CST 300 Module 8

Part I:
Amazon Prime Air:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKdgt_MPFU0&feature=youtu.be
I really enjoyed this presentation overall and felt that I learned quite a bit about the subject. I believe that the topic was covered well, and that it was particularly interesting to include information not only on Amazon’s service, but also similar competitor’s services like UPS. I had a little trouble keeping up with all the information presented during the “Concept of Operations Complexity” slide, but overall I really enjoyed the pacing and look of the presentation. It seems that the team put a good amount of research into their topic and worked well together to create this piece. The quality of the production was very nice, and it helped to keep me interested in the subject matter. Overall, their presentation was geared to a professional audience, and I believe that it provides a clear look at the innovation occurring in the drone delivery sector.

Virtual Reality:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkuoFz0YPrk&feature=youtu.be
I really enjoyed the virtual reality presentation by the Logistic Solutions team. It was engaging, fun, and informative. Their presentation seemed geared towards professionals, giving a decent overview of the virtual reality products and their applications. The topics discussed were clear, and the teamwork was evident in the creation of the presentation. The research quality seemed quite good, and they covered a wide variety of topics during the presentation. I do think their video presentation was interesting and engaging, and I believe that the team worked well to create a presentation they can be proud of.

Data Loss Prevention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRlL9boscyg&feature=youtu.be
I found the data loss prevention presentation quite interesting. It definitely was geared towards professionals, and quite often delved into specifics of preventative measures for data loss. The quality of research seemed quite high, and the quality of presentation was good. I felt like perhaps more work could have been invested into the slides and ensuring they matched what the topic being discussed was. I also noticed that it seemed to cut off the speaker at the end of the video, and I am unsure what they were going to finish with. While the teamwork is evident, I also thought that the program was not extremely engaging, and sometimes I felt somewhat lost during the technical overviews.

Part II:

Personally I believe that we communicated relatively well for this project, and the course on a whole. With this project in particular the hardest part for collaboration was to have everyone submit their work in enough time for two of our teammates to create the slides and voiceovers. I enjoyed learning with my teammates, and I am very glad that I was placed in a good team. Overall, I enjoyed my first course at CSUMB. I learned a bit about ethics and the video game industry, and about how the future coursework will be structured. I am looking forward to my future courses.

CST 300 Module 7

On the final research video this week we seem to be collaborating well. The workload was divided up so that we each took a 2 minute slice from the total video and worked on adding that to the presentation. Using google docs to collaborate on our slides and scripts, we were able to easily add our parts and work together to edit and improve our parts of the projects. I personally worked on genetic engineering, and had a good time learning about the new methods for transformations.

In Anthony Goldbloom’s presentation, “The jobs we'll lose to machines -- and the ones we won’t”, he discussed how jobs will change in the near future with the advancement of machine automation. It was interesting how he started with the story of his young niece Yahli, pointing to how the job market will be severely different when she is in college from when even he was in college a generation before. He uses this thread as a way to delve into his discussion of how virtually any task that requires repeatable and measurable actions can be given to a computer that can be trained to perform these tasks. In the end he points to how Yahli will probably need to study areas which require novel task solving capabilities, something that machines are not as good as humans at, and suggests that these will be the areas where jobs will still remain even with automation.

Trevor Timm highlighted an interesting question in his presentation entitled “How free is our freedom of the press?” He begins his discussion by introducing us to a writer who discussed the unauthorized government surveillance. Apparently, in search of the whistleblower in the government who leaked this information, they looked though the writer’s emails, phone calls, bank records, and other information and eventually placed the blame on one Jeffrey Sterling. He points to tools that are now being created in order to bypass the ability of the government to find whistleblowers through their communications with the press. It was very interesting to see how he pointed to the importance of press freedom towards the end, and highlighted the need for these services by showcasing an instance where whistleblowers were severely prosecuted.

I particularly enjoyed the “Life After Death” presentation by Don McMillan. His use of humor to illustrate the “don’ts” of powerpoint presentation made the lessons memorable and fun to watch. The general point I gathered from his presentation is to avoid overuse of add-ons in powerpoint presentation. In other words we ought to be moderate in our use of animations, powerpoints and graphs, using them only when we need them and not constantly. The Toastmasters website had some interesting tips for presentations as well. They suggested that you should be prepared, confident, and conversational when delivering a speech. It was also important to maintain eye contact with members of the audience while avoiding insincere gestures.

CST 300 Module 6

I.
During our team meeting this week, we all discussed our ideas for possible capstone projects. It was really interesting to hear what ideas my teammates were considering, and to discuss the various aspects of their possible capstone projects. I enjoyed hearing some of the thoughts my team had on my ideas for possible capstones.

