Internet Neutrality

A Haiku and a Short Story

My laptop is safe

Files encrypted, no loopholes

What was the password? 

I tried to be original once… It was patented 

Here Comes Everybody

Earlier this year I worked with a few friends from my ethics class to promote social change. Our Goal: To make simple acts of service a part of each student’s day. Together, we founded Text2Serve.  By sending a simple message to 40404, a person could sign up to receive daily service challenges. Within a week we had over 100 members! One day the challenge was to make a yummy treat and share it with a friend. Within a few hours three plates of goodies had shown up at my door. Unknown to me, we had formed our own Text2Serve community. The book, Here Comes Everybody, discusses the global impact of easy networking. Suddenly terms like flash mob, open source, wiki, and crowd sourcing have become commonplace. With no barrier to communication, vast communities can form overnight. As growing numbers of individuals connect, a network can quickly gain an enormous amount of influence. While The First Amendment enables freedom of speech, this ability to network grants power of speech. The game changing power of the Internet enables even the youngest of students to have an enormous impact on the world.

Majorly Unattractive

The first day I entered my family history class, I was surprised that half of my classmates were women. I had to remind myself that most classes are this way. As a computer science major I have become accustomed to classrooms dominated by men. Why are there so few women studying computer science? The rise of video games seems to be a contributing factor. As women try to enter the field, they find themselves surrounded by game-crazed men. Is this appealing? A recent survey conducted at my apartment complex showed that women rank video games as a highly unattractive trait in men, just below bow hunting and hatchet juggling. Is it any wonder that women aren’t flocking to tech companies? I am fascinated by computer science, but if my classrooms were filled with cat-crazed grandmothers, I would leave in search of better company. 

Security in Public Code Books

How do you make a secret more secure by publishing your code book? Many companies hide their code; this hides bugs from exploitation, in essence providing security through obscurity. However, Lava-bit, the flag ship of secure email, just published all of its encryption code. While this may sound counter-intuitive, open sourcing their encryption code is one of the best ways to provide security. Now Lava-bit encryption will be open to constant public review. Hidden bugs will be trampled by mobs of contributors. Perhaps most importantly, this decentralizes all the public keys preventing big brother from stealing lava-bit’s keychain. Now I hold the key to my secure email, and only I can decrypt them. Because Lava-bit has revealed its secrets, I can rest assured that mine are secure. 

Sharing The Gospel With All Your Might: Pinterest

How long before we see missionaries called to serve over Pintrest? While serving my mission, the church began the “I’m a Mormon” campaign. I received excited emails from friends and family members telling me that billboards, banners, and even Times Square were filled with “I’m a Mormon” advertisements. Now, my neighboring ward has been asked to pilot sharing the gospel over Pinterest. The church is encouraging us to embrace new technology and learn to use it to share the gospel. I never would have thought that serving the Lord with all my might, mind and strength would have included using Pinterest.