Technical Details Assignment

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WEEK 1
Massive Intel CPU flaw: Understanding the technical details of Meltdown and Spectre
James, S 2018, ‘Massive Intel CPU flaw: Understanding the technical details of Meltdown and Spectre.’
TechRepublic [online]. Available from: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/massive-intel-cpu-flaw-
understanding-the-technical-details-of-meltdown-and-spectre/ [Accessed 16 May 2018].
This article describes the emergence of critical architectural flaws in the central processing units, and
that which allows or dupes unauthorized applications to read from the kernel (part of the operating
system). I chose this article for its clarity in explanation in the emergence, discovery and the
differences between the two flaws that presents a serious havoc in the world of computing and
computer data security. Additionally, the article gives a breakdown of processors heavily affected by
the flaws.
Meltdown, one of the flaw, is described as a hardware-level flaw that allows programs to read from
the operating systems following a behavior that is out-of-order on CPU executes instructions and
accesses memory. The out-of order execution neutralizes security models that are based on
paravirtualized software and address space thus ‘permitting’ applications to read from the physical
memory, including the kernel, without any order.
While current researches and studies have not promised if any updates on the CPU microcode will
completely mitigate the vulnerability, it continues to wreak havoc on computer and computer
systems at an astonishing speed of 120 KB per second.
Key to note, is the paragraph in which the author describes the risks posed to the cloud computing
world. While there is no indication and fingerprints to the usage of meltdown in the wild as the
exploitation is never traceable in the system logs, some malware signatures are detectable using

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traditional means.
The usefulness in this article is that it provides a clear description of what is and how meltdown
occurs and its effects on computer systems. Most important is the part that describes who is
vulnerable, and what could be the ultimate solution to the vulnerability, that is, architectural changes
for future products. The fact that the article describes the core differences between Meltdown and
Spectre make the article more useful.
WEEK 2

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Graphical User Interface
Steven, L. 2018. ‘Graphical User Interface.’ Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. [online]
https://www.britannica.com/technology/graphical-user-interface [Accessed 16 May 2018].
In this article, Steven Levy gives a detailed description of early operating systems that run on various
computers, and cascading researches and developments that led to the generally loved, easy to use
and learn, user interface- the graphical user interface (GUI). I chose this article particularly due to the
simplicity used in accounting for the development and ‘discovery’ of graphical user interface. The
account is described stepwise from early times of the interface to the present day interface with a
detailed response by research and interest groups to great development soon after 1985- which
marked a new way of human-computer interaction, other than the hard to learn and use, command
line interface.
What we find here is that there is no single person that can be traced to have invented the interface,
but each, at their own time improved some already existing designs. The article credits Vannever
Bush as the first theorist who in his article “As We May Think” envisioned how future computer user
would use a “computer-like device that was outfitted with buttons and levers to access information.
The article gives a series of developments that followed, starting from the PARC –Palo Alto
Research Center- wave of innovation on their Xerox Star workstation. Everything on this computer
was represented as a picture, using an expensive bit mapping technique. Additionally, the computer
had the capability of displaying exactly what outputs of a printer would be, an idea that was coiled as
‘what you see is what you get.’

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What is more useful on this article is the description of how researchers picked up work done by their
predecessors and finally realized their dreams. Moreover, the criticism that followed and its effects of
developments of other interfaces such as voice recognition.
WEEK 3
GreenWaves Technologies just produced a prototype of a new wireless modem for the IoT
GreeWaves, 2015. ‘GreenWaves Technologies just produced a prototype of a new wireless modem
for the IoT.’ GreenWaves Technologies [online]. Available from: https://greenwaves-
technologies.com/en/wireless-modem-prototype-iot/. [Accessed 16 May, 2018].
This article describe one of the many ways through which Green Waves technologies implement
Low-Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN). The firm is dedicated to developing high data rate
applications using models such as NUCLEO development board, XILINX Zynq-7000 FPGA
development board and an ATREB15-XPRO evaluation board.
According to the article, these boards will allow the firms to deploy high data rate and low power
communicating objects in its existing LPWAN networks. In the second phase, this board prototype
will be integrated on one standalone board. It will be available to early adopters for prototyping
communicating objects applications. In the third phase, the FPGA will be replaced by an ASIC. This
full GreenOFDM wireless modem will be manufactured and delivered to customers.
I found this article more useful in creating a great insight in the development of LPWAN, a
technology around which internet of things is based.
WEEK 4
Understanding Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)

