The Social Contract Theory in IT

 A lot of IT revolves around social contracts - a set of rules in a community or forum; what is "legal" when writing code in different languages; how should an UI look so that most people could use it easily.

 However, one of the most known ways for networking "social contracts" to come to be is trough Request For Comment (RFC). The main point of RFC is to introduce new guidelines for networking, since it is ever evolving. This means that some RFCs are experimental and might not be used later. Some become IETF standards. 

Network operators, software developers and hardware manufacturers around the world keep an eye on RFC in order to be able to create products that are as useful as possible - compatibility being one of the main concerns.

As some of old RFCs are taught as rules to IT students, for example RFC 1034 - explaining domain names from 1987. That's 35 years ago!

What makes RFCs better and a bit more nuanced than regular social contracts is that even a bit more experimental RFCs exist, even though they might be replaced later. And that makes sense - networking itself is changing every day. And thus, the most useful ones get to stay and become obvious knowledge to the specialists.

https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/social-contract-theory

https://www.ietf.org/standards/rfcs/

https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1034

Wiki Review: Decentralized Finance

 A well-written wiki article that analyzes many aspects of cryptocurrency - influence of celebrities and scams, for example. The article was quite balanced in terms of negatives and positives, there were great examples of both. If I had to write such a wiki article, it would definitely be way too biased - when it comes to some topics, I am almost uncapable of keeping my mouth shut.

I especially liked the example of Ukrainian refugees who were able to keep their money safe by trading it for cryptocurrencies. And for me personally, the largest issue with cryptocurrencies today is the amount of computer power that they "waste". I was glad to learn that more environmentally friendly solutions are being worked on. 

I enjoyed the writing style. The sentences did not drag on for too long and everything was very straight-forward. I would have liked to see more sectioning of paragraphs - however, it is definitely my personal preference (me and long paragraphs do not mix well). There were enough pictures to keep the reader entertained, and they illustrated the points being made well. However, the graph "Stability of cryptocurrencies" did not really make sense to me - I would have preferred to see percentages on both of the Y axis's. That way the two graphs could be compared to one another as well.

All in all, this was a great wiki read. I harbor only rather basic knowledge about cryptocurrencies, so this read definitely came in handy. I would even recommend it to others who are interested in learning more about cryptocurrencies. Probably one of the best aspects of this wiki - the topic has real learning value.

Book Review: Neuromancer by William Gibson

I really enjoyed the read - would definitely recommend this to any fan of the cyberpunk culture/aesthetic. Apparently, this book was one of the first to contain such cyberpunk themes. The terms Night City and "eddies" definitely reminded me of the Cyberpunk 2077 video game. That was probably one of my first encounters with the cyberpunk aesthetic - I really-really enjoyed the game. Especially driving my car around and enjoying the cityscape of Night City. I played it to the end, however, I never got quite over the fact that as a female character I was not able to romance Panam. But still, it really got me to enjoy the aesthetic and the looks of it all. When reading the book, I imagined a lot of the things to look like something out of Cyberpunk 2077.

I have to clarify, though - the Night City of "Neuromancer" is way different from the Night City of "Cyberpunk 2077" - the game is not based on the book as one might guess at first. "Neuromancer" was written in 1984 and it has aged well, especially for a science fiction novel. It is packed with references which can make the book a bit hard to read - however, there are explanations available on the Internet. I was also get my hands on an Estonian version of the book - "Neuromant", which was not translated very well, however, it had explanations of all the terms at the very back, which helped me to understand the context (I decided to read an e-book in English, instead).

Thus, this book took me quite a bit of time to finish - this is not the type of easy science-fiction read one might imagine. I definitely had to have some patience for myself, as I am used to "swallowing" a book in a day or less. This one took me around a week.

Although not an easy read, Gibson is great as an author - the book is packed full of action. It revolves mostly around character dialogue and actions, less on thoughts or feelings. It almost seems like there is little time to feel, when the main character Case (a "cyberspace cowboy") is kidnapped and brought to Armitage - a man who wants to use Case for his missions. 

He also does not use very specific or hard to understand words for the description of the cyber space. A lot of it is left to the reader to imagine. 

Thriving as a quadruple amputee

It is easy to assume that most people with all their limbs intact can hardly imagine the life of someone, who has had an amputation of a limb. Then, imagine a person who has no limbs at all. That is the case for CX, who is a quadruple amputee. 

However, he is still capable of very functions that might be hard to imagine for us. He has a wheelchair that can be lowered to floor level and bed height, so he can get himself around. However, he is still looking into prosthetics: due to his inability to dress, wash or go to toilet on his own without the help of prosthetics.

Still, he is capable of using a few different devices on his own. For example, he has his smartphone mounted to his wheelchair and he uses a hands-free speaker in order to operate his phone with voice commands. He can do things such as sending text messages and answering the phone without any touch, However, he is also capable of using his stump for some more complex actions.

His main way of using computers seems to be centered around using voice and voice commands. However, he also uses a mouth stick for desktop computers and laptops. This helps him contribute to household chores - he can do grocery shopping online, manage the family finances and keep up with the school notices of his four children.

In the future, CX wishes to drive on his own, achieve more independency when it comes to hygiene and be able to help in the kitchen. 

The article I am referencing was published in 2015, which means that hopefully CX has managed to gain more independence during this time.

