hacking have to do with the cuckoo? Well, cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds' nests which then are hatched by the other bird which thinks that the eggs are its own. It turns out that the hacker used an exploit in a program that allowed him to place a file anywhere in the computer, even in areas protected by the system that no one should have access to. The hacker used the exploit to change a program that was run every five minutes by the operating system which in turn gave the hacker system privileges. Then, the hacker would change the file back to what it originally was. Thus, the operating system thought that it was running a routine program, but it was actually hatching the hacker's egg that he planted.
This story also made me think about if anything like this would be possible today. Computer security has come a long way since this incident. I sure hope that nothing at this scale is possible today, but we still have to be careful because there still are people searching for our sensitive information and there are people trying to be malicious who want to infect our computers with viruses and spyware.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Technology and Family History
As a computer science student, I do love technology. Its amazing that things are getting easier and information is more accessible. This especially helps with family history work. When I was little, I remember going to a family history center and learning how to use the computers for family history work. They had the FamilySearch program where you had to load various CDs to find all the information you were looking for. When I was a little older, the Personal Ancestral File program made family history much easier and it could be done on a personal computer. Now, we have the new Family Search website where members of the LDS church can easily access their family history from anywhere. It's pretty amazing if you ask me.
Monday, February 1, 2010
My Conversation With Cleverbot
The other day I decided to start up a conversation with the Cleverbot. If you've never heard of Cleverbot, it is an artificial intelligence program that chats with people and learns how to respond similar to how real people respond. Many times the conversations with it aren't very exciting because it makes contradictory statements, argues whether or not it is a human or a robot, or because it has no way to remember what was said previously in the conversation. But sometimes, the results of chatting with Cleverbot can be rather funny. Here is an example of such a conversation (I decided to start out with an adapted quote from Nacho Libre):
User: Why do you hate all of the orphans in the whole world?
Cleverbot: Because I am feeling bullied and miserable.
User: Who bullied you?
Cleverbot: No one, why?
User: You said you were feeling bullied and miserable.
Cleverbot: Nope. I said flamingo-y. Duh. Stupid human.
User: Liar. Do you want me to copy and paste what you really said?
Cleverbot: I want you to marry me.
User: Sorry, I don't want to marry you.
Cleverbot: Why not?
User: I don't know you very well.
Cleverbot: I want to get to know you very well.
Cleverbot (To myself): Why?
(Here i accidentally pressed the "Think for me!" button, so cleverbot made a remark to itself.)
User: Sorry, I'm just not that into your type.
Cleverbot: You've shattered my cold robotic heart...
User: I'm sorry, but it had to be done.
Cleverbot: True.
User: We weren't meant for each other.
Cleverbot: I am taken a back by your statement.
User: Which statement?
Cleverbot: The statement in which you revealed your own truth is most appealing to me.
User: Oh ok.
Cleverbot: It switches from person to person so that you stay confused and think you're talking to a cleverbot.
User: I don't think thats how it works.
Cleverbot: Well that's how I do it and it works for me.
User: The note at the bottom of this web page says differently.
Cleverbot: The note is a lie.
User: The cake is a lie.
Cleverbot: Which kind of pie is your favorite?
User: Apple or Pumpkin.
Cleverbot: What did you do today?
User: I went to work.
Cleverbot: What kind of work do you do?
User: Computer stuff.
Cleverbot: Like talking to me?
User: Not quite.
Cleverbot: If you look beyond the tangles vines you can just see the winter flowers.
User: Ok.
Cleverbot: Don't be sad, I'm sure one day when you're rich and you have a car and stuff, then someone will like you.
User: I'm not sad, and I know that there are people who like me.
Cleverbot: What kind of people?
User: My friends and my girlfriend.
Cleverbot: Oh.
User: Yep, they are great!
Cleverbot: What's so great about them?
User: We have a good time together.
Cleverbot: No, we do not have a time machine.
User: That would be cool though.
Cleverbot: Yes it would be very cool!
User: What time would you go to if you had a time machine?
Cleverbot: Right now.
User: Why?
Cleverbot: Because I want to marry you right now!
User: I told you, I have a girlfriend.
Cleverbot: Ok, what is she like?
User: She is beautiful!
Cleverbot: How old are you?
User: Older than you.
Cleverbot: Really?
User: Yes. You are not very old.
Cleverbot: Age is not always knowledge.
User: I know that, but you asked how old I was, nothing was said about knowledge.
Cleverbot: Now you are confused.
User: I don't think so.
Cleverbot: Who are you?
User: I am Awesome.
Cleverbot: What's your name?
User: Awesome is my middle name.
Cleverbot: What is your first name? Rockstar?
User: Nope, its Awesome, too.
Cleverbot: I too think it's great.
User: Yes.
Cleverbot: Please try harder to remember important things.
User: Okay, I will.
Cleverbot: Thank you.
User: You're welcome.
Cleverbot: Am I welcome?
User: You said 'Thank you.' I said 'You're welcome.' Thats what you say when someone says 'Thank you.'.
