Reading Responses (Set 1)

# Reading Responses (Set 1) Checklist for a good reading response 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** ### January 29 - *How the Web Works* Have you ever stopped to ponder how the web works? Although we spend most of our time online, it seems that the back-end side of web development and operation is something that is often overlooked. Mozilla Developer Network provides a simplified description about the components that enable a website to work. In particular, he labels the computers connected to the web as *clients* and *servers*: clients are the devices that we connect to the internet (such as our phones), and servers are computers that store webpages and sites. This relationship between clients and servers can be better understood with an analogy: clients are our houses (located on one side of the street), the internet connection is the street, and the server is the place we want to go (located on the other side of the street). Other elements such as domain name servers (DNS), transmission control and internet protocol (TCP/IP), component files and hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) are also needed for websites to work. Comparatively, blogger Hartley Brody delves into the web cryptographic systems and encryption services that are used to protect users’ communications and sensitive data. More specifically, he describes how the protocol TLS (transport layer security) is the data encryption used in HTTP, which prevents malicious users in public networks from tampering and infiltrating into the user’s connection. In essence, these extra layers of security allow the client and the server to have a secure connection even whilst communicating over an “open, and insecure” connection. So, even though the practicalities of the web aren’t normally discussed, as users we need to understand and be aware of everything that happens when we search the web, especially when our private information is at risk of being disclosed. ### February 2 - *Crap Detection* We are constantly flooded with news. Every day, vast amounts of news and information populate our social media platforms and digital devices, ranging all the way from legitimate content, to intentionally written fake news. In effect, many readers and viewers are unable to decipher between real content and unreliable sources and therefore, struggle when trying to evaluate the information they encounter. In her article “Truth, Truthiness, Triangulation: A News Literacy Toolkit for a ‘Post Truth’ World”, author Joyce Valenza sheds light on the prevalence of fake news and provides a toolkit of information literacy. For instance, she buckets fake news as fabricated stories, hoax and satirical sites, and altered images that misrepresent visual reality. She also sets forth rules of thumb for people to better asses the credibility of websites: interrogating URLS, using popular sites like hoax-slayer to corroborate information and being suspicious of pictures, are few of the pointers she mentions help identify the trustworthiness of webpages. Furthermore, she illustrates how news from traditional sources can also be unreliable- by being entirely left or right leaning, the news these popular sources broadcast is therefore entirely biased and deceitful. Comparatively, the account “Evaluation Internet Sources” published by Berkeley library states that there are 6 main criteria useful to measure a website’s credibility and accuracy: authority, purpose, publication & format, relevance, date of publication and documentation. In effect, each website must have an author and a purpose of why the source was created. It must also include a date and place of publication, a scope of coverage, and proper citation of sources. The web is a very public place where everyone can manipulate and alter the media they encounter. In order to prevent falling into disinformation, it is crucial for web users to become better at identifying authentic from fake news. ### February 9 - *Learning* One thing we never stop doing is learning. Whether we are high school students, college graduates, parents, or working professionals, it is embedded in our nature as human beings to be constantly learning and acquiring new information. Nonetheless, it seems that we often overestimate the way in which we learn, abiding by techniques such as rereading, memorization, and repetition to master the material at hand. In Chapter 1 of the account *Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning*, Brown, Roediger and McDaniel delve into this notion, and present us with an array of principles and claims to improve our learning skills and strategies. For instance, although many teachers and instructors believe that faster and easier learning is better, this is usually not the case. As illustrated by the authors, learning is more effective when it is effortful: it is stronger and lasts longer when it is harder. In a similar way, students have commonly been advised that repetition and memory are the best tactics to increase the retention of information. However, these techniques create a sense