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# Reading Responses (Set 1)
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- Checklist for a good reading response
1. Make sure your response is between 250 and 350 words
2. Begin with a punchy start
3. Make sure to include the main idea of the reading
4. Include your own opinion and insight
5. Double check your structure and grammar
6. Email to professor with 'hackmd' in the subject, with the URL of this page and the markdown of the reading response
# Reading Responses 5 out of 5
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**Jan 26 Tues - Attention**
As the screen lights up, you may feel unable to resist the urge to stop what you’re doing to check your phone. This is a feeling we are all familiar with now that technology plays such a major role in our lives. However, being addicted to technology can feel like a real-life illness. Although technology can be detrimental to our mental and emotional health, we must consider how it can positively impact our lives.
Recent advancements in technology have enabled us to stay connected regardless of where we are in the world. The desire to stay connected has only become heightened by technology. This is because “The internet and digital media permit individuals to contact one another at a moment’s notice, people often expect to be able to reach one another and to make plans at any time” (Chayko, 2017, p. 3). We have become completely dependent on digital technologies which we deem to be essential when planning our day and social activities. Micro-coordination allows us to join in on last-minute plans with friends. However, this can lead to people not taking plans as seriously as they used to. “Responding to invitations may seem an unnecessary formality, but the failure to do so can spoil plans and gatherings and impact relationship” (Chayko, 2017, p. 4). It is clear that becoming too reliant on technology can have negative side effects.
However, technology and digital media can create many social opportunities. While scrolling through apps such as Instagram, we can make connections and meet new people with the touch of a button. We can join online communities composed of people with similar interests and backgrounds. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that not everything we encounter on social media is an accurate depiction of reality. We must acknowledge that Instagram is just a highlight reel. Chayko believes that, “Keeping up with a flood of stimuli and information can be challenging and burdensome” (p. 12). I agree with this point of view because social media and technology can easily become overwhelming.
It is up to the users themselves to manage their technology use. Although technology and digital media can lead to low self-esteem and hindered attention span, “These stresses are not caused by technology use. In fact, some of these stresses are simply the ‘cost of caring’” (Chayko, 2017, p. 12).
**Jan 29 Fri- How the Web works**
What is something we use every day but have no clue how it works? The answer to this strange question is simple: the web. The 'behind the scenes; of the internet may seem like a daunting subject but, it’s actually not that complicated.
In order to understand what happens when you open a webpage in a browser, one must first familiarize themselves with certain important terms. Computers that are connected to the web are referred to as clients while computers that store webpages/apps are called servers. Every time we type a website into safari, the web scans the domain name server in search of an address. Once the DNS has found the website address, it sends a hyper transfer protocol request to the server and asks for permission to send a copy of the website to the client. The files from the website are “sent to the browser in secured data packets” (MDN, 2016). These data packets are displayed all onto one webpage and are what we see when we access specific websites. This process surprised me at first because I did not know that requests had to be sent to access websites. Since users are able to freely access most sites, I assumed that most websites were public.
However, since the internet can be used to steal identities and private information, certain regulations are essential to protect users. Hypertext Transfer Protocol is used “to protect user's sensitive data” (Brody, 2013). HTTP ensures that our personal data cannot be accessed by strangers snooping around the internet. A hybrid cryptographic system uses many crypto paradigms to secure communication. Public Key Encryption allows each user to have a private and public key. Public keys are used “for encryption plaintext to ciphertext” (Brody, 2013). The Diffie-Hellman Key Exchange is a process by which clients can agree on a shared secret while not having to jeopardize their privacy. During Symmetric Key Encryption, public keys are exchanged which allows clients to communicate securely. Public Key Infrastructure is used to ensure that each client is who they claim to be. Certificates use “digital signatures to bind a machine's public key with an identity” (Brody, 2013). This process ensures secure connections between users.
**Feb 16 Tues - Cooperation**
'Teamwork makes the dream work' sounds like the recipe for success, right? Sadly, this is not always the case. Cooperation can be a difficult skill to master. The reality is that we will never truly know what another person is thinking. As mentioned in [Why we help](https://https://reagle.org/joseph/2021/cda/readings/nowak-2012-we-help.pdf) by Martin Nowack "the prisoner's dilemma elegantly illustrates why cooperation has so flummoxed evolutionary biologists" (p. 3). The Prisoner's Dilemma is a game theory paradox that shows how "individuals are rational actors motivated to maximize their utilities" (Wikipedia, 2021). The premise of the prisoner's dilemma illustrates how two individuals are convicted of a crime and imprisoned separately. They are each offered a reduced sentence if they rat the other one out. If neither prisoner decides to speak up, they will both receive a more lenient punishment. Since each prisoner does not know how the other will act, they typically decide to betray one another by putting their individual interests first. Cooperation can be unpredictable.
