Chapter 5: Impact of Computing

World Wide Web

which was originally designed for scientists to share their research.

Targeted advertising

which can be helpful for businesses and consumers when looking for a specific item.

Social media

which has been used to stream events across the globe, sometimes helps to change history.

Machine learning and data mining

help find patterns and identify insights in data, leading to new innovations.

Online learning

is an education model that would not be possible without the tools of communication available via the Internet.

Programmers and businesses

try to identify potential negative uses, but it is seldom possible to think of all the ways other people could use an innovation.

Cloud computing

offers new ways for people to communicate, making collaboration easier and more efficient.

Technology

has had a major impact on the world, enabling innovation through the sharing of resources and computational artifacts.

Bias

which is intentional or unintentional prejudice for or against certain groups of people, shows up in computing innovations too.

Humans

write the algorithms, and our biases can make their way into the algorithms and the data used by innovations without us realizing it.

Artificial intelligence programs

are used more and more in ways such as screening applications of job candidates, determining if a person merits credit to purchase a house, and locating what areas have more crime.

Crowdsourcing

allows people to share information and ask the “crowd”— anyone who accesses the site—for feedback, to help solve problems, find employment, or for funding.

Peer-to-peer networks

exist that are used to illegally share files of all types.

Creative Commons

provides a way for creators of software, images, music, videos, and any computational artifact to share their creations with stipulations for sharing and permission from the author clearly indicated.

Digital data

is easy to find, copy, and paste, so ensuring you have written permission from the creator or owner is important.

Open source software

is software that is freely shared, updated, and supported by anyone who wants to do so.

Social media sites

as well as search engines publish what the most frequent searches and posts are about.

Analytics

identify trends for marketing purposes and help businesses determine what and where customers are searching for their products and their competitors’ products, how long an item sits in a virtual shopping cart, and when people buy.

Data mining

is a field of study that analyzes large datasets.

Machine learning

is a subset of data mining.

Digital footprints and fingerprints

are the trail of little pieces of data we leave behind as a sign of our presence as we go through our daily lives.

Cybersecurity

has a global impact because now anyone from anywhere can attempt to gain unauthorized entry to someone else’s computer, data, servers, or network.

Strong passwords

help block those trying to gain unauthorized access.

Multifactor authentication

is another layer that is increasingly used.

Cybersecurity

protects our electronic devices and networks from attacks and unauthorized use.

Data

may be damaged or the device may be used to further spread the malware.

Phishing

attacks create e-mail and/or websites that look a legitimate hoping to induce a person to click on the malicious link.

Computer viruses

are like human viruses.

Keylogging software

is a form of malware that captures every keystroke and transmits it to whomever planted it.

Cryptography

is the writing of secret codes.

Encryption

is converting a message to a coded format.

Deciphering

the encrypted message is called decryption.

Security

also relates to encrypting data before it is transmitted to ensure it remains secure if it is intercepted during transmission.

Public key encryption

uses open standards, meaning the algorithms used are published and available to everyone and are discussed by experts and interested parties and known by all.