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Kelvin M. 2015, ‘Understanding Session Initiation Protocol (SIP)’, West [online] Available from:
https://www.westuc.com/en-us/blog/managed-voice-services/understanding-session-initiation-
protocol-sip [Accessed 16 May 2018].
Session Internet Protocol (SIP), has cultivated its way through the years to become a popular
protocol for establishing voice and video communications. In this article, Kevin McMahon describes
the history of this important protocol, and the motivation behind it, including its powerful
capabilities. I specifically chose article because of how it describes SIP as a voice over internet
protocol, its evolutions, components, elements, addressing and messaging and motivating
technologies, all which are describe using precise examples.
Tele-communication sessions are initiated and terminated (once involved partied are done with
communicating) through a process called signaling. Session initiation protocol could be used to
generate these processes to connect various entities such as billing systems, humans and switching
systems. RFC 3261, baseline standard for SIP defines user location, availability, capabilities, setup,
and session management as the key elements that must be available for session initiation,
management and termination.
The most important part in the article is the one which describes addressing and messaging. For
communication to happen, specific addresses and/or identifier are generated using SIP Uniform
Recourse Identifier, which is likened to an email consisting of two parts; username and a hostname.
Messages must be exchanged for the already established session to be maintained, and the type of
messages helps the recipient to understand the type of action that the server is taking.
I found this resource helpful and enlightening because of the examples included in it. Though very
simple, the examples are set in such a way that even a person learning voice over the internet for the
first time will have a lot to grasp, each step is wisely described, including the processes involved in

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IP telephony and communications.
WEEK 5
BLOCKCHAIN SECURITY MECHANISMS
Shaan, R., 2018. ‘Blockchain Security Mechanisms.’ Towards Data Science [online]. Available
from:
https://towardsdatascience.com/mechanisms-securing-blockchain-data-9e762513ae28 [Accessed 16
May 2018].
Blockchain mechanism has been in several instances described as the digital gold due to its powerful
capabilities that include the ability to allow digital information to be securely distributed but not
copied. And what is so amazing of this technology is the fact that one just needs some basic
knowledge so as to use it. I chose this article because it thoroughly describes one capability of
Blockchain- security, an over sought service over and across the world.
Merkle trees and cryptographic hashing are used to safeguard data integrity on both public and
private blockchains. Cryptographic hashing is easily executed using mathematical functions but
hardly reversed, and this constitutes the whole difference between encryption (which can easily be
reversed using known keys) and hashing. Hashing has been applied in cybersecurity, spiced up by a
technique called salting in which random data is added to passwords before hashing them. The
outcome of the hashing makes it hard for hackers and cyber criminals to decipher even if they have
access to the hashing code used. On its side, Merkle tree allows accurate, and secure verification of
voluminous data, hence maintaining data integrity.
The insights provided by this resources goes a long way into providing a secure world as far as
computer systems and data integrity are considered. This fact alone, makes the article an

