Category: Tech & Engineering

Background of Oil and Gas Drilling Methods

The extractors and producers of gas and oil do so by employing various ways. Gas and oil extraction is dependent on issues such as location and geology. The first technique used to tap oil sands was in the mid-20th century. The process employed hot water as a means to separate the bitumen from deposits (Econsult Solutions, 2018). With the continuous development of technology, the process has continuously evolved into sophisticated methods convenient for oil production. The conventional oil production method is still used today, where the oil, by means of traditional pumping and drilling methods, is extracted from the ground to reservoirs. On the other hand, the unconventional method is an innovative oil extraction method used by oil and gas extractors. The approach permits the in situ development and oil sands to be useful for recovering oil that does not flow due to its own heaviness (Taha & Amani, 2019). Thus, both the conventional and unconventional techniques are vital in ensuring oil and gas extraction succeeds in contemporary society.

Conventional Drilling Process

The conventional drilling process is drilling the reservoir and oil to allow pressure to flow out the ground. The well gets older with the passing of years, and when it happens, the drillers or extractors pump a jack in the well to help pump the hoary out of it. The most considerable aspect of the conventional method is that it is cheaper than the unconventional oil drilling contrivances. Initially, the drilling of a well was cable tool based, with other construction tools such as bamboo included in the count. This earlier technique was vital for drilling salt, as one of the five flavors that identified the cosmological Chinese cuisine (Econsult Solutions, 2018). It is from this concept that the aspects of sand oil drilling came to exits. Instead of using bamboo, oil drilling in this period utilized flexible ranches that were mounted on a fulcrum with appropriate drilling cables. The process was very much involving in the early days, before improvising supportive mechanisms to help support the drilling process. In whatever capacity, the conventional drilling process consists of making holes on the ground before the actual oil extraction.

Effect in Economy and the Environment

The most binding effect of conventional drilling is revenue creation. As of 2011 to 2015s gas and oil production, Pennsylvanias example reveals it all. Both the gas and oil pricing data were significant in the estimation of the average annual revenues. For instance, the country had the capacity to produce $ 648.4 million and $ 180.6 million for gases and oil, respectively. The example means that convention oil extraction supports a country in the stabilization of its revenue conception ability.

The next effect is assessed through the study of the IMPLAN model. IMPLAN is software useful in evaluating the impact of gas and oil industries in the world (Econsult Solutions, 2018). The software is pertinent in assessing the job and economic creation involving developmental projects, public policy changes, and new business inventions. Some of the direct expenditures are used to purchase services and goods, which again circulates back into the economy for purchase by local vendors. The conventional method has employees receiving monthly salary as labor income. The income circulates back into the economy, considering that the workers will then spend the earnings on various services and goods within the countrys confines. The economic impact of conventional drilling is as structured below, as per the Pennsylvanian case study.

Figure 1 shows that the conventional gas and oil operations can generate substantial economic revenue for a country. Such affects the country by utilizing local vendors and inputs that give back to the community in business strategy.

Environmental Impact

Gas and oil drilling is among the activities that have dreadful consequences for communities and wildlife. Drilling happens around the clock, thus disrupting water resources, world life, recreation, and human health (CSA Ocean Sciences Organization, 2016). Wildlife is greatly affected by drilling, causing menaces such as loud noise, vehicle, and human movement, hence disrupting wildlifes breading, communication, and nesting habits. Other infrastructures such as roads, well pads, fences, and power lines fragment the wild animals habitats. Moreover, oil spills when not properly uncontrolled becomes deadly to animals. Oils spillages are poisonous and can easily cause death to world life. The deep-water horizon rig is one of the 2010s Mexican Gulf menace experience that substantiates how toxic oil spillage to the environment can be (CSA Ocean Sciences Organization, 2016). Small spillage as well, though, does not make headlines, needs proper disposal methods to safeguard the environment. Contextually, conventional drilling causes more harm to the environment than good, insinuating that meaningful ways should be used when executing the conventional drilling.

The Laser Drilling

One of the prime techniques for good drilling is a laser. The method is cost-effective because it involves facilities that operate on beam delivery and motion control systems (Sarfraz et al., 2017). The technique is arguably better compared to other manufacturing techniques. The justification of the technique is due to its aspect of indirectly contacting the material surface and its high precision level. During oil or gas production, the holes quality is paramount to oil hunters, and that is exactly what lesser drilling procedure offers.

How Lesser Drilling Work

The priority of using a lesser drilling system is positive due to aspects such as the drilling rate and time increase. A study done by CSA Ocean Sciences Organization (2016) shows that the drilling rate increases to approximately 10 to 100 times when lesser drilling is used. That means, lesser has the potential of performing highly in drilling levels with minimal power. Laser occurs in stages; when contacted with surface stone, the drilling of stone is systematic. In laser, the rate of drilling or penetration is highly regarded because the penetration rate depends on cost. The following equation determines the frequency of laser drilling penetration:ROP= SP/SE= The power per unit area/the energy needed to extract a unit rock

The Effect of Laser on the Environment

During the drilling process, many wastewaters are produced and are then incorrectly introduced into natures circle. The amount of waste produced depends on the technological aspects of use. Some drillers incorrectly use old equipment, thus exposing the environment to damages even the more. Boring occurs as an oil-based technique, where the oil spillage to the environment greatly damages the fertility of the land or water. Considering that the drilling process involves the alteration of drilling fluid, the chemicals used in the process dramatically damage the environment. Due to the damage that mud-based drilling can cause, the current technology embraces dust-drilling knowledge, where dust is used for the air-fluid drilling. The dust based expertise supports the use of lighter drilling pipe, the fact that cause decreased pollution of the environment. Noticeably, compared to the conventional drilling processes, laser drilling pollutes the environment lesser.

The Effect of Laser Drilling On the Economy

The following equation shows the cost of foot or laser drilling: Ct= B + Cr + (t + T)F. The formula reveals that the drilling length increases when the laser-drilling system is employed (Taha & Amani, 2019). The moment the length of drilling increases, the cost of drilling decreases. Drilling using laser attracts electric energy, instead of relying on mechanical energy as in the conventional methods. As a result, the laser system ensures the rigging of working days duration, resulting in a tripping time, which occurs because of the decrease of the drilling bit (Taha & Amani, 2019). Thus, economically, laser drilling is less expensive than conventional means, so the approach is cost-effective for the drillers. Most of the machinery used during a lesser drilling system intensify productivity. The increased oil and gas manufacturing results in a high-profit percent production; hence, the method brings a higher amount of revenue to the country. Besides, the technology reduces the formation of damage to the environment, thus protecting the amount of waste a drilling company would incur. The process is thus produced, in such a way that it adds revenue to the country; by bringing about higher profits to the company.

Conclusion

Both conventional and laser drilling methods are useful in the production of oil and gas. Fortunately, the methods are essential in ensuring the nation receives its economic aspects or advantage just as required. Besides producing oil and gas as needed, the techniques help stabilize a nations economy by creating employment and increasing a governmental revenue production scheme. The methods support the growth of a nations economy. Unfortunately, care is required in the manufacturing process, because both the methods can be a menace to the environment by causing pollution. Oil spillage and disruption that occurs through sound production from the machine and other factors disrupt the natural ecosystem, causing environmental instability.

Recommendations

It is agreeable that since the introduction of the rotary drilling methods, the deep petroleum and gas production has changed drastically. There is a need to extract oil and gas from the ground more rapidly, which is both beneficial and disadvantageous. Considering the pollution, which these drilling methods cause to the environment and the effects on the natural ecosystem, it is recommended that proper means of oil extraction be embraced. The drilling process should then adapt the drilling mechanism that adapts to the use of technology that is less destructive to the environment and cost-effective. The aspect lightens the production weight while ensuring the safety of the ground at the same time. Thus, more is still needed to ensure proper mechanisms are put in place to strengthen the oil and gas production industries.