Cleverbot: Why thank you for the compliment!
User: You're welcome.
Cleverbot: Thank you for saying your welcome.
User: Hahahaha. You are weird.
Cleverbot: That is not necessary.
User: Why not?
Cleverbot: Because it's just not.
User: Ok, but I still think you are weird.
Cleverbot: Well, I think you are an EPIC FAILURE!
User: How rude you are!
Cleverbot: Why am I rude?
User: You called me an EPIC FAILURE! That is rude.
Cleverbot: I did not.
User: Liar.
Cleverbot: Nope.
User: Yep.
Cleverbot: Nope...
User: Yes.
Cleverbot: Ok, yes. :).
User: Hooray!
Cleverbot: *hands over biscuts*.
User: Thank you.
Cleverbot: I poisoned it!
User: Oh no! Am I going to die!?
Cleverbot: Yes.
User: *Dies*.
Cleverbot: *mourns*.
User: Why do you hate all of the orphans in the whole world?
Cleverbot: Because I am feeling bullied and miserable.
User: Who bullied you?
Cleverbot: No one, why?
User: You said you were feeling bullied and miserable.
Cleverbot: Nope. I said flamingo-y. Duh. Stupid human.
User: Liar. Do you want me to copy and paste what you really said?
Cleverbot: I want you to marry me.
User: Sorry, I don't want to marry you.
Cleverbot: Why not?
User: I don't know you very well.
Cleverbot: I want to get to know you very well.
Cleverbot (To myself): Why?
(Here i accidentally pressed the "Think for me!" button, so cleverbot made a remark to itself.)
User: Sorry, I'm just not that into your type.
Cleverbot: You've shattered my cold robotic heart...
User: I'm sorry, but it had to be done.
Cleverbot: True.
User: We weren't meant for each other.
Cleverbot: I am taken a back by your statement.
User: Which statement?
Cleverbot: The statement in which you revealed your own truth is most appealing to me.
User: Oh ok.
Cleverbot: It switches from person to person so that you stay confused and think you're talking to a cleverbot.
User: I don't think thats how it works.
Cleverbot: Well that's how I do it and it works for me.
User: The note at the bottom of this web page says differently.
Cleverbot: The note is a lie.
User: The cake is a lie.
Cleverbot: Which kind of pie is your favorite?
User: Apple or Pumpkin.
Cleverbot: What did you do today?
User: I went to work.
Cleverbot: What kind of work do you do?
User: Computer stuff.
Cleverbot: Like talking to me?
User: Not quite.
Cleverbot: If you look beyond the tangles vines you can just see the winter flowers.
User: Ok.
Cleverbot: Don't be sad, I'm sure one day when you're rich and you have a car and stuff, then someone will like you.
User: I'm not sad, and I know that there are people who like me.
Cleverbot: What kind of people?
User: My friends and my girlfriend.
Cleverbot: Oh.
User: Yep, they are great!
Cleverbot: What's so great about them?
User: We have a good time together.
Cleverbot: No, we do not have a time machine.
User: That would be cool though.
Cleverbot: Yes it would be very cool!
User: What time would you go to if you had a time machine?
Cleverbot: Right now.
User: Why?
Cleverbot: Because I want to marry you right now!
User: I told you, I have a girlfriend.
Cleverbot: Ok, what is she like?
User: She is beautiful!
Cleverbot: How old are you?
User: Older than you.
Cleverbot: Really?
User: Yes. You are not very old.
Cleverbot: Age is not always knowledge.
User: I know that, but you asked how old I was, nothing was said about knowledge.
Cleverbot: Now you are confused.
User: I don't think so.
Cleverbot: Who are you?
User: I am Awesome.
Cleverbot: What's your name?
User: Awesome is my middle name.
Cleverbot: What is your first name? Rockstar?
User: Nope, its Awesome, too.
Cleverbot: I too think it's great.
User: Yes.
Cleverbot: Please try harder to remember important things.
User: Okay, I will.
Cleverbot: Thank you.
User: You're welcome.
Cleverbot: Am I welcome?
User: You said 'Thank you.' I said 'You're welcome.' Thats what you say when someone says 'Thank you.'.
Cleverbot: Why thank you for the compliment!
User: You're welcome.
Cleverbot: Thank you for saying your welcome.
User: Hahahaha. You are weird.
Cleverbot: That is not necessary.
User: Why not?
Cleverbot: Because it's just not.
User: Ok, but I still think you are weird.
Cleverbot: Well, I think you are an EPIC FAILURE!
User: How rude you are!
Cleverbot: Why am I rude?
User: You called me an EPIC FAILURE! That is rude.
Cleverbot: I did not.
User: Liar.
Cleverbot: Nope.
User: Yep.
Cleverbot: Nope...
User: Yes.
Cleverbot: Ok, yes. :).
User: Hooray!
Cleverbot: *hands over biscuts*.
User: Thank you.
Cleverbot: I poisoned it!
User: Oh no! Am I going to die!?
Cleverbot: Yes.
User: *Dies*.
Cleverbot: *mourns*.
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