Summary . . .

Signing up to blogger has allowed me to keep in touch with my friends and read up on people’s interests. I am currently following 3 blogs, one on extreme sports and 2 on ICCT related information. A video was recently posted on the extreme sports blog about squirrel diving which looked a lot worse than the usual choice of sky diving, personally I wouldn’t try either . . . however, if they happen to break a bone, I read an interesting article on an ICCT related blog about a transplant jaw made by a 3D printer. The implant was made of titanium powder, which was heated and fused together by a laser. Technicians believe that the success of the transplant paves the way for use of more 3D printed body parts. On the subject of advances in technology a new scheme has been set up for organisations, BYOD (Bring You Own Device) formerly known as BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) is a scheme that allows employees to being their own devices to work, this could be anything from a desktop or laptop to a Mac or tablet. And the best part a lot of companies have been funding part of the cost of the device, personally I think this will encourage people to be more productive in work. On the other hand some people feel technology needs to be redesigned. An article posted on BBC News spoke about how the internet should be re-invented to make it more secure. Since the internet was first invented security has been an afterthought. No one is in control of the internet and in my opinion the internet is only as safe as the user itself. Using the RSS reader over the past two weeks has kept me up to date with technology in the News, and also informed me of the posts on the blogs I currently follow. 


Link to extreme sports post - http://mrrlparkin.blogspot.com/2012/02/o-my-word-have-you-ever-seen-anything.html

Link to 3D printing post - http://megancastleton-icct.blogspot.com/2012/02/transplant-jaw-made-by-3d-printer.html

Link to BYOD - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17017570
Link to re-creating the internet - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17032274

My Future!

After studying at Swansea University and gaining new experience in certain area of Computer Science and Engineering I felt it was time to finally look into a possible career path. One of my modules this year concentrates on Networks and after recently reading and article about the security of the internet I think it would be very beneficial to help identify and eliminate possible security threats, which may jeopardise and Organisation. A role that includes this type of work is a Network Security Specialist. 

BYOD: Bring Your Own Device

It’s been a year since bring your own computer was introduced. This is where companies offer staff the chance to choose the devices they use for work; this could be a laptop, desktop, Mac or a tablet. The company might cover either all or part of the expense. However, whilst BYOC has become popular it has been recently changed to BYOD, bring your own device. In the last year the number of people who own smartphone and tablet drastically increased, and IT organisations have been put under pressure to let their employees choose what device they want to use to do their work. Because of this we've seen a significant divide between IT and the rest of the organisation.

This seems like a very beneficial idea because it will encourage employees to work and they will also be more comfortable and motivated within the ethos that is created.

Do we need to re-create the internet?

The cyber-attacks on the internet have reached such a high level that some people are thinking the internet should be re-created. Efforts to secure the internet are becoming less and less effective and identity fraud costs more than £2.7 billion every year, affecting over 1.8 million people.

However, the internet was never intended to be a secure network. Users of the internet don’t understand the complex technologies required to ensure they operate securely over the internet. Since the internet first used commercially in the 1990s, security has always been an afterthought. The current internet is lawless, even governmental attempts at heightening security have failed. After all no one owns the internet and although some areas can be governed there are areas which are known to be uncontrolled.

In my opinion, even if the internet was re-invented the problem would not be solved because it is only as secure as the user. Some security measures are possible but total control over the security of internet would be impossible, the most effective type of security will always be the security the user itself puts in place. 

Google Chrome 17

After using Google Chrome as my main Web browser I was very happy to hear that they are bringing out a new more secure version, Chrome 17. Although Google have numerous projects on the go at the moment they have not forgotten about keeping Chrome on top.

Chrome is known for being faster than its competition however, the latest update has more than just speed. It comes with new useful features which increase the security of the Web browser. Besides eliminating potentially dangerous security bugs, Chrome now automatically runs checks on executable .exe and .msi files. If the program doesn’t match a built-in list of OK programs, Chrome then automatically checks in with its Safe Browsing Site to see if the Website is known for of malicious downloads. If the file is unsafe Google is automatically alerted, Google returns the results to Chrome, which in turn warns you whether or not you are at risk.

Definately sounds like its time to update Google Chrome!

University Course

Heard people complain a lot about theirs, but I'm fairly pleased with the course and my progress so far!

Hello! =)

Required to make a blog as part of one of my University modules . . . so here goes!