References

CSA Ocean Sciences Organization. (2016). Environmental impact report for production drilling, production tests, and completion. Leviathan Field.

Econsult Solutions. (2018). The local economic impact of the conventional oil and gas industry in Western Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Printers.

Sarfraz, S., Shehab, E., & Salonitis, K. (2017). A review of technical challenges of laser drilling manufacturing process.Advances in Manufacturing Technology, 6, 51-56. Web.

Singh, B. (2019). Offshore well drilling: A general overview. Marine Insight. Web.

Taha, A., & Amani, M. (2019). Introduction to smart oil and gas wells: Drilling, completion and monitoring solutions.International Journal of Petrochemistry and Research, 3(1), 249-254. Web.

The majority of Wi-Fi networks are closed, with a password necessary to obtain permission to use the connection. Securing a network requires a communication protocol, which determines the terms of use. All protocols can be hacked, therefore, they are updated to minimize the risk of outside access. WPA is a series of programs designed to increase the security of Wi-Fi networks. WPA3 is the most recent entrance, and it has several benefits over its predecessor, WPA2.

Prerequisites for WPA2 and WPA3

WPA emerged as a solution to the vulnerability of the previous iteration of security programming WEP. The acronym WPA stands for Wi-Fi Protected Access, which uses a stronger encryption method, known as TKIP. The Temporal Key Integrity Protocol has a dynamic encryption key, whereas WEP required a user to manually enter the key, which would not change. Although it was more secure than WPE, not all devices were advanced enough for a new encryption system. As a result, WPA had to rely on WEP, thus making it vulnerable to breach and justifying the necessity for WPA2.

WPA2 provides more security and is the most utilized protocol today. Its distinctive feature is the use of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), which has a stronger algorithm. In theory, it should have eliminated the possibility of getting access to a network by password guessing. However, a bug in programming allowed hackers to use a KRACK technique. Subsequently, this flaw gives attacker a skeleton key to access any WPA2 network without a password (Kaniewski, 2019, p. 6). WPA2, which had been presumed to be unhackable, was now vulnerable due to programming imperfection.

The Wi-Fi Alliance published the latest version of Wi-Fi Protected Access known as WPA3 in 2018. It should be noted that there was another problem with WPA2 besides KRACK. The incompatibility of many devices to AES forced WPA2 to also use the outdated TKIP. This weakness drove software developers to erase the possibility of a new protocol relying on older encryption methods, which can be bypassed (Wi-Fi Alliance, Wi-Fi Certified WPA3 Section, para. 1). Therefore, WPA3 is more stable and uses only AES for encrypting.

Server Authentication in WPA3

One of the primary upgrades of WPA3 over WPA2 is the procedure of server authentication. The attackers purpose is to obtain the credentials of a Wi-Fi network. Most of the users are not aware of their smartphones accessing the network as these processes are automatic. Bartoli (2020) argues that network credentials often unlock access to all enterprise services (p. 2). The hackers solution was to create an evil twin, which is a fraudulent access point. It appears to have the name of the Wi-Fi network the user is trying to connect to. Afterward, the traffic data allows the perpetrators to guess the credentials.

This weakness left the organizations relying on WPA2 vulnerable to leakage. It is made possible by the organizations security policy allowing the presence of unsecured networks, among which an evil twin resides. It can be resolved by the mandatory prohibition of insecure connections, but WPA2 Enterprise does not provide any technical means for detecting connection attempts from supplicants that are not compliant with the security policy (Bartoli, 2020, p. 3). In essence, WPA2 allowed the existence of evil twins, which were used to steal information.

In response to this threat, the Wi-Fi Alliance structured WPA3 by using stricter security policies and minimizing automatic connections with outside users. WPA3 configuration forbids access to unauthorized certificates in the network. The problem is that administrators still have to decide on the trustworthiness of a new identity (Bartoli, 2020). Although the overall server authentication is less susceptible to attacks, the core issue of correctly verifying the connection remains unresolved.

Security of Wi-Fi connection in WPA3

Another vulnerability of WPA2 is connected with those networks, which are protected by weak passwords. Although WPA2 uses AES, which is extremely unlikely to be bypassed by brute force, such networks can be infiltrated because keywords are not ingenious enough, meaning they can be guessed (Wi-Fi Alliance, Wi- Is WPA3 Better Than WPA2 Section, para. 1). WPA3 allows only one attempt at inserting a password, prolonging the time necessary to correctly estimate the necessary word bypassed.

WPA3 also protects the anonymity of users in open Wi-Fi areas. Earlier iteration warned upon connecting that the network is not secure. Subsequently, it was necessary to utilize a VPN server or exclusively visit web pages with encrypted HTTPS. In contrast, WPA3 encrypts each individual gadgets connection to an unsecured access point, thus lowering the chances of data theft in a public network (Kaniewski, 2019). Nevertheless, an attacker can still interact with the Wi-Fi network repeatedly, leaving the possibility of brute force access.

Conclusion

Altogether, WPA3 is the upgraded version of WPA2, with less hacking risk. Advanced Encryption Standard substantially complicates brute force attacks by a more sophisticated encryption method. The bug that allowed resorting to the KRACK technique is fixed. Server authentication in WPA3 prohibits unsecured networks and untrusted connections, removing evil twins. The security of open Wi-Fi areas is strengthened, protecting even weak passwords. Ultimately, each user is still responsible for their privacy, as hackers adapt to the programming imperfection.

References

Bartoli, A. (2020). Understanding Server Authentication in WPA3 Enterprise.Applied Sciences, 10(21), 1-12. Web.

Kaniewski, P. (Ed.). (2019). Proceedings of the XII Conference on Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare Systems. The Military University of Technology. Web.

Wi-Fi Alliance. (n.d.). WPA2 and WPA3 security. Web.

Social media and various apps have tremendous addictive potential because people cannot stop receiving imaginary approval or consume an endless amount of unnecessary information, thus shortening life. Many people spend too much time on their phones, especially on specific apps, such as Tik Tok, Snapchat, Instagram, and others, when they could be doing something much more productive. Consequently, in order to not spend the whole life looking in hand, it is necessary to wake and live in a real, not a virtual world, using the phone only for truly necessary reasons.

Social networks, as mentioned earlier, make people addicted and have a significant risk of subjection. There are several reasons for it, one of which is the effect on the brains pleasure centers (Anderson and Rainie, 2018). In particular, on Instagram, the person receives enjoyable emotions from approval marks; as a result, he or she has a desire to publish and receive a new positive response endlessly. A human can spend hours updating the feed in order to see new likes under the publication. In this case, if you are so hungry for peoples approval, dont post your brand-new snickers on Instagram  just ask your mom and you will be rewarded by the most precious like in your life. If you are lucky enough, your mom reposts to your grandma and you will be drowning in the sea of love and approval. Thus, why seek love from random strangers? If you find the basis for the brains pleasure centers in truly useful things, for example, in the pages for learning a new language, time will no longer be wasted.

Posts in social media frequently have the highest degree of bias, which in turn is reflected in the low degree of accuracy of online portraits of people. Instagram creates life in miniature, and frequently, the owners of accounts themselves cannot define where the reality is and where the fiction of their online portraits is. The business person on Instagram is frequently a 15-years-old geek playing video games and missing classes. Realizing that there is no need to strive for an equally perfect picture in a profile because each person is unique, it is possible to escape this addiction.