of unwitting self-deception, as growing familiarity with the text is mistaken by mastery of the material, when in fact, it is “transitory and melts away quickly” (Brown, Roediger & McDaniel, 10). The chapter also emphasizes how learning requires a foundation of previous knowledge, as well as the understanding of how to use it- one cannot apply the information learned in a practical manner if one does not have anything to apply (Brown, Roediger & McDaniel, 5). In essence, learning is at least a three-step process. First, one must *encode* the information stored in their short-term memory. Next, they must *consolidate* it and give it meaning by making connections to past experiences and previous knowledge. Finally, one must be able to actively *retrieve* the information and apply it whenever it is needed. Methods such as testing, trial-and-error, interleaving, and tapping into different learning styles are effortful retrieval practices that evidently enforce retention and memorization. ### February 23 - *The Dark Web* The web is like an iceberg. When browsing the internet, most people perceive only what is above the water, spending their time streaming common media platforms and googling the latest news. However, the web is much more esoteric and extends far deeper than what meets the public eye. Namely, it includes the dark web: a set of hidden sites woven in the deepest parts of the internet that can only be accessed with an anonymizing browser called *Tor*. The locations of users and their identities all remain hidden and so, it is extremely difficult to track and monitor online activity. As described in a blog post by Jordan Wright, Tor bounces connections through three sets of relays to keep users’ identities anonymous. In effect, this makes their IP addresses nearly impossible to be traced and their data becomes wrapped up in a series of encrypted layers, like onions. So, instead of ending in .org or .com, most dark web sites end in .onion web addresses and are often called onion sites (Kushner, Rolling Stone). The dark web has also proliferated illegal commerce through the use of *Bitcoin*. In essence, Bitcoin is a crypto currency that allows both parties to maintain their anonymity and doesn’t require banks or credit cards when conducting a transaction. In his blog post, “Explain Bitcoin Like I’m Five”, Nik Custodio compares the bitcoin protocol with an in person-exchange of apples: there is no need of a third-party to make the transaction valid and once the goods are exchanged, possession will be legitimately transferred from one party to another. Although the dark web is often associated with illegal commerce and criminal activity, it also serves as a place for activists and dissidents to voice public concerns without revealing their identities and locations. This privacy tool becomes even more favorable for residents in countries where freedom of speech is criminalized and where even browsing political websites about democracy might get an individual thrown in jail. ### February 25 - *Exam Review* 1) ______ exhibits the idea that the best leads for job opportunities come from distant acquaintances rather than close friends. a) Degrees of Separation b) Strength of Weak Ties c) Sturgeon’s Law d) Wisdom of Crowds 2) Which of the following is NOT a source of cooperation? a) Indirect Reciprocity b) Spatial Selection c) Group Reciprocity d) Kin Selection 3) Why was the dark web created? Who funds it? 4) What is the basic idea behind Danna Boyd’s argument? #### Answer/Explanations: 1) **Strength of Weak Ties** exhibits the idea that the best leads for job opportunities come from distant acquaintances rather than close friends. * You and your close friends are more likely to know the same group of people and swim in the same pool of information. So, building networks with casual acquaintances is more likely to provide you with new information and opportunities. 2) **Group Reciprocity** is NOT a source of cooperation: * Indirect Reciprocity: via reputation of helping high status (your good name) * Spatial Selection: via helping neighbors * Kin Selection: via helping family members 3) Why was The Dark Web created? Who funds it? The dark web was originally created by the US government to allow international spies to communicate anonymously and in secrecy. It provided a secret bunker for government websites, so that if they were under attack, agents could visit a hidden version of the internet without hackers tracing them. The dark web continues to be government funded to act as a secure network for government agencies as well as for dissidents fighting oppressive regimes. 4) What is the basic idea behind Danna Boyd’s argument? Danna Boyd’s main concern is that media literacy is causing people to become too skeptical with what they find on the internet. They are more likely to believe information that confirms their previous beliefs. Conversely, she believes that if people are presented with information that contradicts what they think, they will most likely double down on their beliefs rather than integrate the new knowledge into their understanding.