Richard G. Epstein

An ethics and security course for students in computer science and information technology

This paper describes an undergraduate course in computer security that has a strong ethical component. Ethical and related security topics are interwoven. The emphasis is on the kind of research that computer scientists and information technologists are conducting in order to address the fundamental problems in computer security. There is also a great emphasis on encouraging student creativity.

Latest developments in the “killer robot” computer ethics scenario

men this paper was submitted to SIGCSE in August, the “Case of the Killer Robot” was a 100 page computer ethics scenario. Now, in December, it is nearly 200 pages and at least four more articles are planned. The expanded version has broader coverage of software engineering, ethics, professional issues and societal impact of computers. Consequently, the new version greatly expands the scope and intent of the first. I will describe the 100 page version in some detail and the new materials in lesser detail since the original reviewers of this paper did not know of the new materials.]

Getting Students to Think About How Agile Processes can be Made More Secure

Agile processes play an important role in the authorpsilas undergraduate course in software engineering. The course is a required course for undergraduate majors in Computer Science. Agile processes, like eXtreme Programming (XP), have been criticized for not providing a good framework for building secure software. The course begins by covering what some people have called ldquothe warrdquo between the traditional waterfall process folks and the agile process folks. After students are given an introduction to various processes on both sides of ldquothe warrdquo (with an emphasis on PSP, CMMI and XP) and after students are introduced to basic concepts about how to make software systems more secure (drawing heavily on Viega and McGrawpsilas book Building Secure Software), the course turns its attention to how XP (in particular) can be made more secure. This topic generates a lot of enthusiasm among the students. The students seem to enjoy the challenge of creating new ideas to improve the manner in which XP addresses security issues. Students have come up with many creative and stimulating ideas about how eXtreme Programming can be made more secure without the necessity for what some have called ldquobig up front designrdquo. This paper presents some of the creative ideas students have come up with regarding this issue and discusses the team projects that give students the opportunity to explore security issues for agile processes in some depth.

The play's the thing: ElderCare VR

Today, decision-makers and IT specialists in municipalities, county councils, county administrative boards and State authorities are giving a lot of thought to the potential lines of development for eGovernment and public eServices in the future. We hope that the scenarios presented here will act as a source of inspiration for a wide-ranging discussion on how public administration systems can satisfy the users’ demands for more effective government, i.e. eGovernment that comprises eServices.

How hiring: Dogs and humans need not apply

This is a review of Hans Moravecs book, Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind. This review raises three categories of questions relating to Moravecs vision of the future. First, there are the ethical and social implications issues implicit in robotics research. Second, there are the soul issues, which especially relate to the prospect of the demoralization of human beings. Third, there is the issue as to whether a robot could ever be a sentient being.

The power of OOPS (abstract): heterogeneous data structures in C++

This tutorial is intended as an introduction to object oriented programming in C++, One of the best ways to get to the heart of this subject is to show how object oriented programming in C++ allows one to implement data structures of enormous power, elegance, and purity. These data structures are heterogeneous, which means that the constituent elements can belong to any class in a particular hierarchy of classes, This tutorial will be of interest to anyone who wishes to learn more about the object oriented capabilities of C++ and who would like to learn how these capabilities can be used in a course on data structure design and analysis.

Introducing Object‐Orientedness into a Breadth‐First Introductory Curriculum

This article discusses a curriculum project whose purpose is to design and implement a sequence of four introductory courses that will constitute a breadth‐first curriculum. At issue is the strategy that the authors and their colleagues are using to introduce object‐orientedness into this curriculum. This article describes the original strategy that was class‐tested during the spring of 1992, and concludes with a description of a more ambitious strategy that has been implemented and is currently being class‐tested. Both strategies were quite ambitious in their coverage of concepts relating to object‐oriented programming. Perhaps the most important concepts are encapsulation, the power of polymorphism that derives from the use of virtual functions and generic data structures.

A Liberal Arts Software Engineering Course

This article describes a course in “software engineering” within a liberal arts computer science curriculum. This course stresses a “phenomenological” perspective on software engineering consistent with the view that the liberal arts computer science major should present computer science in the broadest perspective. This course stresses software engineering as an activity with important psychological, social, and ethical components, whereas an analogous course in a school of engineering might place more emphasis on particular techniques and tools. The subtle distinction between software engineering in the liberal arts college and software engineering in a school of engineering can help to clarify the distinction which needs to be made between preprofessional and liberal arts curricula in computer science generally.

Workplace Issues in an Undergraduate Software Engineering Course

This paper describes how the author integrates work culture issues into his undergraduate course in Software Engineering. This is a required course for all Computer Science majors in our program. At issue is how work culture impacts upon the quality of the products being created by Software Engineers. The course addresses work culture concerns such as: What kinds of work culture issues arise during a software project? How can conflicts be resolved? How can poor work environments be improved? Work culture issues arise pretty much throughout the course and this paper provides an overview of how that occurs.