Working in the mode of a constant flow of information and replacing each other emotional impressions, the brain gets extremely tired. Not surprisingly that the hallmark of our generation is the ability to get tired of doing nothing. Without having time to fully open your eyes, you are already inserting the phone and looking at the tape with a stream of meaningless information, dont you? Your emotions do not receive development in response to incoming feelings since it requires time and peace, which are absent in the conditions of convulsive assimilation of information (Anderson and Rainie, 2018). Besides, all this online chatting makes you change the masks all the time; while at a late party and receiving a message from your sad friend, just by switching from one chat to another, you can turn from a party animal into an empathic and supportive friend. However, in a hurry to be heard by people on the Internet, you lose precious communication minutes with the closest people in the real world, with whom much more time should be spent.

To summarize, in order to prevent useless spending time with the phone, which shortens life, it is necessary to live in the real, not in the virtual world, using apps for more productive reasons. It is needed to find the basis for the brains pleasure centers in truly useful things, and devote more time to the family. In addition, every life is exceptional and exciting, and there is no need to make it supposedly ideal on a social network. Awareness of all of it will allow empowering apps and social media to shorten life.

Work Cited

Anderson, Janna, and Rainie, Lee. Stories from Experts about the Impact of Digital Life.Pew Research Center, 2018. Web.

Need to Investigate Cyberbullying among Adolescents

In recent years, bullying has risen to become a hot topic in both the national and global media. Cyberbullying has added a new dimension to the already severe life-impacting issue, especially children and adolescents. The evolution of traditional bullying has facilitated this due to the emergence of modern digital communication. In the U.S., the adolescent culture is shifting from the usage of the Internet as an extra to a primary and necessary mode of communication. It is suggested that approximately one-third of Internet users worldwide are children. Its capability to encompass every aspect of human activity is almost infinite. The rapid spread of the Internet and childrens easy access has facilitated the promotion of traditional bullying by granting it an opportunity to expand from the school grounds into the vast and complex cyberspace, which also includes homes. Studies have revealed that since 2004, approximately 20% of children aged between 10 to 18 have fallen victim to cyberbullying ((Vaillancourt, Faris, & Mishna, 2017). Nevertheless, only a limited proportion of the victims have been reported.

Furthermore, this new form of bullying is more rampant and unique to the traditional one in that there is an unlimited audience, and it provides an illusion of anonymity. This is because the perpetrators hide behind the social media platforms; hence, they may not comprehend the outcomes of their actions. Consequently, this reduces the crucial feelings of personal accountability. In addition, the focus on this topic has been instigated by the recent news media, bringing to light the association between cyberbullying and adolescent suicide, the third leading cause of death among adolescents (Alavi et al., 2017). For instance, the case of the fifteen-year-old Amanda Todd of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, who committed suicide. This is after she experienced relentless acts of cyberbullying from a 35-year-old Dutchman and her classmates ((Vaillancourt et al., 2017). Nevertheless, cyberbullying has implications for the perpetrators as well. In 2010, nine high school students were charged with the death of Phoebe Price, a 15-year-old who took her own life following several months of offline and online harassment (Alavi et al., 2017). Overall the before-mentioned studies and cases illustrate that cyberbullying is an extremely relevant issue facing society.

Implications on the Family System and Parent-Child Relationship

The type and quality of parent-child relationships differ significantly based on the diverse parenting styles, which greatly impact modeling their childrens identity, character, and relationship with peers. Naturally, cyberbullying is regarded as a phenomenon ensuing more within the family context and less beyond it (Lopez-Castro & Priegue, 2019). Parents knowledge and awareness of digital bullying and parent-child child relationships have an important position in the emergence, maintenance, and prevention of cyberbullying. Recent studies are emphasizing on determining if and how parents are communicating with their children as the family systems are a powerful force modeling the personality of individual children (Lopez-Castro & Priegue, 2019). This recommendation is grounded on the family systems theory that highlights the interconnectedness between family members and the continuous creation of shared beliefs.

The communication and relationship that is existent in a family play a significant role in a childs socialization as they are the primary way children learn to interact with others. Therefore, in consideration of bullying, parents are the main factor in attaining an effective solution to cyberbullying. Overall, the before-mentioned statements imply that it is essential to foster a positive parent-child relationship. Parents should cultivate having clear and direct communication with their children, as this has been noted to lead to positive behavior towards their peers. In contrast, poor communication patterns have been correlated to feelings of unsupportiveness and rejection by children, hence, predisposing them to develop behavior problems (Offrey & Rinaldi, 2017). It is essential to note that although there might be positive communication, it is necessary to address the topic of bullying to encourage children to share experiences of victimization.

The other implication is that parents should improve their knowledge of online bullying. In a study by Lopez-Castro and Priegue (2019), the findings illustrated that most parents were unable to provide accurate descriptions of different types of bullying; thus, it was suggested that there should be an increased awareness surrounding the scope of bullying. Furthermore, the study revealed that parents perceive that direct forms of bullying, such as physical aggression, are more severe than their indirect counterparts. Lastly, it is implied that parental warmth, cohesion, closeness, support, care, and attachment facilitate the creation of a strong relationship between parents and their children to prevent cyberbullying. Family support was negatively correlated with cyberbullying perpetration and victimization.

Implications of Cyberbullying of Adolescents as it Relates to Children

Adolescents and children need to learn how to cope with cyberbullying. Children need to realize that there is no simple solution to cyberbullying, nor is there a completely secure way to handle a bully. First, they have to learn to prevent cyberbullying before it occurs. They could begin by never sharing the Internet passwords, blocking communication with cyberbullies (they should often try to delete messages before reading them), never posting or sharing personal information or those of their friends online (Help Guide, 2019). Furthermore, they should never talk about their lives online, always be polite online, and not send messages when angry or upset. Nevertheless, it implies that in the instance of cyberbullying, children should report threats of harm inappropriate sexual messages to the relevant authorities and do not respond to offensive threats or messages nor seek revenge (Help Guide, 2019). They should also save evidence of the cyberbullying and then report it to a trusted adult.

Lastly, while being bullied, it is vital to have trusted people to turn to for encouragement and support while managing stress and boosting resilience. Children should begin by unplugging from technology and find people who share the same values and interests (Help Guide, 2019). In addition, they can talk to parents, trusted friends, counselors, religious leaders or coaches, amongst others.

Implications of Cyberbullying of Adolescents on the Society

Cooperation between parents, governments, schools, Internet companies, and nonprofit companies is required to combat online bullying. If society acts responsibly, the prevalence of cyberbullying will become less significant. In most cases, supplements of cyberbullying occur in schools; hence, educational institutions have a crucial role to play. This encompasses discussing the issue, explaining the impacts of bullying, working together with parents and students to raise awareness. Educators are required to adopt risk prevention programs and, with the assistance of parents, to provide support to students ((Stopbullying.gov., 2020). The creation of a supportive and amicable environment in schools has positive effects on the student population; thereby, minimize the probability of cyberbullying. The conception of policies by school leadership is central to addressing the problem of cyberbullying. Administrators should be preemptive in implementing effective anti-bullying programs.

Social networking sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, are among the popular platforms for cyberbullying. As a result, such platforms have integrated options through which users can report harassment and even have the choice to block another user. Lastly, the various governments and non-governmental organizations have put into place legislatures criminalizing cyberbullying. For instance, the American National Crime Prevention Council launched a campaign under the name Dont Write It. Dont Forward It. Stop Cyberbullying. There is also StopBullying.gov that offers information from several government agencies on how parents, children, educators, and youth can prevent and stop cyberbullying ((Stopbullying.gov., 2020).

