Paper review of "The Ethics of Self-Driving Cars" - Mikhail Drobyshev

This paper is about Ethical and Moral issues of Self Driven Cars. This topic is really mesmerizing to read as we all know how breathtaking Autonomous Vehicles are.

Firstly the author discoursed about the main purpose of Autonomous vehicles and then discussed in detail about the ethics and the implementation for it. The notable mentions was to set up Law’s regarding accident cases with self driven cars.

Later one he addressed about few observation points such as on Machine ethics the rules are set so that the AV endanger fewer lives over many and also many more about individual difference choices of people of different countries and culture.

I would say the author was really good at researching the topic at its depth and came up with easily explainable terms in his paper which was really helpful in understanding. All the sections were very informative and he took analysis and displayed them in his paper.

The structure of his writing and style’s were well polished and moreover the referencing were also set in order and easily recognizable.

Altogether certainly it was a decent paper to read , enjoy and understand at the same time. I could clearly see the author's views and  thoughts reflected on the paper.

IT and Ethics

We’re living in the age of IT. Because of its fast-paced, continually evolving nature, the field of information technology is one that is often difficult to assign a specific moral code. But, it is critically important that a set of ethical values be established because it is an area that is susceptible to various kinds of indiscretions. In order to do so, we must look at the ethical theory to set the foundation.

In the given ethical theories The Social Contract Theory is the one that is used most in IT. Social contract theory says that people live together in society in accordance with an agreement that establishes moral and political rules of behavior that is accepted by everyone in society. For example, the TSA X-ray and search at the airport. It is right of the individual if you have a paid ticket, you should be able to get right on the airplane without any hindrance. The government’s edict is they want to ensure that air travel is safe for everyone. The social theory is that everyone including the flight crew must sacrifice some of their personal liberty. In order to allow the government to assure safe air travel for everyone.

The social contract theory IT-related application can be seen everywhere & I literally mean everywhere. When we install an app for our smartphones be it android, iPhone, or any of the smartphone companies we have to agree to their terms & conditions or license agreements to install the app. It’s a type of social contract that is used in the apps. Even in social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Snapchat we have to agree to their terms & conditions or license agreements to open the account. It’s a mutual contract by it they help us use their service smoothly. Even computer software has us agree to their terms to install their software. Even almost all of the websites have us agree to their terms for opening an account in them. By using these terms & conditions the server can solve the problems easily & make our experience using them better, for example, when someone harasses or abuses you in social media or posts something inappropriate the server can block them for it to make a better environment for other users. They can block them cause they also agreed to server terms & conditions. It’s hard to find any IT related service without these social contracts. But most of us don’t even read these contracts although it is for our own safety.

Even though we all know what ethics is, many of us don’t follow them. Ethics has the power to affect the social and physical environment. Ethics and morality, therefore, play intricate roles in our modern world. Oftentimes, people feel that what is legal must also be moral, but this is not necessarily the case. We must distinguish between the two and try to keep our ethics & morality.

A Different Kind of IT

Assistive Technology in Computer

There are many ways to describe a function. But mainly function is what relates an input to an output. A computer system is built on functions. There are four basic functions of a computer: input, storage, processing, and output. To control a computer we just need to put input properly.


According to the principle, “if a person has control over any function, it can also be used to control the computer” computer can be controlled if a person has control over any function. Well, it’s true. A computer doesn’t need all functions to control it. You can use only a keyboard or mouse to control it. Even if you are handicapped there are various assistive functions that can help control the computer.

I wanna tell a case about such a person. This is a story about Waqas Ahmed from Balakot Pakistan. Waqas suffers from cerebral palsy. A cerebral palsy is a group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood. He can’t use his hand or leg properly. He has even trouble speaking. Even though he is handicapped he still uses a computer with his nose through a keyboard. He started an NGO for individuals like him, who were handicapped in any way. His NGO is called ‘Pace2Life’. There is also Jared from the U.S. Who also suffers from cerebral palsy. But his whole body is handicapped. But he also uses a computer. Jared uses Assistive tech to run his own ad/website design business. He uses a sip & puff to access his computer. The sip & puff sends a signal to his control unit on his wheelchair which sends a signal to his tash switch which sends a signal to the intellikeys switch. The intellikeys switch sends a wireless signal to Jared computer that controls a software called switchXS. By which Jared chooses his option from the popup menu. He can type, control the mouse, and do anything on his computer through his Assistive tech.