II.
We learned a lot from the career guides this week. In particular it was interesting to learn about the importance of networking and meeting more people in order to look for opportunities. Creating a future cover letter and resume was a nice task, and it gave me some insight into what exactly I should tailor my resume to look like. It was particularly interesting to take a look at the next course, CST 205. I enjoyed brushing up on Python and am looking forward to the course. I was able to review two of my peers’ ethics paper drafts, and found them both well on their way to completion. Both papers were fun to read, and I felt like I got a new perspective on some issues I was not fully aware of previously. This week we also discussed the three possible topics to submit for the final presentation project, and it looks like we will be discussing human enhancement for our project.

CST 300 Module 5

Part One: Support and Comment on Teammates' Goals

1. http://agotter.blogspot.com/2017/01/week-4-of-class-no-1.html

2. http://hmutwakil.blogspot.com/2017/01/week-4-cst300.html


Part Two: Possible Capstone Ideas:

I have always wanted to learn more about front-end development, and I think it might be interesting to provide a service to either an up and coming business or some sort of non-profit by creating a mobile and web app for them.

Working with robotics has always been interesting, and I think a project with that could be very engaging and rewarding.

Automation is also a very unique field, and writing programs that could do certain tasks autonomously, either on time tables or through certain “stimulations”, would be quite interesting.

Part Three: Keep Up With Your Learning Journal

This week we continued by learning about previous capstones and contemplating what we may do for our own capstone project. It was particularly interesting to learn about graduate school this week, and it is interesting to consider continuing my education in order to gain the knowledge and prestige that comes along with extra study. Another aspect that caught my attention was our reading on loaded words and, after reading about it, realizing how often they are used through our world in order to sway opinions. I continued my work on the Ethics Paper, and am enjoying the process of explaining and forming my argument. I submitted my progress report, in which I stated how overall I believe I am on track and plan to have a good draft by next week. It was also very nice to read up on my team mate’s goals, and I hope to aid them during our time together at CSUMB.

CST 300 Module 4

Part One: Set Your Educational Goals

By the end of my time at CSUMB I will have earned by B.S. in Computer Science. I aim to learn multiple programming languages during my tenure, including Java and Python. I hope to expand my knowledge and learn more about front-end development specifically.

Part Two: Set Your Career Goals

Within three years, I will be a software engineer at a major company. I will be able to work with a passionate team on an interesting project that will help make the world a better place. The work there will be engaging and interesting, and I will be making a decent salary for my efforts.

Part Three: ETS Computer Science Test

After learning about the courses we are going to take during the program, as well as the subjects covered in the ETS Computer Science test, I will aim for at least a score of 90%. It appears that much of the subject matter in the ETS test shall be covered during the program, and thus I hope to do well on it.

Part Four: Keep Up With Your Learning Journal

This week we read up on goal setting, and how properly staging your goals can ultimately aid in your actual completion of said goals. It was interesting to learn about S.M.A.R.T. goals, and I look forward to implementing those in my life. In our writing module this week we learned about stakeholders, and how to identify who will be affected when decisions are made at various levels and institutions. We also looked into the 5 types of claims, Fact, Value, Policy, Definition and Cause, and how these various claims are formed and used. Our reading on bias was particularly interesting, and it was fascinating to see how individuals may still be biased, even if they themselves are completely unaware to it. Besides this we also covered Logos, Ethos, and Pathos, and how these will add and affect our papers. Finally we also covered what will be expected of our Ethics Paper, and began with our outline and summary. I am excited about my topic and look forward to researching it more.

CST 300 Module 3

I found the plans suggested in the time management articles very interesting, and some I already implemented and they are indeed quite useful. Preparing general plans that get more specific as you go to shorter periods sounds similar to our previous look into project management. I always enjoy breaking up my week into even daily schedules that help me to complete a given task in an orderly fashion. I often give a somewhat flexible daily schedule where I will block out specific times to both work and take breaks throughout the day. Choosing a specific location that is in a quiet and well lit area has always been important to me, as I find it much easier to work on projects when I have fewer distractions to impede me. I often work in the same place, where I like to keep things clean and well organized.

There was a lot of reading this week on ethics; it was quite interesting to learn about the various frameworks for thinking on ethics. I turned in my analysis paper on Electronic Arts this week, and began my work on the next paper. It looks like we will be covering a specific issue where we can argue both sides of the argument through an ethical framework. I personally chose to discuss whether or not the government should require phone operating system makers to include a “backdoor” through their security in order to access private data. We also spent some time reviewing a few of the key courses we will be taking through the program. It was particularly interesting to engage with the cohort in discussing Snowden, and his actions in releasing government documents. Using the ethical frameworks we had read up on previously, we argued with each other over whether his actions could be deemed right or wrong.