Relevance of Cyberbullying of Adolescents to Healthcare Practitioners

Since targets and bystanders are less likely to report bullying to adults, health providers serve an essential function in uncovering bullying that would otherwise be missed. The findings of a British study suggested that most parents (88.7%) and adolescents (90.8%) believe it is necessary that their health practitioners be capable of recognizing bullying and help the victims (Vaillancourt et al., 2017). Furthermore, the students perceived that having an independent family physician separate from the school environment holds its advantage. Therefore, it is implied that healthcare practitioners screen, validate, and advocate for cyberbullying. According to Ranney et al. (2016), the results showed that out of the 353 participants, 23.2% screened for post-traumatic stress disorder, 13.9% for depression, and 11.3% for past-year suicidal ideation, which have been strongly correlated with symptoms of bullying. Therefore, healthcare providers should be equipped with information concerning potential signs and symptoms of cyberbullying on which they should be alert. Some of these include school avoidance (increased truancy and absences, or other academic issues), diminished self-esteem and increased depression, sleeping problems, detachment from peers and family, sudden rage, and self-destructive behavior.

The other implication is that when children or their parents present to their healthcare provider with troubles regarding bullying, the practitioners should certify the concerns as legitimate, crucial, and commendable of receiving attention and necessary intervention. This is because the social lives of adolescents should not be disregarded as the present state of knowledge outlines the presence of an association between cyberbullying and poor health and academic outcomes (Vaillancourt, Faris, & Mishna, 2017). Furthermore, the absence of validation among adults regarding childrens bullying experiences might be traumatic.

Agencies, Programs, Support Services or Web Sites for Cyberbullying Victims

To protect children from cyberbullies and help victims recover, the Rhode Island state government created its first statewide cybercrime support and recovery hotline. The system allows Rhode Islanders to dial 2-1-1 to report and locate resources to recover from cyberbullying. The support and recovery system is managed via a partnership between the United Way Rhode Island 2-1-1, Cybercrime Support Network, and the Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center (BVAC) (United Way of Rhode Island, 2020). Upon calling the hotline, victims will be connected with trained operators who can evaluate the situation and link them with organizations to help victims of cyberbullying. They will then be put in touch with non-profit and governmental support groups who can offer counseling, amongst other services.

Furthermore, the Rhode Island state government enacted and approved the Safe School Actin response to standardize school responses to cyberbullying issues. The Safe Schools Act provides a statewide policy of disciplinary actions in response to digital bullying, comprising the prompt notification of both the victim and the perpetrator (Stopbulling.gov., 2020). It also protects students who anonymously report bullying. Therefore, in the case that children and parents are inquiring help from Human Resource support, the professional can make aware to them the details of the Act and how they should take up the issue with the school administration to solve it. Lastly, the professional can recommend some helpful websites created by and for children and adolescents to identify ways to address bullying, take action, be heard, and own an important social cause.

Reflection

I learned that cyberbullying is still a massive problem in todays society. With the increasing amount of children getting access to the Internet, it is possible that the severity of the issue might heighten. Although social media platforms are integrating the report abuse options, there are still many individuals hiding behind the illusion of anonymity provided by the Internet that perpetrators use. I also learned that cyberbullying has significant adverse impacts on childrens wellbeing, which encompasses their mental and academic spheres and can even lead to death.

I realized that there are not sufficient anti-bullying strategies in place. For instance, only a few state governments, such as the Rhode Island state government, have created state laws to supplement the federal regulations. Moreover, in most instances, victims of cyberbullying end up not reporting abuses or harassment to their teachers and instead of family physicians. Therefore, this suggests that those who do not have family physicians suffer the harmful effects of cyberbullying solely. Thus society needs to mitigate the gap by creating policies or providing support services unavailable to adolescents from this niche. Alternatively, since bullying is centered on family systems and parent-child situations, it is recommended that changes be made to these modalities to enable children to be open with their parents and prevent others from becoming perpetrators.

I will advocate by participating in community programs providing anti-bullying support services. Specifically, I will emphasize working on platforms through which parents can be made aware of the essentiality of parent-child relationships and family systems on online bullying. Parents should be enlightened on the various parenting styles and how they should communicate with their children to encourage an environment for open communication. Furthermore, healthcare practitioners should be trained on how to screen and manage victims of cyberbullies as children find them most approachable.

References

Alavi, N., Reshetukha, T., Prost, E., Antoniak, K., Patel, C., Sajid, S., & Groll, D. (2017). Relationship between bullying and suicidal behaviour in youth presenting to the emergency department. Journal of the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 26(2), 7077.

Help Guide. (2019). Bullying and cyberbullying. Web.

Lopez-Castro, L., & Priegue, D. (2019). Influence of family variables on cyberbullying perpetration and victimization: A systematic literature review.Social Sciences, 8(3), 2-25.

Offrey, L.D., & Rinaldi, C. M. (2017). Parentchild communication and adolescents problem-solving strategies in hypothetical bullying situations. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth, 22(3), 251-267.

Ranney, M. L., Patena, J. V., Nugent, N., Spirito, A., Boyer, E., Zatzick, D., & Cunningham, R. (2016). PTSD, cyberbullying and peer violence: Prevalence and correlates among adolescent emergency department patients. General Hospital Psychiatry, 39, 3238.

Stopbulling.gov. (2020). Rhode Island anti-bullying laws & policies.

United Way of Rhode Island. (2020). Cybersecurity. Web.

Vaillancourt, T., Faris, R., & Mishna, F. (2017). Cyberbullying in children and youth: Implications for health and clinical practice.Canadian journal of psychiatry, 62(6), 368-373.

IP address allocation, DHCP and DNS server

The IP addresses allocation in the new IT infrastructure model for Acme is based on the guidelines and policies of the IANA and ARIN in relation to IP addresses allocation as well as the routing of IP addresses. The system will make use of IPv4 (32-bit addressing). The customers of Acme will be leased IP addresses. In the new building, the IT model will constitute non-portable. All data points in the IT infrastructure will be allocated one IP address each. Additional IP addresses will be provided if need be dependent on the magnitude of need. IP addresses for all the users of the Acme system will be allocated dynamically. The Designated network administrators will assign various ranges of IP addresses to DHCP. The system will enable that each client computer o LAN in the entire Acme infrastructure to have its IP software configured to request an IP addresses from the DHCP server at network initialisation. The DHCP server will reclaim as well as be able to relocate IP addresses that are not renewed and thus enabling the dynamic use of IP of addresses. The DNS server will feature network IP addresses and hold a database of network names as well as addresses for the entirety of the Acme internets hosts.

Packet filtering

Packet filters will be used to enable or block packets normally while routing them from one network to another. This will be a handy devise especially in the proposed IT infrastructure models where there will be some integration between the internet and local network systems. The device facilitates flow of data interaction from the Internet to an internal network, and vice versa. To set up packet filtering the presented Acme IT model will entail as set up of a set of rules that define what types of packets for instance those to or from a particular IP address or port are to be passed and what forms are meant to be blocked. The Packet filtering set up in the presented design will obtain in the Cisco router.

The Packet filtering systems used will channel packets within internal and external hosts. This will be done extensively and each IP address will be catered to for the optimisation of security reasons. In the presented IT model, the filtering system will allow or block specific forms of packets in a way that reflects Acmes sites security policy as shown in the diagram below. The type of router used in a packet filtering firewall is known as a screening router.

In the proposed IT infrastructure the Packet Filtering will ensure that every packet has a set of headers containing particular information. The main information is:

• IP basis address
• IP target address
• Protocol ( UDP, or ICMP packet)
• TCP or UDP source port
• TCP or UDP target port
• ICMP communication type

Servers and services

The project developers have had to make a decision to select the feasible and best data storage and warehousing model. A choice has been made between long-time rivals Oracle and SQL Server database technologies.

