CS 492/692 - Spring 2020 - Week 6 Readings Summary

Here are some notes to remind you of the Readings of the Week, on Work Part II (E-Commerce and Changing Workplace). Feel free to skim some papers.

Scourge of Spam: arising from the openness of the Internet - costs a pittance to send - was 70% of all traffic in 2004 - overwhelming servers and wasting time for organizations - hijacked computers and botnets - are filters working well enough? - coming from anywhere - Canada has "new" law to prevent (opt-in): is this working?

Cyberwarfare and Ransomware: a new challenge for online businesses - cases where organizations have paid up - new demands for investment in security - possible joint efforts: can this be mitigated or not?

Threatened business (journalism, Canada Post, Trading) and rise of online: newspaper industry under threat: asking for paid subscriptions, trying video and blogs online, different ad revenue cannot recoup losses, competition from many online sources, their resources "stolen" by others, is computerization making this whole industry obsolete? - 2013 story on Canada Post losses: another industry at risk - the loss of jobs on the trading floors to automated solutions: does electronic work?

Disruption to Tech Jobs: ease of outsourcing - are you concerned that your own job is at risk? what will enable you to always be employed? which sectors are "safe" from elimination?

E-Voting: governments trying to operate online - concerns about e-voting including poor interfaces, system failures, lack of transparency, fraud, lack of confidence that information is kept private, disadvantaged population; kiosks or using own machines; chance for coercion (someone looking over your shoulder as you vote)- would you e-vote and do you e-file your taxes: what is the difference? - can e-voting help in emergencies (Hurricane Sandy)?

Big data: continue to reflect on the prevalent use of big data and algorithmic solutions within industry: do organizations truly know how to assemble and analyze properly? is AI now skyrocketing? what would be ideal for the future of businesses?

Announcements: - A4 is underway now and due Jul 2 at 10am; feel free to work on A5 or A6 concurrently - RPEs next week (think about A6) - Jun 29 and Jul 3: ethics workshop: look at specifically-indicated scenarios from Handout that will be posted before that week begins as well as Week8 Readings - note that Jul 1 holiday adjusts Week 8 dates - A3 will take a while to grade and eventually a note will show up in Prof. Cohen folder (around Week 8)