One of the most interesting parts of this article was the emphasis on a portfolio rather than a resume. It is interesting that one should focus on showcasing the skills learned and implemented now, while a traditional resume appears to have lost some of its significance. I especially agree with the section on programming languages, as I believe it is important to learn multiple languages in order to stay relevant and to expand one’s knowledge. Teaching the techniques on how to learn a new language would be a very useful skill. It was very useful as well for the author to briefly discuss different types of languages and specific examples of various languages that would be good to learn. Computer Architecture is definitely a must for someone who is serious about Computer Science, understanding what occurs from the bottom up will give an individual a more holistic view of their trade. Learning various compilers and Operating Systems, especially Unix, is an extremely helpful skill to learn that will definitely aid some in the future. Overall the article was interesting and somewhat enlightening. While I knew that the path to a solid understanding of computer science was long, seeing all the various specific skills and theories that are deemed necessary truly brightened the path so that I can now begin to see some of the goals ahead.

CST 300 Module 2

1.
Probably my three best items from the list at adprima are Answering Easy Questions First, Reading Multiple-Choice Questions, and Preparing an Outline and Writing the Paper. When taking exams I tend to read through the questions first, answering any I know for sure and cross-checking others. With multiple-choice questions I tend to eliminate the obviously false answers, making it easier to find the correct choice. When preparing for a paper, I tend to establish a fluid outline, one that I am willing to change, revise and add to as the need arises. From there I find it much easier to arrange my ideas and build a better paper.

What I would consider to be my three weakest items from the list are probably Knowing the Ground Rules, Using Correct Punctuation and Grammar, and Don't Read Aloud to Yourself. I sometimes have trouble keeping up with requirements for individual projects, and making sure I pay attention to all the details regarding formatting, requirements, and submission. I also may find myself spending more time than I would like revising my work for improper punctuation and grammar, that I should have corrected when first writing. Besides these two I also often find myself reading aloud, this can indeed slow down my pace of reading, and doing so means I will spend unnecessary time going over the material that could be used working on assignments.

2.

Activity Log for peer review:

3.

Part of the job of a project manager is to attempt to defuse any would-be issues, while at the same time taking care of any issues that do arise during a project's lifetime. At the same time the project manager must ensure that timelines are kept, cost is restricted, the scope of the project is focused and maintained, and that the appropriate quality is reached. Some helpful tools for a project manager include Work Breakdown Structures and a Gantt chart. When working on a Work Breakdown Structure the goal is to Deconstruct a large-scale project into even further deconstructable units or goals, or mini-projects, until eventually reaching a manageable task size, which is often known as a “work package”. These structures aid in the guidance of a project, allowing an overview of large projects that at the same time makes the different subsets easier to accomplish. A Gantt chart is a type of timeline which allows you to breakdown a process into multiple steps that can either work in conjunction or only after other tasks are completed. This is useful when working on a project as you can see how long the estimated total time will take as well as which tasks must be fully completed before work on other tasks can begin at all.

4.

Tiffanie Ly’s project designing the graphic logo for the school professional attire service, Otter Outfitters, was very interesting. The way she presented the information was clear and engaging and I felt she did a very nice service to the CSUMB community. Tiffanie did seem slightly nervous at first, but seemed to get more used to presenting as she continued. It was interesting to see how she was able to work with her client to produce an aesthetically interesting graphic design, a unique introductory animation, as well as a mobile app for the Otter Outfitters program.

Zane Harvey’s presentation for his work on behalf of the Museum of Natural History was very interesting. His presentation was very engaging, and I could tell he cared a lot about both his work and the museum itself. Zane did at times speak a little too quickly to understand, and I was glad I could rewatch some parts to fully comprehend his message. The 3D animation itself seemed relatively detailed, and it was interesting to hear about the custom textures and maps he created for the project. Overall, a very nice project.

Steven Barnett did an interesting service to his client by making an animation on traditional Chinese health concepts, which include the art of acupuncture. The goal of the animation was to inform and somewhat demystify an audience with less understanding about traditional Chinese health practices, thus opening up the market for his client. His presentation was interesting and engaging, but it seems, unfortunately, that the animation itself was too long to show during the presentation.

5.

This week I spent time getting to know more about my teammates while also preparing for the program ahead. Part of this was finishing up my introduction video, as well as touching base with the course instructors. I was able to work on my Industry Analysis draft where I focused on Electronic Arts, and the video game software developer career. After turning that in on Sunday, I was able to spend time working on reviewing two of my teammates drafts for the project. Andrea focused on Tesla and the automated vehicle field, while Alejandro focused on Pixar and animation. Both were interesting reads and I learned a lot about the two fields and companies.