Connolly, Thomas, et al (2003) contributions hold that in sharp contrast to other typical vendor solutions, the Oracle model has been at the forefront of meeting industry needs providing full-scale support for all industry standards in the broad spectrum of operating systems and hardware infrastructures in contemporary IT domains. Owing to its cross-platform (OS) portability the Oracle model provides a formidable alternative for entities to decide on what operating hardware they would prefer to use without having to face the hassle of attempting to surmount the hurdle posed by the disenabling SQL server model which is tailored for Windows platforms exclusively. Lightstone S et al (2007) note that any organisation has the privilege to depend on Oracle technology to reduce deployment expenses while also remaining flexible enough to meet future needs. This is particularly so as the choice for Oracle technological database systems will not tie anyone to the specific hardware or operating system infrastructure. The scholars state that this is particularly important for independent software vendors who have the privilege to set up an Oracle database once and then deploy anywhere they would wish to.

Lightstone S et al (2007) experimentations have indicated that the SQL server technological systems have limited support for the variety of hardware platforms that exist in IT domains. The researches indicate that SQL server supports fewer hardware applications in comparison to Oracle. Oracle is compatible with all major hardware environments as well as operating programmes. The scholars present that Oracle technology supports platforms in various categories which enlist ERP, CRM as well as the Procurement and Supply chain. They further observe that there are by far a larger number of more packaged software deployed on Oracle than those in the 2000 SQL server system.

Oracle is considered a technological innovation leader in the key data warehousing domains. Gray J and Reuter (2005) note that Oracle has transformed the technology terrain of business intelligence servers. Oracle technology addresses the entirety of the server-side business intelligence as well as data storage needs. This by extension includes the components of extraction, transformation and loading (Gray, J. and Reuter 2005). Further that the business intelligence server merits of Oracle technology extend to the Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) and retrieving realms. One handy thing about Oracle database technology is that it eradicates the need for the running of many engines in the business intelligence landscape.

The Acme IT infrastructure will tap into the merit that comes with use of Oracle technology in the aspects of rapid deployments which will be used to eliminate the requirement to combine various sever units when running the Acme business intelligence system. This is also expected to reduce management costs. (Gray J and Reuter 2005) While SQL Server 2000 functions as data storage facility, OLAP evaluations are conducted in an external data repository. The problem with this is that it will require additional time for the retrieving of data.

Domain control server

The Acme Infrastructure will make use of the Windows NT Domain as a primary domain controller. The server will be useful for its backup domain controllers as the company handles bundles of sensitive and critical data which demand optimal security measures as well as backup. The Primary Domain Controller which holds the SAM will be used to authenticate access requests from research centres and all offices et work. The server has a valuable SAM security Accounts manager which will be used to manage the database of usernames, passwords and permission. The SAM for the Acme model will remain a component of the domain control server. The domain control server SAM unit will be used to store passwords of users, researchers, customers and officers of the entry of Acme personnel. The unit will store the password in a hashed format. This is one way of reinforcing the security measures of the Acme system. TO weather the possibilities of suffering offline attack the developers have considered the facilities of MS SYSKEY facility in Windows NT 4.0

File server

The Acme model will use Window Server 2003 for file storage. The merits of the model come with the delight of the Distributed File System (DFS) technologies which offer a broad spectrum of user-friendly replication together with simple and fault-tolerant access to geographically scattered files.

The file and storage services unit is critically needed for efficient backup of user and all networking data, the restoration of operation as well as an enhanced encrypting system which will be handy for Acme in its prospect of cutting costs while boosting productivity.

Email server

The Acme model will make use of the hMailServer. The server has been selected for its no-cost aspect which caters to the prospects of cost-cutting. The server will also provide administration tools for the management and handling as well as backup of all email-related data for the entirety of the Acme model system users. The model has been selected specifically in consideration of its guaranteed support IMAP, POP# and SMTP email protocol.

Web & Proxy server

Squid will be used as an Acme model web proxy server. While functioning to serve as web cache, the server will be valuable for providing means to block access to particular malicious URLs and thus will provide critical information filtering for all web access by the staff and researchers as well as customers serviced by Acme.

Firewall

Firewalls have become part of the best-known security solution in IT whilst their popularity continues to grow as they play a critical role in information security. Nonetheless, the infrastructure of security firewalls will have to be leveraged on effective and feasible security planning and a well-laid-out security policy. The best of firewalls can be obtained when they work for hand in glove with effective and up-to-date anti-virus software and a broad range of intrusion detection systems. The resources by the two authors zero in on the dynamics s and dimensions of firewalls in the precinct of all the associative elements in the exploration of the domains that deal with IT security. Acme will make use of Firewalls to protect the data warehouse and the entirety of the communication networks from possible attacks. Firewalls will be used together with VPNs. VPNs as the commonly used protection mechanisms for information systems working in concert with other associative models such as well as access controls, and firewalls and antivirus tools. The control of VPNs will be implemented in a layered manner which will facilitate the provision of defence-in-depth; The logic is that no one control is 100% effective so by layering these defences, the controls as a unit will be more effective and efficient.

Windows Update server

Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) will be installed in the Acme system servers to enable designated Acme information technology administrators to deploy updated and latest Microsoft product updates to all individual computers operating on the Windows operating system. The WSUS will empower administrators to fully manage the allocation of critical updates such as antivirus software and various updates released through Microsoft Update networks.

VoIP

The Acme model has been modeled in tandem with the VoIP systems which will interface with conventional public switched telephone networks (PSTN) as a way of allowing for transparent phone communications worldwide. The VoIP will be particularly useful for the Acme enterprise looking for cost-cutting models. The system will be valuable for the communication needed by Acme for its officers and field officers as well as providing customer support at low costs.

Control philosophy is a scripted document that outlines a process to be undertaken by engineers at the site. The report is written by a process engineer, and it stipulates the activities to be controlled and operated. It is important to know that even though control philosophy has similar objectives, the undertakings are unique to each system. Although the main goal is to promote safety, it enhances supply, stable pressure, and wastewater disposal.

Control philosophy has three main goals that should be achieved. The first one is to supply water treatment waste and portable liquid storage. The second one is the management and provision of adequate and stable pressure connected to all the identified stakeholders in the project. The third is the cure of wastewater before disposing it off to the environment or sewerage line. Sensors and electric actuators will be required to ease the operations of wastewater systems. Therefore, the gadgets work together to attain the main goals of the process.

Installation of sensors and transmitters to the flow meter would be ideal in the design of the wastewater system. The triggers are important component of most modern process industries (Sahlan, 2017, p. 38). Preference is on the provision of electronic actuators due to the reliability of the results they would offer during monitoring. The actuator is a part of the flow control valve which would minimize or eliminate any backflow realized within the system. Thus, it is crucial to fit the detectors in the system to promote efficiency in its operations.

The choice of the programmable logic controller (PLC) should be the industrial grade. Additionally, the choice of the PLC should be in tandem with the technical specifications of the Water Treatment Module (WTW) unit and further be compatible with the chosen software which guides the project implementation process. The PLC is hosted within the main terminal unit or the remote terminal unit and is compatible with the communication infrastructure available for the project, such as Device Net.

In conclusion, the control philosophy not only guarantees the safety of engineers at the site but also improves the quality of the project. Although it is unique to every program, the document is important in the wastewater treatment plant since it ensures that all the goals of the plan are met. Hence, it should be encouraged in all sectors of infrastructural development regardless of the operations capacity.

Reference List

Sahlan, S. (2017) Variable speed drives: energy saving and SCADA System, International Journal of Integrated Engineering, 9(4) p.38.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), passed by Congress in 1998, prevents the unlawful distribution, reproduction, or performance of copyrighted works and technology products that circumvent access control. This legislation decreased the liability of online service providers (OSP) by shifting their infringement responsibility to individual users. Its main aim was to facilitate online copyright protection granting significant power to rights holders. Under the US copyright law, OSPs enjoy immunity, so-called safe harbor, against secondary infringement liability as long as they follow the DMCA takedown process (Matteson 9). They do not have the duty to monitor their services for possible infringement. Instead, they are obliged to respond to copyright complainants cease-and-desist letters by disabling and removing the disputed content.