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0309364615579316

Kali Linux and Puppy Linux - a Comparison

 Puppy Linux is a lightweight operating system. The developers have kept in the ease of use while also minimizing the resources needed from the device itself to run the OS. Their own website claims that they are "grandpa-friendly certified". They also state that their product is a collection of multiple Linux distributions, meaning that each user can choose (or even create) from a wide variety of "flavors". The operating system is created for pretty much everyone, and even if the person does not need anything special (a regular grandpa), it is easy to use and lightweight, will most probably run nicely on grandpa´s old laptop.

Kali Linux, on the other hand, is very much directed towards IT professionals, more precisely, cyber security professionals. On their website, they advertise making the customer´s job easier, being available for most platforms and their customizability. It requires at least 2GB of RAM while Puppy Linux can make do with just 600MB. 

Obviously, the choice of OS is often mostly based on the user´s interest and tastes, however, in this case, it is also very important to note the capabilities of the machine that the OS is being installed on.

https://www.kali.org/#kali-highlights

https://puppylinux-woof-ce.github.io/faq.html

The Applicability of Hacker Ethic in 2022

 1. Access to computers - and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works - should be unlimited and total. Always yield to the Hands-On Imperative!

I definitely agree that this has been a goal not only to hackers, but the whole world in general. Nowadays, it is expected that all children learn to use a computer on some level at least (although, it usually seems that kids left to be "babysat" by a device actually have less computer skills).

2. All information should be free.

Of course, we are not trying to save computing cycles at this point. However, I suppose this point has a new meaning nowadays - people in general should have access to as much information as possible. People in general are rather used to having information about any topic imaginable at their fingertips.

3. Mistrust authority - promote decentralization

I would say that a lot of the Internet is "decentralized" - it does not belong to anyone, it is the making of everyone who is part of it. However, at the same time we have tech giants like Google and Facebook collecting our information. Obviously, these companies are not authorities in the traditional sense, but in some way it is eerie to think the authority they might have trough the snippets of information that they have collected over time. 

4. Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.

I think people in tech are judged a bit less by their appearance in general, because to those they help they are often "wizards". The way computer-illiterate people look up to these "magical" folk (and then curse them to hell when the help they so desperately need does not arrive on time) might even make me believe that they were talking about a god. 

5. You can create art and beauty on a computer.

Definitely "more" true nowadays. Computers have become an unmatched helper in creating animations (for example Sullivan in "Monsters´ Inc"). Many artists nowadays prefer to use one of many available input devices meant for drawing. Recently, I really enjoyed the April Fools event on Reddit, where a subreddit called r/place was used to bring the whole community together via pixelart. Each Reddit user could place one pixel every 5 minutes. Estonians made an Estonian flag (obviously!) and later on tried to create an image of Suur Tõll. However, the Colombians decided to extend their flag which meant the literal erasure of our artwork.

Screenshot of Suur Tõll from r/place

6. Computers can change your life for the better.

I like the use of "can" instead of "will". Of course, computers have enabled humans to create things that were unthinkable a century or less ago. However, as I mentioned earlier - computers are not the greatest babysitters - they do not provide children with real company and do not teach social skills. Not to say that children should be kept away from their devices, however, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

Online Censorship and Privacy

 It makes sense that when it comes to privacy, the most vulnerable groups are likely children and people in need. If a child wondering the Internet decides to reveal their age or other information about themselves in a chatroom, for instance, it is highly possible that someone might take inappropriate interest in them. The more any person reveals about themselves online, the more likely it is that someone might try and exploit it.

I recently happened upon a reality show called "Adults Adopting Adults". It is a show where young people who might be in a vulnerable place are adopted by adults. I do not see anything really wrong with the idea itself, however, there was one family on the show that created quite the controversy. The adopting couple had a lot of marital issues, including the husband cheating and having feelings towards a young woman who they wanted to adopt before the show. During the show, the couple is adopting a young pregnant woman called Ileana, who flies over to the US from Austria. 

The husband, Danny, is the one that wants to adopt her, his wife is rather against the whole situation. As a compromise, they place Iliana in a trailer next to their home. They also suspect Iliana of "only caring for money" and catfishing them. Danny also makes sexual remarks about her behind her back.

So, why did this poor girl get into this situation in the first place? Obviously, she was in a vulnerable state being pregnant and homeless in Austria. She posted on a Facebook group for adult adoption about her issues. Thus, giving up information about her that a man like Danny could easily use for his benefit. I think she was likely too caught up in her problems to think what would a person like Danny be getting out of her moving to the US. In my opinion, a prime example of a person in need getting "help". The show was cancelled and the last episodes not even shown, most likely due to Danny´s inappropriate actions. 

I personally do not really believe in "stranger danger" - I am not afraid to make friends online. However, it still feels like finding "adult adopters" online in such a manner is probably really unsafe. I do wonder, if there are other vulnerable people who have fallen victim to such people, however, this is more likely a question of "how many", not "if".

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Wikipedia is often seen as the student´s most valuable aid, being a fast way to get information about all sorts of topics. Whenever I have a question about anything, the most accessible way to easily understand something is usually Wikipedia. And in essence, Wikipedia seems like a very innocent site. However, two countries have blocked it off from their citizens: China and Myanmar (after the coup d'état).

Red - Countries where Wikipedia is currently blocked; Dark green - previously blocked; Light green - previously partially blocked https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Wikipedia_website_blocks.svg/1920px-Wikipedia_website_blocks.svg.png

I was intrigued by why these countries, especially China had blocked off Wikipedia - the embodiment of "information freedom". I could not really find an answer. I could definitely see at least some reason for most of the other sites that they have blocked. My best guess is that Wikipedia could potentially share information that might undermine the government.

If anyone is wondering, why the UK is bright green, it is because they blocked a Wikipedia article about an album - the cover featured a prepubescent girl posing nude.