Like them, there are many people who are handicapped but can use the computer through any one of computer functions or Assistive Technology. To use a computer we don’t need to use all of the computer functions. Any of them will do. This proves the principle, “if a person has control over any function, it can also be used to control the computer”.Assistive tech has come a long way & it’s still improving. I hope that Assistive Tech can improve more & get easily accessible throughout the world.

Computer Vision in Security (Course paper)

The Story of Linux

Linux is most-used open-source operating system in the world.  It was created in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Although Linux works the same as the other operating systems, it is also different from other operating systems in many important ways. The main difference of Linux is the code used to create Linux is free and available to the public to view, edit, and for users with the appropriate skill to contribute to.

Speaking of Linux Distribution, There are many distributions, or versions, of the operating system in Linux. There are hundreds of them. Two of the main distributions are Ubuntu & Fedora.



Ubuntu can be considered a newcomer in the history of Linux. The source code that makes up the Ubuntu distribution comes from much older Linux distributions known as Debian. It was announced in just 2004 & founded by South African millionaire Mark Shuttleworth. Ubuntu main target groups are casual Windows users or simply the one which wants to use computing power to get a job done. Ubuntu is developed and supported by Canonical Ltd. Ubuntu has quickly gained followers and users. It now supports a large and enthusiastic community, not just of developers or documentation writers, but also of Local Communities, volunteers who promote the distro in a specific region. Much of the success of this community-building seems due to community manager Jono Bacon. Hired in 2006. In Ubuntu, there are many software choices some of them are Thunderbird Email Client, Libre Office Suite, VLC Media Player, The GIMP Photo Editor, Audacity, Google Chrome etc

Fedora is an open-source operating system created over the Linux OS kernel structure and created by a group of developers and contributors under the Fedora Project. It was first released in  2013. The operating system is combined with packaged software and applications to give enhanced abilities and functions. Fedoras main target groups are the peoples that voluntarily switching to Linux &  familiar with computers, but is not necessarily a hacker or developer is likely to collaborate in some fashion when something's wrong with Fedora and wants to use Fedora for general productivity. Fedora is developed and supported by RedHat & RHEL. The Council is the top-level community leadership and governance body in Fedora. Others include the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee, responsible for the technical decisions behind the development of Fedora, and Fedora Mindshare Committee which coordinates outreach and non-technical activities, including representation of Fedora Worldwide. Fedora software choices are somewhat limited compared to Ubuntu. By default, Fedora installs the GNOME Desktop Environment but you can also choose GNOME Desktop, KDE Plasma Workspaces, Xfce Desktop, LXDE Desktop, Cinnamon Desktop, MATE Desktop, Sugar Desktop Environment.

We can say that Ubuntu & Fedora perform excellent desktop distributions. Their use cases also ecosystems are moderately different, though Ubuntu originates from Debian, and it’s the initial operating system developed by Canonical. Ubuntu can be said a jack of all trades, and it can fit approximately any use case. Fedora is Redhat’s testbed, and it’s an excellent option for developers and administrators working with Redhat systems. It has a much thinner ecosystem furthermore would feel out of place on anything yet a desktop either workstation. So we can say both are good in there own way.

Hackers.. ?

The blog describes the hackers. The ideals of hackers described in the blog are:

Sharing

Openness

Decentralization

Free access to computers

So, What is a hacker? By hacker, we know some random hooded bad guy who wants to hack into our computer to harass us. Well, it’s not true. Hackers are computer professionals with an innovative mindset and a passion for exploration. Our modern world of 2020 is an era of technology. It's an era of mass surveillance & censorship. We are not even sure about our privacy. All information is guided by authorities. So there are many practical applicability of the ideals of hackers.