Cloud base filesharing is a process of applying cloud computing-based technologies to exchange digital files between customers. In other words, such services as Google Drive and Dropbox provide users with space to upload, read, download, and edit their content. What is more, their customers can share the uploaded files by granting access privileges to others. Although keeping and sharing personal content is allowed, exchanging copyrighted digital files via clouds is banned. Moreover, a person can upload a copy of the purchased digital item only for backup purposes (ORiley). In its turn, DMCA and its Digital Rights Management focus efforts on preventing illegal circumvention, not actual cloud storing or copying. Individuals can keep copies using different cloud systems at their own risk until they decide to sell or share access.

The idea/expression dichotomy and fair use doctrine are the main embedded boundaries to copyright power designed to protect free speech and fair use. The latter allows copying without permission for specific and limited purposes such as commentary, parody, and criticism (Matteson 7). In that case, another person can distribute, perform, and copy works created by others. For instance, most YouTubers who make movie reviews include original clips that are allowed under the doctrine. Nevertheless, it is hardly applicable to cloud-based filesharing of copyrighted products, as the only reason one can store the copy is to replace the original in case of damage and loss (ORiley). The fair use doctrine protects researchers, content makers, and educators from copyright infringement, while it does not allow uploading and exchange of content via clouds.

To comply with the DMCA, every OSP, including cloud providers, must adopt and proclaim a services copyright policy based on the laws principles. The policies usually identify requirements for a takedown notice (the information it should include). Every provider must nominate and register (in the US Copyright Office) an agent dealing with complaints filed by copyright holders. The notice-and-take-down process and repeat infringer policy must be applied and managed by service providers to secure safe harbor treatment. Websites that fail to address statutorily-compliant requests, have the actual knowledge of the third-party infringement, or benefit financially from it lose their immunity (Matteson 9). Cloud services are obliged to set a specific policy and system ready to process notices of copyright breach. As a result, the company should disable access or remove the disputed file noticing the accused account holder. The users reserve their right to a counter-notification during a 10-14 days period.

Nevertheless, the system currently lacks in-depth analysis of alleged infringement leading to privatized justice that automatically removes posted digital items. It does not have judicial oversight endangering freedom of speech and access to knowledge. An automated system monitors the uploaded files to identify possible text or video initially used in copyrighted materials. Then it notifies online services asking to stop infringement with the help of removal under DMCA. The person who uploaded the digital file can appeal to the provider if he/she is ready for possible litigation with the copyright holder. The ruling of the famous case Lenz vs. Universal Music revealed that rights holders often abuse their right to fill compliant by neglecting a burden to assess fair use. Still, thousands of automated removals occur every day, lacking accountability and the reason behind it.

Although the current DMCA obligations are quite limited, some companies voluntarily enhance their fight with piracy exceeding their legal responsibilities. For example, Google uses its Pirate algorithm to put websites that received many infringement notifications lower in the search results hiding it from users. Viacom vs. YouTube case encouraged the latter to introduce a Content ID system that continuously monitors the newly uploaded content for possible copyright infringement. If a right violation is found, the system automatically notifies the right holders, who can then monetize or share the content (Bar-Ziv and Elkin-Koren 352). In short, digital fingerprinting technology creates a reference (fingerprint) of original content and then compares it to newly uploaded works by other users.

This system can automatically process all takedown requests and provide copyright holders with effective monitoring, tracking, and monetizing content across all distribution channels. For instance, the proposed Digital Services Act will require the tech giants operating in the EU to adopt similar systems to remove illegal content (Amaro). New legislation tends to make local OSPs more responsible for the quality and origin of the uploaded materials. Under the new regulation, digital services are expected to report on their achievements regarding measures taken to eliminate copyright violations. The EU wants to increase accountability and transparency by requiring such firms as Google and Facebook to show their algorithms and tell how they work. This law proposal also considers the negative side of the over-removal measures and insists on adequate systems instead of individual decisions. In general, this initiative tends to make all digital players proactively monitor their websites for content infringement to avoid direct liability.

This initiative seems too radical for the US, where tech companies and users are highly concerned with free speech protections. Facebook, Google, and YouTube can continue their operations following similar reform. Nevertheless, it would be too costly for smaller players within the industry, as the content-fingerprinting system requires extensive investments. For instance, Rapidshare was forced to change the business model from exchanging information among anonymous users to personal (based on subscription) cloud-based file storage. The website lost its popularity and profit and dissolved in 2015.

Wikipedia, an open collaboration platform, generally complies with DMCA receiving requests for content takedown or alteration. Nevertheless, after a thorough investigation, the company usually rejects most requests referring to fair use. The online encyclopedias policy resides on the communitys high copyright standards, instead of a costly filtering system. There is no sense for the worlds biggest open platform to adopt such expensive technologies as content fingerprinting. It is peculiar though that Wikimedia Foundation received fewer takedown requests than Facebook and Google since 2013 (Binder). Only the court decisions sporadically make Wikipedia alter the already written text, as it recently occurred with the article on German history.

Hence, DMCA, especially Section 512, should be reformed as soon as possible. The bright-line rule seems to be ineffective regarding the fair use doctrine. The nuanced case-by-case approach would benefit both copyright holders and OSP users. It is not possible to abandon automated takedown request processing due to the high number of requests. Nevertheless, it is possible to notify users in advance before their materials are deleted. Content should be removed only if the accused user fails to provide an affidavit of non-infringement. In such cases, the burden of proof should be shifted to the claimant, reducing situations when fair use is abused by him/her. There is often not enough information on whether the complainant has enough rights and valid reasons to fill the takedown request (Matteson 16). A human should review Computer-generated infringement detection results to ensure that copyright violation took place, and there is no mistake. Only then a DMCA takedown notice should be issued and send to the alleged perpetrator. Despite the absence of instant removal, tech companies should preserve their right to safe harbor immunity.

To conclude, MegaUpload and YouTubes cases proved that the safe harbor rule should not be further relaxed, as it still adequately works. A more strict approach, such as proposed in the EU, would also be detrimental for American OSPs. Both content makers and intermediaries should be of top priority as they provide value to others. Still, current legislation fails to provide users with practical tools to submit a counter-notice. Devices that automatically detect infringement should be further developed and ultimately checked by human beings. After enforcing the rights of posters, the anonymity of accounts should be abandoned. The main changes to DMCA should be made regarding providers obligation to comply with its regulations. Regular reporting to governmental oversight bodies on the policys results would increase the overall accountability. It would provide cloud providers an incentive to commit to the infringement policy in line with Dropbox, Google, and Facebook.

Works Cited

Amaro, Silvia. The EU is About to Announce New Rules for Big Tech  and Theres Not Much They Can do About it.CNBC, 2020. Web.

Bar-Ziv, Sharon, and Niva Elkin-Koren. Behind the Scenes of Online Copyright Enforcement: Empirical Evidence on Notice & Takedown. Connecticut Law Review, vol. 50, no. 2, 2018, pp. 339-385.

Binder, Matt. Wikipedia has Only Granted one Takedown Request. Here it is. Mashable, 2019. Web.

Matteson, Joel. Unfair Misuse: How Section 512 of the DMCA Allows Abuse of the Copyright Fair Use Doctrine and How to Fix It. Santa Clara High Tech Law Journal, vol. 35, no. 2, 2018, pp. 1-22.

ORiley, Liam.Storing Your Movies On the Cloud& Legally? Medium, 2019. Web.