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indispensable one to anybody who likes computer security and privacy. It presents very important
security mechanisms and how they work, that which could easily be implemented and made to sit at
the center of our peer-to-peer networks.
WEEK 6
The Implications of the end of the net neutrality
Sergey, D. 2017. ‘The implications of the end of net neutrality.’ TechCrunch [online]. Available
from: https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/20/the-implications-of-the-end-of-net-neutrality/ [Accessed
16 May 2018].
The Federal Communication Commission of the United states in 2010 established rules that could
help enforce net neutrality. It based these rules on three basic principles: transparency, no blocking
and no discrimination. This meant that internet service providers were required to regularly disclose
how they manage their networks, not to block people from accessing legal information and
applications and that they were not expected to favor one traffic source for another. These principles
consequently established what was termed as internet (net) neutrality. This article describes end
results of pulling down internet neutrality by the new administration in America. In this masterpiece,
Sergey Denisenko slowly takes his readers thorough what net neutrality is, it history and the net
effects of its withdrawal and /.or contraventions of its provisions, a reason that made me go for it.
What is more important on this article is the stressing made on what internet Service Providers ought
to give to its customers, unlimited, access to all legal content, without blocking and discriminating
against them based on any factors whatsoever.
Removing net neutrality will force firms to pay for the zero-rated internet traffic for them to remain

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competitive, customers will continue being charged. This means that companies and individuals
without ‘deep pockets’ will be discriminated against, as their internet speeds will be too low.
This paper discusses other notable effects, of internet neutrality, making it more resourceful,
educating and important.
WEEK 7
80% of IT Jobs can be Replaced by Automation, And it’s ‘Exciting’
Dom, M.; Patrick, C., 2016. ‘80% of IT Jobs can be Replaced by Automation, And it’s ‘Exciting.’
Tech insider, Structure Conference [online]. Available from: https://futurism.com/80-of-it-jobs-can-
be-replaced-by-automation-and-its-exciting/ [Accessed 16 May 2018].
In a conference held in San Francisco, it was proved that 80% of jobs in IT would be replaced by AI-
and related systems in the near future. This was fooled by illustration from various examples which
were seriously engaged in research and development of AI systems. In this article, Vinod Khosla
describes how Nutnix and Mesophere which had systems helped in handling of networks between
servers. This paper describes how, though a blessing to many, technology has grown to be a source
of frustrations, anxiety, staff trenching, and the ever increasing unemployment rates.
The speaker in this article is very sure of how artificial intelligence plus some other couple of
technological advancements could replace many jobs, traditional preserved for highly skilled
professionals. Such jobs include driving vehicles taxis and trucks’ delivery among many others.
The most important section of the article is the one in which the author expresses his unwavering
confidence on the ability of technology, and artificial knowledge to permits its way into server

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rooms, data centers and Information Communication Technology departments.
The importance of this paper is that it gives an insight into how technology, and automation in
general can be streamlined in such a way that it doesn’t cause more frustrations and worries among
people.
WEEK 8
AN INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LERANING
Lisa, T., 2017. ‘AN INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING.’ DigitalOcean [online]
Available fromhttps://www.digitalocean.com/community/tutorials/an-introduction-to-machine-
learning [Accessed 17 May 2018].
New technologies have critically positioned themselves as key drivers of business, and to a greater
extent, they are even determining how future is likely to shape up. Among these technologies is
machine learning, a subfield of artificial intelligence whose main goal is to create an understanding
of data and fit that data to understandable and useable models. In this article, Lisa Tagliaferri
introduces us to machine learning, learning methods and their uses in daily businesses and human
life. I chose this article particularly because of its organization, and precise accuracy in information
given about the subject.
The difference between the traditional computer systems and the present day machine learning is that
computer systems used explicitly set or fixed algorithms while machine learning algorithms train
data and uses statistical analysis so that output may fall within a given range.
The article rises to its peak when the author discuss various machine learning methods and how they
are being used. Supervised learning aims at providing computer with inputs and corresponding