[Collective Action Problem](https://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_action_problem) explains how goal-expectation theory "assumes that people might cooperate under two conditions: They must (1) have a cooperative goal, and (2) expect others to cooperate" (Wikipedia, 2021). The problem is that just because we expect others to cooperate, doesn't mean they always will. According to [Wisdom of Crowds](https://https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds) in order to form a wise crowd, one must have diversity of opinion, independence, decentralization, aggregation, and trust. In his book Oinas-Kukkonen, Surowiecki emphasizes how "too much communication can make the group less intelligent". Taking everyone's opinions to heart isn't always a good thing. When looking at the web, users are able to freely comment on any post they encounter. A "comment is communication, it is social, it is meant to be seen by others, and it is reactive" (Reagle, 2015, p. 1). We must recognize that comments are posted to illicit responses from users. Often "when we do see and appreciate a comment, most people have no idea the extent to which it is manipulated" (Reagle, 2015).
The key to handling comments is not to ignore them completely, but to manage them. Fortifying comment systems can be effective when trying to resist abuse from users. Many sites now require users to use their real names when logging in and filter through comments in search of 'internet jerks' and spammers.
**Feb 26 Fri - Exam Questions**
Q1. When securing a connection the purpose of a cipher is to:
a. Assures that a public key really belongs to who it says it does
b. Use shared secrets to encrypt messages
c. Enable you to share a secret securely
d. Allow you to reliably deliver data
Q2. Certificates use a digital signature to bind a machine's _____ with a(n) _____?
a. Private key, identity
b. Public key, Private key
c. Identity, Public key
d. Public key, Identity
Q3. How can we evaluate internet sources to determine whether they are reliable or not?
Q4. How do filter bubbles distort reality?
A1. B
A2. D
A3. According to the credibility criteria published by Berkley library we should analyze multiple aspects of a source. Firstly we should look at the author and conduct brief background research to assess their reliability. Secondly, we should analyze the general purpose of the source and the format in which it has been published in. Thirdly, we need to ask ourselves how this source is relevant to our own research and what our scope is. Lastly looking at the date of publication and whether or not it has been recently updated can also help us further evaluate a source. Most important we need to see whether the author has cited their own sources and more specifically who they are citing. If a source contains a bunch of extravagant claims that have not been supported by a legitimate author or research institute, it is most likely not reliable.
A4. Filter bubbles can be defined as the results of the algorithms that dictate what we encounter online. When scrolling through the internet and more specifically on social media platforms we encounter endless amounts of content. Many of us don’t realize that the content we see has been curated especially for us and our interests. Filter bubbles stop us from seeing the bigger picture. Since every click, scroll and like is saved to dictate the type of content we are shown in the future we only see posts that enforce our pre-existing beliefs. This can be extremely harmful for internet users who do not realize that their reality is being manipulated and altered.
**March 5 Fri - Contribution & Gender**
“You fight like a girl” is a phrase many of us have heard while growing up. Sadly, gender biases and stereotypes do not disappear once we enter adulthood. They become worse as we grow older. Now that women are defining past social norms and entering competitive fields, they are receiving more criticism than ever before. Many male CEOs claim that women are underqualified and can’t handle high-stress, competitive working environments. This cultural bias has become embedded into society and is one of the root causes of gender discrimination within the tech industry. As expected, women are afraid to apply for the same positions as men since they know that their qualifications are regarded as being less than. With so few female role models within the tech industry, women feel less confident in their abilities to fight cultural norms.
We must pave the way for the women of the future. If we continue to accept being repressed by self-proclaimed elite males, this issue will only get worse in the future. As mentioned in [Science doesn't explain tech's diversity problem, history does](https://https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/16/16153740/tech-diversity-problem-science-history-explainer-inequality) “When looking for the outside, many young women see a field dominated by men and choose not to enter at all to begin with” (Jeong and Becker, 2019). This also explains why the dynamic of the tech industry is not changing, it is still dominated by white males. The few women who choose to work in tech end up leaving before being promoted to higher-paying positions. This is because, “Women feel stalled in their careers: they are promoted too slowly or aren’t able to navigate a transition into management” (Jeong and Becker, 2019). Their work is undervalued and most of the time they are not receiving the credit they truly deserve.
Culture dynamics and online communities only make it harder for women to feel welcomed. Excluding women can impact the production of knowledge. As mentioned in [Free as in sexist?: Free culture and the gender gap](https://) “women should be encouraged to participate at Wikipedia so as to improve the quality of information and strengthen the community” (Reagle, 2013). Although free culture is usually regarded as a positive movement, “The ideas of freedom and openness can be used to dismiss concerns and rationalize the gender gap as a matter of preference and choice” (Reagle, 2013). In this case, freedom of expression only gives males more power to downgrade and suppress women. For example, “Herring concluded that in online discourse one can still find (in general) that males and high-status participants tend to dominate online interaction, even under anonymity” (Reagle, 2013).