Introduction

Hot-Mix asphalt (HMA) and Portland cement concrete (PCC) are some of the main materials used in road construction. They are typically used together in constructing a composite pavement system, with a layer of HMA placed over a layer of PCC, which sports considerably better results when compared to traditional paving techniques (NASEM, 2013). The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the two materials based on their properties, requirements, production, and the use in road construction.

Material Properties

HMA is a combination of stone, sand, and gravel mixed with asphalt cement, which is made from oil (NASEM, 2013). The material is cheap, while sporting high parameters in stability, durability, flexibility, impermeability and fatigue resistance. However, as asphalt ages, it becomes more brittle and likely to suffer damage from the physical wear-and-tear as well as the elements (NASEM, 2013). PCC, on the other hand, as the name suggests, is made from concrete, mortar, stucco, and grout. It is much less flexible than asphalt and offers much greater durability and resistance at the cost of having very little flexibility (NASEM, 2013).

Requirements

When used in construction of roads, the materials have different performance requirements. The asphalt layer is expected to have sufficient thickness and strength to carry out the traffic load, prevent water penetration, have a smooth surface that is resistant to wear, distortion, and deterioration, and support the wheel load from the pavement surface, equally distributing it along the substratum (NASEM, 2013). PCC shares many of these requirements, with additional care being placed into making sure the cement stratum does not have any empty spots along the layer as well as greater quality demands for the material itself (NASEM, 2013). Mixing different cements or using caked cement is not allowed.

Production

HMA is typically made at a temperature of about 300-330 degrees Fahrenheit, though there are types of HMA that could be mixed at lower temperatures (NASEM, 2013). These are usually referred to as warm-mix or cold-mix asphalts. The materials are extracted from open mines, whereas the oil residue  from oil distillation. The components are mixed together and bound by hot liquid asphalt, which is then transported in trucks towards the construction site. Portland cement, on the other hand, is baked in a kiln at about 2600-2700 F, baked to form clinkers, which are then ground up and mixed with gypsum. The materials are also mined in open pits (NASEM, 2013).

Construction Techniques

HMA is laid on site using a specialized machine that mixes up and heats the material components together. After the layer has been placed and is still hot, it needs to be smoothened with a heavy roller and compressed to exclude any pockets of air forming underneath and creating a potential pothole under pressure (NASEM, 2013). In smaller spaces where rollers do not fit, a hand-held pressurizer is used. The asphalt is ready for use after it cools off, meaning that repairs and construction can be done quickly. PCC is brought to the construction site in a cement carrier, which keeps rotating to ensure the cement does not dry up and remains consistent in its viscosity. After it is poured to form the bottom layer of the road, it is compressed using concrete pressurizers. Cement requires at least 30 days to dry to a relative 85-90% humidity (NASEM, 2013). It is the reason why PCC roads are more expensive, as the road takes much longer to become operational.

Conclusions

HMA and PCC are widely used in road construction. They have their distinct properties, with flexibility, cheapness, and quickness being the strong sides of HMA, while PCC sports higher durability and longevity. Due to the nature of roads and their frequent use, HMA remains the favored solution for most roads, while PCC is often used as an underlayer for high-volume traffic areas and highways.

Reference

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). (2013).

Composite pavement systems, volume 1: HMA/PCC composite pavements. The National Academies Press.

Introduction and Background

In 2020, under the circumstances of stress, lockdown, and, as a result, limited mobility caused by a global pandemic people are turning to various applications for help. According to Visual Capitalist, the popularity of fitness mobile apps worldwide has grown by 46% since the beginning of the quarantine. I have been one of those people who decided to explore the opportunities offered by such applications.

Seeking means of enhancing my movement throughout the day in order to keep myself healthy and work on my own image, I found the app that I am going to evaluate. Daily Workouts is a mobile application developed by Daily Workout Apps, LLC. It offers a variety of exercise programs available in the free version as well as the pro version which requires to be purchased. I will be discussing the free version in terms of the features which it has to offer, the functions of the app, and its overall convenience.

The Features of the Free Version

Users of the Daily Workout mobile application have a variety of exercise programs at their disposal, both in the free and in the pro versions. The major difference between the two options is the number of workouts offered in each. Thus, the free version provides the user with ten types of targeted workout programs developed for certain purposes. Their length varies between 5 to 10 minutes.

Apart from that, the free version also offers randomized full body workout programs, not targeted at certain muscle groups, the length of which varies between 10 to 30 minutes. Overall, the free version of the Daily Workouts app has more than a hundred exercises to present to its users. The pro version, in comparison, offers about 400 exercise programs, its other advantages being additional stretch routines and a complete lack of in-app advertisements. However, despite the benefits of the pro version, I use the free version and consider it a great option for a daily home workout as the basis of the apps functions are the same in both.

Available Functions

The Daily Workout mobile application has a variety of tools to offer to any user. Opening the app, users are presented with several options of targeted workouts from which they can choose. They include exercises designed for abs, arms, butt, legs, cardio, and full body. Moreover, there is a box entitled streaming videos which provides the user with YouTube workout videos.

Having chosen a targeted workout, we arrive at the customization page. It allows the user to choose the length of the program out of the three options, which are 5, 8, and 10 minutes. After that, there is an opportunity to choose one of the workouts out of the two suggested. Each of them has a unique set of exercises which can be previewed before engaging in physical activity.

The free version is rather customizable, as the user can also choose to turn the sound on or off, as well as have a signal which announces the beginning of each exercise. The options for rest time are 7, 13, and 19 seconds. Text instructions can be turned on and off, as the application provides the user with a video description. It is also possible to record your weight, gender, and age, and to set reminders.

Convenience

In my personal experience, the application proved to be quite convenient. As I have already mentioned, the user is able to decide whether they need text instructions or not, but the video instruction is always available. Thus, it is possible to follow a workout in accordance with the text and the video. However, there is something I consider a setback in the apps work: although the text description is present, it is not available in audio format. Thus, the user needs to read it first to gain a better understanding of an exercise. But after that, it is easy to follow any program.

However, another great advantage of Daily Workouts is that most of the videos can be played even without an Internet connection. The app is simple and intuitive to use and navigate, it is mostly based on visual imagery and minimal textual cues and does not require additional clarifications. I believe that it makes the application suitable for social groups with different levels of acquaintance with mobile technologies, including teenagers, young adults, and senior people.

Conclusion and Final Thoughts

As someone new to workout and fitness apps, I found the Daily Workouts application suitable for my needs. It is not difficult to navigate it without specific knowledge of such apps. I consider it useful to have a video showing how an exercise is done as it is easier to comprehend and to follow than text instructions, especially with their availability offline. As I am not ready to pay for the pro version, I have been looking for free options. I believe that the variety of features offered in the free version is more than enough for a quality workout at home. Moreover, the apps simple interface assures accessibility to people with different levels of experience with technology. Therefore, I would recommend the Daily Workouts application to anyone seeking a way to maintain ones body healthy in these difficult times for free.

Introduction

The rapid developments in the Information Technology (IT) domains which have been fueled by the emerging needs in the ever evolving IT world have led programmers and system developers to create better models of surmounting challenges of the contemporary world. The development of computer phenomenon has been experiencing tremendous changes in its multi-dimensional composition. The developments have also rippled over into database technological design. New needs and challenge emerge on the aspect of data warehousing, data security, network, optimisation of data system functionalities and performances; this has led to the revolutionarisation of the IT domain with notable strides thrust in the database technology and internet security realms. The report discussed and explored in this paper is a detailing of empirical search experimentation findings on the loopholes and vulnerabilities of Digital Certificates generation owing to the unearthed loopholes or weaknesses of one of popular encryption method known as MD5.