Sharing means sharing with the general public in addition to sharing with other hackers. It can be software, program, information etc. One of the main points of being a hacker is an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Through Sharing, we help each other advance. We can learn from each other. In the modern world, sharing is easy. Through one share many can learn from it & develop our society.

Openness means freedom. It’s about the freedom to get information. All hackers promote freedom. In our modern world. We often don’t get actual information. Many of them get censored by authorities & they edit the info to their favor. Hackers can get actual info through hacking. But in our modern world, many hackers hack not for thirst of knowledge but for their selfish purposes. For that hacker got a bad reputation. For that in our modern world openness is good but if it's for a reasonable purpose.   

Decentralization is a way to promote the free exchange of information. It is to have an open system that presents no boundaries between a hacker and a piece of information. Through which they can promote themselves.Its a kind of hackers community.In the modern world through decentralization

We can promote many things & help each other through the system.

Free access to computers wasn’t available in the early years of the computer. Though in our modern world we have free access to the computer. With free access to the computer, people can make use of their creativity. They can learn & make many things through a computer which can be said a good way to promote oneself.

Many of the ideals of the hacker are now in practical use in our modern world of 2020 & it will advance furthermore. But nowadays many hackers forget their ideals & do what they want. For that, they have earned a bad reputation. But there are still hackers who follow the ideals to help the society.

Censorship, Privacy and Internet

Online Censorship

Online censorship is a way to control what can be viewed or published on the internet. Online censorship can vary on a country to country basis.People often look at the internet as free and public space but the vast majority of online space is privately owned. We need to be aware that censorship is not just something that happens in authoritarian regimes but actually occurs all over the world.

In the cases of online censorship, North Korea ranks among the top in the world. Full use of the global internet is not available in the country. only a small number of people can use them. Even then they are severely restricted. Many popular sites such as Facebook, Youtube & Twitter are all blocked. The foreigners are able to access the internet through a 3g network. But all the normal citizens can access online through Kwang Myong, a free public intranet with a limited number of sites & services. Kwang Myong is the main apparatus of the online censorship of North Korea. Kwangmyong is curated by the Korea Computer Center,The government controls all online media. Any news in the country released by the Korean central news agency. Even cell phone use in North Korea is also controlled by the government.phones are only used for domestic calls. They can't access the Internet or make overseas calls.

I think North Korea's way of restricting & censoring their citizens is more like a cult that forcefully brainwashed people around the country’s Supreme Leader. What do you think about it?

Online privacy

Privacy is the barrier that protects you from people doing things to you. It helps you maintain control of your personal information & online privacy is a level of privacy protection a person has online. In this digital age, privacy became harder to achieve.

One of the cases of online privacy, this case is about Uber Technologies. In August 2018 the FTC announced an expanded settlement for alleged failure to reasonably secure sensitive data in the cloud with Uber Technologies. Uber Technologies announced that hackers have stolen the personal information of about 57 million customers and drivers. In the press release, Uber Technology said that the stolen info included names and driver’s license numbers of around 600,000 drivers in the United States & other personal information of all 57 million Uber riders and drivers around the world including their names, email addresses and mobile phone numbers. To their defense, the company said two people who didn’t work for the company accessed the data on a third-party cloud-based service that Uber uses & that outside forensics experts have not seen evidence that the hackers accessed other types of information. Uber's failure to disclose a significant data breach that occurred in 2016.FTC investigated & settled provisions requiring Uber to disclose any future consumer data breaches & submit all reports forthird-party audits of Uber's privacy policy and retain reports on unauthorized access to consumer data.

Even though online privacy is our right in this ever-expanding digital age protecting them presents new challenges. Most importantly most of us actually don’t care enough about our online privacy but we should know that privacy is about the power we have the more power we have over our lives.  In this era of mass surveillance, this system is bound to be abused. We can stop all this from happening.