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desired outputs which acts as trainers for the algorithm. The method has been used to statistically
predict the future of stock market, and to filter spam mails. Unsupervised learning on the other hand
does not provide the computer with labelled input data. The method has been successfully applied in
transactional data.
I found this resource specifically useful because of its eloquent explanation on the subject matter.
And besides describing how machine; learning is being used, it went further to details of
programming languages that constitute machine learning and various applicable algorithms.
WEEK 9
Swift 4
The Powerful Programming Language That is Also Easy to Learn
Developer, 2018. ‘Swift 4: The Powerful Programming Language That is Also Easy to Learn.’
Developer [online]. Available from: https://developer.apple.com/swift/ [Accessed 17 May 2018].
Developed by Apple Inc. in 2014, Swift programming language builds up on features of Rust,
Haskell, Ruby, Python, Objective-C, C#, and CLU. This article describes Swift $ as a programming
language that is easy to learn and use, and a powerful language for use in devices and operating
systems like macOS, iOS, tvOS and watchOS.
Swift programming language present features that are loved by most programmers and by design, it
is a safe to used language. Among other reasons that, made me choose this article is its simplicity of
explanations used, making it easy for developers learning the language love and understand it.
Among other features of the language are; faster, strings that are easy to use and retain Unicode
correctness besides additional support for using, creating and managing substrings, enforced

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exclusive access to memory, enhancements useful for creating and manipulating dictionary sets and
set types, and extending support of archival and serialization to struct and enumerate types among
many other features.
The usefulness of this article is that it gives examples of swift 4 code in illustrating its usage, in
addition to the explanation for the inter-operability of the language at the end of the article. It is great
news that one can even code using the language right away from their ipads.
WEEK 10
AUTOMATION IS THREATENING DEMOCRACY
Daniella L. P., 2017. ‘Automation is threatening democracy.’ Becoming Human: artificial
Intelligence Magazine [online]. Available from: https://becominghuman.ai/automation-is-
threatening-democracy-32e8570258a5 [Accessed 17 May 2018].
In the present day world, the future of technological innovations remains largely unpredictable and so

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are their effects. This article takes us through one of the worrying uses of technology that has gone
far deep to threaten democracy in existing institutions including political ones) through automated
spread of misinformation, and bot. I particularly chose this article due to the fact that it not only
meets the demands of the question, but also touches on the nerve of peaceful coexistence of human
beings as far as their political world and right to information is concerned. The arguments placed in
this article are proved using facts and very accurate figures.
In the political arena, social media accounts have been controlled using automated software to spread
misleading information, propaganda, fake news, and creating a false sense of popularity. This is made
possible by algorithms that exhibit human-like behavior and that which are successfully
marginalizing dissenting information, intimidating human rights activist and journalists. The article
moves further to describe how software has been used to tailor information to the predisposition of
different population strata by using algorithms in combination with artificial intelligence and data
analytics.
Key to note in this article is the description of useful ways through which the human race can avert
usage of bots and automated algorithms in the political arena. It calls social media owners and users
of all platforms to be vigilant and seriously responsible and proactive in preventing spreading of
automated content and fake news.
MARKING SHEET - DO NOT DELETE
Criteria 0 No Response
<=1 Poor resource selection; resource is too broad or lacks relevance to the task;
summary fails to explain what the resource was about; the relevance and/or

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usefulness of the resource has not been explained.
<=2 Good resource selection; resource is relevant to the task; summary is adequate but
may require either more detail or is too long; the relevance and/or usefulness of
the resource has been explained to some extent, but needs additional information.
<=3 Excellent resource selection; resource is highly relevant to the task (the resource is
probably highly specialised); summary is detailed yet concise; the relevance and
usefulness of the resource selection has been clearly explained.
Key
Deductions
-3
-2
-1
Reference/URL provided does not link to resource (and resource cannot be located
or determined from details provided) OR
Reference/URL provided does not relate to the summary (i.e. summary is not of
resource content / contains content not contained in the resource)
Resource is generic AND/OR covers multiple technologies/examples rather than
focuses on a single technology/example
Resource not referenced correctly/not in Harvard format
Week Marks Awarded
1
2
3