Presentation Summaries
August 14, 2022
Theory of Computation Summary
In your CS career you might be tasked to solve problems whose structures can be broken
down into a graph of nodes, interconnected lines and weights. These problems may include
finding the shortest path between two nodes, passing through each node once and returning
to the starting position or passing through each line once. Algorithms implemented as
programs are then used to solve these problems. However the effectiveness of these
algorithms vary depending on the problem; some problems have fast programs, some have
slow programs and some have no programs at all. And so, these computer problems are put
into three categories: efficiently solvable, solvable and unsolvable. Those that are
efficiently solvable, such as the Euler Cycle, have a program that can solve the problem
quickly, those that are solvable, such as the Hamiltonian Cycle, have a program that can
solve the problem, though takes longer to do it, and those that are unsolvable, such as
the Halting problem, have been proved to have no solution at all.
Cloud Computing Summary
Big data is measured in three categories, the three Vs which are Volume, Velocity and
Variety. Volume is the measure of the size of the data, velocity is the measure of how
fast the data is coming in and variety the different types of data being received.
In essence, Cloud Computing is a service. There is a three step process many things fall
under: invention, product, then service. Computing was first an invention, which then
became a product that could be bought by the public. Now it’s a service in the form of
Cloud Computing, allowing anyone with an internet connection access to computing services.
Security Summary
There are three things one can do to begin getting into security. One is to practice the
security mindset; if you are in a situation involving any type of security, think of ways
to bypass it and look for weaknesses. The two other things are to start experimenting with
security tools and to learn security fundamentals. One example of the implementation of
security techniques is with car remote keys, and it’s called rolling code. Using this method,
the car and the key share a common “seed” which is used to generate a code, usually based on
how many times the button has ever been pressed, that the key sends to the car which
authenticates it. If the codes match, the car unlocks, and the code used to unlock the car is
discarded such that the same code cannot be used in future interactions. Another aspect of
security is that not everything needs to be very secure. How secure something needs to be will
depend on what it protects, and how costly, difficult, and inconvenient it will be to secure.
For example, RFID cards used to access buildings can easily be “hacked” but what they protect
is not of such high importance. Meanwhile the database of a large company would surely be very
secure as a data breach of the sort could cost them millions.