###### tags: `CDA`
# Reading Responses (Set 1)

- Checklist for a [good reading response](https://reagle.org/joseph/zwiki/Teaching/Best_Practices/Learning/Writing_Responses.html) of 250-350 words
- [ ] Begin with a punchy start.
- [ ] Mention specific ideas, details, and examples from the text and earlier classes.
- [ ] Offer something novel that you can offer towards class participation.
- [ ] Check for writing for clarity, concision, cohesion, and coherence.
- [ ] Send to professor with “hackmd” in the subject, with URL of this page and markdown of today’s response.

## Reading responses 5 out of 5

### Jan 20 Friday - How HTTPS secures connections: What every web dev should know

Brody begins by questioning how HTTPS protects users, setting out to understand how they work to give himself a piece of mind that he is safe online. The first thing Brody does to help us understand HTTPS is by explaining how the web works on a simple scale. Brody refers to the internet as a "series of tubes" and outlines that any of these connections could be used to "eavesdrop or tamper with your connection" (para. 5). With a normal HTTP, messages are not encrypted and therefore in danger. Encryption takes a lot of computing power, so not all messages need encryption, but when sensitive information is involved it is important (para. 7).

Now that Brody has given us some background, he can focus in on how HTTPS works. An important process to understand is Public Key Encryption. Brody defines Public Key Encryption as "a type of cryptographic system where each party has both a private and a public key, which are mathematically linked to each other" (para. 13). This gives the two clients involved a way to communicate that can not be accessed by anyone else. The system used to create this shared key is called a Diffie-Hellman key exchange. This is done through a mathematical process that gives both clients a calculation with different inputs that is equal to the same number. This way, the clients can identify each other, but others can't (para. 22). I still don't fully understand how snoopers are prevented from accessing the shared secret, and understanding how encryption really works.

### Jan 27 Fri - Make it Stick
Students don’t learn well by reading textbooks is something I learned reading a textbook. In Make it Sick, Brown outlines how we learn and what we should do differently to learn better. One of the main points this book is driving home is that "learning is deeper and more durable when it is effortful" (p. 3). It isn't necessarily important how much time you spend studying, because if you aren't putting in the effort or you don’t know how to learn something it won’t stick. An example Brown uses is a student who got a D on a test after studying by highlighting and re-reading material. The student thought they were studying hard and knew the material, but they didn't understand what they needed to do to learn it. A smarter study strategy would have been studying key terms, being able to use key concepts in paragraphs, and self-testing (p. 16). This example shows the importance of effortful studying. Effortful studying allows you to learn the material on a deeper level. Effortful studying gives you mental models which let you use connected ideas and apply them in different ways (p. 101). This type of studying is an entirely different type of learning than the cramming method: a method that can work to get a decent grade but won’t help you learn. When I was doing this reading, I was writing down any phrases or concepts I thought were important, and that effortful strategy helped me understand the reading better because it gave me time to reflect on certain parts of the reading.

### Feb 2 Fri - Supercooperators

If my roommates don't do their dishes why would I? If they make me clean up after them, I guess I'll just make them do the same. But wouldn't it be so much easier if we just all cleaned our own dishes when we used them? When you live in an apartment with 7 people, it is way too easy to deflect responsibility. Nowak talked about the prisoners dilemma. The prisoners dilemma deals with two people who have to decide whether to cooperate or defect. If one person cooperates and the other defects, the person who defects gets the best possible outcome, while the person who cooperated gets the worst possible outcome. However, if both people cooperate they will both get the 2nd best outcome, and if they both defect they both get the worst outcome for both parties. Choosing to defect is considered a dominant strategy, because it has the opportunity to give you the best possible outcome (p. 13). The prisoners dilemma deals with the concept of cooperation or self-interest on the scale of two people. When you have more people, like my 6 roommates, it becomes a "public good game" (p. 22). Another example of public good game is how we impact the environment. For example, when people see trash on the ground, they are more likely to litter themselves because it seems like less of a big deal. Being such a small percentage of the population leads people to care less about their environmental impact. Humans often tell themselves "I'm just one person, what I do won't make a difference." This mentality leads us too a worse outcome in the prisoners dilemma than if the majority of the population chose cooperation. This relates to Darwin's idea of natural selection, or survival of the fittest. Nowak talks about how natural selection is not the best thing for public good, but instead cooperation would give the largest benefit to society.

### Feb 10 Fri - Haters
We act more extremely online because we are so disconnected from the emotions of the very real person we are talking to. People also have such extreme beliefs online because online communities of like-minded individuals are formed. These communities form a filter bubble where the people in these online communities are not exposed to new information or opposing viewpoints. Both of these factors can lead to some pretty inflamed discourse when people are removed from their filter bubbles and exposed to people in other bubbles. These explanations for how people act on the internet are the reasons for Godwin's law, which states “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1” (Reagle). Godwin's law is just saying that people get mad on the internet very quickly, and rarely have a debate that doesn't elevate to personal attacks or ridiculous Nazi comparisons. In addition to having extreme opinions on the internet, there are also people that are just flat-out trolls. This means that they say certain things on the internet that they know will get a certain response. This response is predictable and triggers a futile argument that will entertain the troll. However, the person on the other side of the trolling may take the attack seriously which can venture into cyberbullying. I personally have not experienced or participated in any of these extreme online communities or trolling, because that isn't really how I use the internet. I have definitely seen examples in Instagram/YouTube comment sections, TikTok lives, etc.
### Feb 14 - The Dark Web
I've heard of the dark web here and there, but I have never really learned about what it is. When I think about the dark web I get scared. I think of illegal and often immoral activities that let criminals conduct business over the internet. And this is a big part of the dark web. People buy things from each other with bitcoin, which is a digital currency that essentially behaves like a physical object. There is a digital ledger on everyone's computer that keeps track of the transactions (NC). This makes bitcoin untraceable, and when used in combination with encrypted browsers, (Tor browsers), users can buy and sell very illegal goods and services. However, I never considered how the processes of how the "dark web" worked could be used for good. The dark web is accessed using something called a Tor browser, which is software that masks all of your location and activity (Kushner). It does this by routing signals through networks all over the world, which encrypt messages in layers, similar to an onion. The layers, (guard relay, middle relay, exit relay, and destination), ensure that messages are secure and private. This is why many dark web URLs end in .onion (Wright). We know Tor browsers can be used for bad things on the dark web, but they can also be used for good. In fact, the idea of a Tor browser was first funded by the Office of Naval Research, and they are used by governments to infiltrate oppressive regimes (Wright). I still wonder if incognito browsers use any type of encryption similar to Tor browsers, or if they just simply hide your past searches.