Last week of CSC104 course

Privacy & networked computers
I have mentioned last week, our personal information can be seen by others through internet via computers. Nowadays, we post our personal information and pictures on Facebook and Twitter. Although our purpose is to share the happy moments with our friends, it is not a safe way to protect our selves. The privacy issues related to networked computers cause several problems to us.

One of the examples is from my friend. My friend cannot log in her MSN account since she found that  it was stolen by someone. Then she received her mother's phone call that someone just asks her mom transfer a big amount of money to an unfamiliar account for tuition fees (she is international student). This is an important lesson for me. Hackers steel MSN account for financial purpose. In addition, it is important for us to set a complex password and several security questions.

The other example is the safety of credit card. We sometimes use online bank transfer to purchase goods via computers. However, is this a good way to protect our privacy? It is hard for me to believe that online purchase is a safe way though it is convenient way. Once we use online transfer to purchase, do not click on the jump windows and not write any personal information on the electronic paper provided.

All in all, privacy protection becomes more and more important to us. In order to avoid leak personal information and create a safe environment of internet. As individual, knowing some ways of internet protection is important(like what I mentioned above). Government should focus on the laws of internet protection. It is illegal to steal people's information. For companies,  they responsibilities to protect their users' privacy and their own privacy.

CSC104 week 11~~~

During the last half of the lecture, we talked about the privacy problem caused by computers. It is also a question for me. I do not know who operate my own computer. Microsoft? Apple? The government? I have no idea. My my personal information has already been known bu someone. The professor uses the example  "prism program" by US . We may leak our personal information by various ways. For instance, credit card, buyer loyalty plans, surveys and computer use. However, there are some ways to help us to protect information to a great extend. We protect personal information by setting password and pins, know something about contacts, update security software, OSs or encrypt for something extremely important. It is indeed teach me a lot and help me to protect myself.

During the rest half part of the class, we discussed about flatten and depth function.Flatten:; flatten : list -> list

(define (flatten L)
(cond
[(cons? L) (apply append (map flatten L))]
[else (list L)]))
; predict what (flatten 3) does
; predict what (flatten (list 3)) does
; predict what (flatten (list 1 2 (list 3))) does Depth: ; depth : list -> number
(define (depth L)
(cond
[(cons? L) (+ 1 (apply max (map depth L)))]
[else 0]))
; predict what (depth 3) does
; predict what (depth (list 3 4)) does
; predict what (depth (list 3 4 (list 5 6))) does     The biggest difference here is the first one produce a list while the later one produce a number. 
The key points that I conclude are:

1.  When I see "apply something", just regardless of "apply" and focus on the description after "apply".   

2. Focus on every single function after map each of them.

3. Using the right condition for each single function.

All in all, I did good on my quiz and I learned how to protect myself online this week and hopefully,  I think I gradually find my own way of studying CSC course~

 

CSC104 week 10

During the last half part of the class, we were talking about the advantages and disadvantages of the development about computer. On the one hand, computers indeed stimulate the process for technology. It saves time and increases the production at the same time. However, there is a paradox between working production and working hours for human beings ( Ford). Sometimes labors force to work overtime in order to operate the machine and manufacture more products. This lecture gave me more understandings around the influence of computers. Another example is hardware. It is obvious that storing information gets smaller, cheaper, faster by the decade. From my perspective, I think it is indeed a good influence for human beings.
The other problem is not focus on the computers, but the quick life tempo caused by computers. The increasing number of people who have no idea about balancing work and family shows that rapid lifestyle affect people in some negative ways. It tells me that this is an inevitable condition that I will face when I get the job, but family is also as important as job career.

I got the right way to learn racket triangle recursion~~

 We talked about racket triangle recursion this week which is my favorite part of this this course.

 It was amazing that different conditions create different graphs. The key point here is to choose the right condition first, then substitute the given serp n . Beyond this one, we also learned some other pattern in class. After practices several examples, I found that as long as I choose the right condition and understand what is the graph look like under the second condition, I will get the answer correctly. I was so excited since I did all the practice questions correctly under my way.

In addition, I learned various ways of connections, for instance, centrally connection

and bus confi guration. Moreover, I learned that how the network connected and I was asked to compare the network in 1960s and network today on browser on my second test. I did bad on that question but after the exam, I search the answers online and I knew some opinions from others. Although I was not satisfied with my mark, I still have interest in this course and I believe I will do better in the future. 

I got improvement~

It has been one week after my first time wrote my journal for CSC104 course. Last week's lecture was fun for me. I learned that kernel and utilities are what an operating system should have and three types of UNIX to the desktop (BSD OSX unix, NT and Linux). In addition, we did exercises in the lecture which was my favorite part about the lecture since I can listen clearly and listen several times for one knowledge. These exercises indeed help me to understand the key point for creating a new pattern under Dr. Racket. It is worth to mention that my English skills were also improved after my hard work (I review what learned in the past and preview the lecture materials in advance). This is a good habit and I will keep doing it during the rest of the course.
For last week, I was excited about bout quiz and lecture materials. I thought I did great in my quiz and I was happy because my work has been paid back. Due to my bad experience the in the previous quiz, before the last quiz, I prepared a lot so that I can understand what we learned in the lecture and I did it. The other thing I learn is I should ask questions immediately instead of asking them later. Or I will forget which part that I am unfamiliar with. Moreover, the learning skills are the most important elements during my study of this course. I conclude that when professor write the program, it is better for me to listen and understand each step instead of just copying what are written in the computer.All in all, I gained a lot last week.
In conclusion,last week helped me summarize the learning skills and gave me more confidence to learn this course. I believe I will learn a lot after the whole course. 

For my CSC course

Although many classmates think that this course is easy, it is difficult for me to learn this course. To begin with, it is interesting to learn the development of the computer though some of the language that I do not know the meaning since English is not my first language. I am still willing to gain these knowledge about computer. Not only these unfamiliar words help me enlarge my vocabularies but also show the process of technology in terms of computer. For instance, I learn how Von Neuman and hard drive look like. These are new knowledge for me. In the past, I only heard about these two terms, but I have no ideas where they go. Therefore, I learned a lot after this lecture. Beyond that, I feel a sense of  satisfaction after I learned new words in this lecture.
On the other hand, the Dr. Rocket is so hard for me. To be honest, I have no idea about  programming before. In addition, I type words so slow. Thus, I cannot follow the professor's speed in the course. This is indeed the biggest challenge for me.What my plan is to watch the videos several times posted online so that I can understand what is the topic for each lecture. Then, I need to practice my typing skill by type something everyday. I believe I will get improvement after loads of practice. For this week, even I watch the videos ahead of the lecture, I still have difficulties on programming languages. I did bad in my quiz on Wednesday, but I will never give up since there are many opportunities for me to catch up with other other classmates.
In conclusion, course is not easy, but not so hard as well. Keep studying hard.