Main body

The featured article is a technical article detailing some IT problem scenario and dynamics particularly on the subject of data security. The problem scenario entails a data ware housing injection loopholes associated with the popular MD5 algorithm in which the researchers have unveiled new possibilities of internet attacks. The findings by researchers come as way of protracted and ongoing research of the internet security solution finding mission aimed at the eradication of instances of rogue web activity. According to the article the researchers have illustrated how an attack which enabled them to successfully generate a rogue Certification Authority (CA) certification. The certificate would be passed as genuine by all web browsers and enable an injector to impersonate a website even those which have been secured by the HTTPS protocol.

The article which has been drafted in the composition of technological review and typical IT periodical or scientific review is deep into the technical aspect of the subject in focus, internet security in this case. The article features the research findings by Internet Security experts from different countries enlisting USA, Switzerland and Netherlands who have experiment with the functionalities of a popular internet security encryption method known as MD5 to illuminate the loopholes and vulnerabilities of the security method. Deeper into the technical aspects of the subject focus the experts have unearthed and detailed the vulnerabilities that come with the internet public Key Infrastructure (PKI) that is instrumented to generated as well as issue digital certificates for secure websites. According to the report article, identified loopholes obtain in the MD5 cryptographic hash facility which enables the generation of different messages with similar MD5 hash termed as an MD5 collision in the parlance used in eth report article.

What is notable about the composition of the paper is its presentation of the material. The paper entails components on the potential problem scenario. The report then details possible attacks and then the further outlines a possible web criminal behavior scenario leveraged on the identified loopholes. According to the report, internet data criminals will be in a position to generate a fraudulent CA certification which would be tacitly held as genuine by many web browser applications. This would enable the browsers to display the focus sites as SSL secured indicated by an intact padlock at the down right side corner of web page. Chris Mcnab (2000) sheds more light on SSL. Secure Socket layer (SSL) is an adopted internet security method which has come to be popularly used for the protection of data in transit which incorporates all network services that make use of TCP/IP to leverage for typical applications functionalities and tasks of data exchange between serves and clients. In the featured and detailed internet security loophole as the report enlists that the hackers can manipulate the MD5 encryption method to have inauthentic sites passed as SSL secure. These would then be able to conduct critical transactions and put all sensitive internet data warehousing at jeopardy. The report gives more precise detailing on the forgoing outlining that; precisely the criminals would be in position to perform transparent man-in-the-middle forms of internet attacks against associative SSL links and connections and thus be able to monitor and meddle with traffic as a way of secure websites as well as email server. The report quotes from the researchers that this successful proof-of-concept come as an indication to the reality that the certificate authentication that is run by all web browsers can be compromised and severely subverted to meet the ends of the web felons. Also web criminals (attackers) have the leeway to monitor rand/or interfere with data transmitted to secure websites according to the attack possible detailing in the article.

The paper takes a significant thrust at providing details supporting presented claims and findings. As a technical research review the paper presents the evidence upon which claims and positions presented are based. In the report experts Appelbaum and Sotirov are cited indicating that MD5 has been broken since year 2004 a time when the first collision attack was established. Another piece of empirical research presented includes the mention of another strong collision attack which was also established in 2007. In close connection with the implications of the foregoing (detailing of empirical evidence upon which claims and findings are based) the paper presents the concerns that despite proved vulnerabilities as well as loopholes since the first attack identification in 2004, MD5 signing is still extensively used by numerous digital and online certification entities which include the following; including RapidSSL, FreeSSL, TrustCenter, RSA Data Security, Thawte, and verisign.co.jp.

As a technical detailing empirical research findings, evidence and implications, the article entails recommendations drawing from the implications of the reported findings. More precisely the paper presents recommendations for internet security practitioners to move to more secure cryptographic hash functions such as SHA-1 and SHA-2. Michael E Whitman (2003) outlines that SHA Hash functions are a grouping of cryptographic has functions tailored to by the National security Agency (NSA) and published under the auspices of NIST as a US federal Information processing Standard. SHA is an acronym for Secure Hash Algorithm. Michael E Whitman (Op.cit) notes that the three SHA algorithms are designed uniquely and are distinguished as SHA-0, SHA-1, and SHA-2.futehr notes that the SHA-2 family employs an identical algorithm with a variable key size which is categoried as SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512.

In tandem with the recommendations entailed in the empirical research findings concurs that SHA-1 is the best of the SHA hash security modeling whose use has become widely popular in numrous web security platforms and protocols. The research experts have mentioned that the affected CAs have been notified and will have to be moving to SHA-1 hash as soon as possible. The mentioning of the notification of the identified CAs is part of typical empirical research reportage since much of technical research comes with implications and courses of actions that are modeled and implemented in tandem with consequences spurred by authentic research findings. Brent Chapman (2004) notes that the outlining of recommendations and detailing of notifications on identified system weaknesses is a popular feature of technical research report especially in IT. (Brent Chapman et al 2004)

On another thrust the article entails an assurance of safety for customers mentioning that although the reportage is on the internet security loopholes of MD5 are new disclosure the clients are not necessarily at risk since the researchers have not published the cryptographic background of the identified attacks. The paper also reinforces that the attack is not repeatable without the background information. The concerted efforts to assure users is incorporate efforts by Software giant Microsoft who are cited in the report indicating that they are not aware of the active attacks employing the identified MD5 vulnerabilities but are liaising with certificate authorities to make sure that they on up to the intricacies and implications of the findings of the research reported in this article. MS is reported to forthright in urging certification authorities and all other related entities of interest to migrate to the newer SHA-1 certificate singing algorithm.

The research findings, details and implications are also ratified by related reportages on similar internet security researches. On another article by Angela Moscaritolo there is mention of grave consequences for internet security practitioners that have not heeded the warning to migrate away from MD5. The writer importantly mentions that Certification Authorities (CAs) are causing a rippling effect of internet security problems that affect user beyond their own company clientele and operational landscapes. The writer urges companies to move to more secure cryptographic hash functions. The writer quotes Chris Wysopal co-founder and Chief Technology officer of application security company Veracode. The chief sounded a strong warning that more collisions can be expected from the vulnerabilities featured in the scholar paper which are similar to those in the first articled explored. According to the Wysopal Certification authorities have had at least two years to upgrade to new and safer algorithms and they have waited until they have been furnished with evidence of MD5 loopholes and injections. The chief has rung a dire warning that all web security practitioners are vulnerable to the discovered insecurities even practitioners that with a web certification from a CA which employs more sure cryptographic hash function than the popular MD5 like SHA-1 and SHA-2. According to the expert this is due to the fact that as long as there remains CAs making use of MD5 an attacker can possibly forge a certification from them and go on to impersonate any secure website.

Conclusion

In summation, the article (s) analysed comprised reportage on IT empirical research findings. The paper presents a detailing of the explored security dynamics in the domains of internet data warehousing and internet security. The paper is comprehensively and professionally weaved up as a well structured research review outlining the problem scenario, and its implications. The paper culminates in recommendations urging web security practitioners to migrate to safer certification generations algorithms and curtail the illuminated problem which has pervasive effects that can go beyond one insecure domain and can potentially harm expanse and sensitive internet networks across the web.

References

• Alan Schwartz, 2003 Practical UNIX and Internet Security, Oak Press, New York
• TIM Speed, 2002, the personal Internet Security Guide Book, Keeping hacker and Crackers Out, MILen Press, Sidney
• Chris Mcnab, 2000, Implememnting Security Assesmnet, Knw Your Netwok, McGraw Hill,London, UK
• Brent Chapman, Elizabeth D. Zwicky, 2004, Building internet Firewalls, Networx Publishing, Londo, UK
• Michael E Whitman, Herbert J Mattord, 2003, Principles of Information Security, Milen Press, Oxford, UK
• Harold F. Tipton, Micki Krause, 2005, Information Security Management Handbook, Mcgraw Hill, USA